Ivy Designs: Handmade is Beautiful.

‘Handmade’ is the heart and soul of Ivy Designs. 

Founded in 2008, Ivy Designs began as a handmade children's clothing and accessories label. Inspired by, designed for and road-tested on little people, their modern-vintage style gathered a large and loyal following.

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Frock by Friday Fabric Suggestions

If you haven't bought your fabric just yet a couple of you have asked for some suggestions. I would recommend very lightweight fabrics. Cotton lawn, duponi silk, sari silk, Egyptian cotton, silky rayons, or a thin linen perhaps with a patterned bias tape trim. The above fabrics are from etsy sellers: theheydayshop and ZinniaSnipSnap.

Ohh, if you didn't mind wearing a slip you could use a non-traditional eyelet fabric might be cool, something with a large eyelet like this, or this, or this, or this.

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Thrift Store Thursday: The Label Frocks

I had a hard time finding the perfect Thrift Store Thursday Frock yesterday. I DID find a great Kenneth Cole frock for $2 that only needed a 6" hem (shown in blue) but I like to find dresses that need alterations that I've never shown you before. Just taking it in the sides and upping the hems isn't that ground breaking.

So after I hit the Sal Val and Community Aide I stopped at Gabriel Brothers. Now for those of you living on the West coast who haven't heard of them before, Gabriel Brothers isn't a thrift store but more of an outlet store where retailers sell their damaged, unsold or overstocked items. You can find a lot of good name brand labels like Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Ann Taylor, etc. They certainly aren't as cheap as a thrift store but all their inventory is brand new, often still with tags.

And I found this great Express Studio reddish orange party dress for.....drumroll.....$1! They were having an outdoor clearance sale and the zipper was broken so no one was going to touch this pretty piece.

So I bought it with the change in my minivan's ashtray and took it home. Now, as you can see it's strapless. It looks like that at some point it came with the option to add straps because it had the fabric hooks on the inside but somewhere along the way they were lost. So I went to JoAnn's and bought some adjustable straps and Rit fabric dye in red and orange to match the dress.

As you can see I think the straps came out pretty close to perfect. Now, I think this dress looks way better without straps but I'm being realistic. There's no way I'm lasting an entire evening with no straps and this bust.

If you have a strapless dress that you need straps for, try this trick. I also moved the hooks for the straps to under my armpits because it looks more modern.

I also replaced the zipper and now that YOU know how, you can snatch up all those unwanted sale dresses with broken zippers and have a fabulous wardrobe too!

Two years ago, Gabriel Brothers were selling last season's Ann Taylor dresses retailing for around $150-$200 for only $3-$7!!!! Because they all had broken zippers. I snatched like seven and still wear them this year!

The next frock by friday is.....

Well, the votes are in and ANDA is the winner. Now before all who voted for the second idea start to cancel your following of my blog;) Just kidding. Hermione J. Schwartz had a GREAT idea....

We will do the Anda frock this month and the second frock for late August. I think this will be actually pretty perfect because the second one looks more like a fall frock. School is starting, skirts are longer. Plus, the Anda is more of a loose light summer frock so it will be great for late July.

I'm so excited! So go get the Anda pattern here. And we will start bright and early on Monday!

Oh and to get more involved use this button above on your blog. It will link to all the Frock by Friday Anda posts automatically.

And look for a Thrift Store Thursday post later this afternoon!

Project Runway Season Eight Premiere!

The newest season of Project Runway starts tomorrow night at 9pm on Lifetime! Are you psyched? I've been seeing the promos all over my google ads and TV. LOVE, the TV ads. So edgy.

Frock by Friday: July

Well, it's that time again. Next week I'd like to start another Frock by Friday. Now, I have two ideas in mind. Tell me what you think? One is very simple, great for beginners. The last one is definitely more advanced but I think the end result would be really interesting.

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Technique Tuesday: Buttonholes

Back when I was just starting to sew, button holes were....the....worst. The BANE of my projects. I avoided them any way I knew how. Velcro. Snaps. Zippers. When I finally realized I had to just get over my ignorance and learn how to do them right I was shocked and delighted at how easy they really were.

All of this happened at about the same time Brian bought a new sewing machine for me that came with a bunch of odd looking feet. I wanted to learn what each of them were good for. I was fascinated at the thought that a simple foot could make my life a little easier.

