Crazy, Crafty Haute Mama: CraftingCon Blog Tour

Hi everyone! I am so excited to be starting my new blog off with such a bang! My name is Tara and I am the owner of Haute & Posh Designs and mom to a challenging, but adorable three-nager, Kiwi. I consider myself to be a real domestic diva at times and since I love to run my mouth, I decided to share it with y'all on the internets. I'm really goofy, by the way. Yes, I know internets has an "s" on it. Anyway, I am a bit of a geek and when I saw the call for the CraftingCon's "Is My Geek Showing" Blog Tour I was ~~ALL OVER IT!~~ very intrigued. I chose the villains theme because I feel they just don't get enough play and it was so hard to narrow it down to one, but I went with everyone's favorite seawitch, Ursula.

I like to go a little off the beaten path and I LOVE to mash patterns. Since this series is all about going casual I needed to make something recognizable without being all costume-y. I knew that I needed a sweetheart neckline and a way to make tentacles that wouldn't make my child look weird if she wore it to a picnic or the park. So, for this outfit I combined the Create Kids Couture Poppy's Peekaboo Dress and swirls from Violette's Swirly Peasant Dress.

I absolutely love the back on Poppy's it's just so summery to me and Victoria's swirls are a great way to evoke the black and purple tentacles without going overboard.

I used 100% cotton fabrics to keep it comfortable and picked out this fantastic purple that reminded me of the suckers on the end of Ursula's tentacles, she is half octopus, after all. Now, how to make it really scream Ursula without the wig and make-up? Again, not very everyday-wear friendly or practical. I hooked up with my best brainstorming buddy, Google, and found this great applique pattern for Ursula's shell by Embroitique. Right, the necklace! Everyone would recognize the necklace, except....I don't have an embroidery machine or any clue how to applique. Hmmm...that's where the sisterhood of sewing came in handy. I have "met" so many wonderful ladies in sewing groups on Facebook, so I reached out to Missy of Missy's Munchkins.

I picked out this awesome glitter satin and trim from Jo-ann Fabric s and sent her my bodice. I'd like to to say that I am absolutely head over heels in love with how this "necklace" turned out.

So, let's talk about my model, who makes every sewing project a challenge and ultimately dictates what modifications I have to make. I originally planned on making a dress, but I her waist is so tiny and I didn't want to end up gathering the swirls so I added a bit of a drop waist or yoke to make it a skirt. Top of the yoke gets elastic to fit her, bottom of yoke keeps me from scrunching those scrumptious swirls.

Well, if the bottom is a skirt then what about the top? When I tried the bodice on her a bit of her belly was showing and I really wasn't feeling that for everyday play. Solution? Why the solution to everything, add a ruffle! I added a ruffle to cover her belly and make the pieces flow together. She's also a bit uncooperative so, guess who got new toys and a bubble machine to do the shoot? Yep, Kiwi did and she absolutely loved them! I really like how the outfit came out, she seemed very comfortable and played and played and played.
I say score one more for mama.