project run and play | week 2 | stripes and polka dots

{fabric and pattern details can be found at the bottom of the post}

Woo hoo! It's week 2 of Project Run and Play and it's been quite the week! Lots of late nights and 'make it work' moments. I want to say thank you all so very much for the votes, support, and awesome comments. I've read each and every one but just haven't had time to sit down and reply to everyone.  I'm spending pretty much every spare moment sketching, drafting patterns, cutting fabric, changing my mind, sewing, oh, and I've logged hours of quality time with my seam ripper. Can anyone suggest a good one? I need an upgrade! Also, make sure to check out my 'winning look' tutorial here where I share how to draft a collar and how I put together the little yellow cardigan.

Ok, down to business...this week's challenge was to incorporate dots and stripes into our design. That was kind of tough for me. I'd actually almost finished a jacket and was patting myself on the back for being ahead of schedule when I decided that the jacket was hideous. I started over completely and went in a different direction.  I finished this week's look with just minutes to spare. Hoping to not have to repeat that in the coming weeks. Anyways, I really wanted to use the aqua/white stripe french terry in my design and needed to work around that. Since it's pretty bold, I wanted to combine it with something subtle and that's where the polka dot skinny jeans come into the picture. Polka dot denim is definitely on trend at the moment and I thought it would be a good fit for the stripe-y v neck pullover. I used french terry cloth for the entire pullover and added a small jersey knit pocket for a pop of color. Again, I used Rae's Skinny Tee pattern as a sloper for drafting my pattern. This was my first time sewing a v neck style top and found a helpful tutorial here.

Polka dot denim is not something I could just pick up at my local fabric store (boo!). I thought about trying to paint or print my own but luckily I struck gold at Old Navy's clearance rack. I found a pair of women's size 0 polka dot skinny jeans and figured I might just be able to get enough fabric to create my own pair for the kiddo. I do want to clarify that the jeans I made were not a re-fashion project but made from scratch using "salvaged" fabric. I used a pair of Syd's toddler skinny jeans and used the rub off method to create a pattern. I then took the purchased jeans apart at the seams and cut my pattern pieces from the available fabric. I did not use any existing features from the jeans in making the new smaller pair of pull-on, elastic waist skinnies. It seems that I had some accuracy issues when creating my rub off pattern because I had to make some alterations to the jeans to get them to fit properly. The pants gaped open quite a bit in the bum area. Since that's not a good look on anyone, I opted to take in the "butt crack" seam (not sure what the proper terminology is for that!) and as well shorten the waistband. It worked! I need to go back and tweak the pattern at some point and figure out what went wrong.

I really like this week's look - the pullover is incredibly soft and cozy and looks equally cute with sweat pants. I love versatility in clothes and feel like I've added some very fun wearable items to the kiddo's wardrobe during this week's challenge. Now head over to the PR&P blog and vote for your favorite look!

TOP/
fabric: designer french terry knit stripes in jade/ivory and grey - fabric.com
pattern: made by rae's flashback skinny tee + v neck collar tutorial

PANTS/
fabric: salvaged fabric from old navy women's skinny jeans
pattern: self drafted using rub off method + exiting skinny jeans