Plaid and Proper – Project Run & Play Week 2

DIY

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This holiday-friendly look is my contribution for the second week of the Project Run and Plays sewing challenge! 
Check out the details of my “buffalo plaid” inspired designs below.

Welcome back, friends! I’m honored to still be here for another week of competition over at Project Run and Play. I’m even more thrilled that my Boho Butterfly look won last week’s challenge. A huge thanks to everyone who voted!! You guys are the best!

This week’s challenge was to create a look based on “buffalo plaid”. I immediately thought of the classic red and black colorway and a burly lumberjack, so I decided I kinda wanted to go in the opposite direction and be as girly and dressed up as possible. I also knew I wanted to use a black and white check instead of the typical red & black, because b&w anything is the best!

The first piece that came to me when I was daydreaming of this look was the circle cape.  I wanted a floor length, detachable cape for some drama and Kira loved the idea of tying it around her waist as a train as well.  We even used it as a makeshift picnic blanket when we wanted to sit on the damp grass!  I used her waist to calculate the radius of the opening and it fits around her shoulders perfectly as well. My fabric wasn’t wide enough to cut it in 2 pieces so I did 4 and sewed them together using french seams.  It’s such a fun piece and the baby pink ribbons to tie it closed are my favorite part.  The only bad part? Hemming a circle this wide – it took forever!

I wanted the rest of the look to be fairly simple so it wouldn’t compete with this statement piece.  I found this cute textured polyester knit with laser cut trim and created a simple sheath dress (based on the Infinite A-line bodice and sleeves, of course) with the trim at the sleeve and skirt hems.  Kira loves that it’s “fancy” but also really comfortable and easy to move it.  She may have slept in it the evening after these pictures were taken!

I also knew I wanted some form of hat to go with this look so that I could really elevate the drama.  I decided to create my own simple fascinator and I’m in love with it!  I bought this fascinator base and added a decorative flower from my local fabric shop and stiched on a piece of netting I had in my stash.  Then we just pinned it in place with bobby pins.  I’m totally obsessed and can’t wait to wear it myself very soon!

Juliet’s outfit doesn’t have as much drama but I really loved putting it together using some recyled bit and pieces.  I used this floral print to make an Emmeline Dress several years ago but all my big girls have grown out of it.  So I hacked off the front of the bodice (cause that ruffled V-neck is my favorite!) and added a full back, plus bell sleeves, out of the leftover skirt fabric.  Then I used more of the plaid poplin to add a midi-skirt with box pleats in the center front and back. I’m a huge fan of box pleats; I think they’re perfect for adding some style and and drape without a ton of extra volume or fluffiness.

The dress still needed something at this point so I tacked on a pretty red ribbon around the waistline and added a vintage brooch – this one was my grandmother’s! (Funny make-it-work moment: I didn’t have a satin ribbon the right width or color so I found this one attached as a handle to a gift bag I’d recycled and just stole it from there.)  I also tied a length of raw poplin into a bow and stuck it in Juliet’s hair.  I think the raw edges add a little realness to an otherwise very polished look.

Kira looks so serious in these pictures; she’s channeling some serious Top Model vibes.
In reality she was just starting to come down with a nasty sickness! Poor thing.

And that’s about it!  I hope you liked this look and that you’ll allow me to stick around for next week’s candy-themed challenge.  Be sure to head over to the Project Run & Play blog and vote for your favorite look!

And you can also catch up on Week 1 as well as Week 3 if you missed them!

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8 Comments

  • Reply
    Sherri Herrera
    October 24, 2017 at 6:17 am

    That’s totally buffalo plaid!! No worries there. I read buffalo plaid is buffalo plaid due to the squares and not the colour. And apparently I need to go through my gift bag pile. 🙂 I love stories like that! Awesome job. Keep us all on toes, why don’t you?

    • Reply
      Bonnie
      October 26, 2017 at 9:07 am

      Haha- thanks Sherri! I totally looked it up too; didn’t wanna screw up on some silly technicality! And your pictures terrify me every week so, feel free to take it easy next week, mmmkay? ?

  • Reply
    Raphaelle
    October 24, 2017 at 9:00 am

    Love the drama of the cape and the fabrics you chose to go with the plaid!

    • Reply
      Bonnie
      October 26, 2017 at 9:06 am

      Thank you Raphaelle! I feel like you just never know how it’s gonna come together until the end! 🙂

  • Reply
    TERONIA
    October 26, 2017 at 6:48 am

    It is Buffalo plaid and I was hoping to find some in a color other than red myself. I LOVE black and white so these looks were right up my alley.

    • Reply
      Bonnie
      October 26, 2017 at 9:05 am

      Oh yay! Glad it qualified 🙂 isn’t black and white the best??

  • Reply
    Sew the Rainbow - Project Run & Play Week 3 • Bonnie and Blithe
    November 14, 2017 at 12:13 pm

    […] over there if you haven’t voted for this week yet!); you can check out week 1 here and week 2 here.  This time we’re all about candy-inspired looks in honor of Halloween and I used Skittles […]

  • Reply
    Gold + Glitter • Bonnie and Blithe
    January 3, 2018 at 1:51 pm

    […] out weeks one, two and three […]

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