In this video I show you how to use the special button hole foot but for those of you who only have a regular foot I also show you how to do it without one. THOUGH, my machine has a drop down lever to create the buttonhole and perhaps yours is different.

To use this video you must have a machine that has a buttonhole setting. Something like a long rectangle. I show you some examples in the video. Here's a great buttonhole foot on Amazon. Make your life a little easier too.

And if you have a technique that you'd like me to feature please leave me a comment.

Cheila's First No Pattern Frock

My friend Cheila of What's Goin Down Episode is so chic. Her house is the perfect mix of 30s charm and artistic flavor, her daughter and Lily get along like peas and carrots and she makes the BEST lunch recipes. It's no wonder I love to visit. So when she asked me to get together and share some pattern making tips I was so there!

She had a couple ideas in mind, but in the end we decided to try and recreate this Anthropologie dress without the side buttons. I wanted to start off with a very basic shape. The dress is just one piece, no separate skirt and top. The Anthro piece is a little more complicated. Aside from the side buttons, the cowl neck is one piece to the shoulders and the seam is at the chest. But to make things easier we went with something very similar and a LOT easier.

Cheila was surprised at how all simple the process was. We just draped the fabric on the dress form, drew lines and CUT.

I tell people that it's actually faster for me to make a pattern of my own than to use someone else's. When you have to use a paper pattern you have to open it up, cut out the pattern, fold back all the extra pieces, pin the pattern to the fabric, then cut. When you're cutting off a dress form, you can see the shape of the finished piece a lot sooner than when you're using a pattern. Sometimes, it gives you more motivation to make it through to the end.

Plus, if you make a muslin first, you have a finished pattern to use again and again. And furthermore, muslin sticks to a lot of other fabrics so no pinning!

Skip to my Lou Handmade Holiday Bake, Craft & Sew Along

Today I'm featured in the Skip to my Lou Handmade Holiday Bake, Craft & Sew Along! It's fabulous. 

30 days. 30 bloggers. 30 Crafts!

And later this morning I'll be posting a little get together I had this weekend with a friend showing her how to make her own patterns.

Flickr Favs

The Sew Convert has been sew prolific! I'm sew jealous. And all her creations are sew darn cute! See top photo. It's a 50s inspired Sabrina Cape Dress. See entire post on her blog.

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Summer Sale

Yesterday, Lily, Molly and I took a shopping trip to the mall. Lily had been begging to go to Build-a-Bear. On Sunday she said, "I told daddy that you had been promising to take me to Build-a-Bear but that you never did and I didn't think you ever will." A flimsy ploy to get me to spend a lot of money. Sure. But it worked.


Realizing her birthday was this week I thought it was the perfect opportunity for such an occasion. So we went, spent over $50 on a stuffed bear with accessories and while we were walking back I noticed a new store for kids, Crazy 8. I've never seen this store before. Perhaps all of you are already hip to it. But they had a great selection of cute clothes all REALLY cheap.

I found the totally cute green and white rickrack polka bikini above for lily, only $7.99. Most stuff is now on sale. Looks like Gymboree's stock but not quite as expensive.

Bad Day Blues

I am just having a poopy day.

My dad was supposed to settle on a house that was only 5 minutes away from mine today and now it looks like that's not going to happen.

I was really looking forward to bringing the girls over and celebrating this afternoon. I even cleaned out my garage and was ready to bring some of their old toys over to keep there.

Ultimately I know it's the right decision for him but man am I feeling down about it.

I'm trying to distract myself from this bad news by working on a sewing project but my swim fabric hasn't arrived yet. I'm also waiting for an ipod nano battery to arrive from Japan and I'm excited about taking the nano apart and using a soldering iron for the first time.

Brian's been working REALLY long hours in Philadelphia which is a four hour commute every day, tomorrow is his only day off and it's really starting to wear on me.

Normally I don't post stuff like this on Grosgrain but it's only available for my Followers and not on my front page (a little html trick I taught myself) I'm just so dispirited, any advice to get me out of this funk? What do you do to lighten a bad day?

Image courtesy of In My Spare Time.

Shabby Apple Boysenberry Pie Apron Guest Giveaway

Can Shabby Apple do no wrong?

