⌈Lookbook! Lookbook!⌋ Key-inspired cosplay for PR&P's 💜Very Peri💜 Pantone Party!
💜Time for the Project Run & Play Pantone Party again!💜 The Color of the Year for 2022 is “Very Peri” and I made a custom fabric design, courtesy of Raspberry Creek Fabrics (affiliate link), using the exact hex code for this year’s color! It was a lot of fun drafting and designing the whole look (inspired by a Key stage look) and Sephira and I are so squeaky giddy over the end result! 😊
It has been a harrowing new year for us, so, when Audrey asked if I wanted to participate in the Pantone Party, I was betwixt a lot of feelings. Ultimately, I felt that I really like this project and it would be a pleasant distraction from all of my worries. I’m so glad I did because Sephira (a.k.a. ‘lil shawol’) and I are so in love with the outfit we made for it!
the inspiration
click the video to watch Key’s “Lookbook” performance (the outfit is shown at about one minute in!) (video credit: sharing shinee)
We’ve watched a lot of SHINee concert stages in the past and this Lookbook outfit from their 2016 “DxDxD” Tour has always caught my eye. It just so happened that I rewatched it the same week as I got the invite! Instinctively, I knew that I wanted to do a variation of this look with a whole social media vibe for the theme of the pictures.
the sweater
It was fortuitous that I was paired up with Raspberry Creek Fabrics because I knew I could make a custom fabric design with them, and in my experience, they are super quick with printing and shipping! Since it’s still winter here, I figured I’d make it in a sweatshirt fleece.
For the design, I didn’t want to do exactly like his, so I decided to draw out little figures of the members’ pets and/or things that they are associated with:
Key: his two dogs Commes Des (shown with a blue beret) and Garcons (wearing a sweatband and sunglasses), plus an avocado emoji because he loves them.
Taemin: his kitten, Kkoong (shown with a little red collar and bell), a baby chick wearing earmuffs and a wedge of cheese, and his two dogs Adam (in an aqua scarf) and Eve (with a red bow)
Jonghyun: his doggie Roo (wearing a pink ribbon necktie) and a pink moon.
Onew: a bunny, a block of tofu, and a penguin.
Minho: chibi flame
I added a white stroke around them to make them feel a little more like stickers and I made sure to make the background of the fabric in the exact hex code that the Very Peri color uses (upping the vividness just a smidge to compensate for the fabric printing). I used "Lookbook” as the title because the song he covers is called “Lookbook” and so I used that as the text in place of the “PIZZA” text on his shirt.
I used my own pattern, the Touka pattern, which is available in my shop as well as the Project Run & Play Pattern shop. I truly used that pattern every winter since I started drafting it back in 2016; it’s so versatile and comfy and quick to make! I decided to take the hem up a few inches so it wasn’t quite so oversized like the original. I also made a “cold elbow” sleeve, shortening the sleeve just above the elbow then making a sloped undersleeve with a facing. It makes for a really cute and unique effect!
the dicky collar
The sweater needed a pop of contrast color so I make a dicky collar to go underneath the sweater. Sephira wants them in aaaaaall sorts of fabrics now! Maybe that should be a new pattern🤔? It felt so daring to make a button-down without sleeves or much shirt and sew it all up in under an hour!
She had a blast going around and taking her own selfies. It was so cute!!!
the jeans
The jeans were so much fun to make! I altered the Metro Pants Pattern by factoring in a gap above the knees but also a flap, just like Key’s, making sure that each leg looked as much like his as possible. I added in a few things like a faux fly, back pockets, and belt loops.
I’d never bleached fabric before, but, when I saw that the 12oz. medium-colored denim I ordered came in super dark, I knew bleaching was in my near future. I feel like the Very Peri color is a little dark so I really wanted a contrasting color for the jeans. I cut out all of the pieces first, then left them in a bleach bath for about 5-6 hours. After they were rinsed/dried, they look perfectly, naturally distressed. The last picture in the gallery above shows the original denim against the finished bleached jeans.
Everywhere I could, I tried to add elements to make them more jeans-like and less pants-like, which meant a lot of back and forth changing with topstitching thread. I was super grateful for the heavy fabric sewing foot and walking foot! At times my machine sounded like it was screaming profanities at me for sewing through so many layers of denim! There was at least one needle broke in the process but it came close to being two!
The jeans may look super weathered but they are done meticulously so. I serged everywhere that wasn’t visibly tattered and bar-tacked all beginnings of the openings so they didn’t open any more than they are supposed to. The result looks a little like shorts/pants hybrid and I’m so hyped about it!
the rest
The belt I made from 20 gauge clear vinyl took so much longer than it should have! My machine and I were having a hell of a time working out our tension problems but after about a solid hour of stressing and testing and sewing we finally made an agreement (and a pretty cute belt too!)😊 I love the look of it because, since it’s clear, it goes with everything!!!
The shoes were the same ones I detailed from this outfit, the face mask was made from scraps from this outfit, and the gloves were miraculously found online for a price I was willing to pay and in her size! I was so happy (as was she!!)
the photoshoot
We took pictures over the President’s Day weekend all over Downtown Portland, starting at Powell’s Bookstore, then walking around near Lents, and finished up outside of Voodoo Doughnuts (which we’ve done a photoshoot in the past!) We had gone to brunch beforehand and she was just itching and begging to wear her new outfit! BUT! I have a very important blogging rule: never let them eat/play in a handmade outfit before pictures are taken! I am super strict about this! I love the way the whole look comes together effortlessly and the way she wears it with so much confidence. I always teach my girls that the most important accessory they can ever wear is confidence because that alone is what transforms clothes into a whole persona!
We got home and took a few more because I realized a couple of poses I really wanted didn’t come out well.
OHH!!!! I FORGOT TO MENTION. 🙄UUUGGH. For the first time ever, I went out without checking to see if my battery for my camera was fully charged and, SURPRISE, it was blinking at its lowest level.😑 It died about 12 shots in at Powell’s, our first location. I tried not to let it get me down and ended up using my iPhone 12 plus which takes pretty good pictures… it’s not my Nikon, but it did the trick (although not editing with RAW files made me so annoyed LOL). Since the theme I was going for was this social media/instagrammy feel, cell pics seemed a bit fitting! It did make adjusting lighting easier I guess, but I am buying a backup battery pack so that never happens again!😅
The best part of any outfit is watching them fall in love with something I made them… from sketch to drafting to fabric buying and sewing and photographing…. it’s all so totally worth it when they love the outfits as much as I do. I’m so lucky to have these kiddos be my best friends and muses.💕
check out the rest of the Pantone party!
If you haven’t yet, pop on over and check out the rest of the outfits for the Pantone Party on Project Run & Play! Thanks so much to Audrey for having me and thank you so much to Raspberry Creek Fabrics for making my design into this adorable fabric and sweater!!! 💜💜💜
YAY! You're here! I'm so happy! I'm Kat! Mom, shawol, and pattern designer, this is the place where I share all of my sewing projects, chibi cosplay fashion, and DIY/tutorials! Everything around here is action-packed with color, silliness, and tons of kawaii stuff!