Showing posts with label PRP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PRP. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

PR&P Shop tour: Dressage leggings



Already almost two years ago, wow where did the time go, I participated as a contestant on Project run and play. For years it had been a  dream for me to participate. Even though I did not make it to the second round, participating in PR&P was a big win for me. I had wanted to participate in PR&P because from the moment that I discovered sewing blogs, PR&P made me want to hack and be extra creative. PR&P is still doing that for many beginning and experienced sewers and they want to strengthen their role by opening a pattern shop. Contestants that created a pattern based on their original PR&P look are now neatly collected there. To celebrate the new shop there is a blog tour to show off all the patterns.



I have the honor to show the dressage leggings by Jenuine Designs. Today's leggings are not the first dressage leggings that I sew up. I sewed them for our youngest and middle one before (the middle one's never made the blog, they were snatched up before I could make pictures). At that time I made only the plain option so for today I of course went for the color blocked as well and Iin the spirit of PR&P even squeezed out a small hack.



The dressage leggings have two options in rise type, making these leggings perfect both for diaper wearing and bigger kids. The diaper wearing period is way behind us, so we went with regular rise.The pattern comes in two more options, regular leggings and color blocked ones. The dressage leggings are a part of a line that is horse riding inspired and these leggings were created to mimic the effect op leggings that need other, more stronger material where is touches the horse to provide better saddle grip. For non-horse riders like us, it gives nice options to play with fabrics.



You could easily make a three way colored leggings, by giving the cut outs on both sides a different color. Our rainbow loving kids would have liked that as well, but I went a different way. In a small hack I only used the front color block and just kept the back as a whole. It is all about strategically placing both pattern pieces on each other when you cut. It really is not hard. I noticed before that our kids' leg with/waist ratio is non-standard. In our case that meant that going width height gave the leggings the best fit, instead of going with waist.



To celebrate the shop opening there is a special discount this week on all  “Separates", resulting in the pattern being 20% off, sales will ne rare, so make sure you use this opportunity! There also is a give away, filll in the raffle copter to get a chance of getting an awesome set of gifts. Giveaway ends August 1st.  There will be 5 (random) winners for the following prizes:

$50 gift certificate to DH Fabrics and Co.
1 dress pattern from the Project Run & Play shop
1 separates pattern from the Project Run & Play shop
1 outerwear pattern from the Project Run & Play shop
1 accessories pattern from the Project Run & Play shop

https://projectrunandplay.com/

Saturday, October 15, 2016

I am a late autumn



Four weeks ago, I participated in Project Run and Play, and I was out after the first round. I work best under deadlines, so when I heard on Friday morning that I did not have to deliver a look on Monday evening, I immediately jumped on the next deadline. I of course had started my week two look, but only the main piece was actually half way done. My not-yet-finished dress, went on my to-do-pile and it would still have been there if Eleri from The Project Sew and Tell Project would not have invited everyone that was a contestant or sewed along to link up their PRP experience.



This season, I actually only sewed along one and a half theme (shame on me, my worse track record and that in the season that I was a contestant), so there is not so much that I leaned this season, besides a reconfirmation that I sew best under deadlines and that all of my competitors rocked! They created amazing outfits, and are very nice people! As an alternative to "things learned", I decided to just show you the dress that I had planned for the "I am an autumn" look.



A few weeks ago I already made the perfect dress for the theme of the second week. While gathering new inspiration for week two I came across these two lovely pictures. I therefore drafted a dress (based on the Litore*) inspired by fall leaves. The main idea was that the dress is made from four leaves (in case you did not recognize the idea). The dress would have been too indecent if I only used the leave shapes, so I added dark brown triangles to create a full handkerchief skirt. I then shirred the corners, which turned it into a circle-like skirt. Due to its weight, this skirt twirls like crazy.



My dress likely is the most unconventional garment from all contestants. I am still trying to wrap my head around my own opinion of the dress. My girl is fortunately totally in love with the dress, she had to fit it a few times during construction (I do not make muslis...) and she had been very sad I had not finished the dress. So even if Eleri had not intervened I probably would have finished it eventually (but not now). Originally, I had been planning a sleeveless dress, and I would have made a jacket (and leggings), now I decided to just add sleeves. The Aura* sleeves fitted perfectly.



Originally, I had been planning an open leave vein structure on the back. I had cut a high and low V-neck, and the low V would have been in the back. Seeing as my focus shifted from, showing-off-my-skills, to just-finish-it, I decided to solve the neckline differently (and much easier). I switched front and back and used a double neck band.



I would like to end this post by again congratulating Jess with her victory. Her drive and planning gave me nightmares (She was showing process pics on Instagram of all weeks before I even started). What she created in these few weeks was really amazing! I also want to thank her and and the other contestants for the great time we had behind the scenes, I think you are all awesome and super talented!

