Kitty Skirt

I'm not into high fashion. I have enjoyed Project Runway, although I'm a late convert and have only been hooked for about 2 and a half seasons. I have a little more appreciation for "fashion forward" but it isn't MY sensibility. I like comfortable. I like coverage. I like fun.

When Roxanne and I were looking through the fabric stash, we came across a fabric that I had gotten with something for Raine in my mind. It never got made. The fabric was black on black cats. The background is a very deep black, and the cats a tiny bit lighter. There was also a pretty good sized piece of solid black, about the shade of the cats. How fun it would be, we thought, to cut skirts out of both, then cut the panels in half and alternate them.

It turned out that there was only enough cat fabric for one skirt, and since Roxanne wears skirts more often than I do, she got it. Since it still sounded like fun, I went on the lookout for another black on black print, and when the cotton wall went on sale a couple of weeks ago, I picked up a print that was little curlicues. Not as fun as the kitties, but...

This weekend, we got my skirt finished. Those skirts are very simple to make. Here is a close-up of the kitty fabric, and Roxanne's skirt. Look close on the right side of the picture.

tribal tunics

Roxanne and I got to sew today. Yay! I even remembered my camera. More Yay! Here's hoping my memory stays and the sinus infection continues to leave.

This is fabric Carl picked up when a local quilting shop closed. It must have been pretty cheap, because he got a bunch of it. Like 10 yards. Yeah. It feels almost canvas-y, a loose weave, but is softer and more pliable than canvas. It also has shells sewn onto it, as you can tell in the close-up. We all agreed it was cool fabric... but what to do with it?

It sat in my stash for 2 years... or maybe more than that. This year, one of my sewing goals is to make Carl some shirts. He could use them, and hey, what's a sister for? He remembered this tribal fabric, and we pulled it out and looked at it again. After some discussion of what he would like made, it seemed like a tunic just made sense. Something you can pull on over whatever when the weather is cold.

Roxanne and I talked about the shells, and finally gave ourselves permission to just cut off the ones that were in the way. We could go crazy trying to "save" them. Later on, after wearing, any that turn out to be in an uncomfortable spot will also be cut off. Roxanne save the shells, threatening to string them together for a necklace.

Maybe

I think, now that they have been posted, that I should have allotted a post for each of the garments. Perhaps if the pictures had turned out better, I would have done that. Explained a little more about the provenance of the fabric, the pattern, the wardrobe plan... something. The pictures would have enhanced the thoughtfulness of both the blog, and the reader.

Or maybe I'm just looking for inspiration.

With a little help from my phone

I forgot the camera. Again. I did remember my daughter, and her bag of goodies to keep her occupied, and the fabric, sundries, and sewing machines. Even the goodies for lunch. The camera? No. So I used my phone and took some photos anyway. Here's some of what we've been up to in the past few weeks... (pause while I load up the photos, so I know what to talk about when...)

Wow, these photos are either too small to see, or, when enlarged, too blurry. Sigh. I'll talk about them anyway. This first one is Roxanne, in her new black slacks and purple top. The fabrick for both pieces was repurposed from mystery fabric. Meaning I'm not even sure where it came from. Maybe I should call that rediscovered fabric.

This skirt is really cute - just in case you can't tell... We found a couple of yards of this black kitties on black background fabric. Very fun. Then, we had the brainstorm of combining it with some black fabric, alternating panels for a skirt. We were hoping there was enough of the kitty fabric for two skirts, but we only got one. Still we liked the alternating panel idea enough that when the calico fabric went on sale this weekend, I picked up some in a different black on black pattern. (no more kitties to be had)

The final photo is Roxanne's son, Casey, in a tunic that we made for him. The fabric is rather canvas-y with a tribal kind of design on it, and shells (yes, shells) sewn on here and there. We're making Carl a tunic out of it, but his isn't quite finished yet. Casey's took a little adjusting, but we got it finished this afternoon.

With the promise of pictures soon...

Friday, Roxanne and I worked on refilling the basket of things-to-be-sewn-on-Sundays. It was fun to go through a portion of each of our stashes and the piles of patterns, and consider the possibilities. Then we pinned and cut and folded and repinned and not always in THAT order.

Cutting things out is not my favorite part of sewing, usually. I like to have a stack of things ready to grab and throw at the sewing machine. There have been many a production line at my house, I'll tell you. Still, playing with the fabric, and considering the possibilities IS fun, and we enjoyed it. We came up with a few fun outfits, and I'm happily awaiting their construction.

Today, for instance, while Roxanne did some (more) cutting, I worked on a sewing a top (one of the two pieces left in the basket from our summer cutting spree), a really cute skirt, some pants and another skirt for Roxanne's closet. All of those pieces are from fabric that has now been used instead of stored. Creatively envisioned into new purposes. They all have a place on this blog, and will be featured as soon as they are finished and photographed. In fact, there are several pieces in that basket that will find their way here, in the next few weeks.