Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Season 21 Week 2: Super Heroes & Heroines

Every kid wants to be a super hero or heroine, right?   And now, thanks to our fantastic designers, these kids get to be super hero and heroines everyday!  

Be sure to scroll through all 5 designers creations and vote using the widget at the end.

The Dapper Captain - Olivia Jane Handmade

Project Run and Play A Dapper Captain

Meredith from Olivia Jane Handcrafted here! I'm so excited to be back for week two of Project Run and Play! This week is all about making an outfit that is not a costume that nods to our child's favorite superhero or heroine, and let me tell you, that is not as easy as it sounds! There was much debate over what qualifies a hero as "super", and again, what they might wear when not saving the world. So this week, my entry is focused on my son, his unique style, and his favorite hero, Steve Rogers who is better known as Captain America. 

Project Run and Play A Dapper Captain 

 Wallace is the kid who loves to look good all the time. It takes no parental prompting- he simply likes to don suspenders whenever he can or add a bowtie to his look. He loves his hair just so, and he needs to be clean at all times. So naturally, his version of the Captain, was going to have to be a dapper one, which isn't a stretch for the gentleman hero. We chose a blue gingham for his shirt, and spared no details. Its has all the characteristics of a professionally sewn shirt, from a collar with collar stand to a tower placket on the sleeves. I used the Buttoned Up Buttoned Down Shirt from Oliver & S because their patterns are always so well done, and include all the details of high end ready to wear clothing. The buttons are pearl and they were purchased at Jones & Vandermeer. His bow tie was made with Liberty lawn. 

Project Run and Play A Dapper Captain 

 The pants are a light grey linen- we didn't want to go full white for the pants. That wouldn't last one day, even with my clean kid. I used the Art Museum Trousers pattern from Oliver & S for the pants. They feature welt pockets with a peek of the gingham fabric inside. The waistband facing also includes the gingham used in his shirt. The trousers are an easy wear with light linen, and fit nicely. My young captain was glad for belt loops to add in a belt! 

Project Run and Play A Dapper Captain 

 As a mom who dreads when my children want me to make anything character related because stores are so saturated with that kind of thing, I was glad for this week's prompt to make regular clothing that our favorite superhero might wear! I know this outfit will get lots of mileage and can be worn most anywhere. You can read and see more photos over on my blog post! Thank you! -Meredith


Lightning & Speed - Striped Swallow Designs



Free to Play. Run. Make believe... free to Be. To create. To move. To dance & groove.
Free to flip and twirl and fight and whirl... and free to conquer the world!
I'm going to be real honest...when I heard the theme for Week 2, I freaked out a little. It is sooo out of my realm! I immediately started brainstorming though and was so relieved within a couple hours I had a plan. And then of course didn't sleep well that night because I was working out all the details in my head. I love those full force, creative moments even if it means I don't get much sleep!


This photoshoot was such a blast too. Once Harbor stepped into the romper and put her gloves on, she was incredibly FIERCE! And Emerie kept running around saying she was flash!
For my first outfit, I drafted a harem romper with a deep v-neck so I could add an inset with the super hero fabric. Since I knew I wanted the romper to be solid black, I added a few fun details to bring it to life. Gathering on the sides of the bodice, shirring down the center of the back bodice and beautiful angles on the front bodice.


For my second outfit, I chose my Desert Breeze pattern as I wanted the cold shoulder look. I stumbled across the fringe when I was on the hunt for fabrics for my beach photoshoot for Week 1 and immediately knew that was the fabric for the skirt of this dress. This was my first time sewing with fringe and it was actually easier than I expected, but definitely a little tedious when cutting. More details are on my blog if you are curious on how I went about it.
Each girl also got a pair of super hero gloves. I used my Winter Park thumbhole cuff as a starting point. I added glitter heat transfer vinyl for a super hero logo on the dress and Harbor's gloves. And finally made a belt in the lame fabric for Emerie's dress.
Fabrics used: black double brushed poly for the romper, black lycra lame for Emerie's belt and gloves and black fringe all from Cali Fabrics. The amazing "super hero" print I chose is Brazilian athletic fabric from Surge Fabric Shop.


