Candy Striper Couture
Well I fell off the planet last week and didn't get my outfit sewn. I was stuck on the outfit I was going to do for the chevron week though and decided that I would alter it and make it for this week.
I had a collection of a set of two pink striped pillow cases, an off white women's skirt that would have fit my left thigh, and a pair of girl's 14/16 leggings in a pink and gold leopard print. For some reason each piece seemed to fit together and scream out to me......make something with us.
Recently, I drafted a new pattern. I fell in love with the Oliver + S Roller Skate Dress pattern but reality is that the pattern is $15 dollars and I just don't have that kind of money. So looking at it I thought, hey I can make that pattern myself. Famous last words......
Well I played around with the pattern a little bit and ended up making a dress that was great....but too big in the shoulders. So I started to play around with the shoulders doing a folding detail and it came out super cool.
So I decided to use the same pattern for this dress that I made.....with the intention of duplicating the same look in the shoulders.
I decided to add an insert into the front of the dress that incorporated all the different fabrics. As I was playing with the insert I realized that I had 2 different colors of piping, and 3 kinds of bias tape in my stash that matched the outfit. So I decided that they would play up the detail.
FYI.....I don't sew with piping. The last time I tried it was a disaster. But as they say on Project Runway...you gotta take a risk. So I went for it. It went better this time.
I put the piping throughout the patchwork on the front and included it in the casing on the sleeves. Also I used it along with bias tape around the neckline.
I played with the folds on the sleeves as well and created a neat and different look. The bias tape around the neckline kept it from being as clean as I wanted. Next time I will do the seaming first and then the bias tape. I added some vintage buttons to the sleeves to add even more details.
To finish the outfit, I used the leggings to create a pair of leggings for my 5T daughter.
Overall, I love all of the details. The outfit is way more detail oriented than I am normally, but I really like the effect! The end result looks a little bit like a candy striper outfit, but the details bring it to a whole other level.
