Lemon Squeezy Home

Project Sewn: Going Global Challenge

By

Go HERE to vote for your favorite look!

Going Global Project Sewn Challenge // lemon squeezy home
Hello everyone!  I chose Mexico for my inspiration this week!  Originally I had wanted to do somewhere in Europe and make an awesome trench coat, but after seeing two amazing trench coats this season already I wanted to take a different route.  So Mexico it was, because it’s FUN!
DSC_0344
Dare you to google “Mexico Inspiration” in images and see what amazing images pop up :).  It was very inspiring to me seeing all the bold and bright patterns and colors.
DSC_0314

I wanted to pair the feminine blouse with a great pair of skinny jeans.  Black jeans are a bit hard to get good shots of—the close up ones are fine but the far away shots you can’t tell they are jeans.  But they are jeans indeed and I’m very happy with them!   (and pssst, for those other ladies out there who are tall—best part of making jeans?  You can make them as long as you want!!  They were a bit long to wear with these shoes so I rolled them up).

DSC_0294

I used the Jamie Jeans pattern by Named and made my very first pair of jeans!

DSC_0271

The people at Named were kind enough to send me the pattern (PDF file) for free!  I was debating between the three pair of jeans Sabra from Sew a Straight Line reviewed HERE, and decided to go with the Jamie Jeans.  I also completely loved the pair Alida sewed when she was on Project Sewn and she used the same pattern.  I am so glad I did because the instructions were very clear.  I love love the front seam on the legs!  I used some leather from a thrifted jacket for the pocket trim.

DSC_0295

Pair the instructions that come with the jeans with the I Dream of Jean-ie series HERE and HERE on Sew a Straight Line and Melly Sews, along with THIS flickr pool from someone making the Jamie Jeans, and it was a success!  And I actually really enjoyed sewing them.  They turned out wonderful and fit me very well.  (ahem, sorry for the butt shot, really…it’s embarrassing but they are jeans and this is a detailed post on what we sew!).   As you can see, like Alida, I omitted the belt loops because like her, I don’t wear belts on my pants, ever.

DSC_0282

I sewed up the size 12 and they fit perfectly.  I did make a muslin first!  And I am so glad I did because there were a couple fitting issues I had to work out by my adjustments I thought I had to make.  But I didn’t end up having to make any adjustments to the pattern—at all!  That is such a rare thing!

DSC_0290

Jeans are NOT as hard as you might think!  They were time consuming but after last week’s jacket, I was ready for anything.  I think switching back and forth between regular thread and topstitching thread was something I didn’t think would take time, but of course it adds time—I got pretty quick at it by the end though.  Also, serging around every pattern piece took some time as well.  I’m not known as the fastest sewer though, so there’s that, too.

For the shirt I was searching for some Mexican embroidered fabric and happened upon Otomi Fabric my by the Otomi people.  It is completely amazing in every way.  Bright, beautiful, bold, and so unique.  I love it and will be making more projects imitating the fabric or buying some I found on Spoonflower (THIS one is particularly wonderful—I will have to save my money because I love it SO much!).  It takes the Otomi people a very long time, as you can imagine, to make the hand embroidered fabric and so it was out of my price range.  What do I do when I can’t find (or afford) the right fabric?  I paint it:).  I googled Otomi fabric online, printed an image I liked, and used it under my fabric to trace the designs.
Otomi Inspiration {lemon squeezy home}
Then I tediously filled the outlines in with a red fabric marker. It took a while!  Unfortunately, I had tried dying the fabric with tea and it didn’t work as well as it had in the past, but I had only the zipper and hemming left on the shirt when I discovered I didn’t like how the cream of the cardigan clashed with the white of the shirt.  I had held it together through Project Sewn so well until this shirt ;).
Otomi Fabric Painting
But I found some yellow dye down in my basement and decided to risk dying the shirt.  I was especially worried the fabric paint wouldn’t hold up.  (I did test a strip for a few minutes while I boiled the fabric, but not for the intended amount of time).
Fabric Dyeing
Anyways, I did it and it worked, and I was so relieved.  It did change the red either through fading or dying, or a combination of the two, to an orange-y color.  And that’s ok.  I would have preferred it stay red but I still love the outcome.
DSC_0302
For the shirt I started with Simplicity 1803.  It’s a dress and I had to modify it soooooo much to fit my body on the bodice portion.  The bottom of the shirt was sewn without using the pattern.  I also shortened the bodice pieces and had to modify the bodice and the sleeves quite a bit.  The fabric is double-layered gauze and then the Otomi pattern was painted on some thin, white voile.

DSC_0307

You can see on the back here the darts I had to sew to get the shirt to fit how I wanted.  The pattern has about a 4” ease which is a little much I thought.  It was just a tad too low so I wore a tank underneath.

DSC_0308

Moving right along…now for the cardigan!

DSC_0346

I made this Aztec inspired cardigan using the Swingy Cardigan by Burda.  I omitted the pockets because I didn’t want them to flop around and be seen with this flowing cardigan.  But I absolutely love the pattern and how bold it is.  I thought it was the perfect touch.

DSC_0323

And that’s a wrap for this week!

 

Head over to Project Sewn to vote for your favorite Going Global look!  The other ladies have done a wonderful job yet again this week!

 

 

Shirt pattern:  Heavily Modified Simplicity 1803

Shirt fabric:  voile for otomi portion, gauze, and fabric markers all from Joann

Jeans pattern: Jamie Jeans

Jeans fabric:  Black Denim from Joann

Cardigan pattern:  Burda swingy cardigan

Caridagn fabric:  knit from Joann

Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. Christie, I can’t even believe that you made jeans, dyed fabric, AND, hand-painted a design for this week’s challenge. Your work shows in each little detail of this outfit and I absolutely adore it. It’s such a chic, modern interpretation of the theme. Gorgeous!

  5. I absolutely love what you did this week! I love how that shirt turned out—how awesome that you dyed it! I really like that you captured your country in clothing that you can wear in real life. Thanks so much for sharing, I love seeing what you come up with!

  6. Wait, are you saying YOU MADE THOSE PANTS???? They look FANTASTIC! Also, how do you find time to sew jeans, dye fabric, and keep up with 4 children? You’re amazing!

  8. You are AMAZING, A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!! I love everything about all of it! And I want that cardigan in a bad way!

  11. I love this outfit so much! The cardigan is awesome and I love your fabric choice for it, but I can’t get over the design on the shirt. It is amazing, and I am so inspired!! And jeans too, wow!

  12. I loooove all of it! I keep thinking about sewing more for myself… but I am pretty intimidated by it. But this darling outfit really makes me want to give it a shot! Hey, did you pick up the black and white cardigan fabric from the Joann store? I can’t seem to find it on the website.

    • Thank you so much Sylvie! You should sew for yourself! It’s totally fun! A bit more time consuming but it is really great. I did pick up the fabric from Joann but it was last year in the fall…so probably not there now. Darnit!