What's on the Mannequin ::: The Tie Frock

There's been a bit of reminiscing happening on FB

due to my blogging mojo being a little light on lately

and

I'm convinced

if I never took another photo of a REinvention for 5yrs 

I'd be able to share a 'new' one everyday...

not wanting to steal the Capes thunder

I've held off showing you what the Cape was actually created to go with

The Tie Frock

 originally meant to be a skirt
 and like all good REinventions they sometimes have a mind of their own
and it's a good idea to listen

before cutting anything you should check all your options

the front was always going to be attached to a pair of mens trousers
however the Tie Train was a stroke of genius on the part of my mother-in-law
[again it paid to listen]

I'm a huge fan of using mens ties in REinvents,

they're made for reinventing

they've come in handy on numerous REinventing occasions.

What's on the Mannequin - Please Meet ?

Thankyou everyone for the
30 Mannequin name suggestions that came through via fb, email & the blog

I like names that have a story to tell
& when mentioned keep stories alive

names, like smells
evoke certain memories
some pleasant, some not
 names which reminded of a pet dog, a nasty kid from school or a least favourite relative

were eliminated straight away

and because the name has to be snappy without too many consonants
the bigger mouthfuls had to be eliminated also
even though a couple of these I could have easily renamed my children with

and then
my Aunty Sally felt compelled to leave a comment for the first time in my Blogging history
*
and the mannequin was rescued from a Salvos [Sallys] Store
*
however the cruncher came when Judith left this email message today

'...my thought on the mannequin - I like Aunt Sally, she was a mannequin in the kids series Worzzel Gummig (?) - 
she used to cut cake with her hands & shovel whole slices into her mouth.'

I'd now like to introduce you to

*

*

* 

Sally

doing her thing

showing you my latest creation
which you'll be pleased to know

already has a name

the feather frock.

What's on the Mannequin - 2nd Skin

The thing with having a Blog

is that you have to keep at it

up-date regularly

stay interesting

in the hope that more people than just your mother will read it

that they'll enjoy it

come back

stay engaged look forward to

and maybe interact with

said Blog

I've never lost sight of why I started a Blog

so participants in workshops could stay connected 

and I had a means by which to showcase what was possible in my workshops

along with FB, the Blog does this successfully

sometimes a little bit of my other life slips in...but only the good bits

this year 

with my regular workshop updates where I show you what others have created

I would like to introduce a regular Post Spot called
'What's on the Mannequin'

where I show you what I'm creating

to kick this off

I thought it a good idea to introduce you firstly to my Mannequin

my newly covered Mannequin
[who needs a name..we'll get to that later]

she was an Op Shop Rescue
who'd seen better days

I don't use mannequins in any of my creations
I use them only for display
so a second skin was all she required

 

in case you too have an unfortunate looking Mannequin
in need of a 2nd skin
here's a simple mannequin-make-over
which made this transformation possible

Find a clean good quality stretchy T-shirt [cotton/elastane is best]

as you can see I used a long sleeve version however a short sleeve or no sleeve could work as well
a rounded neck is best

in any colour

turn the T-shirt upside down

slide & manipulate into place

start pinning where there is excess
ie. across the shoulders, up the neck & where the sleeves are
you want the skin to be firm so it will take a bit of patient sliding to get the skin off for cutting
 cut off excess remembering to leave 1cm seam allowance
seam down the neck & across the shoulders & secure where the sleeves used to be

 

Slide the skin back on and re-pin any little sticky-out-bits
and give her some shape
re-stitch

now she's ready to look gorgeous no matter what I throw on her...

Doilied T-shirt REfashion in the E-book

now the name

I struggle sometimes when it comes to naming stuff

it took me 2wks to name the eldest daughter

 you all did so well with the naming of the Pop Frock

and if she's going to feature regularly in regular posts

I can't keep referring to her as Mannequin 

and I'd like to do better than Dolly [which is all I can think of]

have you any suggestions for madam...?!