Friday, April 13, 2012

PR&P Week 1: Piece By Piece Chevron Skirt


It's finally here! My first look for Project Run & Play- and I'm really kind of in love with it. It's the perfect marriage of my two sewing loves- making cute kid clothes and piecing quilts. Every stripe on every panel of this circle skirt is pieced from Moda Bella solids provided by Sewn Studio. (My AWESOME sponsor and support in this competition.) That's 160 pieces. Holy seam matching. 




If you didn't look closely, you might think it was just some trendy chevron fabric.  But the fabric cut into a circle skirt wouldn't have the chevrons all going the right direction. I didn't mean to necessarily appeal to such a big trend right now-  I was originally thinking of it as a pieced herringbone skirt. But with the stark black and white in one inch finished strips, there's nothing else you could call this but chevron. And trendy or no, it's still pretty irresistible. 






Here it is on my floor in various stages of production. I love the way the seams looked underneath. The secret to the whole thing was in the cutting. You had to get the angle just right or the panels would not match up with each other. It was one of those moments you have in sewing where you work and work and really don't know if all your work will actually work until it's done. And thank goodness it did. 

I was inspired by Rachel's Herringbone tutorial. It basically starts out the same way, but I changed the dimensions and angles some. 



I also remixed the circle skirt pattern by changing the exposed elastic waistband into an encased one, with an extra wide facing that gives it the look of an adorable paper bag waist. I really love that detail and I think it will become my preferred way to finish circle skirts from now on. 




I put a lot of thought into what type of top to make for this skirt. It had to have enough style to stand up to the high impact of the skirt while not taking away from it. I decided to pair modern and retro with this throw back cap-sleeved bow collar blouse. The pussy bow is making a comeback in women's wear all over the place, but I don't think I've seen it on children's clothing yet (though I'm sure it exists.) I used Oval Elements in Amethyst by Art Gallery Fabrics, also from Sewn Studio.  I think the soft purple dots complement the black and white so well, while keeping things light and springy. And I always love a spin on the classic dot.




The inside of the shirt is all finished in French seams, and I made dainty quarter inch bias binding for the sleeves and neckline under the bow. The bow itself is actually unattached and held in place by three little belt loops (are they still belt loops if they don't hold a belt?) I placed at the shoulders and back of the neck. It's such a small detail, but I love how it feels almost a little masculine or military.




And thanks SO much to Nathan for the amazing pictures taken at a moment's notice. He and Edie also loaned me Lily as a model, who was exceedingly cute and cooperative, even though she felt under the weather. 


So that's it! Feels so good to finally get this show on the road :)    Vote here please!!!!




37 comments:

  1. Love your outfit, Jessica! The black and white skirt makes such an impact. I love the bird's eye view of the skirt while it was under construction.:)

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  2. Wow looks great!!! Love it the whole ensemble! I too love hat "paper bag" waste band! Good luck :)

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  3. That's a LOT of work!!! Everything lines up perfectly!!! AMAZING...

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  4. That blows me a way!!!
    An amazing skirt and a gorgeous outfit!

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  5. wowza, that's a lot of sewing - - i made chevron one out of stripped fabric, but to make it from scratch - wowza11

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  6. Woah....I love it! Heading over to vote.

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  7. Chevron from Scratch? Woah. I bow down to your ability to match everything up. All your seams and points are so crisp. I love it

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  8. That skirt is amazing! Wow. Next stop: voting.

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  9. Seriously adorable! Nice work on those chevrons!

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  10. Sooo cute! And I just love the oval elements top.

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  11. I'm speechless! Your skirt is to die for. I thought I would have spent the most hours with all my hand stitching, but now I am not so sure! And yes, we are on the same wave length with the top for sure :)

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  12. Eeeeeeeek!!! I want a chevron skirt of my very own!!!

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  13. That top is so cute!!And the patchwork looks very cool! I was hoping to see you to bring some of those awesome quilting skills to the challenge!!!

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  14. Brilliant and adorable! I want a grown up version!

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  15. WOW! You did an amazing job on that skirt!! And the blouse is so cute, too! Way to go!!!

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  16. It's pretty incredible, Jessica! I really did think you used chevron fabric at first, but wow. To think of all of those pieces and all of that accuracy? I'm impressed. Seriously. And the top is super adorable, too.

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  17. Oh girl, I just love this. The pieced black and white is so great and the planning this took to execute is super impressive. It pops off the screen! I'm going to echo the other gals here - I WANT ONE! I would pay big money for a skirt like this. And you know I love a pussy bow. Haaahaha!

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  18. Great, great job, Jessica! I've already voted!

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  19. Great job! I love the detail of the bow on the shirt, I didn't notice from the pictures on the PR&P site. Excellent work as usual.

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  20. I love it! I think you'll do well : )

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  21. So impressed by the construction of this skirt. It's flawless!! Love the picture of the skirt laid out on the floor. Nice work!!

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  22. wow, you were busy! It looks amazing. I voted this morning. You did such a great job!

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  23. Gorgeous work! That skirt is a feat of engineering, and really cute. The paper bag top is a great touch. And the top is so sweet, with the sleeve length and the bow. I love it!

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  24. So much work - and so cute! Great minds must think alike...now I'm having to rethink the Earth Day stuff I've been working on.

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  25. i absolutely adore your chevrons! such workmanship went into lining up all those seams, and it shows. really nicely done, jessica! xoxo

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  26. I think your outfit is terrific - I love you blog and I'm so happy I found you from Project Run and Play -- I'm sure to enjoy your posts!! thanks for sharing

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  27. You really nailed this one! And as of right now... you're ahead!

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  28. you are still in first place and you deserve to be! such an adorable skirt and such a super super cute top! amazing work jessica! amazing!

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  29. I love the skirt and I am amazed at all of the work that went into it! Job well done! Wouldn't a Christmas tree skirt be awesome made like this? Thanks for the inspiration!

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  30. Wow! That skirt is perfect! Love the pairing with the darling shirt.

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  31. This is amazing, Jessica! Absolutely adorable!

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  32. That skirt is so amazing it makes my brain hurt to think about all that work!! And I love the pussy bow, too. Great job, Jessica!

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  33. I love your skirt! I am glad you won- I voted for you!!! I know the amount of work involved in this, while you were cutting all these pieces I was piecing together my superhero dress! Good luck in the contest!

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  34. Congrats on the win. I voted for you. Your skirt was awesome.

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  35. Now THAT is a skirt! Pinning it. Thanks for the inspiration, and congrats on the big WIN!~Caroline

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