You belong with me, you're my sweetheart - The Lumineers

Wow, can you believe that it's almost Thanksgiving already? I feel like it's been ages since the last time I've posted something. I have many new sewing projects that I need to show on here. I made this dress earlier this summer, but I just now got around to photographing it. It's made from a printed chiffon that I bought from Wal-mart. I drafted the pattern using my own measurements. I wanted to experiment with creating a ruffle skirt since I've never made one before. I only had 1.5 of a yards of fabric though, which wasn't enough to make a full gather skirt; so instead, I sewed the skirt together using elastic thread in order to create the effect of a ruffle. I shirred the waist and the raw edges were finished off using bias tape which was made from the same chiffon fabric.

Well on another note, I finished collecting all of my work together for my portfolio. I've been working on it for months and it feels so good to finally have everything together and it's finally ready for college applications. I've narrowed my decision down to four colleges. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Fashion Institute of Technology, Parson the New School for Design, and Pratt Institute. I'll be applying to their fashion design programs.

I'll post my final portfolio sometime this week for you to see (: There are about 60 projects in my full portfolio, but there's a specific number that each college wants me to send so I've had to narrow it down quite a bit. I'm hoping that I've done enough work and that the colleges will like everything. I'm so nervous so wish me luck!

Also last week was my monthly sewing tutorial over on the Drifter and the Gypsy. The tutorial was on bias tape and you can check it out here.

I hope the middle of your week is going well and that you're having a lovely evening!

Etsy Shop Opening & Giveaway

Well my etsy shop with clothing is now finally open! Yayyy! You can check it out here.

Right now I've only listed about half of the clothing that will be available in my shop, but I will be posting more soon. I've just been so busy with college applications, that I've only had time for this many right now. Hopefully within the next month or two I will be able to add more items to my shop. I'll be sure to keep you updated when I do :)

***Giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Ashlyn!***

In order to celebrate I decided to do a photo giveaway! The winner will be randomly selected to receive a photography print of their choice from my shop, or one that I have taken and posted on my blog. All you have to do is write a comment with your name, the name of your favorite guilty pleasure song, and your e-mail address. I’ll randomly select a winner on Sunday (the 28th) and if it’s you I’ll contact you with all the information. Thank you everyone for being so supportive of me and my work!

Happy Wednesday!

Etsy Shop Sneak Peek:

Here are a couple sneak peek images of the clothes I made that will be for sale in my Etsy shop. I have been photographing clothes for my Etsy shop literally all day! Hopefully they’ll all be up for sale by sometime next week :)

I hope you're having a wonderful Saturday!

Early Morning Butterfly Catching

Here’s a dress that I designed and made back in August. I fell in love with this fabric from the first moment I spotted it. There's just something that's so much fun about a bold print dress. When I was drafting the pattern I had the 1950s in mind, because nothing says 1950s more than a fitted bodice with full and flirty, gathered, skirt. The dress is made from a light linen and is fully lined with an invisible zipper in the back. There are hidden pockets in the side (I'm a sucker for pockets) and pleating detail on the bottom of the skirt.

I was so excited when a while back Micaela Hoo of the Drifter and The Gypsy asked me to be a contributing sewing/DIY columnist for her new website that she just launched. This first tutorial is on making horizontal pleats like in the dress that I made in this post. You can check out the tutorial here.

If you have any type of a sewing tutorial that you'd like to learn either comment or send me an e-mail and I'll see about making a tutorial (:

I hope that you're all having a wonderful Wednesday so far!

P.S. This dress will be for sale in my Etsy shop next week along with my Wildflower Print Dress and others that I haven’t shown yet.

Where I don't Feel Alone - For Daniel

(It looks better if you go to Vimeo and watch it from there).


Where I don't Feel Alone from Esther Boller on Vimeo.

On May 28, 2012, my brother Daniel died by suicide.  At age sixteen he was diagnosed with Schizophrenia.  For five years he went in and out of psychotic episodes multiple times.  During the final episode he decided life was too much and he wanted peace from the torment of his mind. 

Soon afterwards I began wondering what would’ve happened if he hadn’t ended his life; what would he be like in 10 – 15 years from now?  He made his decision and was ready to leave this earth, but I wanted to create a situation in which that wouldn’t have happened.  I wanted to make an imaginary flash forward to the future and maybe what it would’ve been like if he hadn’t killed himself.  I hope that he would’ve been happy and found a passion that he loved and worked towards becoming great at.

I’ll never know what my brother would have been like in the future, or if he would have found happiness that would have prevented him from committing suicide.  Although, I hope with my whole heart that in heaven he found peace, happiness, and freedom from his suffering.

This entire piece was a self-filmed production. 

Music: To Build a Home - The Cinematic Orchestra.
Older dancer: Mia Bendele - En Croix (Homeschool Ballet) Dance Fort Wayne.
Younger girl: Me

Wildflower Print Dress

Hello everyone! Here's a dress that I made just last week. I made it using the Vogue 1152 pattern with some minor changes made to the design. I didn't care for the original sleeves so I drafted my own petal style sleeves to give the dress more of a whimsical feel. I also added a lace inset to the front of the dress. Overall it was a really easy dress to make and I really enjoyed making it.

In other areas of creating, I've been working on a video ever since the summer first began, and it's now in the final stages of being finished. I'm hoping that I'll have time to post it sometime next week. I'm a little nervous though, because it's something that tells a very personal story. It's also different from what I normally post, so I'm hoping that you'll still like it.

Well, I hope that you all had an amazing week and are enjoying the start of your weekend!

Summer Flying into Fall

Oh wow, it feels like it’s been forever! How was your summer? What was your highlight? I always love hearing everyone’s summer plans (:

My summer just flew by way too fast. I started school last week and it has been going non-stop. I’m applying to different colleges this fall and it’s been so time consuming. Right now I’m just organizing all of my art work that I have done over the years. My room looks like a bomb went off, but instead of shrapnel being everywhere; drawings are spewed in every corner of my room. Haha.

This is a dress that I made way back in December. I just now got around to photographing it. It's fully lined, has a key hole in the front and an invisible zipper in the side. I have so many clothes that I made this summer and hopefully I’ll have time to photograph them sometime soon.

I hope that you’re having a spectacular day, and if you have time, I'd love to hear about your summer (: