A Study in Orange Polka Dots

 

I never knew how much I adored orange polka dots on black fabric until I recently found such a material in a $5 Goodwill grab bag. Immediately I fell in love with the idea of a perfectly whimsical Halloween poodle skirt! Unfortunately, real life interference and cutting corners with enchanting but deadstock fabric yielded mixed rather than magical results.

Of course, I didn't want to stripe the orange polka dots with a black fabric nor use it as anything smaller like the accent material to something else as would have been reasonable with the limited fabric. Using the same tried and true pattern seen in my 5 Skirts from 1 Pattern Video, I went with three pattern pieces folded to smallest possible measurement needed. Previously this method worked wonderfully in two deadstock skirts, however here I had to turn one pattern piece to fit them all, and naturally this would become a problem later! Sadly, I did not realize that the seemingly random polka dots actually had a pattern, and the mismatched polka dots showed when I put my pattern pieces together. This fabric was also very lightweight, so I utilized another fabric from the grab bag as a liner – a slightly heavier black and white tribal print. I don't think this design is appropriate for me to wear on the outside, but I liked the idea of a black and white flash under the skirt and wanted to use this found material rather than leave it buried in my fabric stash. It appears someone either made three attempts at a blouse or ponchos for a school project with this remnant, and I had to cut the pieces and sew them back together for the width I needed. I would love to know the source of this pattern, let me know if you do!

Thankfully once the materials were basted together at the top, this now felt like the right weight for a zany fall skirt. On the other hand, there was a lot of trial and error with the pleating, as I must have tried five different configurations to fit my waist measurement that also look flattering and hid the mismatched pattern seams. Eventually I left the skirt to drape on the dress form, for it has been a very tough 2023 and October was a terribly trying month amid other deadlines and projects due. Ultimately I had to accept that this polka dot ensemble originally intended for Halloween would have to wait while I buckled down on the rest of my work. Strangely, I was able to return to my beloved polka dots after Halloween – during my on-call days for, on top of everything else happening, jury duty! The waistband came together quickly, strengthened with horse hair braiding inside and attached to the skirt with a running back stitch on the finished side, then a whip stitch on the inside to hide my unsightly basted ends. At times, I was very attentive to detail on this project, finishing seams with a tight running back stitch. However, upon realizing this was not going to be an everyday wearable skirt as I had hoped, haphazard stitching became good enough. This perhaps shows most in the hem, a $5 clearance sheer black ruffle ream speckled with black polka dots. The two tiers sewn onto the liner are kind of sloppy, yet I finished the orange polka dot hem neatly to flow independently as if there is a layered petticoat underneath. Of course, it doesn't flow much anyway! The whole thing looks cute from far away, but the problems are apparent up close.

Rather than take my time with a button hole, vintage hooks and eyes from another Goodwill sewing find finished the waistband and I sewed the back seams of the liner and the polka dots separately until they met at the skirt placket. The back seam, however, is again mismatched, and at this point all I was thinking about was which black blouse or short dress possibilities would go over the skirt and hide most of it. Fortunately, there were a few leftover polka dot pieces for accessories! I knew I wanted a choker to match, and piecing together a long enough strip for a matching belt was easy. Both were ironed and folded to size. Orange beads and a cross charm were sewed onto the choker, and more horsehair braiding stiffened the belt. An oversize orange button centered the belt, but believe it or not, there are next to no orange buttons in my Giant Button Jar, so hooks again finished the choker and belt. Indeed, I still intended to use every inch of this fabric, and to make a small pouch with a remaining square, I needed to stripe it with black fabric from my scrap bin. Sewing the strips together, gathering the bottom, and running an orange tubing drawstring through the top made for a cute little bag big enough for a piece of belated candy or two. Now having seen how adorable a black and orange polka dot stripe looks, I again questioned my all polka dot or bust methods, but undaunted wrapped the last small polka dot square around a piece of cardboard and hot glued it to a hair clip for a charming barrette!

