A sewing blog about building a functional, cohesive handmade wardrobe, one garment at a time.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Gray + mustard


We're headed to visit the inlaws over New Years, and it will be the first time that all six grandchildren (three of whom were born since last December) will be in the same place.  To celebrate, we will be doing family photos.  The colors are navy, gray and mustard.  I wholeheartedly supported my sister-in-law's suggestion of this color scheme because my family happens to have a lot of gray and navy clothing.  But when I surveyed my girls' closets, I realized that I wasn't in love with most of their existing options.  Oliver+S to the rescue!


First up was a quick Lazy Days skirt using gray cord that has been in my stash forever (I used most of it to make tiered Lazy Days skirts about two years ago).  I added an improvised pleated tulle detail to the hem for festive-ness.  I really love the way it turned out!


Miss Z will wear it with a RTW dotted cardigan I bought her a couple years ago, a pair of yellow Hanna Andersson tights snagged off eBay, and her black patent clogs (not pictured).

I knew I wanted to make a mustard-colored skirt for N, but I couldn't find the right color locally.  I located some mustard corduroy at Miss Matatabi, ordered it, and held my breath that it would arrive before our trip.  I was so surprised when my order showed up less than two weeks later!  I decided to make a Hopscotch skirt.  I sewed a size 4 with 2" extra length.  There is quite a bit of excess fabric in the back - so much that it juts out strangely.  I probably should have cut some of the width off.  I used some thrifted black and white buttons and love the 70s vibe.


Her shirt is an O+S Schoolbus tee, with pieced sleeves due to lack of fabric.  Since I was piecing the sleeves already, I decided to cut the bottom sleeves pieces on the bias into a bell shape.  I left the sleeve hems unfinished, but hemmed the bottom of the shirt.  I topstitched the seam allowances down for all the horizontal sleeve seams.  I also scooped out the neckline a bit.  The jersey I used (Hancock Fabrics) wasn't stretchy enough to bind the neckline, so I used a scrap of Art Gallery knit in Sahara Sun instead.


Miss N will wear her outfit with either gray or navy tights (I am undecided) and her russet brown ankle boots.  I plan to make hair bows for my nieces out of the leftover cord.

I did not have to make anything new for the boys' outfits. They both have gray Art Museum corduroys made by our fairy godmother. Gabriel will wear his with a navy and white checked button-down and a navy sweater vest.  I'm not positive what Niko will wear, but he has ample options in all the necessary colors.  My husband is set too ... just me left now.  I have some navy and white striped knit in the stash that might become a Plantain to wear either with jeans or a gray skirt I recently found at the thrift store.  We'll see.

9 comments:

  1. Great color combo! I love that mustard skirt... I want one for myself!!

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    1. Thanks Meg - yeah, after I sewed this I wondered why I had not ordered more of the cord for myself!

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  2. Lovely skirts! Sounds like you're all going to look very stylish.

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    1. I hope so! Still don't know what I'm wearing though ...

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  3. Love the girls' outfits! They are fabulous.:)

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  4. Man, these are seriously awesome! I thought I had already commented on this post! Mustard is my favorite! <3 Love that mustard skirt. And I am also a big fan of grey. The grey skirt is perfect, too!

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