Just Sew: Dots and Stripes

Between Munchkin costumes for a spring production of Wizard of Oz and outfits for my Alice in Wonderland collection last fall, I sewed almost 20 outfits featuring polka dots and stripes in 2012.  And while I really do love polka dots and stripes (I even wore them together in my senior picture) I feel a little tapped out in that category when it comes to sewing right now.  This was definitely the vaguest of my sketches when I planned out my looks for Project Run and Play.  Luckily, my youngest came through with some requests and I suddenly felt inspired.

I went back to my old friend, jersey knit, to create this comfy outfit.  All of the pieces are made from thrifted t-shirts and scraps.  Being the youngest of three, my daughter has spent her life catching up to big brother and big sister, only to emerge as the most competitive member of our family.  She is always up for a quick card game or a race to the next destination or a game of rock-paper-scissors when we are waiting for the ferry.  At some point she saw a cute shirt with a rock-paper-scissors design and asked if I could make one for her.  I really enjoyed embroidering a scrap of white t-shirt into the cutest piece of paper.  I kind of wanted to keep it for myself because it turned out so fun.  One of my students said, "It's so cute!  I just can't stop looking at it" and, I have to admit, I feel the same way.  Anyway, each piece was embroidered and appliqued onto a t-shirt.  I paired the shirt with a polka-dot ruffled scarf, made from a super soft thrifted t-shirt.

Lastly, I made these wrist warmers from one striped and one polka dotted shirt.  (You can barely see the polka dots in the shot, but the whole palms down side is that material).  They looked a little plain, and I already had my embroidery thread out, so I started stitching some colorful dots and stripes into the fabric.  I kept it really minimalistic and I am digging the Eighties vibe from the color combinations and design.  I just might have to borrow them...

A lot of what I have sewn in the past has actually been for costumes or custom orders or for presents and rarely for my own kids.  One goal I have this year is to sew a lot more for my own family (this does include window treatments for our living room).  My daughter was so thrilled I made a shirt just for her that she got to wear to school right after the photos were done.  Even though I wasn't that excited about this challenge, I really like how these pieces turned out and foresee all of them getting lots of wear by all the girls in our family.