Escher Dress

 

As I’m sure you know, Pattern Revolution has been running a great fashion sew off called Top Stitchers!  There have been some truly amazing works of art featured there and some great designers.  Well, they’re doing a sew along!  Naturally, I had to join the fun.

They had several categories to choose from and the one that popped out at me was “Art Gallery”.  “Who is your favorite artist? What do you love most about their work? Their vibrant use of colors? Their use of repeating patterns and geometrics? Their soft flowy painting techniques? Their subject matter? Their mood?
Let their overall style, or a specific piece of work from their portfolio, inspire a modern-day head-to-toe ensemble. ”

Immediately, Escher came to mind.  I can remember sitting for what seemed like hours looking through our book of his art.  I loved his gradient, tone on tone and geometric pieces.  The fact that most pieces lacked color somehow made them more interesting.  Then I wondered, “How can I translate this into clothing?”

I decided on color blocking and grey.

Four colors, from white to dark grey.  I added some grey roses to the neckline to spice things up a bit 😉

Escher had a long and fruitful artistic life, but my favorite piece of his, relativity, is from the 50s.  Because of that, I chose a 50’s inspired ensemble with a full skirt and a fun headpiece.  The head piece is made of hand pleated fabric and gathered tulle.  I put some elastic on the back so it can be worn like a head band.

 

I used the same grey for the hat as I used for the bottom of the dress.  I backed the piece with black fabric to add another dimension of “color” to the outfit.  White tulle is gathered into the back to add dimension.

To begin with, I wasn’t sure which pattern to use, but as I went through my folder, the Caroline Party Dress jumped out at me.  It’s shape is perfect for color blocking.  I loved the zipper tutorial as well.  I’ve never had a zipper go in so easily!

 

To begin with, Little Miss didn’t think she liked the dress because “it didn’t have enough color” but once she tried it on, she was sold.  The best thing about a grey dress is that ANY accessories you have in the closet will match!

 

She loved the twirl factor and how comfortable it was.  I made this one up in a 3 and added a little length to the skid tot accomodate for her height.  I only wish she still fit into her black mary janes to complete the look, but we made do with her white sandals.

 

It was a wee bit windy today.

Thanks for the great prompt, Pattern Revolution.  I’ve not been so inspired in quite some time!