Altered Cinderella Window Display

Spring is the time when people tend to think of robins, putting away the big coats and getting the gardens primed. Here at The Makery it's also the time of year when we start seeing prom and wedding garments coming in for alterations. Micheline and Johanna are kept busy upstairs in Altered sewing under layers and layers of shimmering tulle, beaded bodices and tailored tuxedo jackets.  With this in mind it seemed only fitting to make a classic Cinderella-themed window display to promote our services!

We had been searching local thrift shops for weeks looking for the perfect dress. It had to posess a bit of timeless elegance and look beautiful in the window (but not be so precious that we couldn't bring ourselves to cut into it).

This baby mouse was the perfect size to crawl up the front of the dress to finish the detailed sequins!

In order to make the mice as life-like as possible we used a wire armature base (like a skeleton) and needle felted around it.

All of our little characters can posed in any position we want, making it much easier for them to happily work away using scissors, needles and thread to make Cinderella's dress perfect for the ball!

 Adding details like soft suede leather ears and tails as well as sewing in shiny beads for eyes and filament whiskers truly gave made the mice more "life". What tailor mouse would be complete without glasses?

 Wire was also sewn into fabic to act as undulating ribbon that the blue birds (which we also needle felted over wire) are in the process of wrapping around the dress.

 So far the display has been a huge hit and has put such smiles on people's faces (including our own). We're offering a workshop on how to make these mice which can read more about in the Workshop section of our website, or check out our Intro to Needle Felting kits to get started with the basic skills.

Keep watching for more of our shop projects and displays coming up!