Crafting A Rainbow

Time for another Tribute Month project!

Marcy aka. Oonaballoona needs no introduction – she is probably one of the most recognisable bloggers around, with one of the most distinctive styles. Marcy was the inspiration for the Sewcialists Oonapalooza month, back in 2014. We had so much fun getting inspired by Marcy that we decided the next month we should get inspired by each other as well, so so Tribute Month was born!!

My inspiration sketches, blogged here. 

I think we’re all inspired by Marcy’s ability to sew on the fly, combining colour and prints in bold, graphic ways. She makes joyous clothes that look *FUN* to wear! There are other things I love about her, though… I see her all over social media chatting with people and cheering them on. She started a really interesting discussion the other week, and then replied to every single comment in a thoughtful, detailed way. That’s just pure class, right there! My favourite sewists are always people who are community-minded and infectiously enthusiastic, and Marcy falls perfectly into that niche!

For this Tribute Project, I chose indie pattern from two of my favourite designers: The Grainline Scout and the Helen’s Closet Winslow Culottes. Let’s start by looking at the culottes, shall we?

These culottes were a gamble. I made my first pair back in early summer, and felt swamped by the maxi-length… and before I got around to shortening them, I ended up giving them away! I was still really curious though, so I used some lovely tencel denim from Fabricland to make a second pair.

They do, of course, wrinkle… the good news is that some of the wrinkles then fall out again with wear. I’ve tried them with a few tops, and while they’ll never replace jeans with stretch for me, I enjoy having them in my closet!

This time I removed an inch from each box pleat, so that overall there is slightly less fabric. I slimed the waist but still had to take it in after attaching the waistband… I find it hard to predict just how snug it needs to be to sit high on my waist! The swishy legs are fun to wear, and the fabric was breezy on a humid day.

On to the fun part – the real Oona-inspired project!

This lace tee is a tribute to Oona’s mesh lace tee which she made this spring. I loved it and pinned it right away… but where to find a similar fabric, without paying exorbitant shipping? I found this crazy printed polyester lace locally in June, and knew it was meant to be!

The lace is truly bizarre. Can you see how it is white lace medallions, overprinted with a completely unrelated floral? I doubt it’s going to last through many washes. but it was surprisingly well-behaved to cut and sew. I sewed it with a straight stitch, and then topstitched down the seam allowance in the world’s laziest take on a flat-felled seam. I’m hoping that gives the seams some strength!

I wanted a classic woven tee pattern without darts, so I reprinted the Grainline Scout tee, which I haven’t sewn in years! In a classic Gillian move, I worried it would come out too small and added width. Then it was too big, and I had to cut it apart and resew every seam! When will I learn to trust a size chart and my measuring tape?

It was actually a row of lace longer at the hem until 5 minutes before I left for pictures. I’m glad I chopped it off – the proportions look right to me now, which means they looked wrong before!

Can we talk about the pictures?

Marcy always talks about how her husband takes photos while almost lying on the ground to make her look tall. He definitely works some magic! But for me, every time I’ve tried it over the years, it just makes me look even shorter and wider. Didn’t help when the grass covered my feet like above! If only I had glorious voluminous hair to add some height, or could walk in heels! Or more realistically, if I was using a different camera lens that let the angle be more dramatic.

In the end, I decided to take different inspiration for Marcy’s photos: horizontal shots instead of vertical! My camera did NOT like when I stood anything but perfectly centred in the frame (relying on autofocus is a hazard of being one’s own photographer!), and I ended up with a lot of gently blurry pictures. Practically every pic in this post is slightly blurry! Nonetheless, it was fun to challenge myself to crop photos differently, and I feel like the horizontal crop actually gave some interesting compositions.

Oh! I almost forgot to tell you the secret of this shirt! I hate wearing camisoles, and won’t wear a sheer shirt, so I came up with a sneaky plan!

Voila! Secret lining! The sleeves are unlined, but the bodice has this extra-long knit lining in fluorescent green. It tucks securely into the high waist of the culottes, and then I can enjoy the look of a cropped top without flashing anyone!

Thank you, Marcy, for inspiring me out of my comfort zone! And what do you think, dear readers: Did I blend our two styles successfully?

P.S. Marcy posted her Tribute Project on the Sewcialists yesterday, so go check it out!