Sewing: Gold and Blue for STYLO 02

When STYLO Magazine 01 was introduced earlier this year I was completely blown away, as I'm sure you were. What a fantastic concept! What a great collection of talent. And what a lot of work by the creators, Jessica and Celina. This is the type of magazine I would subscribe to in any form for all of its inspiration. A fashion+sewing+children magazine=perfect! And how awesome that it's all been created by "real" women, fitting in these projects between carpools, laundry, dinner making, and baby changes, and day jobs!

Well STYLO Magazine 02 launched today! And it does not disappoint. It is ebullient with fresh ideas for Spring. Bright. Fun. Creative. Beautiful. You'll find contributions by some of your favorite bloggers and brands. I am simultaneously humbled and over-the-moon to be included. It's a dream come true.

I blog because I love mulling over a concept, sewing it up, photographing it, editing it and picking a few (or sometimes a lot!) of photos to share with some text. It's my favorite creative outlet. This project was similar but it had the added twist of a talented creative director, Celina, picking from my contributed photos, adding some beautiful type, and combining them with other contributions to create a whole new, amazing work of art. Part of the anticipation for me was discovering which photos she had used! I'm sharing some outtakes here--you have to visit STYLO Magazine 02 to see what Celina picked to create "The Big Blue" set of spreads with my work.

I was inpsired for this project by a funky local scuba diving pool, which I thought would be an unexpected setting for some luxe dresses. I found a bunch of gorgeous gold fabrics: a burnout silk with gold lurex from Michael Levine, a Jo-Ann Glitter Solids in a pretty off-white, and an amazing Kobalt Embroidered gold silk from an Etsy shop. I've known gold was on its way back but now I can admit to being obsessed! In fact, I have a few more gold projects in the pipeline.

I couldn't resist taking this concept all the way to the pool! So I sewed gold racer style suits (a first for me) from this Laura Leotard pattern and turned my three girls into a synchronized swimming trio. I loved this pattern and I used swimsuit lining (also from Jo-Ann) to make these suits perfect for the pool, however, the elastic/fabric combination chafes--so sad! I am planning to bind the openings with gold FOE to solve this. 

I love the giant gold sequin caps--reminds me of the fun swimming caps I remember seeing at the public pools as a child. (These aren't to be confused with functional swim caps however!)

What an experience! It was a challenge for sure, and there were some serious bribes for the girls. But it was worth it. You have to check out all the other amazing work: STYLO Magazine 02.

DRESS DETAILS

On Scarlett (left):

Dress pattern: C’est Dimanche “Charleston” (it's in French--but I figured it out)

 Dress Fabric: Jo-Ann Legacy Studios Glitter Solids Quilt Fabric in Ivory and a Gold Organza for the collar, also from Jo-Ann

 Shoes: Gold Saltwater sandals

On Audrey (center):

Dress pattern: (coming soon) The Sophisticate Dress by Wee Muses Sewing Patterns  

 Dress Fabric: “Kobalt blue flowers on gold India silk fabric” from Silks by Umf on Etsy 

 Shoes: Gold Saltwater sandals

On Tess (right):

Dress pattern: (coming soon) “The Romantic Dress” from Wee Muses Sewing Patterns 

Dress Fabric: “Silk Burnout Print with Gold Lurex” in Black from Michael Levine 

 Shoes: Gold Saltwater sandals

SWIM DETAILS

Swimsuit pattern: Laura Leotard from TumbleNTwirl (Etsy) 

Swimsuit fabric: Jo-Ann “Performance Fabric Gold Gold Ultimate Poly Spandex”
(Note: this fabric seems to work fine in the pool though it isn't specifically called swimsuit fabric, however it did chafe at the openings...FOE may solve this.)

 Swim caps: self drafted pattern

Swim cap fabrics: “Big Dot Sequin Mesh Fabric” from BigZFabric on Etsy