Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Season 21 Week 1: Home Sweet Home

It's here, it's here!!!  Someone blow the trumpets...Season 21 is here!


The Wizard and I - Made of Starlite


Season 21 is finally here! I have had SO much fun designing my looks for these themes!!!







My first collection is called The Wizard and I. Since we live in Knasas City, The Wizard of Oz has always been close to my heart. I even got to be Glinda in a school production of the musical! πŸ˜„πŸ˜„ My very favorite Oz story comes in the form of the musical, Wicked. It's the back story of the Wicked Witch of the West (named Elphaba) and Glinda, the Good Witch of the North and it's awesome. In fact, here is a link to the my favorite song on YouTube, so go ahead and click that open while you read this. It gives context. 😏😏😏







I did three looks, based on costumes from the musical. Make sure to check out my blog post to see side by side comparisons. The first is a pink dress, which is my "Glinda" look. I mashed up a few dress patterns from Violette Field Threads. The bodice is the Seraphina dress, sleeves from the Blythe dress, and the skirt from the Elodie dress. I have been hanging on to this awesome striped organza from Fabricland Canada since spring of 2018, so glad that I finally found what it was destined for!! The princess seams gave me opportunity to play with the stripes for some fun bias cutting.

My second look is probably my favorite thing I have made to date!! I have always loves the steampunk vibe of the "Elphaba" costume from the show, her skirt is absolutely amazing! I did a more wearable version on a knee-length, A-line base. I basically dug through my scrap box and pulled out all the scraps I thought looked right, then cut them into strips or circles and sewed them one by one onto my base. Hours later, I popped on a flat waistband, invisible zipper and it was done! I'm completely enamored with this technique and I'm dying to make some more scrap skirts! The top is a mash up of the Talulah Tee from Violette Field Threads and the Ophelia Leo, with a modified neckline to create a mock turtleneck look. My cute little model was super excited about the sheer sleeves! One of my favorite details as well. πŸ˜‰







My last look, made for my son who was less than enthusiastic about modeling for photos, pushed me to my limits!!! I usually stick to dresses and sheer fabrics, but he is growing out of all his pants, and I figured this was exactly the push I needed to get a good boy pants pattern and make it happen. The Morocco Pant pattern from Petit a Petit was stellar!! I love all the options, and the fit is pretty amazing. I did slim the legs down a tiny bit because he just has these little chicken legs. But I did my first real fly and double welt pockets! And survived!! His was my "Wizard" look, so of course everything needed to be monochrome green. I ordered a few colors of green cotton sateen from Mood Fabrics and Cali Fabrics, and went with all the color blocking options from the pattern. I love them, and at church last week he got a TON of compliments! The tee is an Aurora Raglan which is categorized as a girls pattern in the shop, but is totally unisex. Add a little vinyl, a quote from the song the Wizard sings in Wicked, and done! The jacket is the other piece that is competing for my top favorite item I've ever made award. It's a Burda pattern, and was my first time adding seam allowance to a pattern! My son had requested a raincoat with a hood, so I threw on the hood from the Zhora raincoat by Lil Luxe Collection. The fabric is bright grass green rip-stop fabric from Mood Fabrics and the color is *amazing* in person!!

My only beef with it is that I *wish* I had sized up! I always forget that I need to do that with coats. I love the cropped length, but it fits perfectly now with only a tee under it. There is no way it's going to fit in a few months with a sweater underneath. I suppose I'll have to make a second one and save this for little brother! My older son was such a trooper for the shoot too, because it was 82 degrees and super humid. He was already sweating, and then I asked him to put on the jacket! Poor guy almost cried, but he pulled himself together and we got a few shots in it. He really earned his post-shoot treat that day! 😜







Visit my blog for even more photos, sketches, side by side comparisons to the actual costumes, and a ridiculous amount of words!



Farm Girl at Heart - Love, Hazel Grace Designs







I am so excited to finally be able to share this design! As soon as I heard the theme for this week, I knew exactly what I was going to do. I grew up on a farm and currently live in the country. When Hazel was born she became attached to pigs and later tractors. My family loves to say she is a farm girl at heart and it runs in her DNA. I wanted to honor both of her Great-Grandfathers, one she never met, and one who she spent the day with once or twice a week for the last eight months before he passed away a few weeks ago.







For her first outfit, I picked bibs! Hazel's Great Grandfather, who passed in 2003, wore bibs every day of his life. I believe I only saw him out of them 3 times in my whole life. I started with my yet unreleased Straight Leg Pants pattern and cut it at the shorts cutting line. I then took a pair of Hazel's other bibs and traced the top portion of them to attach to the Straight Leg shorts. Hazel loves pockets, so all the pockets on the bibs are functional. There are heart back pockets and a heart front pocket on the bib plus inset pockets! All the pockets are done in pink shirting material! I also did all the top stitching in pink as well and where appropriate did a double top stitch! There are pink snaps on the straps as well as on the sides for more room to get the bibs on over her cloth diapers!

