Friday, February 03, 2006

Colorful and pretty

[Cross-posted to my LiveJournal]
Yesterday I worked on my Imperial Officer uniform. It's coming along nicely, but when I pulled it out of the bag in class I realized: I am SO READY to sew something colorful and pretty! My last three big costume projects have been white/off-white, black, and olive-grey. Time for some COLOR!

I brought back lots of beautiful stuff from Mike's Fabric in L.A. (thanks for the recommendation, Colleen!), but hadn't started planning the garments I want to make. Hancock Fabrics had Vogue patterns on sale for 75% off last week, so I took my swatch sheet and list of pattern numbers gleaned from their website and picked out a few possibilities. Scott, in one of his acts of husbandly-sainthood, came along and helped me narrow it down.

[Click thumbnails for larger photos.]

Here are some of the lovely coordinating fabrics from Mike's. Some of the things I really enjoyed about this shop is how neat and orderly it was compared to the other stores; that prices were clearly marked (with a little wiggle room for making a good deal); and that Erica, Mike's very knowledgeable wife, took the time to arrange coordinating fabric displays on the tables and walls. Four out of the five pieces below were displayed together, which caught my eye and decided me on buying all four.
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Here's another piece I never would have bought if I hadn't seen it draped on the wall:
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The print reminds me of a story and I plan to make a long a-line skirt, with the scene running across the bottom of the panels.

Below left, gorgeous soft pre-washed silk dupioni, another Erica recommendation. I knew it would coordinate perfectly with the colored flecks in the butter-yellow wool at right, which has been sitting at home in my stash for a year-and-a-half, waiting for just this kind of inspiration.
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I'm thinking of this blouse for the teal dupioni, either the 3/4 sleeve or the view with the bell sleeves, possibly with some embroidery around the cuffs; and one of these skirt patterns for the wool.

Now on to possible matches with the Vogue patterns I picked up last week.
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I love the waistband on the pants in the second photo, with the button off to one side. The top in the third photo, the girls think I should make using the embroidered and beaded silk in some of the panels, with either the caramel-colored rayon or olive-green suedecloth as the main body. I'm not sold on it yet--I was going to use the two solid fabrics for pants--but I'll try draping it and see how I feel.

And two more patterns I picked up just for fun:
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1 Comments:

Blogger MJAZ said...

Oh Audrey that dupioni matches so perfectly and the patterns you picked out just seem MADE for those fabrics :) I can't wait to see the progress and the finished projects.

6:26 PM  

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