i’m starting off the week with a guest post and a sew along together!
first, the guest post. Cherie of You & Mie, a good friend (we’ve met in person – TWICE!) and an amazing blogger (see awesome tutorials), is putting on her first ever series! it’s aptly named the Japanese Sewing Book Series and if you follow along, her guests will walk you through the entire process of finding, deciphering, and sewing from Japanese pattern books from start to finish! she’s got an awesome lineup – i’m the obvious lightweight of this group, lemme tell ya.
anyway, my post on the basics of Japanese pattern books – where to buy them, how to determine sizing (including a conversion chart), and the general structure of the books – is up today! go check it out!
Cherie asked us all to sew a project as a companion piece to our posts, and i decided to sew the apron from Carefree Clothes for Girls by Junko Okawa- it’s the best intro to Japanese pattern books because it’s written in English (no excuses!). and because i also wanted to sew along with the “art inspired” theme for the first week of Project Run & Play All-Stars, i went ahead and splattered it with paint a la Jackson Pollock!
i sewed a size 4, which fits her now! last time i sewed from this book, i sized it down a bit and it was still too big. but now it’s perfect, which makes me want to sew even more of these. because if i ask her to jump and she does THIS, it makes me want to sew a million:
dance outside barefoot? sure!
anyway…so the Jackson Pollock part. i really love the the first theme for the first week of this season of Project Run & Play – “Inspired by Art,” and had a whole bunch of ideas swirling around my head. but since i knew i’d be sewing for Cherie’s series too, i quickly narrowed down my artist to Jackson Pollock and decided to splatter some Essex yarn dyed black linen with fabric paint. i didn’t do any practice runs, i just experimented as i splattered with hot pink, metallic gold, and a little white.
the method i found to work was to dilute the fabric paint a little with water, then sort of flick it up the side of a tilted custard cup onto the fabric with a brush. just dribbling didn’t work so well. i started in the center and splattered outward, so the top of the apron has just tiny dots of paint but the hemline is pretty covered (and stiff). i’m curious how it’s going to wash up…but i love the a-line shape on her and the stiffness only helps that. i topstitched it with metallic gold thread, which she didn’t hold still long enough to get a good photo of.
i also made her leggings! i fiiiiiinally put together my Go To Leggings pattern that i’ve heard so many good things about, and i loved it! of everything i sew for Em, what she really needs is basic leggings to fit her growing legs, and i’ve been meaning to make some for months now.
these are made out of really soft stretch lace from Mill End and are quite see through, so she’ll be wearing them with longer skirts/dresses in the future. she loves them though, so much so that i had to hide them from her until the photoshoot! i love how the waistband is sewn, so simple and fast but really pro-seeming, and i’m excited to make more now that the ONE PATTERN PIECE is all cut out and ready to go. sheesh, took me long enough!
we were over at the beach for my dad’s birthday weekend, and both kids just loved being there. we got some nice weather, stayed in a beautiful place, and had a lot of fun. the view was pretty amazing.
be sure to head over to You & Mie to check out my guest post – i’m so excited for the rest of the guests this week – i’m a big fan of each one of them and am ready to be rekindle my Japanese sewing romance that has laid dormant for a couple years.
and i’m soooo looking forward to what the PR&P All-Stars sew this week!! i have lots of friends in that group, and i know they’re revved up.
have a great week!
skirt as top 
Utterly in Love with this outfit!
Love the colors you chose! My daughter came over to look at the computer screen and asked, “Can we do that?” I think we can!
Yay, and you should! Thanks Lucinda!
Oh my goodness, lightweight? That’s crazy talk! 🙂 This is brilliant, Kristin! I am in awe.
Haha my depth of knowledge on this stuff doesn’t feel nearly as strong as the rest of you. But I’m looking forward to learning!
Beautiful! I love Japanese patterns. The paint splattering looks amazing!
I am in love with this!!
Amazing and artistic looked! You’re awesome, Kristin! I love your creations for Film Petits series too, always look forward to seeing your beautiful projects!
Thanks so much!
This is brilliant and so happy/vibrant, no wonder your daughter is doing jumps!! (I know you think Elsie Marley is good at hiding her kids faces in photo shoots but when I read that I had always thought that about your photo shoots with your children, so cleverly done).