To go with Hazel's new girly bibs, I used another pattern I have been working on, my T-Shirt pattern with puff sleeves! I thought this t-shirt would be easy to sew but I didn't realize the "ruffles" on the shirt would have to be individually ironed and pinned to be sure they matched as well as laid in the right direction! I hemmed the sleeves and the shirt with a narrow cover stitch.







While Hazel clearly loves her new bibs as she can run and play and drive her tractor in them, Hazel's real love is dresses! Hazel needed a farm girl worthy dress! For this dress I took one of her other Great-Grandfather's shirts and used it to create the top of the dress. Hazel loved to wear dresses to visit him, so this was the perfect use for one of his beloved blue shirts!

I first had to modify my Princess Seam Bodysuit Pattern that I have been working on and make it into the top of the dress. I was able to keep the button placket but had to do my own collar! For the skirt portion I cut a piece of pink Kona cotton fabric that would fill the space between Hazel's waist and knees and to add a soft touch I put two layers of white nylon chiffon over the top of the pink cotton! In the back I added some elastic to cinch in the waist! Also, I added a small "belt" loop in front to put any clip I like on it from bows to flowers!







Thank you for getting to know Hazel and I and hanging out on our girly farm where pink, pigs, hearts and sparkles reign! To read more about the patterns and fabric used check out my blog post
Patterns: Love, Hazel Grace Designs unreleased patterns Straight Leg Pants, T-Shirt and Princess Seam Bodysuit Fabric: chambray from my stash (likely bought from another fabric lovers stash); pink knit ruffle fabric from my stash (possibly bought at JoAnn's from the Doodles knit section); mens shirt that my grandfather bought years ago; pink kona solid from my stash; white nylon chiffon from my stash

On Country Roads from the Mountains to the River - The Wolf and the Tree


I love a good challenge and the themes of this season are so exciting to work with! I cannot wait for you to see all my designs!!
For now I would love to show you my interpretation of 'Home' - the Week 1 theme for the PRP Season 21. We live in the lusciously green, rolling hills, winding rivers, West Virginia. My designs show how, to me, West Virginia feels and what makes it special to us, to make it our home.


I made several garments this week: For my boy I used my Spidermonkey Pants pattern, but used a length between medium and long and I added a second, opposite directional pocket. His shirt has 'River King' printed on it - each time we go out fishing, the one who catches the most fish is deemed 'River King' and he loves having laid claim to that now forever with his new shirt. For the basis of the shirt I used the Abby's Spin + Twirl - heavily modified in width, length and neckline, but with boy-approved results. The socks he is wearing are my Abby's Trailblazing Socks. Fabrics are from LDG showroom and Freckle Fabrics.
My girl {and her best friend} is wearing the River Romper with a modified Watercolor Dress bodice. She loves those rompers so much because they are so dressy but also allow her to do whatever she wants {she wears the shorter length skirt rompers to karate on a regular basis}. The romper can be paired with a tulle skirt between the shorts and skirt. This tulle skirt uses the back length and width of the Abby's Ballerina Skirt and consists of 17 yards of tulle with an elastic top band. She loves it and feels like a princess. To add a little extra I also sewed her a sunhat out of ribbon with a tie band around it, matching the romper, as well as the Laney Reversible Hobo Bag by Swoon. Fabrics for the romper and skirt are from CaliFabrics, ribbon is from Offray Ribbon Outlet.



I love when I can make an outfit for them that they will be able to reach for time and again. My girl has already declared she wants to wear the romper/skirt combo to school because they are allowed to dress like a princess one day a year. I mark that as a win and I am so excited how much they love them. The themes are so much fun and I am so happy with the results and cannot wait to show you my other designs - if I make it to week 2!  Please visit The Wolf and the Tree for lots more photos and information.  
Happy sewing,
Saskia


The Emerald Coast - Striped Swallow Designs


Home Sweet Home -- Week 1 is all about home and what makes your home the best. We live in Panama City Beach on Florida's gorgeous Emerald Coast. So this week was a given that we would head to our favorite place about a mile from our house and dip our toes in the sugar white sand.


For my first look, I drafted a pair of shorts with a sweet, angled ruffle and paired it with a cross over cami using my Daybreak pattern as the starting point. The shorts are a Robert Kaufman cotton lawn from Cali Fabrics. For a pop of color on the white drawstring, I wrapped the ends in matching threads. The top is white cupro from Sincerely Rylee. I removed the placket from the Daybreak pattern piece, and cut a second curved layer for the cross over portion and added wrapped binding.
For the second outfit, I had a sweet beachy dress with a fabric color to match our gorgeous emerald waters in mind. I drafted the front of the dress to have a casing at the neckline and one at the waist so that it would create delicate ruffles when cinched down on the ties, that tie in bows on the sides and neckline of the dress. The back I used my Free Falling pattern as a starting point, raising the back, changing the armscye and adding ties to the side. The fabric used is a silky noil/viscose linen blend from Imagine Gnats.


