Kari Mecca of Kari Me Away

Where do I start?  I have made so many of Kari's dresses, as well as taught them, that I feel I could make them blindfolded.  They are just so girlie!  And my granddaughters LOVE how full they are!  The dresses in her first book, I could teach over and over...and even sell...which I have,  with Kari's permission of course.  I will only show a 'few' of the dresses that I have made out of that first book as there are too many outfits to count.  If I have any complaint at all it's that the armholes on some of those dresses were a little big.  To compensate for the larger openings, I simply made a couple of 'dickies' and sewed them just inside the armhole .  No one ever noticed.  Kari is a genius at creativity.  Between her use of bullion stitches, whimsy sticks and ideas when using rick rack, she never ceases to amaze me with the things that she comes up with.  Embellishment is definitely Kari's strong point and THAT is what I love!  I can't help but give Kari an A for her passion for creativity....BUT not for beginners.  Thanks for your constant inspiration Kari!

Kari's first book:

Her second book.  This doesn't even include all of her singe patterns.  Incredible!

Just a few of the many, many dresses that I have made from that first book!
Take a little creative license and change the dresses up a bit for a different look!

It's difficult to see, but I embroidered a pair of sunglasses on the bodice of the dress down below... I knew the family spent a lot of time at the beach.

This is one of the first dresses in the book and I loved making it.  Take note, I rarely make any pattern exactly like the directions tell you to.  I always have to make each project 'mine' so I change it up just a bit. I added embroidery to these dresses below...and to all of the other ones I made using this design as well.

The one above needed a purse!

This is the dress that had the larger armhole,  I don't think by adding the 'dickie' or even the ties in the back compromised the design of the dress whatsoever.  I also cut a large piece of the brown silk, gathered it up and tacked it down like a cumber bun.  Once the piece was securely tacked down,  I glued crystals on top of those two stitching lines.  It was beautiful.  I'm thinking my granddaughter liked her dress don't you?  She danced the night away....pretty cute.

A few pictures of projects from Kari's second book:

I LOVE the shorts.  Until we meet again...;-)