Asymmetrical balance: To me, one of the most interesting principles of design. My eye loves asymmetry.

I couldn’t wait so see the asymmetrical masterpieces that these talented women were going to create and I definitely wasn’t disappointed.

Now it’s your turn to vote for your favorite asymmetrical design. Be sure to vote at the bottom of the post. After you click on your favorite, click on the vote button so your vote will be counted.

Have fun!!!!

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Let’s check in and see what Gema from Sequins and Slippers has created for us this week:

“*So*… I really can’t believe I got through to the final four. I am amazed
to be at this stage, with these three incredibly creative women. I have to
say that this has been a fabulous personal challenge for me, and to get
better acquainted with all the other seamstresses has been a real treat.
I’ll miss opening that Saturday e-mail… but before saying our goodbyes, I’m
excited to see the last in the projects, and all the work that went into
them!

I approached this asymmetrical challenge in a slightly different way than
the others I’d done before. I wanted to incorporate more of an haute
couture feel to the work, and create something special – to celebrate this
unique event in my sewing journey. Although the machine was still a part of
bringing it all together, there was a lot of hand sewing in the details…
and being that I started with a shower curtain… I figured it would probably
need a lot of work to look ‘special’!

I chopped the flamingos from the blue part, and set about experimenting
with the two halves…

That was fine, and I was happy with both looks – but the problem was going
to be getting in and out of the dress! I couldn’t just wrap myself up in
material, and cut myself out of it later! (much as I would have liked!) So
I found a great dress in my refashioning pile, and set about using that
like a ‘corset’, to strengthen all the shower curtain work that would go
over it… I couldn’t wear it anyway, as my lower half is FAR too big for it!!

I started by cutting the bodice off the blue dress, and pinning the shower
curtain to it, creating darts as I went, sewing onto the dark blue dress
underneath.

I then used the remaining light blue shower curtain fabric to create a
ruffle. I did this by folding at regular intervals, and cutting in half
lengthways, before attaching to the neckline, again understitching by hand…

I then played about with the skirt, and decided the maxi skirt was a bit
too… serious… for the top half, so set about making a bubble hem. As the
fabric was so lightweight, but fairly strong (100% polyester), I sewed it
up at regular intervals – creating a very long hem inside, that naturally
made the skirt sit away from the body.

I then sewed the skirt onto the bodice, again understitching by hand so it
would be invisible, and created one small final ‘closure’ with Velcro. If I
hadn’t done that, I would have had to sew myself in! So by leaving a small
gap, and only sewing around to the zip, the skirt was both secure and kept
my leg hidden. Apart from in the wind, of –course, and there’s plenty of
that here!!

I took these photos near Richmond hill, it’s somewhere I like to cycle to,
with a perfect view of the Thames, and wild deer roaming around the park… I
hope we get at least another day of sunshine here so I can do just that.
Although having said that, my dress is shower proof… 😉

I have loved every moment of this challenge, loved creating pieces I
wouldn’t have ordinarily made, and loved meeting other like-minded women.
Just. Fabulous.

Thank-you for having me!

Gema x

p.s. In the interests of brevity, I’ve left a fair bit out – you can read
the ‘unabridged version’ on my blog!”

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Now, let’s see what Sarah from Life is Beautiful has been creating this week:

“As we come to a close of this wonderful competition of Refashion Runway, I’d like to thank Beth for hosting and answering my endless emails. I was probably the most high-maintenance contestant with my incessant emails! But she was always so quick to respond and patient in answering each of my questions. I think she’s going to really miss my emails after this is over, right Beth? 😉

I’d also like to share a few things with you that I’ve learned throughout this competition. Refashion Runway has brought out some of the worst in me, of me feeling insecure, jealous, envious, and comparing my talents and skills with the other talented contestants. I’ve never been in a competition before and I didn’t realize how passionate and competitive I could be! I am usually good at not comparing myself to others since if I see someone on Pinterest doing the most adorable crafts with their kids, I think to myself, I never do crafts with my kids… but I do cook dinner every night! I know their strengths are my weaknesses and their weaknesses are my strengths. So it isn’t fair to compare my weakness to someone else’s strengths. But each week with this competition, I measured my project with the others and I was always putting mine down, such as I wish I had changed this to this instead, I wish I had more time to sew(each project except this last one-because I finally learned my lesson after 5 challenges, I literally didn’t start sewing until 4-5 pm. on the day it was due until 8 pm., and then frantically took pictures before it got dark, and submitted it that night), I wish I was a better seamstress, I wish I could put sewing as my highest priority right now(I’ve been dealing with some family matters lately, and I have 3 little kids, need I say more?), I wish I was more creative, why do I always just use the original piece and that piece only to get the final result instead of adding other items like the other contestants? etc.

But I’ve realized the biggest competitor in this challenge is not the other women, it is myself. I also decided to shift my attitude to feeling gratitude, respect & happiness towards my contestants’ talents & awards instead of comparing myself and feeling jealous, because they’re doing me a favor, they’re helping me to push myself and be better than where I am at now, instead of me feeling unmotivated and comfortable where I am at. So instead of viewing the other talented ladies as contestants, I now view them as friends, friends who have helped me to push myself and become a better seamstress.

So if I finish this competition more skilled and refined as a seamstress than I was before, I will have beat myself, my biggest competitor. And that makes me and all my friends a winner in my book.

Okay, now let’s look at my last challenge, the Asymmetrical Challenge, shall we?

BEFORE:

 This dress used to be a faded light pink. I wanted to make it blush pink so not thinking too much of it, I grabbed the Petal Pink Rit Dye and poured half of the bottle(per instruction) and soaked the dress.