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

PRP week one: Pokémon inspired



The first week of Project Run and Play season 12 has arrived, and I am a contestant! Today, six bloggers are presenting you their take on Pokémon inspired clothing. We love Pokémon in our house. I played the game when I was a teenager (almost in my twenties actually) and was impressed with how fun and still accessible to small kids the game was. I did not really watched the series, but I did have a poster with the first 150 Pokémon in my room. Our kids do watch the show. They had started just before the Pokémon Go app was launched and have been binge watching ever since (they are only allowed to watch tv after 5 pm until dinner). I did not realize that they are still making the show. Officially there are over 900 episodes, but Netflix only has the first and last seasons. The human team members of the latest show where unknown to me until a few weeks ago, but I have grown to love them (because I follow the show with one ear while cooking).



This week's assignment was to make a Pokémon inspired outfit, so not just copying the outfit as a costume. First, I wanted to make clothing inspired by a Pokémon. For all our favorite Pokémon there was already great inspiration available, so I went a different direction, and chose one of the human characters. Serena is the first character ever to not be shocked by Pikachu during their first meeting (totally got that one from Wikipedia), she does not want to become a Pokémon Master and she drastically changed her appearance during the series. The new look is really awesome. It is both sweet and cool, and has many elements that fit my middle daughter's style (she already has the messy hair style), Serena therefore became the inspiration for my outfit.



Let's start with the dress. The pink dress Serena is wearing has a white collar (or I think it has, I spend hours looking through pictures, but I could not really determine how the white part looks like) and the dress is very revealing (which is why she is wearing a black top underneath). Either the dress or the collar seems to close with a blue ribbon. My inspired version is a pink (with print) dress which has an asymmetrical white yoke. My daughter isn't a collar kind of girl, so that is why the white got incorporated in the dress itself. I wanted the dress to open on the front, such that she can dress herself. I did not wanted visible buttons though, so I went for a blind button placket. This way there is a separation in the front, like with the original dress, but it is not revealing. I went for a circle skirt, which is much longer than the original. Instead of a blue ribbon, I went for a light blue button.



Serena wears a halter cardigan which only true function seems to be that it has pockets. I am curious if a garment like this would work in real life. I went a different direction. I kept the color, and the fact that it has a different length than the dress, but I actually went shorter, instead of longer. To make the bolero an actual practical garment, I went for long sleeves. There is no way my daughter would wear a hat, so I went for hoodie. I finished the bolero with black bias. I chose black due to the black stripe on Serena's hat and the black top. The pockets where transferred to the dress.



In the series Serena wears over the knee socks, but with the fall coming, I thought tights would be more practical. The last piece of the outfit is therefore a pair of Wild and Free lounge pants, from Coffee and Thread. I slightly adjusted the knee parts, such that it could feature one of Serena's Pokémon. Pancham is a panda like animal, with a spike mohawk and apparently always has a leave in his mouth. My kids told me he has to have that leave or else he is not that powerful (missed that apparently with my one ear).



For the dress, I used the pink version of See You at Six Dandelion (last week I showed you the blue version). For the white yoke, I upcycled a sleeve from a silk suit. The bolero is made from a large sweater that I bought cheaply with the goal to upcycle. The leggings where made with black jersey (bought at Joyfits). I drafted the dress as a mix/hack of a dress from her book and the Theo. The base for the bolero was the Aura*, which I drastically hacked.



Be sure to check out all the entries from this week on the Project Run and Play page and do not forget to vote which outfit you like best. I of course hope that I convinced you to try to keep me in the game.


Thursday, July 21, 2016

"Skirting the issue" blog tour: multi functional skirt



The month July is traditionally "skirting the issue" month at Simpel Simon and co. Here you can read more about the beautiful idea behind it. Project Run and Play is joining in on the fun with a blog tour on the topic.  The blog tour will feature all kind of cool skirts to get you in the mood for skirt sewing. I personally am more of a dress sewer, than skirt sewer, the project I made is the perfect compromise.



In March, I made a funny picture of my girl in a maxi skirt tied on her like a dress (pre-picture for an upcycle). The skirt had draw strings and those became the halter strings. There was a huge amount of fabric hidden on her back, but I was intrigued by the idea. For this post I therefore drafted a multi functional garment, maxi skirt and dress (earlier this week I showed you another multi functional type of clothing).



The two ways you can wear this garment is either as a maxi skirt with a double folded waistband, or as a halter dress. The neck bands are hidden between the waistband layers if it functions as a skirt. The neckband is fastened with two snaps. This way the ties did not have to be very long. I first experimented with the ties immediately going around her neck, like I did in the original pre-picture. That way the buttonholes started gaping a bit. By crossing the straps on the front that problem disappeared. If I would have angled the button holes, made them a bit smaller or used grommets the gaping would not have been a problem I assume, I do like the front cross, so it was a happy mistake.