Haha that’s awesome. Thanks. I learned from her. 😉
Super duper duper adorable!
Loved you Japanese Pattern Book post! Thank you for providing such detailed information.
This is awesome. I loved your guest post on You & Mie too. Very informative! I agree. Em’s jumps are so fun!
Thanks, Delia! This kid doesn’t pass up an opportunity to jump/dance, that’s for sure.
I can’t tell you enough how awesome this series is. This will definitely open more doors for a lot of sewists to start sewing Japanese patterns.
Okay… your Jason Pollack Smock Frock… you’re killin’ me! I am so jelly. I want one!!!
Cherie’s a genius. She’s got me inspired too.
You should make one!!
I really enjoy minimal and functional kids clothing, and that really fits in with the japanese style. I am really excited at the thought of being able to actually TRY some of the great japanese sewing patterns I have oggled over the years. This is a lovely apron and a great addition to the pr&p first week challenge. ❤
Mae
Agree – I was worried my daughter wouldn’t like this “messy” top but I think she does. It’s got enough sparkle and pink to it to keep her satisfied.
super adorable! gosh, it is so well done. I am always always impressed by your attention to detail. You always do it so well and not in an overdone way. I quick looked at the post for you and mie, I have to re-read it tonight, man, you did an amazing job!
Oh thanks Anna – HUGS!
Genius. That’s all I have to say.
so is your post today! WOW!!!
Absolutely in love with this Kristin!!! So well done, you never cease to amaze me. Love everything about this look!
I LOVE how the fabric for the dress turned out! Beautiful work! Thanks for your post on Japanese books. I have one and I love it. I never know where to buy them. Thanks for the info.
I just repinned this on pinterest and then found you here in my reader!
LOOOOVE this Kristin!! The colors are super cute, and so creative-she looks like she loves it!
I love it! I remember seeing a video of Pollack paint and he really went pretty crazy flinging the paint around. So I think getting messy is part of the art.
ooooo, super cool! way to use up some of that essex, hehe.
Wow! I love it! It would have been stunning anyway but the paint takes it up to a whole new level.
I love it! So cute! Fabrics that look like art canvas, dropcloth, watercolor etc always appeal to me.
Love the paint. E is a natural born dancer!
Ooh, this is the perfect pattern for paint splatter, I love how it came out! And lace leggings? Ooh la la! 😉
ooh very cool, very Pollack!! Love the backdrop of these photos too, so carefree! Loved the post today on Y&M, thanks for that too!!
🙂
super fun outfit!! i am using black essex in my PRP this week but i am not finished and no paint on mine. I hope you will do a post or a mention of how the paint washes and if the stiffness remains; i have been curious about the paint/stamping craze going on right now and how it washes up. Great job!
Awesome!
first saw it pinned at pr&p and thought how cool it was and I wasn’t surprised you were behind it!
Lightweight, my butt!! Thanks for your awesome post and really kicking off the series for us. I LOVE this apron and your Pollock inspired treatment. Those colors are amazing on that fabric and your lil model seems pretty thrilled too! As always, it’s been fun working with you 🙂
What a clever idea!
I love the idea of a paint-splattered top and it looks fantastic (as everything you do does…man, do I hate you 🙂 Ha, ha!
HOly MOley! That is so cute. And, thank you! The sewing god(desses?) are dancing right now because I’ve been cursing them something fierce when I try to figure out the japanese sewing books…even those in English. 😦
I love the paint on the dress.
Very cute! I love the paint splatter look, and the movement of the top is perfect for dancing, twirling little girls. Your post over on You&Mie was fantastic, thanks!
Love it! My daughter would love this – she loves that part in the book ‘Olivia’ where she tries to recreate the Jackson Pollock picture at home after seeing it at the gallery 🙂
This is so awesome. When I saw the header on google reader, i was hoping it was a new fabric line. you are soo creative. i love it! and your little em was born to be a dancer. too cute.
This looks like so much fun!!
I’ve been wanting to get over here and drool over this little frock. I guess I’m going to need to invest in custard cups because I just gotta get that splatter technique! You are a master – the colors are absolutely perfect!! And that kid of yours just makes me smile.
Cute!
This was such a great idea Kristin! Adorable pattern too. Nicely done!