Project Run and Play Sew Along Week 4: Signature Look

I've been quiet because I've been sewing in practically every spare minute this month!  I've been thinking about my signature look.  I asked my family to describe my sewing in 3 words if they could.

One son said, "Vintage, girlie, bright."
One son said, "Old school, dresses, fabric."
My husband said, "Cute, little, classic."  He later changed classic to vintage.
and little Miss said, "I don't know."  The question might still be a bit esoteric for her.  "Then she said, "I like it when you let me pick the fabric."

I often ask her input on fabric because if she doesn't like it then there's not much point in sewing it up, is there?  But, really, the opinion I value the most is my youngest son's.  He really has an eye for colors and mixing prints/textures.  When I can't make up my mind, I'll bounce the ideas off of him and he's always right.  Every time.

When I was making the apron dress, I knew I wanted to use Sarah Jane's Out to Sea line, but I was having a difficult time figuring out which pattern to put where.  He suggested the yellow stripe for the top and he nailed it!  You see, my creative process is that I see a fabric and I fall in love with it.  The fabric inspires me and the creation that it becomes is based on the print.  Starting with a pattern is difficult for me.  I almost always start with the fabric.

So, my signature look?  I love a fun print.  I really do.  I love making dresses (and Little Miss loves wearing them!).  I am greatly inspired by vintage fashion and I like a clean, simple silhouette.  So, this week definitely showcases a fun print :)

It was very cold and rainy during out photoshoot.  She was unhappy to have a shot without the cape.

This week's look has been bouncing around my head for a while.  It's been there since I saw the most amazing fabric I've ever laid my eyes on!  Tula Pink's Octo Garden in Aqua.  Seriously, I almost passed out when I ran across it.  What is not to love about an octopus damask in one of my favorite colors?  Lucky for me, Little Miss approved!

Inspired by the fabric, I knew I had to have a gathered waist dress.  I knew it needed ruffles.  I also knew that I wanted some crisp lines to break up the print so it didn't overwhelm my model, so I accented with a medium grey on the collar and the waist and then closed it up with a grey contrast band at the bottom.

For a little extra fun, I added an iridescent ripple fabric to the inside of the tulip sleeve.  It doesn't show up really well in the photos, but it catches the light in person just enough to make you do a double take.  I love adding just a little pop of something unexpected.

I think that something else that adds to my signature look is that I like to make things in sets.  Just a dress isn't usually enough for me.  For week one, I kept it simple, but I made two matching pieces.  Week two, I made two matching accessories to pull the look together.  Week three, I made a 4 piece suit (I'm seeing a pattern emerging).  There are not 5 pieces this week, don't worry!  But, I didn't stop at just a dress.  I made a matching cape with detachable collar and ear muffs and an aqua tulle underskirt and a belt.  Wait, that is six pieces.  I assure you, it was not planned!  In fact, I originally intended to use the pettiskirt I made ages ago for under this dress, but I thought the blue tulle just complimented it so nicely that I decided it needed a tulle underskirt instead.

The collar and the under skirt and belt all are separate pieces.  I like the variety and it also means she can wear the pieces with other outfits that she has.  I think the fur collar will be darling with her cardigans and the tulle skirt will be nice with several of her cooler colored dresses if I want something dressier than the cotton pettiskirt.

The dress is a drafted bodice and I modified the Tinny sleeve to be a tulip sleeve.  The skirt is just a simple gathered skirt.  Although, after drafting my own bodice, I realized it's almost identical to the Tinny bodice and I love the fit of that pattern so, I guess you could call this a flipped Tinny!

Tulip sleeves are so forgiving since the pieces overlap.  You can't really set them in wrong.  I did sew my first one upside down and I had the overlap facing backward instead of forward so I had to unpick the seam and sew it back in the right way and the overlap was still the wrong way.  I fixed it and proceeded to do exactly the same with other sleeve.  I think I'd been sewing too long!

