thinking pink....and chickens :)

Whether one inspired the other, I'm not sure, but I finished up 2 pink sewing projects last night.... and both also had a strange chicken connection. The first project is a "proto type". A friend from work asked me to make neck ties for his August wedding. He wants one version for himself and another for his six groomsmen. He specifically wanted pink and navy argyle ties, and when we could not find pink argyle anywhere, he went over to Spoonflower and made his own. How cool is that? Here is the trial version of his tie... pink on white with navy accent. We are going to extend the interfacing a bit, since the fabric is a little more sheer than expected.

The groomsmen fabric is navy on white with pink accent. The pattern is from the S.E.W (Sew Everything Workshop) book by Diana Rupp. I bought it specifically after seeing these ties on Flickr, but am thinking many of the other projects will be fun too! I deviated from the pattern a bit and cut the tie with the grain, and not on the bias. The fabric was not printed on the bias, so our main goal with this version was to see how/if it worked out this way. I recommended it be worn all weekend to ensure it stands up to a hectic day! I'll keep you posted with how it plays out ;)

Oh, and for the chicken part. A month or so back I did make him an intial proto type without cutting into his lovely Spoonflower fabric. I made 2 ties from some fabric I had on hand (that I was NEVER going to use...believe you me) one cut on the bias, one not. The problem was, both Dave and my friend refused to give them a trial run and wear the ties to see how they held up. I'm guessing because of the fabric. OK, I admit it is hideous, but I'm sure there is a perfectly logical reason I had a yard of this in my stash. I think it had to do with Dave's annual family picnic titled "Chicken Fest".

Next up, I have been coveting this skirt from the Sew What! Skirts book for many moons now, but haven't been able to locate a decently priced vintage souvenir tablecloth.

While in Texas, my aunt gifted me a vintage tablecloth, so knowing it could not be as long as the book skirt, and that it was not a state souvenir version, but still loving the idea, I gave it a try last night. Well, I must have hacked up my Sew What! A Line pattern a bit. I had modified the last skirt I made by taking in an inch from one side. Without thinking I cut an inch off the pattern. Hmm... not smart since the pattern was only 1/2 the skirt, I was in reality taking 2 inches off. So this is a bit more snug than I'd like, and because of the snugness, a bit shorter as well. Oh well, it will work well this summer at the lake. It is not like wearing a tablecloth is really something I'll want to do at the Opera (or like we go to the Opera:)). And for my favorite part, I used my serger!! I ended up just serging the end with a rolled hem... so as to not take any more length off and to use up the fuchsia thread! Hooray!

A close up of the skirt. Got to love the vintage faux wood grain. In Pink! Yes the photo is a bit blurry, but so is the fabric. The objects are all "shadowed" and look a bit blurry....

And to follow up with the second theme of chickens, this rooster was in the center of the tablecloth. I was going to use him as a pocket, but the skirt was so little, it really didn't need/want one. I think he may be an applique on something for Rowan, but not sure yet.