OK, I know I was supposed to actually TALK about this set  yesterday but it was my middle man’s birthday, so I was a bit off track!  Now that his arrival has been celebrated, I can get back down to business! LOL!

First, how did this whole thing start?  Well, I decided to let my customers give me direction!  I feel the need to push outside my comfort zone I’ve settled into, and I thought a little added inspiration from my fans would be perfect!  So, each month, I’ll be running a little jazz over on my Facebook page asking for a one word inspiration (anything from “hope” to “cars”..abstract or concrete).  Then I run it through random.org and whoever that spits out, I use their word for that month’s inspiration.

January was the first month trying this and I have to say, I’m SO SO SO into this!  January’s chosen word was “horses”.  My goal is to make these sets more intricate and detailed than some of the other things I do, to really push my own creativity.  So after mulling it over, I settled on these items for the set:

Once I had the items put together, it was time to decide on exactly what I wanted to do.  First I was going to go in more of a “rodeo” direction, but after looking at rodeo outfits online I just couldn’t get inspired.  Then I was thinking about how skirts in days gone by included a bustle so they could do things like ride a horse more comfortably without their skirts trailing.  Inspiration struck!  I ran to my massive pattern stash and started digging, I knew exactly what the starting point needed to be…and I found it:

Photo Source

Never one to follow a pattern exactly as written, I had to add my own spin.  So I took the same method she used for the drawstring bustle as shown, and continued it around the entire skirt, resulting in 4 bustles total.  Using a coordinating ribbon for the ties, the look was complete.  I cinched my bustles higher because I wanted the bottom fabric to peek through more as well.

Next up, was the shirt.  Like I said, when I started this I was thinking of going in more of a “rodeo” direction, and initially picked out an embroidery design that said something along the lines of “This ain’t my first rodeo”.  Then I thought that didn’t really fit with what I was wanting.  So I stumbled on this horse applique that had the flowers in it’s hair like the horses on the fabric.  Perfect!  I used the shirt pattern I talked about the other day for this as well.  It still seemed a little blah, so I added the ruffled elastic for a little bit of flair.  Done!

Put it together, and you have a look perfect for ANY horse loving little girl!

So there you have it!  The first ever Facebook Fan inspired set by Froggy Girl Designs!  This is a full custom set, currently purchasing info is available on my Facebook page, but I hope to get this listed in my shop in the next few days.  Now I’m neck deep in the boys horse themed set…and I’m LOVING IT!!!  Hopefully I’ll have that ready to show you sometime this weekend!