So after all the fret this ended up being the theme I was most excited for. It pushed my creativity and I love it for that.
More photos and info from our shoot over on our blog. xo - Mandalynn


Do you want to build a snowman? - We Sew Got This




Sisters

Nordic sisters speak directly to my little girl’s hearts, heritage and passions. I couldn’t see anything more genuinely fitting, I embraced the challenge to think outside the box using our Frozen heroine. With little Say just starting to really get into storyline play with her big sister, their relationship is starting to blossom! We adventured through a magical forest, where Elsa brought on a little out of season frost for us.





Adventurous sister

Artsy and fun - everyday Anna! In her own geometric, color blocking way, Kona cotton was the perfect fit to find the unique colors needed. I drew little sister a shift dress with a mild high low, trimmed in pompoms inspired by the original coronation outfit. Starting with Violette Field Threads Georgia, I reshaped the generous neckline and used a facing finish with a zipper closure. Dropping the waistline down with a steep V shape gave room to pull around from each side with two A line panels. The dress is hemmed off with a small gathered front and slow tapering point in the back.



Ice Princess

This everyday Elsa dress is simple yet packed with all the little details a princess desires. No joke, my girl has been begging for snow since spring; making her own would be a dream come true! Easy to play in doesn’t get much prettier than this tiny sparkle cotton. Using the Violette Field Thread’s Seraphina as a starting point, I redrew a boat neck inspired, princess curved neckline. Then I scooped the wide shoulder half way down her back. Choosing my own unique finishings included drafting the less full skirt to the knee and fun bow cuffed sleeves.





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




Small children fighting big battles - Love Hazel Grace Designs



From the time I learned the themes for Project Run and Play and started sketching my designs, I knew this week would be special to me because my hero is my nephew Ryder. Ryder fought leukemia for more than half of his life, and he did it with a smile, a joke, and a love of life! Sadly, Ryder lost his battle with cancer last December. Last week would have been Ryder’s 4th birthday, so honoring him and his battle buddies with this challenge felt like a great way to celebrate his life and his birthday. I called my sister, Ryder’s mom, to ask her how I could make adaptive clothing for Ryder’s battle buddies. It was important that the clothes that were comfortable, accessible for ports and tubes, but still looked like fun clothing that any child would want to wear. At the time I couldn’t tell my sister 100% why I needed suggestions, but she helped me by sharing what specific aspects of what a “normal” outfit Ryder and his buddies would have needed. I have included pictures of Ryder and his ports so you can see my “Why” for designing for this superhero.




First every child of Ryder's age or younger (just a little older and his port or buddies as he called them would have looked different) needs access to their buddies or whatever they have called their port. This port is in the middle of their chest so I knew a welt opening would be needed in the middle of a shirt - a t-shirt - that would be comfortable and could have designs on it that could work for any child. These shirts have welt openings allowing easy access to the child's port but that opening is covered by a patch I created with my embroidery machine, so only the wearer and whoever the wearer decides to tell know the opening is there! On these two outfits, I used a firetruck in honor of Ryder's hero, his daddy, and a unicorn in honor of one of Hazel's favorite animals! The back of the patch is covered with white fabric on the bottom half of it and then the top half is Thermofix which is then affixed to the shirt.

Also on the shirt at the back of the collar is a snap that has a loop of rick rack attached to it. If the child has an NG tube the child needs a place for that tube to go while they are playing. The tape that holds the NG tube on their back can be painful when pulled off or leave a residue on their clothing so a place to hold that tube and keep it out of the way is important.




Finally for the shirt, what kid does not love a superhero cape? A cape that ties around the neck or goes around the neck is a safety concern for all children; a child with a port/tubes especially needs a safer alternative. I made the cape snap to the back shoulder of the shirt! The snaps are plastic, so they are washer and dryer-safe as well as metal-free and safe around medical equipment. I repeated the designs from the shirt fronts on the cape backs so our little superheroes can have fun coming and going.

I never saw Ryder wear jeans after he was diagnosed. My sister said that the buttons on the adjustable waistbands were uncomfortable, and that was not uncommon for his battle buddies to have the same complaints. I designed a flat front pant with jean styling, but I encased any uncomfortable parts in the waistband. The cargo pockets also have an important function. The children receive medications into their ports through balls that they carry with them in fanny packs. The cargo pockets on these pants are large enough to hold the medication ball and have a grommet that the cords and tubes can go through to attach to the port. Looking at these fun pockets, no one would think that there was anything but toys inside!





