On a trip to Spotlight a while ago my little girl stopped at a roll of corduroy printed with very bright ducks and begged me to make her a skirt with it. Even though it's not a print I'd normally buy, I figured she's a good sport when it comes to being dragged around a fabric shop (the curse of being the child of a sewing obsessed mother ;-), so I bought half a metre. But then it sat in my stash for a while as I couldn't quite get my head around just how I was going to approach those neon ducks!
Then it hit me that I probably just need to break up the print. She's still at that age where elastic waists are pretty useful, so I thought I'd make a flat fronted, elastic backed design. Using an existing skirt that fits, I cut a basic A-line shape for the front panel, a wide rectangle for the back. Then I used a bit of scrap dark denim to cut out some large contrasting pockets and finished them off by topstitching them with a thick yellow thread to match some of the ducks on the print.
It turned out OK, I'm still not sold on the print but she likes it, and it keeps her warm in this cold weather (worn here with her jeans, being a ballet dancer ;-), so that's all that matters really I guess.
Do you ever use fabric you're not that keen on? Or do you refuse to?
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Just as an aside, I recently discovered the folk band The Unthanks (been around for years, but I've obviously been living under a rock!). And now I'm addicted to
"The Testimony of Patience Kershaw", a beautiful song about a young girl working in the mines of northern England in the mid 1800's. A little reminder for me to be thankful for what I have and the times I live in, methinks.
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I like the skirt! I think it's healthy to let the kids have some (underline some here) choice in what they wear. It's also a good lesson for us in letting go a bit ;)!
ReplyDeleteRe. the Unthanks, love 'em too. Been listening to 702 have you?????
I agree with Fran, I too need to sometimes 'let go'. I have often wondered what I would do with those prints, so thankyou for showing a way of breaking it down :)
ReplyDeleteVery cute little duck skirt and the addition of the denim pockets is a great way to break up the pattern! Love her pose! Luckily M is not too fussy about what he wants to wear... YET! Though the other week he had his sights set on a rather horrid pair of PJ's with ugly(slightly scary) eyes all over them... I just couldn't buy them! I did feel a bit/lot guilty! :s
ReplyDeleteHaha! Those are some seriously bright ducks! I think you handled this challenge really well, and she seems happy with her new skirt! I need to go check out this song now ...
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