Born into this? I believe we all enter this world with something that gives us a little sparkle in our eyes. It’s something that motivates us to keep wanting more, to charge ahead and create meaning. For me this has always been the art of fashion and I’m about to share my secret. So sit back, relax and keep reading as I welcome you to my inspiration destination!

One of my favorite things to do on Friday or Saturday nights is sit on my laptop and do research on color, style, fabric and time period garments. My Pinterest page is where I find and collect inspiration. Here I can see if my project idea has been done, overdone, a current trend or undiscovered. It educates me on fabric versus silhouettes and many times it inspires more than one design.

Here are a few of the inspiration photos Pinterest has inspired in 2018.  I already owned the large polka dot print when I started this search.

All of the inspiration photos are saved on my Dresses that Inspire Me Pinterest board.

This look was inspired by classic black and white photos in my Tear Sheets Pinterest board. Tear sheets are photos that inspire photoshoots. They can be design, posture, background, lighting, scenes or just a feeling the photo gives you. Here, I was thinking large and loud.

Inspired by a Frida Dress. This is my interpretation of the original.

It can be more than one picture that inspires a creation. These were 1940s sleeves, a bodice and length that inspired this dress.

Interested in clothing as art? Check out my Surrealist Ball Inspiration board. I hope to make something for next years ball from the images collected.  Check out the page for more information on the Surrealist Ball in Dayton, Ohio.

I have a board for most of my interests including: class ideas, embroidered clothing, studio stet ups, patterns I love, up-cycle t shirt ideas, swimwear and many more.

Pinterest is also good for finding “look a like” photos with the feature, “Visually Similar Results” button found in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. With one click I can see all the other designs that look like this. It’s so cool that it blows my mind each and every time.

Pinterest can be a great tool to share a contributing board with your client or friend to narrow down silhouette and style ideas.

Over the weekend I finished 3 more drama dresses that I can’t wait to share.

Behind the Scenes~

2018 sewing goals, what I did right and what I did wrong. I built my sewing skills and really pushed myself, but I spent way too much money on fabric. I watched hours of sewing videos and listened to lots of small business audiobooks. Creating mindful projects was a complete and utter failure. To try and succeed this year I will stay out of the big box stores, shop more Indie fabric instead and put myself on a budget. I plan to get out from behind the machine more and meet with people to network and enjoy life. I always learn so much from spending time with other folks that are striving to live their best life as well.

 

My Sewing Basics class sold out last week. These two were best friends that took the class together. Everyone was so nice and happy to have learned how to trouble shoot their machines with confidence.

Thank you for reading,

Dream It! Sew it!

Tracy McElfresh

Tracy McElfresh
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