Thank you for letting me share my hero, Ryder! For these tiny warriors and their families, it is so important that their clothes look like all the other kids. Also, thank you to Hazel and Emmerson who modeled these clothes for all their siblings, friends and buddies who need adaptive clothes! To read more about the patterns and fabric used check out my blog post
Patterns: Love, Hazel Grace Designs unreleased patterns Straight Leg Pants and T-Shirt 
 Fabric: stretch denim (pink and dark wash) from my stash; black knit fabric from my stash; firetruck knit fabric from my stash; unicorn sketch knit from JoAnn's Doodles Collection; Rainbow Batik fabric from JoAnn's; Yellow cotton (from my stash); blue sparkle linen (from my stash); 
Patches made by me on my embroidery machine - Unicorn is from Applique Club and the Firetruck is from Happytown Applique


Glitter Force Makeover - Made of Starlite


Eeeeekkk!! I am so thrilled to be with you for week two! I knew all of the designers this season were super talented, but the level of craftsmanship and creativity only on week one was incredible!

For this week, I had a million ideas, but nothing was really speaking to me. My kids love dressing up, particularly my younger two, but they are very particular about details and are not shy about letting me know when something isn't *exactly* like the character. 😜🀷‍♀️ So convincing them to wear something inspired by a superhero but NOT an exact replica of the costume was going to be my biggest challenge! πŸ˜„πŸ˜„





Luckily, as I was perusing Pinterest for inspiration, I came across superhero themed swimsuits, and everything clicked into place! After tough negotiations with my opinionated 5-year-old, we settled on making Glitter Force:Doki Doki inspired swimsuits for her and her two friends! All three girls and my 7-year-old son are obsessed with this cute Japanese show, which is on Netflix in case your kids are looking for a new show to binge. Because who isn't looking for their next Netflix fix? 😏 If you ever watched Sailor Moon as a kid, this will be right up your alley.




The girls prepared for this shoot by practicing their character poses in a full length mirror for at least 20 minutes, and then played Glitter Force at the pool for two hours after it. They were disgruntled that I only made suits for three of the five members. Because, if we are already going to make three swimsuits, why not make all five swimsuits? That seems lazy. (direct quote🀦‍♀️) And they did put in requests for full on costumes for Halloween. We are hard core fans.

For these suits, I used two Violette Field Threads suits as my base, and deconstructed from there. For Glitter Spade (purple) and Glitter Diamond (blue) suits, I started with VFT's Catalina swimsuit. The purple got an asymmetrical neckline and color blocking, while the blue suit got ruffles at the neckline and a super cute gathered piece across the front. I debated making it a fun pocket, but then decided that it would only be full of sand and maybe would be better to be unattached. All the suits got big bows and sequin heart pins, which are on snaps for easier washing and in case anyone wants to go on the water slide!





The Glitter Heart suit (pink) started life as an Ophelia Leo from VFT. I re-drafted it to be off the shoulder, drafted an asymmetrical circle ruffle, and chopped it up for some fun color blocking as well. I didn't want to order half yards of seven different colors of swim fabric, aside from not knowing if all the different shades from different websites would coordinate! So I grabbed this awesome pearlized white fabric from JoAnn's in the Cosplay section, a few colors of RIT synthetic dye, and gave it a go! It was a little nerve wracking taking their suits off after playing two hours in the chlorine, but no one turned blue, pink or purple, and the colors are just as bright! That is a two thumbs up for RIT Synthetic dye from this designer. πŸ‘πŸ‘




As always, click through to my blog for lots more photos, ridiculous outtakes, and of course Glitter Force memes! πŸ˜„πŸ’•

And now it's your turn...use the voting widget below:




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 Delia of Delia Creates
1/3 of the score comes from the panel of judges


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9 comments :

  1. The world needs more Hero's who are fighting REAL battles such as Childhood Cancers and clothing for them!

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  2. Lightning and Speed...Love it and keep pushing the envelope to come up with new and fresh designs that can be sewn as one of a kind....great job Striped Swallow!!!

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  3. All of these are wonderful! Jenny you have such a gift!!!

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  4. Win or lose, your Super Heroes will always be the winners with you designing their clothing!

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