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! 🤦🏻♀️
Follow Kbatz Krafts on Instagram and Facebook for more Project Photos or visit our Kbatz Krafts archive for more Sewing including:
Mother Christmas Costume
Sewing on a Budget for Search Magazine
Another Halloween Dress
Mending with Black Lace