I used the Litore* from Sofilantjes* to make my dress. I started with the maxi skirt pattern piece, you could also use this tutorial from earlier on the blog tour that explains how to draw an A line skirt. Then I cut a wide jersey band with the height of two times the bodice (without the straps). The band will be folded to create the bodice, that is why you need the Litore height two times. The width of the jersey band was the total chest width of the finished Litore dress (that was laying next to me on the floor while cutting). If you are drawing the pattern from scratch you just determine how high you would like the double folded waistband to be. That height times four is the needed height for the jersey band (plus 2 times seam allowence). For the length you measure the circumference of your child's body where you want the band to be (my girl is a just-above-the-hip wearer, so that is another measure then her waist. I eyeballed the length of the straps. You can fold your tape measure around your child to get an estimation, jersey stretches, so you have to keep that in mind.



The construction is very straight forward. Sew the two skirt pieces together. Create the strap that will form the halter. Determine the location of the button holes, they should be around the middle of the jersey band both width and length wise. I drew two marks on the back side of the fabric. Make button holes and pull the strap through the holes, close the waistband piece by sewing the short sides together and sew the band to the skirt. I tagged the neck band in place with a few stitches at the back, I already have too many strings floating around the house. Hem or leave the bottom unfinished.


Although I still love my blind hem stitch, I am also still experimenting with possible better ways to hem (still trying to avoid buying a coverlock). This time, I hemmed the  dress with a decorative honeycomb stitch, I was very satisfied with the result. The fabric are from Joyfits, I bought the last piece of the candy stripes fabric, but there are many more very dicounted fabric where this one came from.


Feel free to leave a comment in the language you prefer (although Google translate might have to assist me if you choose something different than English, German, Dutch or Hungarian). If you buy anything through my affiliate links (*), I get a small commission (the price stays the same for you), I am very grateful for everything that feeds my fabric addiction. 

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Hand smocked dress

Every month, I try to participate in this year's format of Project Run and Play. The previous two months I skipped due to an overcrowded sewing agenda, but for August I was game. This month's designers are the sisters behind Frances & Suzanne and they came up with a fun challenge, incorporate a truly hand made part in the garment. They suggested embroidery and smock, but I presume they are flexible judges. Usually, I find it hard to play by the rules, but this time it somehow all just came together.


We were on holiday last week and during the week I tried out some modern (non-traditional) smocking techniques like the one I used for the pockets of my Ishi dress. I didn't know smocking would be this month's challenge, I simply was trying to pass the time without my sewing machine. On the Frances & Suzanne blog they posted a few posts on smocking (with foresight of course) and I though that such a time consuming technique would be perfect for holiday evenings. I didn't find a (free) English style smock pattern that I loved and I didn't really understand how much fixation a smock would need on the back side, so I didn't try an English smock. But then, like a sign, my parents-in-law gave me the A to Z smocking book last Friday. I decided to keep my modern smocking ideas on ice, and make an English smocked dress.


While flipping through the pages of the book I decided to go for an easy raster pattern. I wouldn't know where they pre-pleat fabric around here, so I pleated by hand as well. To make the pleating and smocking as easy as possible, I chose a fabric with a small repeated square and dot pattern. This fabric is Wicky Pikes from Soft Cactus and really perfect for smocking. The fabric is very light and due to the repeated pattern it was very easy to determine the position of the stitches. Smocking this piece took me a few hours (pleating included), by far not as long as I had expected.


I decorated the raster with some small flowers. The flower pattern is from the book. It looked very easy, but I had a hard time with pulling my needle through 20 loops. I decided that these five flowers were enough. I put a small bead on them (following the book's example).


This is my first smocking piece and I wasn't following a garment pattern, so I had no clue how wide the end result would be. When pleated, the hole thing was very narrow, but I knew smock is supposed to give a nice elasticized piece. When I took out the supporting threads, and saw everything remained together nicely, the next phase could start. What would it become and for whom?



The stretch of the smock was big enough to make a dress for my eldest. I drafted a dress pattern based on an existing dress and a sleeves set from an Ottobre pattern. I am satisfied with the dress but I am considering creating one or two extra lines of smocking. The bodice is now relatively short.


The smocked fabric was a (large) scrap piece, I used it earlier here, and I didn't have enough to make the back of a dress from the same fabric. I also feared that the dress would become too sweet for a seven year old that way, the light pink smocked fabric needed a more spicy accent. I looked through my stash and found a knit piece that had a similar vibe as my smock (bought as a coupon without a brand name). That reddish fabric combines great with the little accents on the main pink fabric. I sewed a little piece of pink jersey at the top of my smocked panel to be able to cut a full front dress piece. I created the small curve intentionally.



The front is the best side of this dress. The back is a bit strange, the front is wider and is visible from the back. I have to get used to it a bit, but my daughter immediately liked the dress (she never sees the back anyway).  Of course, the dress has pockets, my daughter really wanted to show them to you.


I love to hear what you think of my creations. Feel free to leave a comment in the language you prefer (although Google translate might have to assist me if you choose something different than English, German, Dutch or Hungarian).