But it turned into like a Barbie pink! So I went to the store again to buy the color remover and after researching how to make blush pink(you need petal pink + lemon yellow), I put it through the wash cycle. Well, it didn’t remove or lighten the color one bit! So freaking out a little bit, I poured a ton of bleach in water(1:1 ratio) and thankfully the color started to come off.

I was able to dye it into a blush pink finally. I poured 1 T. petal pink + 1/3 T. lemon yellow in a big bowl.

Then I went to the store the 3rd time to get a zipper. So while I started working on this dress this past Tuesday, I didn’t actually start sewing(since the dyeing process took a lot longer) until 4 pm. on Friday, the day it’s due. The story of my life!

I took apart this dress and reconstructed the whole thing. I cut out the zippers, cut the dress in half diagonally, added darts on the bodice and the skirt. took several inches off the sides of the bodice and the skirt,

I used the suit and the extra fabric from the skirt to make the ruffle floral design. My dress is linen which frays a lot so I used fray check to put it around the edges of each ruffle and after it dried, I cut the fray off with the scissors, to get the smooth, fray-free ruffles.

AFTER:

Craftsmanship wise, this dress is the best out of all of my projects for Refashion Runway. The fit is perfect since I deconstructed every part and made my own pattern that fit my body perfectly. I am a perfectionist when it comes to sewing and am very hard on myself but I can proudly say this dress is well made! And the true color is shown in the last 4 pictures, it’s a very pretty blush pink. It took me 4 tries and re-dyes to get to this perfect shade of pink I was looking for.

So there it is. My last project for this competition. It’s a sweet-bitter feeling! Thank you so much for letting me stick around this far and thank you for going along this journey with me. I’d love to have you visit my blog Life is Beautiful to see more of my upcoming DIY projects. Tootles! Can you tell my 2 year old is watching Mickey Mouse right now? Okay, I am just lingering now because I don’t want to say goodbye… Okay, I will do it for real, goodbye. :)”

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And finally, let’s see what Kara from While Camden Sleeps has been busy creating for us this week:

“So I have a confession to make, for every challenge I go a little on the
crazy side and research everything. I think it’s the teacher in me. I
look up definitions, histories, and scour Pinterest like there’s no
tomorrow. For some reason, everything I loved during my asymmetrical
research, was a formal dress. So I might have gone a little more crazy and
made one for myself. I’ve always wanted to, but never had a reason or the
motivation until this competition. And don’t you dare think I won’t find a
reason to wear it, I’ve already thought of a few:

–An Oscar Party at my house (good excuse to throw a party)
–On formal night on cruise (also a good reason to go on a cruise, so
win-win)
–As a formal dance dress for my younger sisters
–Halloween as a costume
–Around the house, you know, to feel extra special
–If I ever get invited to the White House
–If I want to get super fancy at a ballet or symphony

So basically, this dress is going to help me throw a party, go on a cruise,
celebrate Halloween, clean my house, meet the president, and attend a
cultural event. Thank you, dress!

This refashion began with a tiny slip dress from the 1990s. And I mean
really tiny. The tag says it’s a size 1. Is that even a size? I thought
all sizes were even. Needless to say, the dress did not fit me. I
couldn’t zip 3/4s of the zipper. You’ll see that I’m holding it, not
wearing it in the before picture. I got this for free at the same swap
meet I got the robe from last week’s Boho Chic Refashion.

According to the definition given by Google, asymmetrical means, “having
parts that fail to correspond to one another in shape, size, or
arrangement; lacking symmetry.” I just assumed that it meant if you drew a
line through the middle, the sides would not match. To add more of an
asymmetrical element, I decided to use another item for the bottom half of
the dress. That way the material wouldn’t correspond. I found a petticoat
at Savers and knew it would be perfect. The only problem was that it was
very white, and my dress was cream. Because most of it was polyester, I
knew from experience that dye wouldn’t work on it. So I added one layer of
gold tulle I had in my stash (this is okay to do according to Refashion
Runway rules–I checked.)

The hardest part was sizing up the dress. It took hours to retrofit the top so that I could actually zip it. I ended up replacing the zipper with a longer one, adding a higher back, and cap sleeves. I also cut the bottom of the dress in a diagonal to add to the asymmetry, and took it in for less of an a-line and more of a mermaid fit. Here’s some of the alterations
diagrammed below:

I also know from past experience that spray paint is actually very usable
on clothing, it’s permanent, and you can even wash the item. I got a
gorgeous black lace dress from Savers that was too big, it was priced very
well because there was also a lot of damage to the lace. I realized the
lace would need to be stroner in order to last on the dress, I also didn’t
want to have the stark contrast between white and black. That’s why I
decided to spray paint it gold. That gave it the reinforcement while also
lending it a beautiful antique gold color. I plan on using the rest of the
gorgeous lace in another refashion later! It will not be wasted!

Lastly, I cut two of the flowers from the lace and placed some earrings
through them to make matching earrings. Then added an asymmetrical
hairstyle. I considered doing two different eyeshadow colors, but that
would just get weird.

Special thanks to my sister, DeAnna, from DeAnna Adele Photography for
taking my “after” pictures. I’ve taken all of my own pictures for this
competition and last week it took me 3 hours! It was so nice to not have
to use the tripod and remote, plus, she’s amazing.

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Ok, so now it’s your turn.

Vote for your favorite Asymmetrical Refashion in the poll below. Make sure you click both your favorite and the vote button so your vote will be counted.

The winner will be announced next Saturday.

See you then!

Beth