I added a cape because I wanted something warm to coordinate with the dress.  I had some rabbit hanging around and I thought it would be fun to add a fur collar and I threw in earmuffs too since Miss had been asking me for a pair for quite some time.  She likes that she can wear the collar with anything that strikes her fancy.

Here is the cape and dress without the accessories.  Nice clean lines and a pop of color.

and the back :)  The dress is about a size too big because I felt she had enough things in her closet that fit right now.  I went up a size so this one would last a little big longer.  Cape's are very forgiving in fit, so I know the cape will fit as long as the dress does.

Earmuffs and no collar.  She LOVES these earmuffs!

All the pieces together.

Here are some close up shots of the details.

The cape is grey twill, lined with aqua baby whale corduroy.  It's warm but still has some drape to it without being too stiff.

The collar ties together in the front the same way that the cape does.  I liked the underside of the collar with the octopus print fabric.

Cape and collar together.

The earmuffs have an octopus on each side and lace that matches the collar and the cape.

The dress has six iridescent buttons down the back and a lace placket.

One more shot of the tulip sleeve which is lined with an iridescent ripple fabric.  You can see the buttons and the lace in the background.

Project Run and Play Sew Along: Mad for Plaid

Click on the photos to view them larger.

Well, I did it. I cut into the beautiful plaid wool. Thanks to everyone for the encouragement on the last post.  It was so wonderful to sew with! It seems I'm mildly allergic to wool; my arms have a little rash on them. It's completely worth it, though.

Instagram photos are full size.

This week's Project Run and Play theme is Mad for Plaid.  I happened to have some lovely wool yardage calling my name.  Serendipitous?  I think so.  This week, I went all out and made a four piece outfit.  There is a jacket, a shirt, a skirt with suspenders and a matching cap.  I also got a crash course in working with vintage patterns.  I'm also going to add that I made most of this on the weekend.  Why?  Probably because I'm a sucker for punishment.

Unlike the previous vintage pattern I sewed, this pattern had very minimal instructions.  The pattern was also much more detailed.  Between the lack or directions and the odd shaped pattern pieces, I had a lot of fiddling to do.  The pattern pieces had holes in them for markings (all different sizes) which I had to mark and then match up later.  Once I figured out which hole was for what part, it all made sense but it was a long process.  My muslin had many strangely placed darts and I might have dulled my seam ripper.

Everything you need to know about installing a lining.

A text message conversation with my wonderful aunt and, suddenly, everything fell into place.  The other pieces had fewer holes and starting with those helped me understand what all of this meant.  There are 4 holes to indicate darts, 4 holes for pocket placement, holes for seam allowance, collar placement AND where to cut for the lining (this was the one that really had me stumped).  If you break it down, it's really not as scary as it looks.

Through this process, I made my first lined jacket and my first darts.  In my opinion, the darts look perfect, but I think the wool's forgiveness has a lot to do with that.   I also learned a few things about construction that I plan to use later in pattern drafting, like the clever way they made the lapel.

The skirt is interesting.  It has snaps to hold closed the opening on the side and it called for a hook and eye closure but I chose to use a larger snap for ease of getting off and on.  The directions merely said "face opening and sew on snaps" with a drawing so I pretty much had to wing it and, as it turns out, I sewed my facing on backward but I'm just gonna go with it.  Before I realized what I'd done, the seam allowance had already been trimmed and I was pretty much out of fabric.

One thing I love about vintage patterns is how they are made to grow with children.  This pattern has suspenders to hold the skirt up and the waist is just a bit too big.  The suspenders hold the skirt up high so that it the silhouette is right.  As my daughter grows, I can remove the suspenders and have her wear the skirt as is.  It will fit at her natural waist and hit right about the knee.  The jacket is on the short side but will probably last her two seasons since the arms are long.

With suspenders, it fits much shorter.

It's longer without the suspenders and barely stays on right now!

Detail shot of the waistband.

