Project Run and Play: Season 27 Week 2: Dressed to the 90s

It's Week 2! This week's challenge is Dressed to the 90s and the prompt is:

You too can come back stronger than a 90s trend this week! Break out the Doc Martins, Pipe jeans, and rib knit tees to create something straight out of a dELia*s catalog!

This week our guest judge is:

Katie Kortman of Katie Kortman Art

Katie is an artist with a Bachelors (BFA) in Drawing and Painting from Brigham Young University and a Masters in Teaching Art. She teaches art and sewing from her home in Japan, designs fun fabric, released an ebook: Wear Happy Color!, killed it as a contestant on Bravo's Project Runway, (our blog's inspiration!) and released her own line of fantastically colorful clothing!!! To say we are beyond thrilled and honored to have Katie with us this season is a total understatement and we don't envy her huge job of judging this week's looks! (More on the scoring at the end of this post.)

Be sure to scroll all the way to the end of this post for your opportunity to support TWO of the designers with your vote. Without further ado, here are the Dressed to the 90s looks:

Uma of So She Sews - Throwback Threads

Thanks for all the support for week 1!! Glad to sew for week 2 (even if it is by default) and so so excited to be here!

Fashion is a part of our everyday life - and is almost cyclic in nature. For this week’s theme - “Dressed to the 90s”, I was inspired to take a walk down memory lane - to the fashion of the era I grew up in and have fond memories of. It was the era when I first learnt to thread a needle, embroider my first pillowcase (thanks mom!) and sew my first garment. “Throwback Threads” is inspired by how my sisters and I dressed when we were kids.

Surfing through my childhood pictures, I happened to see a picture of me wearing denim overalls and a graphic tee-shirt. A quick google confirmed that - denim overalls were in fact a staple of 90s fashion. So for my first piece I started with the denim overalls - the base of which is Bailey Overalls from Violette Field Threads. I modified the Bailey for a looser fit by adding an additional panel, enclosing the inseam pockets, a longer inseam length for the raw bottoms and adjustable shoulder straps. I helped my daughter embroider her own “X” pattern on the overalls - reminiscing the time when my mom taught me to embroider - and realizing that life had indeed come a full circle.

I wanted to create a graphic tee to go with her overalls - but had no means to do this. Instead I looked at my hoarded Goodwill donation bags and found some of our old t-shirts. I cut them up and patchworked them together into a sleeveless cropped tee. This tee took me straight back to the 90s. We then paired this outfit with a modified Kids Shirt Jacket Pattern from Peekaboo Pattern Shop made from plaid flannel.

To complete her look, all we needed was to accessorize. My daughter made herself scrunchies (out of denim and flannel) and I went to work on a fanny pack. I reused some of the rug samples that we received when we were rug shopping. I redrafted the pattern to fit her - by proportionately reducing the size of all pieces of the fanny pack.

For my son’s look, I wanted to make him exactly what I made for my daughter. But he is not a fan of the overalls - so I ended up making him pants out of corduroy and lined it on the outside with the same webbing to match my daughters overalls. I paired his corduroy pants with a similar graphic tee made from a panel found at a thrift store. To complete his outfit, I made a flannel shirt - the base being the Kids Shirt Jacket Pattern from Peekaboo Pattern Shop. To make it fun - I added shoulder and elbow pads on the outside and sleeve tabs to the shirt (using the tabs the sleeves could be rolled to a shorter length). To complete his look, we added a bucket hat made out of denim and layered with flannel on the inside.

For more details or pictures, please visit my instagram.

Emily of @team_orosco - Tour of the 90s

Hey it’s Emily with @team_orosco! This week, my collection is called “Tour of the 90’s”. I felt this collection in my soul, and I may be wearing butterfly clips as we speak! I believe that every era has a beginning, middle, and end. The early 90’s have late 80’s trickling over, and the end of the 90’s carry in to the early 2000’s. My hope here is to walk you through some of the most iconic looks of each phase of the 90’s.

