{Project Run & Play} Week 3: Fairy Tale

Hello and welcome to Week 3 of Project Run and Play: Fairy Tale Week!!  This theme was my most anticipated and hopefully I don't disappoint!!  All sorts of ideas ran through my head immediately.  First, my youngest daughter shares a name with a princess - Aurora  - although, she's actually named after the Northern Lights.  I knew I couldn't leave out my oldest so I thought she'd really love Belle and as soon as I told her the theme, she immediately shouted Belle!!  Next, I needed to come up with a plan and I really wanted to make sure it wouldn't come across as costume-y and would be pieces they would absolutely wear to school -- when they get to go back of course!   So much has changed in the few short weeks of receiving the theme to actually executing it and although I couldn't shoot at my intended location, I've learned that I can adapt pretty easily and can surprise myself creatively.  

Of course, what tween-aged princesses in the present day wouldn't be on social media?  So after our photo sesh, I peeked at their social media and was pleasantly surprised that they had shared SO many pictures. 😉  

Princess Aurora

 As I started planning my sews, I knew I wanted to play off the famous scene where Merryweather and Flora had uh, differing opinions on how to dress Aurora.   I selected a super soft, lightweight pink knit for her shirt and decided to make a trendy high-low peplum that would end just above the waistband in the front.  I grabbed my most used knit bodice (and always out), Wimberley from Little Lizard King.  To make the high-low peplum, I turned to the Thistle Dress by Jennuine Design (for One Thimble Issue 23) and used the skirt overlay piece.  As a nod to the white accent on Aurora's iconic dress, I drafted bow sleeves with peek-a-boo shoulders and carefully enclosed them in the bodice armscye by completing half of each burrito roll at a time. At the request of my own Sleeping Beauty, I grabbed my white iron-on and found "Nap Queen" on Cricut.  It's quite ironic though because she does not nap, not even on 12 hour car rides.  And she stalls literally every night at bed for at least an hour. 🤣

 Next came the jeans.  I originally had other plans but couldn't source the material I wanted so I got creative.  In my pre-season shopping spree from Cali Fabrics, I had grabbed 2 yards of Indigo Washed Designer Stretch Denim and was glad I did.  I turned that fabric inside out and boom, light blue jeans. HA!  I had recently tried the Tyler Skinnies from Petite Stitchery & Co and it was love.  For this project, I removed several inches for a nice cropped length and to add a little cool factor, I frayed the ends a bit.  To finish, I grabbed a light pink jeweled shank button that I bought who knows how long ago for the faux button waist and some light pink and white iridescent beads that were gifted to me nearly four years ago and hand beaded them on to bling out the pocket detailing.
  

Finally I drafted a cell phone purse to showcase the Pink Dot on White Oil Cloth from Cali Fabrics that I had also selected a few weeks ago.  I had found these over-sized grommets one day when they "fell" into my hand at Hobby Lobby that I was dying to try out.  The bronzed gold coloring on them matched the zipper pulls from the 40 lace zippers I ordered from Amazon a few weeks ago.  I started by encasing the lace zipper and in order to not wrinkle the oil cloth by turning it right side out through the 8" zipper opening, I finger pressed the seam allowance on each side and used clips to hold them in place while I top-stitched.  And yes, I held my breath because you know there cannot be any seam ripping on oil cloth!  Aurora wanted a single shoulder strap, but was very adamant that she didn't want it long enough to be cross-body length.

Aurora absolutely loved every piece.  She even told me the shirt was so soft, she was going to wear it to sleep.  Guess I'll sew up some matching sleep shorts...lol

Princess Belle

For Belle, I knew I wanted to convey a preppy vibe.   I found some yellow floral eyelet that has sat on my fabric shelves for the past 7 years.  I know I bought it on my first JoAnn's trip here and nothing has quite seemed like the right project until now.  In order to replicate the skirt that was in my mind, I decided to draft it on my own, using Marissa's measurements.  I knew I wanted a fitted waist with a side zipper.  Because my main fabric was eyelet with rather large holes, I needed it to be lined.  I didn't want to just baste the top layer onto the lining so I created the lining into a built-in pettiskirt.  It turned out exactly like the skirt I had pictured.

I had an image of the type of top I wanted in my head and after sewing it up, I realized it was just a bit too casual for the rest of her pieces.  I looked through my stash because I can't go buy fabric at the moment and I realized I had a piece of leftover linen from a Riley Blake blog post.  It was a lightbulb moment and I knew exactly the perfect pattern.  I quickly printed out the Give Piece a Chance Crop Top by Duchess & Hare from Issue 15 of One Thimble.  I used just the lining pieces and added some length so it would hit right at her belly button and just above the waist of the skirt.  Then I cut out a large foil iron-on rose outline in Cricut as a nod to the rose the Beast kept in his glass case..

I love the button back of the crop top and it was the perfect place to add a pop of red.  Belle liked it too!!

I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to create a denim jacket for Marissa.  I picked out Indigo Washed Designer Stretch Denim from Cali Fabrics and honestly didn't decide a pattern until a few days ago.  I decided Clementine from Violette Field Threads was a great base silhouette to get me started.  One of the details I kept was the princess seamed front.  I cropped the hem of the jacket by a few inches, added a bottom band, pleated the sleeve caps and removed the front overlap.  I also pieced the back of the jacket into 4 pieces to mimic a jean jacket my daughter owns.  It's fully lined in an indigo vertical striped fabric from my stash.  Every seam is double top-stitched in a gold thread.

It's all in the details.   I had to add closeups of  all the little details on Marissa's items.  I am super proud of the fit of the skirt and the neatness of the enclosed zipper.  I added a hook and eye at the inside top to make it easier to zip herself and also to ensure the she doesn't have any wardrobe malfunctions should the zipper get a little lazy.  Another favorite detail is the facing on the lining of the jacket.  I think it gives a polished look and looks great next to the stripes.   I think the was Marissa's favorite week.  She absolutely didn't want to stop taking pictures!  

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