It's the final week of
Project Run and Play. I started this blog so I could play along with PRP. And now it's Signature Style Week. In all the seasons I've been reading along, I've been thinking about this question. So I started this season with a list to define my signature:
- It has clean lines and few embellishments. It's the subtle details that make it special. And hopefully it's impeccably finished.
- It is easy to wear for everyday life. It’s not special occasion, it’s not for one-time use.
- It’s not twee. It may be youthful, but it's not sentimentally cute.
- It’s feminine, but not girly. There’s not a ruffle, nor any pink, in sight. Perfect for The Peanut’s personality and you can tell because she lights up when she wears it. And that’s my ultimate goal.
Project Run & Play Week #4, Signature Style Week!
I focused on clean, feminine, easy to wear. Less is more. And that meant being smart enough to edit out the
blue coat, and allowing the other pieces to shine.
The top is a heavily modified Family Reunion Blouse by Oliver + S --
one of my favorite patterns. I removed the sleeves and trimmed about a .5-.75" in from the outer edge at the shoulder seam. I removed the collar and the placket from the original pattern, in favor of exposed, contrast bias binding. I also inverted the pin-tucks, added one more in the center front and topped it with a tailored bow. Finally I sewed a size 4 but added 1" to the original hem line of View B (the blouse).
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| The blouse is a modified Oliver + S Family Reunion Blouse. |
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Fabric detail.
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| Bringing the shoulder tops in kept them from hanging out too far. |
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| Hopefully that bow adds a delicate touch of youth without too much twee. |
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| I love the buttons down the back of this pattern. |
The jeans are another favorite Oliver + S of mine, the
After-School Pants. This time I sewed them up in black denim with green contrast top-stitching. I cropped them at the point where the second/lower side panel would attach. These are a size 5 and there's plenty of room to grow, so for now she'll wear them cuffed.
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| Here you can see that back pocket and side panel top-stitching. |
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| They look good cuffed for now. They should look good un-cuffed as she grows. |
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| Did I mention there's lots of top-stitching? |
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| There's that fabulous pocket again. Because I love it. |
I love the way she moves and grooves easily in these pieces. We took them to the library and outside (on a cool day) and they held up well to our daily life, these will both get lots of use. And she lit up wearing them. My work here is done.
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| It was a nice day for reading and for exploring. |
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| I love where that cuff hits just above her ankle, very pedal-pusher perfect. |
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| Love how that top swings just like her ponytail. |
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| Click here to see all the great sew along entries! |
Pattern
Blouse: Family Reunion Dress View B by Oliver + S, size 4 with heavy modifications
Jeans: After-School Pants by Oliver + S, size 5, cropped
Fabric
Blouse: Green Tea & Iced Mocha from Henry Glass Fabrics by Designer Buggy Barn, Blue Zig Zag Stripe (from a local quilt shop); random chartreuse green Linen with no label on bolt found at Wal-Mart
Jeans: Black Denim with stretch (also from Wal-Mart, but this time I know there was a label I just failed to take my customary phone pic of it)
Love
The swing of the top and the delicate tailored bow plus all that top-stitching and those pocket linings on the jeans.
Note
This blouse was percolating in my head as a neutral for under the edited coat. I'm thrilled that it came out as planned; I wanted a neutral that would still work on its own, and clearly it does.
On Tuesday I'll show you how well each of the pieces I created throughout
Season 9 of Project Run and Play can mix and match with each other. In the meantime be sure to check out all the amazing work being shared in this week's
Inspire Us Thursday link party!
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You should really see all that goes into each project!
From my model preferring to wear washi tape on her belly button instead of the clothes I've sewn for her, to the ingenious way that I’ve re-purposed my favorite sewing tool, a chopstick, into a spool pin for double needle sewing on my machine. Daily updates on
Instagram (and
Flickr) of works-in-progress will give you that behind the scenes view you’re looking for, and sneak peeks of First Tuesday Tutorials, too.
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