Totally didn't think to take flatlay photos before we headed to the beach, so the dress of course got a little salty before this flatlay photo. Always a good idea to have a change of clothes and towels in the car when you live at the beach -- especially if you have a 3 year old in tow!


More photos and info from our shoot over on our blog. xo - Mandalynn


Maine Vacationland - We Sew Got This







Hello everyone! I’m sew excited to be here sharing my creations with you! We enjoy living on the edge of the mountains, deep in the woods. Embracing rivalry between the states - this week’s outfits were inspired by the folktales of Paul Bunyan. Despite all the variety in stories, the tale always starts in Maine. These outfits represent my kids personalities very well, we had a blast showing them to you!







Pretty little Babe

I loved how this pale blue quilting cotton had subtle wildflower silhouettes, mixing Babe’s love of snow and grazing in the windlerness. This dress was hand drawn over the Simple Life Pattern Co Molly bodice. After re-shaping the ease, pulling up the necklines and changing the closure, I broke it into 10 panels. A crepe textured knit creates the double ruffle look and surrounds the yolk panel that was sewn in a sequin knit lace. Closing the neckline in bias achieved the comfortable standing choker look. Flutter sleeves curve all the way around the arms with a simple skirt that falls just below the knee. I created Babe's 'horns' with hand tied pig tail bows.







Using the Bunyan statue in Bangor, ME as our outfit inspiration, we threw in a bit of L.L.Bean style to complete our Mainah lumberjack outfit

The shirt, starting with Little Lizard King’s Day Dreamer pattern, was made from red plaid flannel and fully lined with a heavy microsuede. Although it looks similar to it's original design, all but the collar and stand were altered, down to all different assembly methods, for a new fit and style. Toggles inspired by the statue gave the heavy shirt the perfect feel of a light coat while also wearing and working comfortably like a shirt. Green Bunyan pants were drafted off a current pair of jeans from my boys closet with durability in mind. Made with canvas, lined in flannel and equipped with tool pockets gave these the standard work pant composition. A hand cut leather silhouette 'branding' tag finish off our Home look.







You can find out more about these makes and their story on my blog HERE. I hope to see you again next week!

xoxo Sarah


Adventure in the Smokies - Olivia Jane Handcrafted

Adventure in the Smokies Project Run and Play

The Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee is where we call home, and while there are innumerable pop culture references that hail from our great state from Elvis Presley, to Dolly Parton, to Taylor Swift, life here is all about the adventure of being out in nature, spotting wildlife like bears and deer, and enjoying the beautiful landscape of the mountains. I wanted to create an outfit that nodded to our simplistic lifestyle, while giving a nod to the very area we call home.

Adventure in the Smokies Project Run and Play

 What began as a tea towel, adorned with a painterly image of Tennessee and its many landmarks, became the bodice for this dress. I carefully cut the space which showcased Knoxville and its sunsphere, Maryville, and the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. Wanting to nod to the vast green landscape, I chose a deep green poly crepe for the rest of the dress. The crepe also added a beautiful drape which is what I wanted in this simple silhouette. The dress features a Peter Pan collar, long puffed sleeves, and a curved bodice which are all very feminine and clean features that add detail to the dress. The back of the dress has a full length button closure with bronze buttons from Jones & Vandermeer, and the back bodice showcases the Tennessee state flag, along with our state bird, and other local flora and fauna. Of course, the dress has pockets because every girl needs pockets! I also made a bow with the green crepe as an accessory. It can be worn as a headband or tied around a pony tail, though my girl prefers her hair to be worn down.

Adventure in the Smokies Project Run and Play 

 I used the Building Block Dress bodice as a starting point for this dress, and modified it quite a bit to fit my long and lean daughter. The collar, too, came from this book. The sleeve was modified to be quite full at the top, and the skirt was drafted by me. The bodice is fully lined with the crepe fabric. You can read my full post and see lots more pictures on my blog at Olivia Jane Handcrafted

Adventure in the Smokies Project Run and Play



Now it's time for you to help determine the winner of the Home Sweet Home challenge. The designers scores are determined as follows:
1/3 of the score is based on YOUR vote
 1/3 of the score by this week's celebrity guest judge Melissa of Melly Sews
1/3 of the score comes from the panel of judges

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8 comments :

  1. She can definitely feel comfortable in this dress!

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  2. Love the collection from Striped Swallow Designs!!!!

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  3. The Skirt Elpheba Skirt in Wizard and I one is amazing!!

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  4. I love the Farm Girl at Heart designs. Adorable clothing and a sweet precious model to wear them!!!!

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  5. Beautiful style from Striped Swallow. Comfortable and fashionable for our busy schedules.

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  6. This was so hard to choose! I love the variety and the garments look very wearable!

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  7. AWESOME work, Ladies, all around! You're all SO talented! ♡♡♡

    I'm sold on Vacationland. Sarah, you NAILED it! LOVE that amazing little Babe dress! I want one for my own littlest love! Can't wait to see the next round!!

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