It’s my first make and post of 2022. I’ve been dreaming of sewing monochromatic looks well before Fall began. Monochromatic looks are always a delicate balance of making sure you pull the look out without being absurdly matchy matchy. I typically wear monochromatic looks on my lazy days, but I wanted to try to elevate that to a higher end look than my typical lazy matching sweats look. The beauty of monochromatic looks is that you can go bold and make colorful statements or you can go with neutral classic looks. There are literally a million different variations of monochromatic that you can pull off in any style of fashion possible. I find when wearing monochromatic looks it’s a good time to add pops of colors or pull out your statement jewelry pieces to help bring the look to full circle. This neutral look was no different for me. Even more so, this look was inspired by none other than the Queen Chaka Kahn. I’d had her song, What Cha’ Gonna Do For Me stuck in my head for weeks now, so it was playing in constant rotation as I sewed this look and was playing when I shot the photos. I needed to channel her powerhouse sound.
PROJECT DETAILS:
Statement Sleeve Top: Schultz Apparel’s Petunia Top is a new-to-me indie sewing pattern company that I actually stumbled across on Etsy. When I saw the Petunia top and the sleeves, it was definitely love at first sight! Like everyone else, I’ve been obsessed with all of these wonderful puffy sleeve tops that are on trend right now. I’m not normally into trends, but this one I can fully support. This pattern is easily wonderful, and a classic staple piece. I can already see myself creating a number of tops from this pattern. This pattern is designed for knits, so I took a chance with this double creped stretch woven fabric I used for this top. Thankfully my fabric had just enough stretch to pull this pattern off while still remaining true to the designer’s intended look. This is a beginner friendly pattern, but well designed and easy to execute.
Bell Bottom Trousers – Vogue 1460 is a modern take and reminded me of the the 70’s bell bottom pants that my mom wore religiously back in high school. I am a huge fan of 70’s sewing patterns. Most of my vintage patterns are from that time period, so I literally did a somersault when this pattern dropped a couple of seasons ago by Vogue Patterns. It appears to be currently sold out on their website, but no fears, this pattern can still be found in stores and online on Etsy or eBay. My biggest modification was swapping out the waistband. The original pattern waistband is straight. I switched it for one of my tried and true curved waistbands. If you have hips or butt, this is usually a must, as straight waistbands create a terrible waist butt gap that most women hate. This is a very common problem in ready to wear clothing. This is where sewing your own clothes has an added benefit as you can eliminate these issues from the jump to create clothing that literally is custom fitted to your shape. This pattern, while excellently designed does create that back waist gap. So I also had to shave some fabric off the middle of the back yoke, which I then transferred to the pattern pieces. I didn’t make a muslin this time around so I did what my sewing teachers over the years have taught me and fitted as I went along. That’s not something I’d suggest for a beginner sewist, or if you’re new to pant sewing. The extra time spent to customize this back waist curve adjustment was easy enough for me and worth the extra time as the result is pants that now fit like a glove. I did view B without any height adjustments, since at 5’7 I’m already only an inch taller than the standard commercial pattern height. This isn’t the case for the average woman, so I’d suggest shaving off a few inches on the hem if you’re under 5’6 or going with View A, which is the cropped version.
FABRIC – My fabric hording self, discovered this medium/heavy weighted double crepe stretch woven fabric quite by accident. I’m only slightly embarrassed to admit that I spend way too much time downtown in the Los Angeles Fashion District to the point that a couple of the shop keepers there know me on sight and often beckon me into the shop with fabrics they know fit my esthetic. I was walking past one of my favorite fabric stores when one of the guys who worked there stopped me and was like, “I have just the fabric for you, and what’s even better is it’s only a $1.00 a yard.” He already had me at a dollar, but as soon as I saw the fabric and touched it, I immediately bought seven yards. The guy tried to get me to buy the whole roll, which now, in retrospect, I wish I’d taken him up on. This fabric was so high quality, that I knew immediately that he should have been selling this to me at a much higher price point, but I’m never one to talk my way out of a good deal. It washed up super easy, was easy to iron and work with that I wish I’d had a ton more. Like with most of my makes, as soon as I see the fabric, the look starts forming on its own.
STYLE – I styled this outfit with my favorite pair of classic gold hoop earrings, and a chunky statement necklace that I’ve had for forever from Banana Republic. These shoes are the newest addition to my closet this season. They are absolutely beautiful, comfortable and incredibly cute. Needless to say I own more than a couple of pairs of Sam Edelman shoes for this same reason. I bought these Sam Edelman Mary Jane pumps at full price (which I never do with hardly anything!) because I loved them so much when I saw them.
Nikki Nicole Sew 