Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Time to Vote! Let's Go To the Movies Challenge

Begin With B: Grayscale
This week was a challenge for me.
I lack a true love of movies. They are often so long and I can't sit still.
But as I thought about movies that stand out I couldn't shake Schindler's List.
The cinematography- the entire movie shot in grayscale with one girl in a red coat.
Very powerful and I loved the challenge to design with texture and a limited color palette.
Sticking to the grayscale I set to work creating interest by incorporating texture.
For the jacket, I spent a lot of time piecing together black and grey fabric to create a print.
Also added a chenille lining for contrast and warmth.
Continued the texture with lace on the tee for both the placket and back yoke.
Then the skirt with hand sewn triangle quilting and lace lining.
And finally a woven red square.
Come on over to BEGINwithB for more about the process, fabrics used, and of course more pictures.



A Jennuine Life: Pretty In Pink
As a child of the 80's, the movie Pretty In Pink was released just as I was about to enter middle school - a very formative time in my life.  Aside from the great characters and classic John Hughes dialog, I chose this movie because it opened my eyes to the idea that you could create your own style by refashioning clothes as the main character does.  When I planned my design, I decided not to take a literal approach - and certainly not the Prom gown; anyone else sort of disappointed that's what Andie came up with from the two dresses?  Rather, I took a Secret Squirrel approach and looked for design elements I wanted to include.  Rusty orange for the main character's hair, vintage style, floral fabric, a cardigan and special details.

For the dress I began with the idea for the pocket panels.  They're made with strips folded back on themselves accordion-style and sewn into the rest of the skirt.  I drafted a bodice with a square-ish neckline, but it has a subtle curve to mimic the way the pockets slope as they hang open.  Then I slashed the pattern to block a line blending into the shoulder seam straight down to meet the pocket panels.  Cap sleeves the same white on grey polka dot as the side panels allow the entire side to flow together.  For the closure, I raided my button stash and added nine different vintage ivory buttons down the back.  The sweater is Hachi knit with a little sparkle running through the openings.  The edges of the sweater are finished with facings from a coordinating cotton rayon.  I embroidered and beaded the collar in a leaf motif matching that in the main dress fabric and edged it with a bit of vintage copper trim I had that went perfectly with the rest of the colors.  The monogrammed brooch is my Mom's from her wedding.

Hadley has many similar qualities to Andie - she can be stubborn, but she's also creative and resilient.  She and I had so much fun creating these scenes at our local high school and in her bedroom using big sister Arden's new sewing machine and some pretty in pink fabrics.  If you've got sharp eyes, there's a hint to what's in store for the refashion challenge if I make it through this week!  Click over to A Jennuine Life to see more pictures including some great bloopers from the photo shoots with my feisty two year old.



Frances Suzanne: Jane Banks Flies a Kite
For the "Let's Go to the Movies" week, we challenged ourselves to design two separate looks, based on our movie selection of Mary Poppins - one MOVIE INSPIRED, and the other CHARACTER INSPIRED. How could one go wrong with a little Mary Poppins? Isn't she "practically perfect in every way?!?!" We based this photo shoot around "St. Paul's Cathedral steps." CL's outfit is loaded with movie references, without screaming - "That's soooo Mary Poppins!" Starting at the neckline, tuppence closed the back of the garment. These were sewn down and held in place by hand-stitched button loops. The shape of the neckline and the notched cuff detailing were accentuated with mirrored piping - keeping the geometric appearance of a kite. The focal point of CL's outfit was the reverse appliqued kite - for the movie reference of "Let's Go Fly a Kite!" Details were added to the kite including: trim, an embroidered string, and removable ties for washing ease. Finally, as a hidden detail {but, oh so key} in the movie inspired creation was CL's bloomers. Doesn't every toddler need a pair of color-blocked bloomers?? The main fabric was one with birds {feed the birds, anyone??}, and the color-blocked section was added with the embroidered quote describing Mary Poppins as "practically perfect in every way!"
As for the CHARACTER INSPIRED look from the movie? That goes to Jane Banks! We "modernized" Jane's look, but kept key details to her overall garment's appearance. EA wore a drop-waist orange dress with trim sewn between the front sections of the dress, instead of Jane's rick rack. Details to the dress included side pleats, and a zipper closure was included for ease and accessibility. While we were pleased with the similarities and our interpretation of the dress, ultimately the "coat topper" was our pride and joy of the outfit! We modernized Jane's coat by lengthening it {to finish past the dress} and changing the main color from gold to gray. What were the key components we kept? Those would be the cording along the front placket area {a DIFFICULT sew, but unbeatable texturized detail} and the faux cuffs {oh, the cuffs....LOVE!}. Finally, trim and detailing were added to the cuffs and the collar - tying our movie AND character inspired pieces into one cohesive look! 
We welcome you to visit us over at Frances Suzanne for more photos, details, and Oliver and S pattern modifications of our "Jane Banks Flies a Kite," Mary Poppins movie AND character inspired outfits!!



