color block | you and mie

Today I am part of the Straight Lines and Angles series hosted by Jess of If Only They Would Nap. The series is inspired by the geometric shapes trend, which I have totally fallen for.

I had originally planned on a triangle print skirt, but ended up setting that idea aside and taking a different approach to the project. Instead of making something with geometric shapes on it, I decided to make something out of geometric shapes.

I was inspired by this awesome hoodie, and decided to use straight lines and angles to piece together a skirt with pockets. I figured it was the perfect opportunity to do some color blocking as well, because that’s always appropriate, right!?

So this is kind of like a basic rectangular skirt (tutorial here), but I cut the pattern into polygons to create the angled center piece and pockets. Here are my pattern pieces . . .

Doesn’t get more “straight lines and angles” than that, huh?

As a finishing touch, I freezer paper stenciled a set of stars (my favorite of all polygons) in one corner. I love stars so much.

I’ve also been having fun coming up with different and unexpected combinations of colors. Since I’m trying to use fabric from my stash, I dug all of these up from my scrap pile. Recognize any of them? The center panel is a gorgeous purpley shot cotton from the Maggie Mae Tunic. The chartreuse is from my Project Run and Play Sew-along Signature Look skinny pants. The side panels of the skirt are a cream linen/linen blend that I used for the Art Museum Vest. The waist band is an oatmeal colored linen, but I have no idea where it came from or what I used it for before.

When I first showed Yuki the skirt, she said she didn’t like it, or the tank top I wanted her to wear with it. Then she suddenly changed her mind and put them on happily and wore them the rest of the day! That was a nice surprise – I feel like I haven’t made her anything she’s actually liked in a long time. And hey! I like it, too! Isn’t it nice when things work out like that?

Follow along the rest of the series here and be sure to enter the Straight Lines and Angles giveaway here!

Have a great week!

So I did it! Selfish sewing! I finally sewed something for myself and what do ya know? I like it!

There are a lot of reasons I don’t sew for myself, or adults in general. One reason is because fit is soooo important and it feels like details REALLY matter on adult clothing. Kids can wear elastic waistbands 24/7. They can have slightly crooked hems or wonky seams and no one will care or notice. Heck, it makes them look even cuter! They look adorable in anything you put them in and most of the time they are just going to run around and roll in the dirt, so perfection isn’t necessary.

Adult clothing is different. There are curves you can’t ignore. You can’t just put elastic waistbands on everything (or can you? :P). You want to wear your clothes in public, to work, where people may look at you funny if something is totally ill-fitting. Or with unfinished seams, or crooked. Unfortunately, it will not make you look cuter.

Adult clothing also requires a lot more fabric. That means more money, and just more fabric to deal with, and combined with the reason above, it means more time! I love how little material you need and how quickly you can whip up something for your wee one.

But the MAIN reason I don’t sew for me is because I don’t like my body! Because I have body issues, it’s hard to imagine liking any clothing on myself and I don’t want to invest time and money into sewing for me if I’m not even going to like how it looks. I feel much more compelled to sew for my sister because I know it’ll look cuter on her, like the Winter Party Skirt or the Wiksten Tank in Ikat.

But I decided that shouldn’t stop me and after giving up my Ikat print fabric to use for my sister’s top, I thought about what else I’m into now and I thought I’d try color blocking! This is a pretty big trend right now and I thought with some bright colors it’d be a fun, youthful spring top. So without further ado, here’s my color blocked Wiksten Tank!

I used 3 different colors of cotton fabric and sewed them together before cutting out the pattern pieces making sure they were lined up perfectly so the color blocks would match up at the side seams.

When it started coming together I wasn’t sure if I had made the right decision to color block, or if I had picked the right colors. It looks so BRIGHT. Maybe too youthful and bold? I felt like something from the 80s or early 90s, or maybe something super hipster from American Apparel? I really didn’t know if I could pull it off. But after finishing it and trying it on (and toning it down with a cardigan), I realized that I liked it!

Let me just stop and say that I chose only the most flattering pictures to share with you. Trust me, most of them were not so pretty.

And getting a good picture of yourself is hard! I apologize for the awkward poses and poor lighting/quality.

So the pattern is the Wiksten Tank and I HIGHLY recommend it. It’s a very simple and straight forward top (no buttons, zippers or special materials needed). It comes together quickly and the fit is pretty flattering for most people I imagine. The loose bottom covers little tummies quite nicely! Because it calls for french seams there are no unfinished exposed edges and this makes the top look neat and professional. It’s definitely a good top to start with if you’re just delving into adult clothing sewing.

It’s funny though, I kept thinking that the tops were waaay too big. I made a size small for my sister and I thought for sure that it was going to hang off her petite frame. But it fit her perfectly! When I made mine, it looked like a circus tent! And I was a bit disappointed to find that it fit me perfectly too. Hah! I think that it just comes from only sewing tiny little toddler clothes, I didn’t realize how much fabric you need to cover an adult body.

Anyways, I’m kinda inspired to sew more for me! Between the Sewing for Me series that Kojo Designs and Sewing in No Man’s Land hosted and Made by Rae’s Spring Top Sewalong, I feel like not only is it doable, but it’s important to take the time to create for yourself. I’d love to make a top to enter in the Spring Top Sewalong, so I’ve got some work to do! You guys have any great patterns for women’s tops that you’d recommend?? Do you like to sew for you?