First, I had to acknowledge early 90’s. It screams the tail end of the amazing looks from the 80’s (think saved by the bell). For Banksys look I found a pair of 3XL men’s pants that spoke to me- so an upcycle was a must. We chopped them up to create these unique joggers. I used Lowland Kids Joggers as a base with several mods to get the look that I needed. I added a diagonal seam, widened them, added elastic ankles, and a white drawstring. Lastly- It wouldn’t be early 90’s without a funky oversized tee! I used the softest Jersey from PH Detour.

For the next look, I had to create one of my favorite Jennifer Anniston looks- the white tee with a black cami dress over! I used Peekaboo Patterns camisole and undies pattern as the base for the camisole and lengthened to a dress. I used a basic t shirt pattern for the rolled hem tee under. Topped off with butterfly clips, doc martens, and a choker of course!

For the last three looks, Clueless was on my mind! I had to bust out the plaid. My oldest Sofia is wearing a puff sleeve top, vest, and blazer. To create this look I modified Boo and Lu patterns pretty heavily. I used the Lokelani romper, coffee cardigan and fern pants. My middle girl, Lucia is rocking a part of the evergreen dress modified with a pencil skirt and knee high socks that I created. My littlest, Millie is wearing a pleated skirt and rolled hem tee. To create her look, I tripled the opening of a circle skirt, pleated and added a band. Of course these looks are topped off with the skinny sunglasses, butterfly clips, and doc martens.

I hope you enjoyed touring the 90’s with us! I enjoyed all of the memories that came with creating these looks for my girls- my favorite part is they loved them enough to wear them Easter Sunday! You can check out behind the scenes and fun reels during the process over at @team_orosco! Happy sewing!

Xoxo Emily

Dominique of Made for Motti - 90s Rewind

“Mom, can you please send me some photos of my brother and me when we were 5 to 9 years old?” That’s what I wrote in a message to my mother, to find out what we wore as kids at the age of my children. I was born in 1989 and therefore a 90’s kid myself. My research revealed: Many oversized sweaters with vibrant color blocking, pairs of peg-top pants and dungarees, velour fabric and as the icing on the cake: collars which can be removed to combine them with different tops. My plans were set. Let's rewind to my own 90's!

For my daughter I tried to copy a pink velour sweater which I wore on the day that the photographer came to our kindergarten. It was a bit oversized and had drop sleeves. Of course my mother pimped it with that funny removable white collar, looking like cake doily. The collar was something most of the German girls wore on special occasions. You shouldn’t miss the photo of me, I will show it to you on my Instagram page! 🙂 I designed the pattern for the sweater myself so that it fits my daughter's special measurements. For the collar I ruffled a meter of lace and encased it with bias tape. I used the extra length of the bias tape to tie a bow. Just like that the collar became removable. In addition I sewed a pair of denim dungarees. The dungarees are closed with denim buttons and dungaree buckles. The pattern is from Klimperklein, but I modified the lining for a cleaner result.

For my oldest son I designed a color blocking oversized sweater with the typical colors of the 90’s. I decided on a half zip sweater because I saw them quite often on the 90’s pics. I designed small pockets on the sides, where my son could put his Walkman ☺️ To get a clean result I topstitched every seam. As a highlight I designed a tape recorder iron-on patch for the backside of the sweater with matching colors. In addition I sewed a pair of peg-top pants using my own pattern “Mottis Chino”. To complete the outfit I made a fanny pack and a hat, repeating the colors of the kids’ sweaters. If you look closely you can discover small mixtape labels on both items. I found them at Minerva. All the remaining materials (including fabrics, buttons, buckles, bias tape and the lace) were sponsored by Stoffe Hemmers. Many thanks again at this point.

We had so much fun shooting the outfits at the skatepark. I love how the pics of my two oldest turned out! Do you want to see us in week 3 and meet their little brother, too? Then please go ahead and vote for me. It would make me very happy!

Shalayne of Lowland Kids - Mini Him, Mini Her

This week was REALLY fun for me. At first I was doing a bunch of research on styles from the 90’s but felt really uninspired. Then, I had an idea to look through pictures of me and my husband from when we were little because the first bit of our lives were in the 90’s. Our youngest two children happen to look more like us than the older two so I thought it would be super fun to re-create an outfit from one of those pictures for each of them.

