Put on Your Highheel Sneakers....

Okay, so these are not high heel sneakers, but ever since my daughter who is now 10 had some beaded pink high top sneakers that she had as a 3 year old, I have been wanting a pair of my own.  One funny story, we were on a trip back from Grammy's house, and as we are boarding the plane, my then 3 year old daughter says to me, "The stewardesses are going to love my shoes!"  Sure enough, walking to our seats, one of the flight attendants tells my daughter she loves her shoes and do they come in her size.

I went out and bought my own pair of Converse sneakers after my 10 year old daughter bought a black pair with bright green laces.  I had the option of white, red or black.  White just seems to be asking for trouble, who can keep a pair of white shoes clean?  I thought about red, but went with the black.

I then tried to figure out what I would want to bead onto the sneakers.  I went with the old standby of  a floral theme.  Here are my design sketches for the shoes.

Next, I wanted to have an outline to follow on the shoes.  A trick my mother taught me she learned from an old quilter was to use slivers of soap to draw a design onto dark fabric.  It works like a charm.  What I learned pretty quickly is that I have less room on the shoe for the design than I had on paper despite the fact that I drew it to the exact size on the paper.  

I wanted to cover up  the insignia, so I went with bright red and blue on the center.  This was the hardest part to bead because of the thick coating of plastic used to print the insignia.  However, if your hands are strong you can use a thimble or a pair of small needle nose pliers to push and grab the needle.

 I haven't quite finished beading both shoes.  I have finished one shoe, and have almost finished the inside of the other with another new design.  My daughter suggested I bead on four different designs. Here are photos of the first shoe that is now completed.  Once I finish the second, I will take a photo of me wearing my crazy shoes, which, by the way, my 13 year old son says I ruined.  Although my daughter has asked to wear them as soon as she can wear my size, which won't be long since she is already in a size 7 1/2 women's!

A Dress a Year?

I cut out this Alabama Chanin camisole dress sometime last year I believe, but maybe it was more than a year ago.  In any case it has been sitting a very long time.  I decided that I needed to finish it so I could wear it this spring.  I bought the new book, Alabama Studio Sewing and Design,  just a couple of months ago.  I think it is the best of the three.  Once I saw this book, I knew I had to finish my dress.  Nathalie has a lot of lovely photographs and a beautiful section on embellishing.  We have a wonderful bead shop in our town, so I went and bought some beads for embellishing.  

I beaded a Cretan Stitch on the neckline binding.  I am still debating about beading more around the neckline.  There is a lovely T-shirt  she shows in the book and online that is beaded around the neckline.  I am still debating, but may add more beads to have it look like the T-shirt.

I used a plain Cretan stitch on the sleeves.  Because I can only get buttonhole thread in white, black and sometimes red, I have found that if I use a Gutermann silk buttonhole thread I have access to a lot more color choices.  I love the silk thread, and it is fairly easy to sew with.  I find it does twist and tangle just a bit more than the cotton buttonhole, but I love the sheen it has.  I felled all the seams to the inside.  

I really like this dress, however, if I were to sew another one, I think I would sew it again with less flair in the skirt.  Overall, I am very happy with it, and will wear it when it gets nice and hot.