Each and every one of their new lines are unique and fun to look at. And their newest addition, Boysenberry Pie, is no exception. It's a collection of retro aprons in colorfully printed poplins, with a perfect mix of nostalgia and mod.
And for one lucky Grosgrain reader, Shabby Apple is offering an apron of their choice. Look cute in curlers. Or over the stove in messy cupcake batter.


Choose from a half size or whole body. Which ever apron best suits your homemaking needs:) I think my favorite is the wildberry pie.

Giveaways can be entered in three ways:
1) By linking (to your blog, facebook, myspace, or any other site)
2) By leaving a comment without a link or
3) By linking and leaving a comment (this will be worth 2 entries which will better your chances of winning). Find more info under the FAQ page.

If you are leaving a link just use the 'create a link' at the bottom of this post or simply creating a post on your blog and including this link.If you use blogger just use the "create a link" link at the bottom of this post. If you don't use blogger, that's fine too. Just create a link on your page as you normally would and I will see it using Technorati.

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Thrift Store Thursday: The Sometimes Less is More Frock

I found this Calvin Klein dress at the thrift store last week for only $1! It was way too long and way too big. I liked the gauzy fabric and matching slip underneath. It has these tiers that are finished off with a white embroidery stitch. You can sort of see them in the close up photos.

I thought it might be nice to make a sash or some sort of ruffle embellishment but when I really thought about it I decided that less was more. The dress had some nice details already and I thought anything else might just end up looking busy so all I did was take in the sides and trimmed the bottom.

Now again let me preface this series with a disclaimer. These are NOT refashions. Or at least I don’t consider them to be. These are simple things that YOU can do to thrift store finds to make them look good. 

There was an invisible zipper in the side of the dress. This makes taking in a dress somewhat trickier. To do fix this thrift store find, first I turned it inside out, pinned it to my body and took it off. But since the zipper was on the side I made a new opening in the back, used the old zipper and sewed it in the back. Then I stitched up the sides that I pinned to my form.

Finally I trimmed the bottom. I didn't even have to add a hem to this dress because each tier is finished off by an embroidery stitch. All I had to do was cut off the last tier.

Super easy!

The Reporter Frock Grosgrain Giveaway

Last week I was inspired to do a bathing suit. I haven't done one since I made one for Lily nearly two years ago. So I bought some material on ebay and waited, and waited and waited. Still no material. So last minute I threw together this dress on Saturday.

Now, I've been liking the black and white with olive green so doing this as a faux skirt and top dress seemed perfect. I thought this looked like something a reporter from the 50s or a secretary from Mad Men would wear, though maybe a little less short. I've been looking at too many Modcloth frocks lately. They are ALL SHORT.

Hopefully the bathing suit can be up next week....if I ever get the fabric.

Giveaways can be entered in three ways:
1) By linking (to your blog, facebook, myspace, or any other site)
2) By leaving a comment without a link or
3) By linking and leaving a comment (this will be worth 2 entries which will better your chances of winning). Find more info under the FAQ page.

If you are leaving a link just use the 'create a link' at the bottom of this post or simply creating a post on your blog and including this link.If you use blogger just use the "create a link" link at the bottom of this post. If you don't use blogger, that's fine too. Just create a link on your page as you normally would and I will see it using Technorati.

Create a Link
If you liked this frock please Stumble Me:

Techique Tuesday: Invisible Zipper Tutorial

I like the way an invisible zipper looks. It's such an easy professional way to finish a garment.

The tutorial is over 13 minutes in total but I try to cover everything including using a zipper foot, an invisible zipper foot and a regular foot. See Part 1 & Part 2.

As I say in the video I recommend using an invisible zipper foot like this one. If you don't have one you can buy one here. You can sew an invisible zipper without one but it makes it SOOOO much easier and faster.

And if there's a technique that's always stumped you or intimidated you just leave me a comment and I'll try to get a tutorial up.

Once Upon a Time....

Ok, this shop is just lovely. And her prices are sooooo really affordable. I'd love to wear on of her long pieces with a simple tank top and jeans and get a million compliments.

Tong, the sweet shop girl behind Once Upon a Time, lives on the sunny island of Singapore trying to eke out a living of what she likes to do in this competitive, saturated fashion market.
As she is running a one man show (not exactly OMS…. she credits her hubby for taking those spectacular pictures), she have limited capacity to create enough products of her own for sale. Therefore sge also sources for other items to be sold in her shop. All her handmade items are sold in Etsy.
Pertaining to her shop name, she doesn’t remember what sparked this idea, but just when she was brainstorming about a unique shop name, she decided that the creation of her accessories would revolve around stories…after all, she would like someone to buy something from her that holds meaning.

