Material Girls: Neon Tropical Fish

In our 'Material Girls' feature, we dive into our giant collection of fabrics to choose a weird, heinous, or awesome pattern (this time the fabric could be called all three of these things!) and then challenge ourselves to make something great out of it.

This week's version: Neon Tropical Fish. Who would buy such a thing? Snort!

Okay, okay, I'll fess up here. The cloth I worked with here is actually purchased. From a store. On purpose. By me. In my defense, though, it was the very early 90s (true story) and times were different. My mom let me pick this out so that I could try to make an outfit out of it. It was going to be a matching neon tropical fish tank top and Bermuda shorts set, of course. But alas, I only half-finished the project and, while I rocked the tank top at the Wildwood mall on many occasions, the shorts were never made. I had other important stuff to do (GAWD!) like draw, listen to NKOTB, talk about boys, and watch Entertainment Tonight.

So when I came across this in my big bin o' fabrics, I immediately recognized it. And I obviously kept on to my earlier positive feelings for it, because when I pulled it out to show it to Megan, the exchange went something like this:

Me: "Wow! Look at this fabric... It's awesome!"
Megan: (silence)

Me: "I'll bet I can make something RAD out of this!"
Megan: (long pause) "Ummm..."

Well, I'll admit that it's perhaps a fabric that's best in small doses. And it's not like I would wear the tank top/Bermuda shorts set now (probably).

Anyway, I set off to make something rad. My first attempt, appliqué on a canvas bag, was a project that sought to honour the fabric's storied provenance...

Next up, I used the fabric in a quilt for a friend with a new baby.

 

I think it turned out quite sweet in a child's gift, so I whipped up a matching owl pillow as a gift for the baby's beautiful older sister.

 

I'm sad to report that the tank top's whereabouts are currently unknown...

Material Girls: Kitschy Knots

We at Five Corners have been lucky enough to have two separate coworkers gift us with giant bags of fabric in the last few months (Thanks, ladies!). We tend to be attracted to cute, vintage, or just plain weird patterns, and now that we have so much, we are starting to wonder what the heck to do with it all...

So we're introducing a new feature called Material Girls, where we pick a wild pattern and challenge ourselves to make something great out of it!

I started it off with a challenging fabric - a cool, but very busy, pattern of knots in primary colours. I actually think it's wonderfully kitschy and fun, but it's so... MUCH.

So I took the route of isolating some of the details, backing them with interfacing to stiffen the fabric, and giving them more breathing room for their new life appliquéd onto a snazzy navy v-neck shirt...