New to colour blocking?
“Color blocking is when there are highly contrasting colours together in one piece of clothing, making solid blocks of color. All colours should be of the same hue, the brighter the better.”
(OK, confession – I totally made that quote up. So I’m quoting myself then?)
So, I chopped both tops in half, and swapped tops for bottoms. Then sewed the two halves together using a basic medium length straight stitch. I also zigzaged to finish the seam. You don’t need to worry about hemming, as it is already done for you. I also took in the sides slightly, as I do for most of JJ’s clothes as she is a bit on the skinny side. And all done! Easiest sewing project ever.
Tip: when choosing your base tops, be sure to find ones that are quite long, as you will lose about an inch off the length when you sew the two halves together…
And here is JJ “modelling” her new top. Sorry for the milk moustache, we were in a hurry this morning, so I snapped a quick photo as we were rushing to get out the door…
So then I was going to make an inverted replica with the other two halves, but I thought it might be fun to vary it up a bit and make a dress instead. I had this colourful pink paisley pattern that contrasted with both the green and purple nicely. I cut out two rectangles the same width (plus seam allowance) as the other pieces, and sewed these together to make a third tube. Then sewed to the green top and the purple bottom.
Tip: the introduced fabric needs to go in the middle section to take advantage of the already sewn hem on the other pieces.
And apologies again, I don’t have a photo of JJ wearing the dress. As our house is in toddler + newborn chaos at the moment, I had the cut out pieces of fabric lying around for a few days waiting for a chance to sew. JJ found the pink paisley fabric and was playing with it, pretending it was a robe or a bandage or a scarf. So when I showed her the finished piece, she started crying and trying to take “her robe” off the dress. Umm, not exactly the response I was hoping for! So I haven’t been able to get her to wear it yet. Tis a pity because I think it would look better on than it does hanging up.
So a third tip: don’t let your toddler become attached to role-playing with a piece of fabric before you sew it.
And there you have it – easy colour block top & dress. Have you gotten into the colour blocking trend yet?
xx Danya