The final mere strip of fabric, on the other hand, failed as a bracelet. I tried gluing it around a piece of wire to coil, but at this finish of the fabric, the material frayed too much, the glue showed, and it just looked terribly messy! Now fortunately, it was time to choose the blouse to match my ensemble. Had this been a regular wear autumn skirt that worked perfectly, I would not have worn everything all together all at once – just the skirt with a blouse, the belt to pop an all black frock, or the choker with a dress. As a costume, however, it's easy to embrace the orange polka dot lark completely! Though indeed whimsical, overall this was an exercise in vision versus materials and results. Was it the pattern mistakes? The liner and draping issues? Just plum not enough material? All lesson learned I suppose. I still don't have the orange and black polka dot skirt I wanted, and should have made something more realistic with the little deadstock I had – an apron or a vest perhaps. Following the Joann's trademark on the salvage for more fabric has been to no avail, yet I wish I had an entire bolt of this orange and black polka dot fabric so I can make everything possible with it – from dress/skirt/blouse/vest and pants/tote/bonnet/brooch to apron/jacket/scarf and bows/gloves/bracelets/stuffed pumpkins.

The absolute biggest irony? It never occurred to me to use orange fabric paint and dollop some polka dots onto a plain black fabric until after I finished everything. C'est la vie! 🤦🏻‍♀️

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Mother Christmas Costume

Sewing on a Budget for Search Magazine

Another Halloween Dress

Mending with Black Lace

Belated Cardboard Halloween Banner

 

Since May, this cardboard banner project has been laying on my basement studio floor in various configurations. 2023 has been a very tough year, and more crafts ended up piled on top of this recycled whimsy as at times I worked on it vigorously and other times it sat all but finished. Originally this was a little piece of Halloween for the Spring, but now it's a bemusing reminder of the October that wasn't.

Part of crafting is seeing something as not what it is but what it could be, and using recycled materials for holiday art is a great way to get into this mentality. I've been progressively trying to disguise some of the unsightly areas of my basement studio, and a Halloween banner seemed the perfect way to hide the top of the unfinished walls and put some cardboard to good use. People today always have a lot of boxes handy amirite? After measuring the wall where I wanted to place banner, I spent a day of trial and error cutting and geometry, initially intending for a double row of triangles. Unfortunately, the angles for a larger base with a smaller row of triangles on top became uneven for the fifteen feet length needed. After fighting more maths, using one large row won. I also realized thicker cardboard was too difficult to cut, and as I cut and traced numerous triangles per cardboard, I had to accept that none of the triangles were going to be precision perfect.

Cutting with various knives, rotary cutters, and scissors took longer than expected and really hurts your hand after awhile! Eventually, I had my number of triangles necessary, taped their ends together, and hot glued a backing cardboard strip across the banner for support. Now I was excited to get to the actual Halloween paper layer! Previously I used some of the craft store clearance Halloween Placemats ream in my Halloween Canvas Art, and I also found a $3 smaller cardstock ream at Goodwill. After going with orange, black, and white papers for a cohesive theme, I practiced laying out my sheets and marking the cardboard per paper so the same or similar papers were not near each other. The placemat paper was easier to fold and tape than the cardstock, and again it took a surprising amount of time hunched over and applying the paper with glue sticks and tape. Some of the square cardstock had to be cut on an angle to fit the triangle, and occasionally you can see that glare of piecing tape. However in working with cheap, found, piecemeal recycled materials, I again had to let go any perfection. Although, I probably made this seemingly simple project a lot more complicated than it had to be!

Dollar store orange tubing glued every third triangle became my hanging loops thumb-tacked into the beams where I wanted it to hide my basement ugly. I found out this is a charming little accent once I was able to finish said loops and actually hang this long gestating whimsy! I wanted to use the Halloween themed paper in my stash, but a more creative artist could probably paint custom design on their cardboard. I also think this is an excellent project for the family or classroom using holiday wrapping paper – reversible or embellished for any season! I still have the smaller triangles I cut out and would like to glue them onto the rest of the orange tubing for a more simple, free hanging banner, perhaps with leaves or florals to disguise more studio unsightly.

Despite minor imperfections and recycled materials, the possibilities are endless! Will it last longer than it took me to make it? Probably not. Is it totally cheap? Absolutely! Am I content with my found Halloween art? 110%.

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Visit our Kbatz Krafts Archive for more crafts including:

Pot O Bones Tower

3D Skeleton Frames

Decorating Like Dark Shadows Video Series