❌☎ Don't Call Me Inspired! 💛Project Run & Play Pantone Party 2021!💛
💛Hey there!💛 This month, Project Run & Play is doing a Pantone Party with the Colors of the Year: Illuminating & Ultimate Gray and today is my day to share! (This post contains fabric affiliate links.)
I was teamed up with a pretty local fabric shop KnitFabric.com who was gracious enough to supply me with all of my fabric needs. To be honest, I hadn’t used them in the past, but I was really impressed with the selection! There are some really unique fabrics that made it so tough narrowing down what to choose! For instance, they have sweater knitted fabric which probably the coolest thing I’ve seen in a while! It’s such an interesting fabric as it looks knitted but doesn’t unravel when cut. I’m so hooked on it! I want it in a million colors!!
Originally I was only going to sew for one of my girls, but when I decided on what theme I wanted to do, my middle daughter was really pouty that she wasn’t going to get an outfit. 😅 So I drafted a second outfit for her to match her sister’s. The theme I chose is inspired by SHINee’s latest comeback, “The Ringtone” which features lots of yellow (and black). Since my middle daughter is a massive fan, she was totally miffed that I’d left her out of the planning.
play to watch the lights change!!
Having just done a massive makeover in my sewing room, I looked forward to using it for this photoshoot! I’ve always loved color (can’t you tell? lol) but more than that, I love the idea of bending what we know of color in everyday lighting. We went to our local science museum during a color exhibit early last year and it was fascinating to see how they change under different hued lighting! Ever since I installed my new lighting, I’ve been playing around with different color combinations and it always tickles me to see how yellow things can turn orange, chartreuse, pink; grays become blue, indigo, violet! So rather than just highlighting the Colors of the Year in natural lighting, I opted to change your perspesctive on what these colors can become under unnatural lighting, after all, we here at Sew Chibi tend to lean towards the unnatural side of things! I hope you’ll enjoy this adventure of an other-worldly photoshoot!
Patterns + Fabrics
Fabrics Used:
Gray Cotton Knitted
Light Yellow Cotton Lycra Knit
Patterns Used:
(Modified) Touka Sweater by Sew Chibi Designs
(Modified) Abby’s Spin + Twirl Dress by Wolf + Tree
Fabrics Used:
Light Yellow Cotton Lycra Knit
Patterns Used:
(Modified) Umaru Shirt by Sew Chibi Designs (found in the PR&P shop here)
(Modified) Mini Virginia Leggings by Meghan Nielson
The Sewing Process
Sephira’s outfit was just supposed to be quick and simple and it actually ended up being just that, pretty much. We really wanted an over-sized shirt look, so we took my Umaru Shirt pattern in a 9/10Y and widened it 25% overall… Truth be told, I should have gone with my gut and done the 50% but we both still love the way it turned out. I dropped the armscye, widened and lengthened the sleeves, added in stripes of scrap vinyl to create a floating striped sleeve effect. I also used the slightly bigger of the neckline options.
The leggings are a much-loved afterthought. I hadn’t put much into drafting bottoms for her originally because I was thinking of using something like jeans, but considering the challenge of the party, I decided to go full-blown matchy with yellow on yellow. I used the Mini Virginia Leggings pattern in a size 8/9Y and did a sort of suspender effect on the right leg, inspired by this look.
For Azy’s dress, I used the Abby’s Spin + Twirl Dress in the largest size, 14Y with the regular bodice and long sleeves. The skirt options were either a peplum or knee-length and since I wanted something in between, I redrafted the skirt to fit how we (Azy and I planned this together) wanted it to look. I also didn’t want to do the full cowl look so I raised the neckline a little and halved the pattern piece for more of a crew neck look. I added knit interfacing to the neckline so it would stand up nicely but still be stretchy. I’m really pleased with the overall fit with it! My one caveat is that I wish I would have checked the width of the sleeves as they ended up being a little baggier on her than I had wished but that’s on me for not testing that out beforehand!
The Sweater is my latest pattern, the Touka Sweater (in the size 15/16Y) which as a ton of options to mix it up. That being said, I wanted to change it up for this challenge. I opted to draft a sleeveless, drop-shoulder version with drastic high/low contrasting hem. Originally I had planned on doing the whole thing the same length but shifting the left side down 2”… I still like that idea, but I think I needed more time to get that looking polished so I changed it up to this and we both love it!
The Details
Since a lot of the imagery in the album graphics for SHINee’s album have this retro/modern/vaporwave feel to them, I wanted a vintage feel to the printed elements. The iron-on decals on Sephira’s look, in particular, are meant to feel like tabloid newspapers from the 60’s, 70’s. There’s also a theme of Fake/Reality as well, which is what inspired elements like the “fake” floating sleeves and “fake” (iron-on vinyl) suspenders not to mention the whole idea of this photoshoot!
The evolution of Sew Chibi is changing as they get older and their tastes become edgier. It’s really exciting to plan and draft out things that are more cerebral and even more unapologetically us. ❤ I hope you’ll stick around and continue to support us through this insane, colorful, magical, intergalactic creative journey of ours!
Radioactive. Playing around with long shutter speeds & saturations.
The girls are just so in love with the new sewing room makeover and so they were equally thrilled to have their first proper photoshoot in it! I’m still finishing up a few things so I will be sure to do a proper tour of it all when it’s completely done!
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!