Alice in Wonderland 150th birthday celebrations and giveaway. Chapter One, A Tea Party

By Victoria As-it-Seams - 04:46

As it Seams has joined the 150th anniversary of Alice in Wonderland celebrations organised by Made by Sara, and has got a little bit carried away. Honestly, this idea has REALLY inspired my sewing mojo.....Welcome to..


Missy in Wonderland by As it Seams... 

Chapter One

(I know, I know... I'm sew loopy)

Take a journey with me and Missy down the rabbit hole....
Where the Mad Hatter's tea party has seen tablecloths spring to life.


Look out for some Alice in Wonderland elements, a tea party, a white rabbit, playing cards, red roses and a little Victorian whimsy....



Once, there was a little girl - and a pile of tablecloths and teacosies beautifully embroidered by the clever seamstresses of the 1930s but left abandoned for decades. 

The little girl's mother bought a bundle of exquisite tablecloths for just a few pounds on a local market. She savaged them with scissors and they were re-born as a pair of dresses.



The little girl was terribly well behaved at the tea party....
A little Victorian lady, in crisp pure linen, with a handdrawn threaded hem, and hand-embroidered yellow daisies.



But then  she ran off into the fields...


while her mother cut up more tablecloths and napkins....



And another dress appeared from fragments of linen and embroidery, and the little girl found herself twirling... and twirling...









Until suddenly she found herself spinning down a rabbit hole....  and another little adventure.... 


To Be Continued,.....



....But you'll have to wait till for Chapter 2 of Missy in Wonderland....Honestly I really have got carried away with this Alice in Wonderland adventure!


Missy in Wonderland - the Credits.



Yellow dress

Fabric - vintage linen table cloth, and hand embroidered tea cosy, lined with vintage sheet, all from Mary's stall, Stroud Shambles Market
Pattern - self-drafted, very loosely based on Hanami dress by Straightgrain, square neckline back and front, invisbile zip


White dress

Fabric - vintage table cloths from Mary's stall, Shambles Market Stroud, pieced with Robert Kaufman chambray, ribbon tie in Artisan Cotton both from Imagine Gnats
Pattern - Ribbon tie dress from Sew Chic Kids Happy Homemade by Tuttle publishing.


Giveaway

These dresses have been created as part of the fantasically fun Alice in Wonderland Series hosted by Made by Sara. All week some of the best seamstresses have created something special.

Take the tour and look around! My dear friend Suz at Sewpony is also taking part today.

Monday July 13th ||  Kid Approved  |  Call Ajaire
Tuesday July 14th ||  Sew Country Chick  |  Feathers Flights  |  StraightGrain
Wednesday July 15th ||  Sewpony  | As It Seams  |  Dotta
Thursday July 16th ||  Boy, oh Boy, oh Boy Crafts  |  Brooklyn Pattern Co.  |  Pienkel
Friday July 17th  ||  While She Was Sleeping  |  My Cozy Co. |  Girl Like The Sea
Sunday July 19th ||  Paisley Roots  |  La Inglesita  |  DoGuincho


And there's also a giveaway with whole packages of patterns to be one from some of the best independent designers... 

Winner #1:
  • 1 pattern of choice from SewPony
  • The Paneled Suit pattern by Designs by Call Ajaire
  • 2 patterns from Paisley Roots
  • 1 pattern of choice form MadeIt 
  • The Bubble shorts pattern by DoGuincho
  • 1 pattern of choice from Brooklyn Pattern Co.

Winner #2:
  • 3 patterns of choice from Jennuine Designs
  • The Ishi Dress pattern and the Jaanu Dress pattern by StraightGrain
  • 1 pattern of choice from Compagnie M.
  • The Mulberry Tunic pattern by Kid Approved

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow on Bloglovin






  • Share:

You Might Also Like

18 comments

  1. THAT is such a beautiful post! Your daughter, the dresses, the story and the photos. Simply beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow Victoria! Loved, loved your post!
    The all idea is absolutely amazing and so are the dresses!
    Can't wait for chapter two!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Marta.... there might even be Chapter 3 ;-)
      The sewing I can do, it's the photogrpahy and editing which take me forever

      Delete
  3. You were inspired indeed Victoria! Wonderful dresses. I particularly love the yellow dress :) Looking forward to seeing more!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a lovely way to use treasured textiles - I have to go look at what I have in my cedar chest!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, can't wait to see what else you came up with. I really love the yellow dress. It's just so perfect. Very, very pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh mine, Victoria! Both dresses are stunning! I love love love the embroidery! The post is beautifully written, as always! ❤️❤️❤️

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is such a brilliant idea! I always drool over vintage linens at sales but I don't really have many places in my home to use them-- I wish re-purposing them as a bodice or skirt panel had occurred to me a long time ago! Thank you- such a fun series! Sarah: crjandsbj(at)netzero(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a wonderful idea! I love the idea of vintage linens, but have resisted buying any because I really don't want to have piles of stuff that never gets used, so this is perfect! Beautiful dresses and photos!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beautiful dresses and a lovely story! Can't wait to see what else you came up with.

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a wonderful post! So creative! The dresses are lovely, can't wait to see what happens next!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I don' t know what to say, both dresses are stunning! I' ve got some tableclothes embroided by my grandmother and great aunt and even though they are not in the best shape I have so far used only one of them to my sewing projects. Thanks for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh how cool!!! Love it Victoria!

    ReplyDelete
  13. That second dress!!! It has the best shape - so cloud like. I really adore it and can't wait for installment two ;)

    ReplyDelete
  14. I really love how you're crafting something new from older, hand-made things. I have a pile of my mother's old hankies with embroidery on them (who would blow their nose on embroidery anyway) and I've cut up a few of them and worked them into a table runner. I love it and now I can recall memories as I look at this runner rather than having them sit in a drawer. Missy is beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  15. What a beautiful dress, I really love the yellow one! I bet it was a great tea party :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. There are some beautiful designs here. Fingers crossed x

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. I love hearing from you, and try to reply as often as I can, either here or by email. All views, tips, gratefully received...
Victoria