One of my favorite things is that this pattern calls for gathers at the elbow.  It's subtle but darling. 

 It add just a touch of extra fullness to the sleeve and makes it easier to move in.  It just really tickles me for some reason, probably because it's something that would have never occurred to me.  I managed to miss taking a photo of it somehow.

The shirt is not a vintage pattern, it's a shirt from Lily Bird Studio which I've had for ages and only just got around to sewing up.  I lengthened the sleeve for more coverage and lengthened the hem as well so that she could wear it for two years along with the skirt.  I like the little ruffle detail at the neck but I flipped it and sewed it downward instead of leaving it up as shown in the instructions.  It's a simple silhouette but has just enough little details to make it special.  I didn't want something that would overwhelm the suit or the plaid so I stuck with a solid color and a simple shape.

I love the ruffle neckline and the gathered sleeves.

Sweet, gathered back yoke.

I took some photos indoors because it looked like it was going to rain, but I managed to get out and go to the park when the rain let up.  I much prefer outdoor photos.

A little 40's shoulder pad love

Fabric Remorse

I bought the most beautiful purple plaid wool fabric for a project. I have plenty of it. Even though it was expensive, I bought a little bit extra. You know, "just in case". I've made my muslin so I understand the pattern and it fits the way it should but I just can't bring myself to cut into the fabric. It's been sitting on my table for several days just waiting for me to bite the bullet. I'm afraid I"ll mess it up. It is the most expensive fabric I've ever used and also the most beautiful. I had a similar feeling when I was cutting into the fabric for the vintage dress earlier this year. I'd had that fabric over a year, waiting for the perfect pattern. I literally walked away, scissors in hand four times before I was able to make the first cut. This time around, it's even more difficult. I'm considering just hanging the entire 1.5 yards on the wall so I can just look at it every day instead of making a garment that will be outgrown. But, alas, I must persevere. I WILL cut it!

Project Run and Play Sew along week 2: Candy Challenge

Firstly, I would like to say that I hate photographing hot pink.  It does not play well with the camera.  My apologies for the eye scarring color that is her dress.

I, Princess Bubblegum, am ruler of the Candy Kingdom!

Being an avid Adventure Time fan, I knew that a Princess Bubblegum dress was perfect for candy week of project run and play.  I mean, what could be more perfect than the gown of the ruler of the Candy Kingdom?  It was figuring out which dress to make that was the most difficult part.  I decided on the gown of the young PB since it would be modeled by my Little Miss.

For this dress, I used Carla's Precious Dress pattern.  I've sewn it up several times before.  It's a  great princess dress because the sleeves are perfectly puffy and it has a sweet peter pan collar.  I've made an Alice in Wonderland dress and a Rapunzel dress, both of which were worn a ton before they were outgrown.

For the skirt, to make it extra poofy, I gathered 44 inches of purple broadcloth and 44 inches purple tulle plus 44 inches of pink cloth and 44 inches of pink tulle!  That's about five yards of fabric sandwiched into that sweet little waist!  To avoid bulk, the pink skirt is attached above the purple one.  This also gives the dress more of an empire waist than I anticipated (in retrospect, I should have added an inch to the bodice length to accommodate for this).  I added two rows of pin tucks to the bottom just to add a little bit of interest.   It's all tied together with a purple sash (see what I did there?  *tied*?)

I considered making it floor length, but it's prohibitive for play and always gets in the way.  I settled on the length it is to make it easier to move around in even if it's not entirely authentic.  To complete the Princess Bubblegum look, I made a crown out of yellow felt which was stiffened with iron on interfacing.   And what royalty is complete without a butler?  Peppermint Butler is a 2D felt plushie.  He's cute and sweet (the puns just keep rolling) even if he is small.  He's happy to do all of PB's bidding.

If I was really on top of things, I'd have made a tiny lab coat as well.  Maybe after Project Run and Play is over?

Now, she can be Finn or PB depending on what her fancy is for the day.