Saturday, June 25, 2011

Bold Bright Color - yay or nay?

Fact about me - I am crazy for color.  All the jewel tones, bright garden greens and floral pinks, reds, yellows.  Sky blues and ocean turquoise.  Citrus, berry and deep wine red.  Sounds like something from the kitchen but actually more like a look in my wardrobe.  However today I may have gone over the color edge if that is possible.  


I bought this fabric back in the depths of winter, to use in my Etsy shop for something summery but now I am not so sure.   It has been on the shelf and every few weeks I take it out and try to decide what to make.  Summer is scooting by and the fabrics don't sew themselves so here are the results of yesterday's efforts.  It would be great to get some feedback on these items.  
Orange skirt front
Both my sister and my friend Alice shuddered slightly when I showed them the fabric, but both did say they thought it would work as a skirt, and I think they were right.  
However due to my slight obsession with dresses, this is what I made first.
Miami dress front with belt
I am really happy with the style, I always like the cut-in armholes and it can be worn with or
without the tie belt.  Maybe it is just a bit too much color + print for a dress? 
Some of my favorite places to window shop are Kate Spade, Boden and Tori Richard, who all use a lot of color and pattern.  


So what do you think about this fabric?  Just right for a skirt?  OK for a dress for the bold among us?  If you know someone wild about orange, I did list the skirt in my Etsy shop and have a few more yards available.


Edit 6/26/11:  thanks for all the great feedback, I did list the dress as well in my Etsy shop,
send your non-sewing friends that way :)


In between plenty of other projects, I am working on my Vogue 1241 Dress I mentioned in my last post.  Even though I made a muslin, and fine tuned the fit - I just couldn't bring myself to cut my nice knit fabric, so I cut out the dress in a 100% poly crepe that I got for a super discount of about $ 5 because it had holes in the fabric along the edge.  (which don't bother me but I didn't tell the store that).  So if this one sews up nicely I will move on to my other "real" fabric.


Bee balm june11Here is today's SunnyGal Garden photo. Bee Balm (Monarda) v.Jacob Cline
a plant I just bought in May at the local garden club sale which is doing very well.  I have found that the shop local philosophy applies to plants as well as veggies.  Unfortunately for the bees that were living in my apple tree - a local beekeeper came out to try and rescue, but in the end had to seal up the hole in the tree.  He thinks that there is probably a very big colony in the oak tree just behind my yard, so there are still plenty around to do their good work.

18 comments:

  1. I LOVE the bold colors. The dress is my favorite and I would wear it in a heart beat. Color is a good thing because life is not always black and white.

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  2. I love bright colors, but they don't love me so much....so I just enjoy seeing them on others :) The skirt is very nice, but frankly, I think that dress ROCKS! Maybe it's just the skirt has that mod 60's feel, & I've been there, done that, don't need to go there again *grin* (I know I just aged myself), but the dress is fresh, modern, great lines, & a perfect match of fabric to pattern, imho :)

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  3. Yay!! I love them both, but the dress is just fabulous!

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  4. I love that fabric and I love the dress... it also works as a skirt. It's fabulous!

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  5. Wear the gorgeous dress!
    Before you know it we will be shopping the brown/gray/black palette again.....

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  6. The dress is beautiful, love the colors.

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  7. That print works best on the dress for some reason. I think it would work in a pencil skirt, it reminds me of the colorful skirts j crew offers. The dress could be hanging at Nordstrom, it would fit right in!

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  8. I would rock both the skirt and dress. I love bold prints, though - so I'm biased.

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  9. Another vote for loving both the dress and the skirt. Although I would probably add a white belt or sash to the dress to break up the print a bit. What a fabulous way to use the fabric! Lovely, lovely, lovely!

    Carolyn
    Diary of a Sewing Fanatic

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  10. I really love that dress, and agree with others that it would be an excellent pencil skirt.

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  11. Both the skirt and the dress are cute but I also especially like the dress. Accessorized properly, and on the right person, that dress would be dynamite!

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  12. I just love both that skirt and dress, and I don't think the dress is over the top with colour+print at all! I would wear it in a heartbeat...
    Fabulous with your colouring, I should think!

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  13. I love bright colours and I think your fabric is gorgeous. The skirt is very pretty and the dress is seriously fabulous! I love the style - it's perfect for the fabric and will be so wonderful to wear in the summer weather.

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  14. That dress is just fantastic! Bright bold colors are all the rave! Nice job!

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  15. Both are fantastic! Perfect for summer in a warm climate.

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  16. I love bold colors and both of these are fabulous. I especially love the dress!

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  17. Fantastic colors and dress siluet ir amazing. Really like the neck line!

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