An Orange Extravaganza for Summer

After the orange excitement of last week I had a forage through my fabric stash to see what else I could find. Surprisingly there was no shortage of orange fabrics. (I may also have bought a couple of extras just in case there is a sudden world fabric shortage.)

Instead of spending Sunday sewing I disappeared down the rabbit hole of creating an orange summer wardrobe. And here it is...

I wonder how much of this imagined summer wardrobe will see the light of day or is destined to be another random rambling.

The outerwear

Not true outerwear but a wool cardigan and loose fitting shirt in cotton canvas which for Summer will hopefully be more than enough for the outer layer. Although now I have started playing I really fancy an orange leather jacket!!!

A Marcia Derse fabric from the Art History 101 collection called Timeline in the Lecture colourway printed on cotton canvas from Marcy Tilton paired with Katherine Tilton's Butterick B6491 loose fitting shirt.

An orange aqua striped Italian wool knit from Stonemountain and Daughter paired with Papercut Patterns Fjord cardigan which I have previously lengthened to mid calf. Whilst the stripes will generally go around the body I would like to play with their orientation on some of the pattern pieces.

The dresses

I will invariably use my TNT dress pattern in some form or other but otherwise I haven't really decided which pattern to use for which fabric.

Clockwise from top left: Liberty Ganton Jersey in design Powell from The Fabric Store; Marcia Derse Treasure Hunt cotton fabric from Marcy Tilton; Liberty Argyll Swim in design Mayrose from The Fabric Store; Rebecca Taylor faux leather stretch woven; Plaid floral cotton; and Calvin Klein embroidered cotton. The bottom row are all from Silhouette Patterns.

And here is one I prepared earlier (not yet blogged) the Style Arc Toni Designer Dress in the Liberty Argyll swim fabric design Mike.

Two fabrics not included in the montage have patterns firmly associated with them.

This Rebecca Taylor silk viscose called Sunrise from Silhouette Patterns I see as a classic fit and flare dress using an oldie but a goody Vogue 9243, with added short sleeves.

The second fabric with firm ideas is this large Givenchy silk scarf panel from The Fabric Store. It was purchased to be a Named Kielo Wrap dress and that is still what it will become. Although I have two of these panels I suspect some creativity with pattern placement will be required, maybe even cut on the bias.

The tops

I am strangely indecisive about the tops - not at all sure which patterns I will use. Vogue 1415 by Tom and Linda Platt view A has been on my to sew list for some time just not seeing it in any of these fabrics. The Evelyn or the Josie blouse by the Experimental Space (a recent purchase) could be a contender, although highest on my list is the Rosalee dress made into a peplum top.

Clockwise from top left: Liberty tana lawn in design Johnathon from The Fabric Store; Etheric plaid an Italian viscose woven from Marcy Tilton; Liberty silk crepe de chine in design Firenze actually from Liberty; Art Gallery Fabrics Ice-cream Shop cotton knit; Windows French digital knit from Marcy Tilton; Cotton+Steel Rifle Paper Co Wildwood collection rayon in design Petite Garden Party from Stonemountain and Daughter; Orange stripe print French viscose knit from Elliott Berman Textiles; and Cotton+Steel Bespoke Ephemera in navy cotton double gauze from Stonemountain and Daughter.

These two Rebecca Taylor fabrics (left to right: sheer poly cotton knit; and textured ITY knit) will become Kendosa's top all from Silhouette Patterns. Need the ubiquitous black top to go with all this colour.

This Valori Wells Wrenly Voile (Bloom on the left and Ingrid on the right) has been in my stash for quite some time and I have always had trouble finding the ideal pattern. As soon as I started playing with orange I knew this wanted to be a Sewing Workshop Zayn top.

The trousers

Much as I love colour it may be necessary to add a black pair of trousers to this wardrobe in order to give the senses a rest. However black trousers were not my first thought when assembling this wardrobe collection.

I recently watched the Threads Magazine / Louise Cutting DVD Easy to Sew Pants and when I washed this silk over the weekend it gave a strong indication it wanted to become a pair of one seam pants. Although I have this pattern in my collection it has never been used so I will need to make a test pair before I cut into my Calvin Klein silk from Silhouette Patterns.

These Issey Miyake Vogue 2271 trousers were altered recently but there was a severe shortage of the chosen fabric and I could only make one leg. I have since managed to buy a second leg's worth of fabric but not yet made the trousers. Given the pattern cover features an orange suit it seemed appropriate that the pattern be used with this Cosmo Textiles of Japan fruit design cotton canvas fabric from Stonemountain and Daughter.

The found

Once I started I couldn't stop my quest for orange fabrics. It brought to mind a long ago linen skirt which was taken apart to be remade into something. With trepidation I went into the half finished / remake projects box and found some things that would look fabulous in an orange summer.

As you can see this fabric was cut out but never got further than that and is now probably too small. I think with the cut-out pieces plus the left over fabric I could make the Style Arc Charlotte dress lengthened to knee length and with short sleeves. It would be fun to try and feature different colours in each dress section, rather than the horizontal stripe.

For these three fabrics I am a bit undecided. On the left is a gorgeous cotton fabric from the Pacific Islands gifted to me by a friend. It got a bit too precious to use despite buying the orange embroidered organza (centre) and a silk crepe-de-chine (not pictured) from The Fabric Store to make a dress. The coloured linen print fabric on the right is the aforementioned skirt which I found difficult to wear as the natural background has a green hue and altered how it looked with coloured tops.

The thought of making these fabrics into something is exciting. I just need to decide what the something is. Imagined sewing adventures are so invigorating if only the clothes were made before the imagination flits off into another direction.

The accessories

I have to confess that the Camper sandals were a contributing factor to my sudden obsession with an orange wardrobe the brooch from the CODA museum wasn't the sole influence.

CODA Orange Paper brooch

Chloe Faye Cross Body Bag

Top: Camper Twins Red Orange Sandals; Bottom: Camper Twins Luis Gordillo Sneakers

Parting shot

For those that have read to the end of this post here are the Kaikoura Ranges in all their winter snow glory, a fitting counterpoint to all this talk of summer wardrobe planning.

This is also a reminder that I better finish my winter coat. Apparently a burst of bitterly cold weather is due here soon. Scientists are predicting a very cold spring due to a sudden stratospheric warming event above Antarctica which results in cold blasts of air attacking New Zealand. Not holding my breath though as this has only happened twice since the late 1950's (September 2002 and 2010). On the other hand the possibility of it happening may just be the incentive I need as it certainly hasn't been cold enough so far this winter for a toasty warm winter coat.