Final Fabricista Fashion Challenge - 3 Piece Wardrobe
I can't believe this is my FINAL entry into the Fabric Mart Fabricista Fashion Challenge! These last 5 weeks have truly been a challenge but also very rewarding. I'm so thankful and humbled to have made it to the Top Three. All 6 bloggers are very talented ladies!
Let's get to it but first....Be sure to VOTE here as this week winner is the overall challenge winner!
The final challenge was to create a 3 piece wardrobe based around a hardly worn item from your closet (RTW or handsewn). The instructions were to sew two other pieces that would make you to wear that item more. The only stipulation was that you couldn't make two of the same item, for example if you selected a shirt you couldn't make two skirts or if you selected pants you couldn't sew two shirts.
Despite my very nearly full closet my first thought was "I don't have any clothes I hardly wear" because I really try to wear most of the items I buy/make and purge the ones I don't each season. Still I had to be honest when I came upon these red ponte fitted ankle pants and say "I've only worn these a handful of times". I love these pants because they are my first handmade pair (with the exception of joggers) so it would be great to wear them more. These are a copy of a pair of RTW pants from Target. I deconstructed the pants and tracing them to make a pattern. These are seldom worn because I always wear them same way, with a black shirt and black shoes, which is rather boring. I made the pants in red because I love red but after making them I was at a loss for what to pair them with, hence I went with the safe bet basic black.
I tried to think outside the box of the safe neutrals, black and white. I wanted to pair the red with something bold and at first I thought yellow! However my husband said I would look like ketchup and a mustard, which I would argue go together just fine, but I didn't want to evoke the thought of a cookout. Then it hit me to pair the red pants with purple, my other favorite color. So I decided to sew up a purple top, but that left me with one more piece to make. Purple and red seemed like a fall color palette to me and I felt camel was a great fall color that wouldn't overpower the two bold colors. With that I decided a camel coat would transition the other two pieces right into the fall season.
I chose McCalls 7249 for the top because who doesn't love gathers. Gathers are always good in my book for camouflaging your least favorite areas, which for me is my midsection. I selected View A, the sleeveless variation, even though the cooler weather is settling in because I am hot natured and love sleeveless shirts for layering even in fall and winter. Thankfully I had this rich purple ITY in my stash that was a perfect, bold complement to my red pants. The pattern is described as a close-fitting, pullover top with gathered front overlay and narrow stitched hems. This pattern had three pattern pieces, finished edges, self facings and some understitching. I finished all of my seams on my serger for a clean interior finish.
For my second piece I envisioned coat to take this simple top and pants for a simple combo into a pulled together "look". Something not too heavy and with some flare. Butterick 6244 came to mind as it simple silhouette that adds drama with its draped collar. I love the length of this coat!I had a time finding the right fabric for this project. The pattern calls for double faced wool and unfortunately I couldn't find any camel wool locally. So I decided that fleece would be a great alternative that would give me the felted texture of wool while being both super comfy and warm.This was my first time attempting flat felled seams that were called for at the center back and shoulder seams. I really like the finished look it gives the inside of the coat and I will definitely be using this technique in the future. I look forward to using this seam on my next lighter weight fabric project as I'm not sure that fleece was the best material for a flat felled seam due to it's thickness. I hemmed the sleeves but decided to leave the collar and bottom hem unfinished. Fleece is pretty thick and I felt a narrow hem would negatively affect the collar drape by weighing it down.
I am definitely looking to forward to wearing my red ponte pants with my two new pieces either to work or out on the town. I've paired all three pieces with my purple BCBG peep toe pumps which I think dresses it up a notch and with a pair of my favorite boots give the look a more casual feel.
I also like just top and pants together.
I'm glad this challenge was presented because it has prompted me to be BOLD and reevaluate all the items in my closet.
You can see the all the entries HERE AND don't forget to VOTE HERE
Don't Forget!!!!
