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.