Froo and Boo: The Brothers Bloom
The Brothers Bloom is one of my favourite movies. It has all of the elements of clever storytelling: interesting characters, enchanting locations, funny and poignant moments, but most importantly, AMAZING fashion. After searching through images, I instantly knew that Froo should be Bang Bang--the off-white suit that she wears in the movie is perfection. Which should have scared me away from it, since I had never sewn a blazer, nor a proper pair of trousers before! I also used bamboo stretch fleece, which is not typical suiting fabric, but the perfect choice for super soft, comfortable, kid-friendly clothes--that don't require ironing!
I started by sewing from patterns to learn my way through this challenge. I sewed up the art museum vest and trousers by oliver+s and fedora hat by E & E patterns for Boo. I also made him a simple ascot tie. Boo is not part of this week's submission since I didn't design his outfit. Instead, he is Froo's sidekick/accessory/photo shoot prop! Froo's pants started off as a simplified pair of art museum trousers, with a wide-leg added from the Japanese sewing book, Happy Homemade: Sew Chic KidsThen I used the basic blazer pattern, by blank slate patterns, as a starting point to draft a fitted, fully-lined blazer, with piped edges. I made a taupe scoop neck short sleeve tee, based on the flashback skinny tee, to wear underneath the blazer. With the leftover fabric scraps, I was able to eke out a scarf and toque. I added puffy red pom poms for a splash of fun!
Altogether, I made 5 pieces for this challenge! For more details and photos (oh, there are plenty!), I'd love for you to stop by my blog at Froo & Boo!




Paisley Roots: Moulin Rouge


It's Movie week!!
My favorite movie is "Moulin Rouge", and while I love this movie, I kept hearing Christian's father's voice in my head saying, "A village of sin!", but more appropriately, "A movie of sin!" - Oh boy!
At first I thought I could skip Moulin Rouge and move onto my close second favorite...
....Chicago.
Sigh.
Me and racy musicals. What can I say??

I started thinking about the movie, and although, hands down, the music is my absolute favorite part of it, I do love the fashion. Kid appropriate? No. But I do LOVE the bling and colors and funness of it.
So a challenge was born.
Bring it movie look. Bring it.

After collecting my favorite movie treats (mostly brownies and pepsi) I got to sketching.


The pants were my first decision. In the movie, Satines body guard wears a pair of black and white striped pants. I just love them, so they were for sure making it into my look! Since 'Satine' is the "Sparkling Diamond" I chose to make a shirt with that phrase appliqued onto it. My little girl is definitely a diva, and I knew she would love it! I still needed to add that Moulin Rouge red, so making a vest with lace detailing and corset back seemed the PERFECT way to incorporate the Moulin Rouge-ness without taking this outfit over the top and still keeping it age appropriate.
Enter in the accessories: Collar necklace, cuff bracelets, upcycled and blinged out shoes and a top hat to "TOP" it off.
We were off to the movies!
(quite literally!)


To get more pics of this little Diva, and all the deets, head on over to my blog!

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17 comments :

  1. Once again, you have all done a wonderful job! Best wishes to everyone... now, I am going to go find a really big bag of Skittles and eat them all. That is my favorite movie treat ;)

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  2. I think this was the hardest choice I have had on PRP. Absolutely amazing (A++) jobs, and I am sorry I could only vote for one, just too bad there is not a five way tie!!

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  3. AH! Moulin Rouge! I'm a sucker for musicals...and sparkles...and feathers...and lace...and yeah. Love this theme!

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  5. My favorite is the "Jane Banks Flies a Kite" set (even though I don't care for the movie 'Mary Poppins'), but I also really liked the idea behind the "Grayscale" outfit. Neat concept!

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  6. Love that the 'diamond studded' collar and cuffs for the Moulin Rouge look are detachable, great variation!

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  7. WOW at the creativity!! Is anyone else breathing a sigh of relief that none of our movies overlapped?

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  8. I love them all!! So much thought and effort gone into each production. Well done guys!

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  9. Each week is going to get harder! Great job ladies. And really great photos :)

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  10. Yay for week 2, I'm having so much fun looking at all the great outfits and getting wrapped into the fun of designing a movie themed outfit. Can't wait to link up and good luck everyone!

    Mae

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  11. Oh my goodness, they are pulling out all the stops this season! Great job everyone!

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  12. I think it is important to keep in mind that ALL of the contestants read these comments and some things aren't necessary to post here. We all have our opinions about the outfits, but we need to remember how hard each of these ladies worked behind the scenes and it wouldn't feel so good to come here and read negative comments, you know?

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  13. Let's remember the golden rule. All the contests, including those sewing along, work hard on their outfits and have done an amazing job. It's not very nice to bring a person down in attempt to raise someone else up.

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  14. I did not mean to anger anyone by sharing my opinion in what I thought was an open forum. My apologies if I did; I had no malice in my heart nor the desire to anger anyone when writing my comment. Best wishes to all.

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  15. Everyone did such an amazing job with their outfits. There is such a variety of style and creativity. Each one is fantastic in one way or another.

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