Banana Republic Challenge

The 3rd episode was a commercial challenge, meaning they were designing a commercial look, rather than a "runway/couture" look.  It was a partnership with Banana Republic to design a holiday glam look using fabrics they have in their line.  There was a yellow/pink/floral story options or a navy/black/art deco option.  Seems most of the designers chose to go the art deco/darker path.  The winner was Wendy with this beautiful look.  It really does look like something you would see in Banana Republic stores!  (sorry, screenshot is terrible quality).

The eliminated designer was Starr, with this interesting look:

Once again, the screenshot quality is terrible, but it was the best I could do.  It was definitely time for her to go home, bless her heart ;)

I knew I wanted to go the yellow/pink route.  I have some pretty yellow/pink floral quilters cotton, but knew I needed to figure out a way to dress it up.  How do you dress up quilter's cotton?  I remembered I'd bought a cream sheer curtain panel at a garage sale last summer.  Maybe if I layer them it would work?  It sure did!  Here is my design plan I drew up.

I thought a slim pencil skirt type dress would be great for this challenge.  I tend to do a lot of full skirts when I sew dresses, so I wanted to attempt something new.  I also didn't use a pattern for the skirt portion.  Instead, I used the doll as a dress form and pinned the fabric right on her.  It was really fun!  I thought because it was for a fancy party, she also needed some sort of EXTRA to the dress.  I had this fun pink faux fur left over from the big stuffed flamingo I made my daughter a few years ago. I whipped up a little wrap thing to go with the dress.  It ended up just how I envisioned it.  It is funny, I have dragged my feet starting this challenge because it seemed daunting.  Once I got started I couldn't stop!  It may be one of my favorite doll clothes I've made to date.  Just goes to show you, sometimes you just have to START! 

Here are the shots of pretty Grace in the dress.

Off to watch the next episode and plan my next look!  This is so much fun.