Twilight at Cape Celestia: Project Run & Play White Challenge

Thinking of beaches from other worlds makes me feel... serene, humble, tranquil, curious!  There just aren't words to describe that sort of beauty! After recently watching Thor (I know, I know, go ahead and laugh!), I was reminded of those otherworldly nightscapes.  Oh, Asgard, you are such a beautiful place!!

SO it start out as one of these.  Probably.  I mean, it was a King sized sheet and it was from Ikea, but it was bought a LONG time ago.  I knew right away that I wanted to do something dramatic and I found my inspiration originally from this pin.  I knew this was the ticket. 

I wanted to make it my own though.  How to do it....?  Well, I decided to make it a fishtail dress.  Not just any fishtail dress, but one with a long train (well long enough for a 5 year old to walk around in ;-).  It took me a while to hone in on what I wanted to do for the top.  I had just bought the dye: evening blue and aquamarine liquid rit dye and I had some leftover tangerine from a skirt from a long time ago.  I really wanted a full ombre so I carefully choose how the dye job should be.  Nothing was "winged".  The waistband of the skirt is awesome.  Nothing special except that it is a flat front and since I used the sheet hem, I already had my casing made!  How cool is that!?!

I knew simplicity was the way to go since the skirt was so eye-catching.  I just wanted to recreate a look of a beach at twilight from another from another planet.  I decided the top should be simple and dipped to match the skirt bottom and that it should show the relationship between the crashing waves and the twinkling sky with a heavenly "aurora borealis" feel to it.

I love the way it looks like blue flames or waves crashing.

With all this going on, I decided to make it two pieces so it didn't drag.  I drafted a simple bodice for my skinny mini.  I lined it with this amazing tutorial from Adriana from Crafterhours.  Seriously I highly recommend using it for all your lining needs!!

I soon thought to add a peplum to the top that had the opposite drape of the skirt bottom.  Then I had to figure out a closure for the back and since a regular button wasn't going to cut it, I made my own knotted button.  Works like a charm!

It took a whole day to do the dying.  I ruined lots of the house but I promised I'd clean it up after the dress was finished.   :-)

Look at that mess!

I went ahead and made some ombre bias tape, I mean, why not?!  I've accepted my bias addiction and embrace it fully.  The top needed something... something besides the peplum.  The perfect detail.  

What might you see when you are stargazing at Cape Celestia?  A shooting star of course!!  So I took a circle strip of fabric and accordion folded it and then hand basted the bottom and fanned it out!  Voila, a comet head!  For the tail of the comet, I made a wide cascading ombre ruffle (like the Rainbow Dash dress) and left it to fray in the wind (hahaha) just like a comet might look.  I love the way it shoots up and over the shoulder and down the back!

Shh!  It's tacked that way so it keeps those perfect points! I still thought it needed to look more mermaid-esque so I made more dye bath (since I had prematurely emptied the original stuff) and timed different strips of circles toadd to the top of the peplum and allowed them to just undulate as they pleased and cascade down however they caught their fancy.

White cotton sheet = wrinkle mania.  Seriously!  Short of bringing an iron to Sauvy Island, they were bound to happen.

To make it look "other worldly" I made a special bleach spray and carefully sprayed and blotted the dress.

Would you believe I still have sheet left?!  Craziness!

I really feel happy with the dress...  I got to do something you would normally not get a chance to do:  make a circle skirt with a train (no less) and not a seam to be seen on it!  Try that with woven yardage! 

Okay so tell me what you think everybody!!  

I will be taking a break from PR&P next week since it's boys week and I'm gonna catch up on my Halloween costumes.  They are going to be killer!  Stay tuned!!!

Hugs & Stitches,

Kat