Friday, February 15, 2013

Time to Vote: Signature Styles!

Max California--Vincent


Vincent. This guy is my signature look. Everything about him. Having a son was hard at first to find clothes I liked for him. I didn't want shirts with trucks on them, or licensed gear that has a big logo across the front {except Batman. Batman is okay. Always}. I wanted my kid to be cool. You can't slap a ruffle on it and call it a day, so when I found Dana and Rae and their Celebrate the Boy series - well things got serious at the Batcave. Boy stuff doesn't have to be boring, boy stuff doesn't have to be difficult. Boy stuff is a lot of fun! Vincent is trendy but a giant dork. He is a trickster and a sweetheart. He is a cool guy! So what is my Signature Look? It's boys' style, it's trendy, it's also always got a nod toward our very very nerdy lifestyle. Most of all it's fun and stepping outside of the box!


This look was all about the jacket. I wanted a statement piece, and a Sgt. Pepper's style military jacket was what was needed! I mean, this kid is a rockstar! The inside is just as fun as the outside {check out my blog for more pics}, I made a patchwork lining using every single fabric I used throughout the competition! The inside pocket of the jacket is the pocket of the shirt I used last week. I used the Basic Blazer by Blank Slate Patterns as a base, modifying it heavily. I changed the collar up to a mandarin collar and stitched 6 metres of gold gimp braid to the front and 26cm of gold braid to the shoulders. I made the shoulder braid stick out a little over the shoulder seams. I also added braid on the sleeves, and stitched black cuffs underneath. 12 gold buttons handsewn to the front finish it off!
The rest of the look needed to be awesome, but not over-powering the jacket. I didn't want him to look like he was in a costume {although he would have loved that probably!}. I chose plain black dropped-crotch ninja pants {because the kid dreams of being Kai from Ninjago} with a wide waistband and deep side pockets for shoving his Lego into. There always has to be a safe place for his Lego mini-figures. I made a slouch beanie from the bottom of an old black sweater and I finished off the look with a gold shirt. I used Rae's Flashback Skinny Tee pattern and made a slinky mustard-coloured tee. I practised drawing the bat a billion times, because I cannot draw, but eventually got the courage up to sketch the baby bat onto the tee using a fabric marker. I love bats, and Batman, and this is a subtle nod to the little guy who tears around the house with his 'gwapple hook' pretending to be Batman. My baby bat. Don't forget to head to my blog for more photos!



CathGrace--Practical Bohemian Chic

 To start with, can I just say SQUEE! I am so excited to be here to share my Signature Look with you! Okay, now I'll get down to business. If I were to sum up my aesthetic, it would primarily be "Practical Bohemian." Practical because it must move with the child, fit through a little growth, be washable, and modest (one of the main reasons I sew for my daughter is to fill the gap in appropriate clothing for my daughter's age.) And Bohemian is an aesthetic I consider to mainly be eclectic and fabric centric (I love me some yummy fabric, and I generally begin every outfit by letting the fabric speak to me.) And I associate Bohemian with quality and detail. (I always challenge myself to achieve difficult techniques in my work, and will not settle for an imperfect finished product.) But mostly the Bohemian comes from Emmie; she is an artist at heart, and loves anything unique. For my final look I began with the fabric for the coat, (the whole coat is from my stash) it is cotton velvet, (there are 3 different velvets in the coat,) and the coat is fully lined in a cream micro-fleece. There is blue piping in all the seams where the different velvets meet; I wrapped the piping in red thread to create a handmade feel (the same red thread is holding the 4 hand sewn toggles on) The hood is edged in faux fur, and there is an exposed red metal zip down the front, and zips that close the side pockets. This jacket is the perfect weight to carry her through Spring, and because of the cotton and fleece, it is super washable.
 For the outfit underneath, I made a pair of dark stretch jeans, in a straight leg. The jeans have a functional fly, jeans rivets, 4 pockets, belt loops, and jeans thread. To make them special (because let's face it, if I make them "just" blue jeans, it's a heck of a lot easier to just buy a pair, and those are a dime a dozen!) I added floral machine embroidery down either side of  the legs, and on the back pockets. I used thread colors that matched both the coat and shirt fabric, but decided to sadden the thread a bit by painting thin brown dye over the 10 motifs to grunge them up a bit. (It took over 5 hours just to embroider the jeans) For the shirt, I found the most amazing cotton fabric, that had all the same colors as the coat, but with a black base. (I LOVE the print on this fabric) I made a fitted high waisted bodice, with a loose lower tunic length bottom. There are short, set in sleeves, that give her arm coverage, but also hint at the weather warming up for spring. The details of this shirt are my favorite part of the look; the neckline has a woven trellis design that is open to the skin underneath (the neck is high to maintain coverage) and there are 3 hand appliqued yo yo's on the bodice right hand  side (they are hard to see in the pictures, but add texture and detail in real life) and the back is closed with bias loops, and 24K gold plated, black enameled buttons.  The headband is made from 2 large and 2 small yo yo's and a length of elastic. Please hop on over to cathgrace for closeups of the details, since there is too much to show into the photos here! I love the eclectic nature of the fabric choices, and that this outfit has a collected feel, it's not matchy patchy, but still coordinates well; I think each piece is a stand alone piece, but together, they make for an outfit that is entirely my Emmie's style.
 I hope you like my look as much as I do, as I would love your vote!!!
 
