Easter dresses

I made Easter dresses for my cousins last weekend!  They haven't seen them yet.  I hope they like them!

Big Bows

I love the big bows that are in style right now!  I decided to make a few of my dresses with bows!

One shoulder dress!

I worked on the one shoulder dress for 3 days and I couldn't figure out how to make it fit under the arm without the shoulder.  It was driving me crazy and then all of the sudden I thought of a new way to try it.  I cut it out, sewed it up and it worked!!

More dresses!

Dresses for M Boutique!

Here are the first dresses I made for the boutique!

The label

I knew I had to make a label to sew into the dresses.  I hadn't thought about labels or a name since I was only making dresses for my friends and myself.  

I first had to make up a name to put on a label.  My first name is Molly, but I didn't want the label to just say Molly.  My initials are MRS, so I thought I wanted to play off that.  I was thinking Mrs.  All of my friends liked that idea too.  I thought I was settled! 

My cousin is a graphic designer.  I knew I wanted him to design the label.  I called him and told him I wanted the label to say Mrs.  He said that sounded like an old lady.  He had seen my dresses and was one of the main people to encourage me to actually pursue this.  He didn't think the age group buying my dresses would buy something with Mrs. on it.  I told him every girl wants to get married and I still like the idea.  I thought about it and decided he knows more than me, so I'm changing it.  

I asked my mom to send me all the family names she could think of on her side and my dad's side.  She has a large family, so I had lots of names to choose from.  My friends and I sat around one night and tried all kinds of combinations of the names from the list.  After several hours, we finally decided on Ellen and Ollie.

Ellen was my great aunt and Ollie was her husband.  She lived down the street from my grandparents, so we were very close with them.  I can always remember Ellen sewing.  I thought this is perfect.  I have always been told stories about how incredible of a seamstress Ellen was.  I can't think about Ellen without thinking about Ollie.  The names just flow together.  Ellen and Ollie was officially the name chosen!

The beginning

I started making dresses in July 2008.  The first dress I made was way too big and it is now a bathing suit coverup.  The second dress I made was also 3 sizes too big.  The third dress finally fit!  And that is how it all began.

I ended up making 16 dresses in July and I couldn't stop.  I wore one to my favorite boutique at home and the owner loved it!  When she found out I made it she immediately asked me how much I was selling it for.  I was shocked.  I of course said I can't sell these, no one would buy this.  I was about to go back to school for the fall, but I told her I would keep working on the dresses to make them more presentable and buyable.  

I did not have my sewing machine for the first part of fall semester.  I was taking 17 hours and I didn't want to be distracted by sewing.  I was constantly thinking up new dresses since I couldn't actually make them.  Finally, about 2 months into the fall semester, I brought my sewing machine to school (actually my mom's).  I started making dresses for my friends.  I also got time to make the seams look good on the outside as well as the inside.  

When I came home for Thanksgiving.  I talked to the boutique owner and we decided to sell the dresses for the spring.  I was so excited!!!