For hers, we’ve got a cute 90’s style romper with a little scrunchy detail on the strap and a rib knit tee underneath (the goal wasn’t to make it 100% the same because I wanted the flexibility of having different shirts underneath). For his, we went with this adorable button up and pleated shorts. These were both made in woven, which I usually avoid because I really don’t like sewing with woven but I’m so happy with how it turned out. It was also my first collar so I’m proud of that as well! Patterns are all self drafted except the top underneath my daughters romper which is a modified Lowland Leo top.

I hope you enjoy looking through all of the amazing makes from this week!

Janelle of Janelle Sews - All I Wanna Do is Have Some Fun

This was so much fun, both to design and to photograph! There are so many 90s touches throughout. But you can’t get more 90s than making clothes from jeans I wore in the 90s, like these 2 pieces! I also used fabric from more recent old jeans, and some denim from my stash. Overalls were very popular in the 90s, and I made 3 different versions this week. Scarlett got a Latz is in the air overall dress by Lotte & Ludwig. It’s a German pattern, and I don’t speak German, but I can sew in any language! I added the colour blocking, and the front pocket. Scarlett designed the pocket stitching. I also narrowed the sides quite a bit so it was less a-line. I shortened the dress and created a facing rather than a full lining. I also didn’t read the instructions! Underneath she is wearing a very 90s metallic, high neck crop top. The front is based on the On Pointe crop top by Striped Swallow Designs. I removed the extra seam lines, and adjusted to have enclosed seams instead of binding. The back is the Indigo crop top from Jennuine Design, with a nice low back. I adjusted them to fit together. The band is how I do most crop top bands, with the elastic firmly held in place. Marissa’s overalls are from Bacca Bootcuts by Designs By Call Ajaire. I removed the front zip but retained the faux fly stitching, and added a side zip. I changed the waistband and added waistband tabs. I added a bib, straps and hardware, and made the straps crossover at the back. I lined them with Toy Story fabric for another 90s touch. Underneath she got a striped rib baby tee. I used an old boat tee pattern that is no longer available as a start. I changed the neckline to be less of a boat neck and more of a round neck, and finished it with a band instead of a facing. I removed the extra details from the original pattern, shortened the length and added sleeve cuffs.

Scarlett got another pair of overalls, this time a long pair from the Flying Fox Overalls from Puzzle Patterns in the Project Run and Play shop. They are made from a lovely soft tencel that drapes beautifully. I changed the back and added overall hardware. I used faux flat felled seams on the legs, but sewed the cuffs with a blind hem. Underneath she is wearing a rib knit baby tee in a very Sonic the Hedgehog blue. This one I made from the Blip Turtleneck by August Sewing in the Project Run and Play shop. I shortened the length and the sleeves, lowered the neckline and finished it with a neck band.

Marissa also got a long sleeve rib knit cropped tee, also loosely based on the same old boat neck tee as before. This one has a wider boat neckline, is cropped, and has long sleeves with lettice hems. I also made her a pair of shorts from daisy printed denim with cargo pockets. Both daisies and cargos were popular in the 90s, and I merged them together. I used the Bacca Bootcuts again as a starting point. These ones have no zip, cargo pockets instead of regular pockets, no cuffs and a wide stretch knit waistband. The last thing I sewed for this collection is a bomber jacket in this amazing rock star stretch faux leather fleece from my preseason sponsor Lush Fabrics Australia. It is amazingly soft, looks like leather on the outside but is soft and fuzzy on the inside. I used the Cicero Jacket pattern from Sofilantjes. I made it oversized, to suit the 90s aesthetic I was looking for. I also created the bomber collar, and added leather tabs to the rib waistband. In a final 90s nod, the pockets are lined with Harry Potter fabric, and the zip tab has a Hogwarts Express platform 9 ¾ charm. Marissa absolutely loves this piece and it has barely been off since we took these photos. We totally embraced the 90s aesthetic for this shoot, right down to the hair, the backwards cap and the chokers. It was incredibly difficult to narrow it down to just these photos. Head over to my insta for photo overload, including some more details I couldn’t show here, and one of Scarlett doing the obligatory 90s one strap overall look. We are going to play Sonic the Hedgehog!