 

Winter W3--Gabba Ga!

 First I want to say thank you to everyone here for helping me make it to the finals, I really never thought I would be here with all the amazing talent this season and I am humbled and honored.
Ok - Signature style - I'm going to tell you a little secret here, but you have to promise not to tell anyone ok? I still don't know 'exactly' what my signature style is.  I know that I love classic lines, that I want clothes that are wearable, and that if I am going to spend time making clothes for my kids - I want them to LOVE them.  I hope my look is always a little classic, a little cool, and always evolving!!!  A few weeks ago, my husband asked me to make Yo Gabba Gabba shirts for the boys for their birthday (which is the 25th) because they are a wee bit obsessed with the show.  I looked at him with a scowl, I am not a fan of 'character' garments - NOT my style.  But then I looked at my boys, dancing and singing along with their favorite show, sighed, and told my husband the following: 'If by some miracle I make it into the finals of PR&P, I will use YGG as the inspiration for my signature look'.  Well, here I am ;o)

I present to you my version of Muno and Brobee - in a non-character/costume way.  Each look has three pieces.  B's (Muno) pants were my first 'A-ha' moment and I love the way they turned out.  They are made of an old sweatshirt and the two round pockets have functioning zippers - the bum also has a curved seam that ties in the whole circle/bump theme that make Muno who he is. That circle motif is continued with the half circle pockets on his hooded vest.  I wanted both boys to have matching T's and I created the piecing based on the head shape of both characters - I draw a lot of Munos and Brobees for the boys and I always start with an upside down U for their heads.  Brobee - on A - was always all about the hoodie.  The middle stripe forms a pocket for all sorts of treasures. The hood is lined with the same vermilion knit from B's Tshirt to allude to the horns and large mouth that detail Brobee's character.  His pants are so cool (and made out of a curtain panel), they have double drawstrings that go up both legs so that they can be shortened in the spring for puddle jumping.  One side has a cargo pocket, and the other has two tabs for a stripe-y detail.  The bottoms of the legs have stitched on stripes to follow through with the main visual element of Brobee.





Making Clothes for Kids Is.... AWESOME!!!
Come on over to my BLOG to see way more pictures and the details of both outfits!

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12 comments :

  1. Awesome looks ladies! I'm so proud of you <3

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  2. Woo!Hoo! Seriously phenomenal work, ladies. If these pieces were in a store, I'd buy them without a second thought. Excellent!

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  3. Good job everyone! There are 3 totally different looks here, it's going to be fun to see what happens!!!

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  4. O. My. Word. This is so difficult! May I please vote for all three?

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  5. Everyone here did an excellent job, but maybe because I like the style better than the others, you made it easy for me to choose this week. Congratulations to the 3 ladies that made it to the final!!! And good luck too.

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  6. great job to all of you and congrats for making it to the end of the competition.

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  7. Oh my gosh, can I have Vincent's coat in MY SIZE?!?! So cute!!! :)

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  8. Amazing, Vincents jacket is incredible!

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  9. Awesome work!!!! I love how unique all of our looks are and yet they fit us and more importantly our kids so perfectly!!! This has been an amazing ride - a roller coaster maybe, but those were always my favorite!

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  10. Gorgeous outfits! And so cool that 2 of the looks are for boys. Another inspirational season. Can't wait to see who wins (and then All-stars - woo hoo!).

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  11. Great job girls! Everyone did fantastic work this entire season!

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  12. You really saved the best for the finale!! I just can´t vote, sorry, cannot decide for the life of me!!!!!!!!!
    Congratulations
    MarĂ­a

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