Saturday, February 15, 2014

Sewing Expo Outfit

Last weekend, I went to the Rocky Mountain Sew Expo. It's billed a "Quilt, Craft and Sewing Festival." That's definitely a descending order description, as the expo was mostly quilting, some crafting, and only a little sewing. The place was filled with quilt creations of every imaginable type, which I enjoyed seeing even though I'm not a quilter. Most of the clothing was what I'd call "wearable art" -- store-bought clothing with appliques, embroidery, decorative stitching and/or other stuff added to it. I like recons as much as the next gal; in fact, I picked up an idea or two to try, but I have to say I was a little disappointed with the lack of booths featuring from-scratch fashion sewing.

I wore my typical outfit -- black tee, homemade skirt, black tights and black boots. Instead of my usual cardigan, I wore a vest because I knew I'd be too hot in a room filled with people.

I thought I might get a compliment or two on my skirt; it was a sewing expo, after all. But I was totally unprepared for all the attention I got. I was barely through the gate when I got the first compliment. Everywhere I went, I could hear people remarking on my skirt or my outfit. At least a dozen people complimented me directly. It was surreal. I was surrounded by people who quilt, craft or sew (or at least have an interest in quilting, crafting or sewing), and they were going nuts over a basic cotton skirt.


Though most of this outfit is in heavy rotation, I rarely wear the vest because (and you'll be shocked to hear this) it's too short in the torso. I know that nobody notices, but it bugs me.

The vest was a chance find at an odd store in the outlet mall. I liked it so much, I bought it despite the fit issue. It's made of a comfortable stretchy fabric that does not wrinkle, and the buttons are nifty. Best of all, it has a detachable white ruffle which is ingeniously attached by a series of buttons inside the vest.
buttons all around the inside of the vest
white ruffle buttoned in
ta-da! vest with ruffle attached

I get the look of a ruffled blouse without an extra layer that would make me too hot.

I should wear this vest more often, but first I need to sew some of the buttons back on. Because the vest is too short, I'm constantly pulling it down. I've managed to yank off the buttons along the bottom, leaving the ruffle hanging unattached. :P

18 comments:

  1. >shaking angry fist at short torso garments<

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    1. If crop tops ever come back into fashion, I'll be all set. :P

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  2. Wow wow wow that skirt is great and that vest with the buttonable white bit! Ingenious! Also I love how your shoelaces match! You have inspired me! Working on my first Gothy printed skirt at the moment! I started on it at my friend's crafternoon today!

    I can't quite work out what the print on the skirt is. It looks awesome though! The sewing expo sounds great!

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    1. Thanks so much! A crafternoon sounds fun. :D I hope your skirt project went well!

      The print is skulls, spiders and spiderwebs on black and purple checkerboard. You can see it better at http://gothityourself.blogspot.com/2012/10/halloween-skirt-madness-part-2.html.

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  3. With the ruffle, the length seems to be just perfect, it looks really pretty. Your skirt might be simple, but it's cute, the fabric is unique, the combination of the print and the lace on the bottom is stylish and it's well - made overall...I see why you got all those compliments. :)

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    1. Thank you very much! I have a thing for putting lace on the bottom of my skirts.

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  4. We get a similar festival up here too, but I've quit going - it's mostly all scrapbooking stuff now. And not that I have anything against scrapbooking, but ...

    I love the lace on the bottom of your skirt and the matching boot laces! And that's a very ingenious idea to have the ruffles button into the vest like that! You're right, though - I'd have never thought it was too short in the torso from looking at you, although I hate that feeling myself. If I find myself constantly tugging on a shirt in an attempt to make it longer, into the thrift bag it goes. :o)

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    1. I didn't see any scrapbooking booths at this festival... but I suspect the scrapbookers have entire festivals of their own. It's a very popular hobby!

      Thank you! It was tedious lacing the boots with ribbon, but it was worth the effort, I think. And I have plenty of purple in my wardrobe to wear the boots with. :)

      With a too-short top, it's more about the feeling and less about the looks. It may look fine, but I'm hyper-aware of the bad fit and constantly tugging at it.

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  5. You looked great! A sewing expo sounds so neat.

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    1. Thank you! Though I was a bit disappointed in the quilting-to-sewing ratio, the expo was still fun. There were lots of classes offered as well.

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  6. Great outfit! The boots are very cool. I always have the opposite problem - the waist band of some shirts hits the top of my hips. Whatcha gonna do?

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    1. Thanks! I wish Dr. Martens still sold that boot style. I would buy another pair!

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  7. How tall are you anyway, if you don't mind my asking? I have a similar but opposite problem. I'm only 5'2" so everything is too long. I'm also a very defined hourglass figure so everything is baggy in the waist while being tight everywhere else. I'm about a large in the hips and chest but a small in the waist. Clothes designed for cookie-cutter bodies suck!

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    1. I'm 5'10". I have the same problem with the chest (or in my case, shoulders)/waist/hips ratio. Seems every woman has some fit issue... sometimes I wonder if clothing manufacturers have ever actually seen a woman. :P

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    2. Haha! That's a good question. Perhaps the only women they've seen are the fashion models who look like men!

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