This is just her humble beginning… she doesn’t know where the road will lead her to, but she will do things as well as she can.

Visit her at her blog for all her up to date inspiration.

Just a Peek

Well, I didn't get this week's frock finished until yesterday. Saturday is my personal deadline because Brian has to work six days a week now and Saturday is our only time to take photos. BUT, he has promised to come home early tonight just for Grosgrain so look for them on Wednesday. Tomorrow I will be having my weekly series, Technique Tuesdays. We'll be sewing an invisible zipper!

But I didn't want to leave you empty handed today so I'm giving you a sneak peek at this week's Grosgrain original frock.

Oh and I saw Inception this weekend. See what I said about it here.

Baby Boom!

There were so many fabulous flickr sewing projects for babies I just had to share. Top left, knit upcycle, Brown Paper Packages. Top right, mod sailor dress, Happy Together. Makes me want to make something for my little ones which I haven't done in some time.

Speaking of babies, mine's calling out for me so I must be off. See you soon!

Bottom left, To a Pretty Life. Bottom top right, Tuxedo Ruffle Giveaway, Heather Hale Designs. Bottom bottom right, Party Dress, Lottie Lulu.

Thank you.

So okay, you remember how last week I asked if you could vote for my friend Abi in the Crystal Genes contest that offered her free photography for her wedding? Well....SHE WON! No lie. And it was all thanks to her loving friends and of course thanks to YOU!

The fabulous package includes eight hours of shooting with two shooters and the rights to her photography after. Also, a pre-engagement session a couple days before the wedding. It has all been quite generous.

It was close. So close. I was talking with Abi a couple days before the contest and she was lamenting how she didn't think she would be able to pay for the photographers deposit by the due date. Now, she doesn't have to worry about that and I want to thank you for helping her. But Abi says it better so let me share her words with you.

On Monday morning I woke up bright and early.  I had had trouble falling asleep the night before wondering what voting might be going on every minute up until midnight deadline and praying that they might be votes bringing us closer to winning the Crystal Genes Road Trip contest.  At the last minute before leaving the house I checked the website but no results had been posted.  I waited impatiently all morning and into the early afternoon at work waiting to take my lunch break until 2 hoping that the results would be posted by then.  I was just clocking out to rush home and check when Kathleen called.  She said "Did you see the winner?"  I said "I was just going home to check."  She asked "Do you want me to tell you?"  Inside I was preparing myself for disappointment.  I said "Yes."  She said "You won!"  I screamed into the phone and started jumping up and down.  I was elated :)

I am writing this note because I want you to know that I thank each and everyone of you who took time out of your busy days to vote for us.  This means that instead of stressing for the next 11 months over how to pay for the pictures that I desire that it's now taken care of.  I want to thank Kathleen who has been my best friend of almost 20 years for being one of the most supportive friends I have ever had. Thank you so much for opening your blog to help me.  We will be sure to post some pictures to share for anyone who is interested.

Once again thank you all!  Abi.

Thift Store Thursday: The Modern Luau Frock

I tend to sew my Thrift Thursday's on Thursday morning so that's why I tend to post a little late. But that's how fast thrift store finds are to finish, just a few stitches and DONE!

Again, let me preface this series with a disclaimer. These are NOT refashions. Or at least I don't consider them to be. These are simple things that YOU can do to thrift store finds to make them look good.

If found this shirt for $1.50 at the Salvation Army. Yes, it was previously a SHIRT! See below pic. All I did was add a 6" piece of red material at the bottom. It was also a little large so I took it in on the sides.

If you find a great 'tunic' sized shirt at the thrift store, try adding a piece of contrasting material to the bottom. The ones that cinch in the back with a sash are the usually the best.

What I liked about the shirt was that it was a stretchy material. I've been leaning toward stretchy dresses recently. Not because I can't fit into my old clothes but because they're just easier to move in, right?! And since I'm staying at home more often, I have less reason to get all dressed up. But I still like to look nice so knit dresses are currently my new favorite. BUT, unfortunately, a lot of knit things are well....trashy. At least the inexpensive stuff is. So when I come across something that looks nice and is stretchy I consider it to be a good find.

