Project Run and Play Final Look {Practical Bohemian Chic}

I am so excited to still be contending in Project Run and Play for the final look, since it is my favorite look so far!  If I were to sum up my aesthetic, it would primarily be "Practical Bohemian." Practical because it must move with the child, fit through a little growth, be washable, and modest (one of the main reasons I sew for my daughter is to fill the gap in appropriate clothing for my daughter's age.) And Bohemian is an aesthetic I consider to mainly be eclectic and fabric centric (I love me some yummy fabric, and I generally begin every outfit by letting the fabric speak to me.) And I associate Bohemian with quality and detail. (I always challenge myself to achieve difficult techniques in my work, and will not settle for an imperfect finished product.) But mostly the Bohemian comes from Emmie, she is an artist at heart, and loves anything unique.

For my final look I began with the fabric for the coat, (the whole coat is from my stash) and it is cotton velvet in 3 different patterns from the same line.

The body of the coat has an exposed red metal separating zip for the front closure, and there are exposed zips that close the side pockets. (the pockets are lined in a purple cotton from the same fabric line as the velvet, so it coordinates.)

 I added a blue piping to all the seams that had changing velvets touching each other, and then whip stitched in red pearl cotton around the piping to make the coat have a one off handmade feel, that I think ties in with the bohemian aesthetic. Behind the piping on the side of the coat, above and below the zip, there is raspberry and gold brocade ribbon, as an extra subtle touch, that is all about the details.

 The sleeve cuff has the same whip stitched  piping and red top stitching as the rest of the coat.

 There are 4 toggles down the front, made with brown, heart shaped, suede bases, attached by hand with red pearl cotton.

 The whole jacket is lined in cream micro-fleece, so it is lovey and warm (not to mention washable with the fleece and cotton)

I thought this picture was funny, (she's stretching her cheek muscles out from smiling too much) It's not all glamour in the modeling world!

The hood is fur edged, (and makes Emmie call this her fancy Eskimo coat)

 When the hood's up, you can really see all the different fabrics on display.

 The weight of the coat is perfect for our transition into spring, since it's only slightly heavier than a fleece jacket, but enough to keep the chill out.

Since she couldn't just wander around in a coat, there had to be an outfit to go with my look! 

 I made a pair of dark stretch jeans, in a straight leg. 

 The jeans have a functional fly, jeans rivets, 4 pockets, belt loops, and jeans thread. To make them special (because let's face it, if I make them "just" blue jeans, it's a heck of a lot easier to just buy a pair, and those are a dime a dozen!) I added floral machine embroidery down either side of  the legs, and on the back pockets. I used thread colors that matched both the coat and shirt fabric, but decided to sadden the thread a bit by painting thin brown dye over the 10 motifs to grunge them up a bit. (It took over 5 hours just to machine embroider the jeans) Sorry, I can never figure out an appropriate way to take pictures of her booty or crotch area to show the fly properly.....so pretty much you get a side view!

For the shirt, I found the most amazing cotton fabric, that had all the same colors as the coat, but with a black base. (I LOVE the print on this fabric, it's abstract, but floral, and it is so perfect for the bohemian vibe!) I made a fitted high waisted bodice, with a loose lower tunic length bottom, that is gathered into the bodice. 

There are short, set in sleeves, that give her arm coverage, but also hint at the weather warming up for spring. 

 The little details of this shirt are my favorite part of the look; the neckline has a woven trellis design that is open to the skin underneath (the neck is high to maintain coverage.) The woven design comes from bias cut tubes, sewn over each other to create the design, and then I bound all the loose ends into binding at the neck. (I have a tutorial for this ready to go up as soon as the competition is over) There are 3 hand appliqued yo yo's on the bodice right hand side (they are hard to see in the pictures, but add texture and detail in real life)

  The back is closed with bias button loops, and 24K gold plated, black enameled buttons. They are evenly spaced down the back of the solid fabric, with one extra loop and button at the top of the open section.

 To finish the look, I made a headband from 2 large yo yo's, and 2 small yo yo's, some felt, and a length of elastic.

I really hope that you like my signature look, as I would like to have earned your vote!!! Please hop on over to Project Run and Play and vote for your favorite look by 10 pm Sunday night MST. Thanks so much everyone for keeping up with my progress in this competition; I have had such amazing support from so many great people! (Did I remember to say please, PLEASE, PLEASE, go vote?) 

As a side note, we took Emmie's pictures at a local mall here in Korea, it was the most random place I have ever seen in terms of its decoration! Here is a Pororo mural, (Pororo is like the Korean Micky Mouse, he's the Ambassador of children, and a pretty big deal; he is on EVERYTHING.)  

 There were cat headed manikins, that apparently have very interesting reading material if Emmie's face is anything to go off of....(well, I am sure it would be if she read Hangul.)

An Italian section that had the Mouth of Truth, (when we actually were in Italy, we were pick pocketed $100 when we went to the mouth of truth, and I have still not forgiven him.)

Glass sand art ceilings.

 And the polar bear photo op in front of a big fountain. (it even says photo on it in English)

 The biggest attraction anyplace we go in Korea is Miss Emmie, with long blonde hair, and pale blue eyes, she gets talked to A LOT in Korean, and regularly petted or stroked (which she is NOT overly fond of)

For most of the pictures, the poor thing had an audience of people watching her, and she was a terribly good sport still posing for me! (she had a sweet old lady that kept asking her "mama, baby?" and pointing at the two of us, I kept saying "yes" in Korean, and English, but she wasn't sure we understood what she meant. I asked Paul to tell her in Korean (he's taking classes through the Air Force) and all he could remember to say to her was "This is my wife, and this is my daughter." so I guess he sort of answered her question!)