Valentine’s Day Gingham Separates: Part 1
When the woman cutting your fabric sighs, takes a long look at the bolt you handed her, and then says “I can give you the last yard at remnant pricing if you want to take the whole thing”, you have a few seconds to make a choice: do you stick with your original plan, or make yourself a whole capsule wardrobe?
Being of the “more is more” mindset, I of course took the whole bolt, and immediately started plotting out what I’d like to do with it. My first decision was pretty obvious; I pivoted from making a dress and bolero to a skirt and top and bolero, to allow me more opportunities to play around with the pieces.
At the time, I wasn’t positive how far I’d be able to stretch the bolt, especially since the little hearts make the pattern directional, and I envisioned making a second, tighter fitting skirt as well, so I pretty quickly decided to order another few yards of the fabric (online, of course, since I’d wiped out my local JoAnn’s supply).
Spoiler alert: I still haven’t made a second skirt, nor have I busted into that extra yardage. I wound up making two tops, a skirt, and a bolero from my initial eight yards of this gingham print. For the skirt, I used Gertie’s free Picnic Skirt tutorial (available on YouTube) as a starting point, but created a false button placket on the front, and moved the closure to a zip in the back. For the blouse, I used the Charm Patterns Rita Blouse pattern, and added a band that cinches the neckline to give it a bit of extra shape. It was an easy hack, and really changes the overall look of the blouse!
For the bolero, I used the Charm Patterns Dorothy Bolero pattern. I had originally envisioned using a solid red as my lining, but it was impossible to find a red that matched the red in the gingham.
I did find this little pin dot print at JoAnn’s that matched, but I liked the idea of the pin dot as its own element (rather than a mere accent) so much, that I rethought my plan.
Not only is this bolero reversible, but I wound up making two other pieces featuring the red pin dot fabric.
This post is already getting to be pretty long, so I’m going to hold off on sharing the other elements just now and give them some more space of their own! So keep your eyes peeled for some more variations featuring these separates!
-Blouse pattern is a modified Rita Blouse from Charm Patterns
-Bolero pattern is the Charm Patterns Dorothy Bolero
-Skirt is a modified Picnic Skirt from Charm Patterns
-Fabric is from JoAnn Fabrics
-White hair flower is from La Casa de Flores via Etsy (pink roses are a random clip— I forget where I picked it up!)
-Necklace, brooch, and earrings are by Luxulite via Etsy
-Bangles are from Splendette
-Shoes are from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3K6Hkwg