Lawn Frock in Paris

New Paris Shabby Apple Pics of my lawn frock in yellow and green!! Seeing this dress in action is so gratifying. Thank you to all who voted for me! Speaking of voting, I have some very cool news I will announce on Friday.

Bright and sunny, this perfect, pleated frock is ready for summer.  Made of a stretch cotton poplin and decorated with a delicate white cotton piping, this dress is both classy and comfortable. Pair with red wedges for a summer picnic or flat gladiators sandals for a day in the desert.

Green and gorgeous.  Plentiful pleats.  This is made of stretch cotton poplin, zips up the back, cap sleeves and delicate white piping.  Pair with navy platforms or even yellow sandals.

Click though to purchase.

Technique Tuesday: Blind Hem

Look mom no hems!

You know all those settings on your sewing machine that you just ignore because you don't know what they heck they're there for? Well, I thought I'd throw my two cents in and perhaps make periodic technique posts to show you something that you never thought you could do.

When I first started sewing I would look at the bottom of dresses in the stores and wonder what the heck did they do to make that hem? There's like....no stitch! So I did a little online research and found that there's this little thing called a 'blind hem'. And your sewing machine does it for you.

This little trick is great for us short gals who can't find a great fitting pair of pants to save her life. If it's a good price, chances are it's too long. I can't tell you how many Forever 21 pants I've hemmed this way.

If any of you would like to finish your hems with a little more style, try this tutorial below with a piece of scrap material.

The Naiad Frock Grosgrain Giveaway

Are any of you going to any red carpet events soon? If so, perhaps this dress could be for you. I admit, it's not your everyday house frock. It's more of an couture, unusually special occasion frock. But I have to tell you, I thought the end result looked lovely. Could also be good for photo shoots if you are into photography.

The dress is made of fine nylon chiffon, a lot of it, 7 yards to be exact. I gathered the neckline and lower tiers by hand and then I used elastic thread for the fluff at the bottom. It might look like it is see-through but I have sewn a nude colored opaque slip into the dress.

As you can see the dress is sloped to one side. Almost impossible to wear a bra as it dips very low in the back and is one-shouldered. I used packing tape for support (not the best option), but if you used an adhesive bra you might feel better protected. Also, because of its poofy shapelessness I made the dress very short to show off the legs...again please keep in mind that this is NOT an everyday house frock so please no comments about immodesty. I realize, it's showy. Though I should point out....no cleavage:)

The place we took the photos at was quite fortuitous. There's plenty of riverfront but most of it is bordered by thick foliage that you wouldn't want to walk though. Brian and I were looking for a place that was not only accessible but also shallow. We drove up and down a shallow area but couldn't find any definite entrance. So we parked and walked a couple yards (along the roadside, in this dress....yes....people stared).

Then Brian found this really hidden path that looked like it came out of 'The Secret Garden" and we followed it down to a fabulously secluded inlet. The only gross part were the crabs. Gross. I've never seen crabs along the river until then. But the shore was littered with their carcasses AND when I waded in the water I could see them scurrying along the river floor. Super gross.

In Greek mythology, the Naiads (Ναϊάδες from the Greek νάειν, "to flow," and νἃμα, "running water") were a type of nymph who presided over fountains, wells, springs, streams, and brooks.

The Naiad was intimately connected to her body of water and her very existence seems to have depended on it. If a stream dried up, its Naiad expired. The waters over which Naiads presided were thought to be endowed with inspirational, medicinal, or prophetic powers. Thus the Naiads were frequently worshiped by the ancient Greeks in association with divinities of fertility and growth.

A big THANK YOU to Brian for taking the photographs. I'm so lucky to have someone who cares about these things:)

Giveaways can be entered in three ways:
1) By linking (to your blog, facebook, myspace, or any other site)
2) By leaving a comment without a link or
3) By linking and leaving a comment (this will be worth 2 entries which will better your chances of winning). Find more info under the FAQ page.

If you are leaving a link just use the 'create a link' at the bottom of this post or simply creating a post on your blog and including this link.If you use blogger just use the "create a link" link at the bottom of this post. If you don't use blogger, that's fine too. Just create a link on your page as you normally would and I will see it using Technorati.

Create a Link
If you liked this frock please feel free to Stumble Me: