I've Lost My Freakin' Mind...So, What's New?

So, the next challenge was titled - Office Memo - Black & White! This Vogue Pattern (9172) was the required pattern.  We could use whatever top we wanted to complete the ensemble.  Originally, I found this beautiful black and white fabric that I was planning to use.  As I thought about it (which means I trolled Pinterst late every night),I decided that black and white stripes would be the way to go. But after a quick search, I knew I would not find the fabric I wanted in the store.  SOOO, I got the bright idea to take black and white fabric, cut it into strips, sew them together and then cut the pattern from that.  This really wasn't difficult, but it wouldn't be me if there weren't mistakes. So, in looking at the inspiration piece, I liked that the stripes were at an angle.  Sew, I wanted that design feature as well.  Because I'm not that smart, it didn't occur to me that cutting my strips at an angle was NOT the way to go because when I then sewed them together, my fold of the fabric was all mishapen.  I was barely able to get all the pieces out of the "created" fabric! 
 What an idiot!! But, undaunted, I got it all cut out. I LOVED the final result. I knew before I started that I wanted a pop of color for the shoes.  I ordered a pair of yellow pumps from Zappos.  But when they arrived, they felt heavy and clunkly on my feet. I decided to try my local Dillards and to my delight these pumps were happily waiting for me.  I loved the color, less banana yellow, more chartreuse. It's funny that I picked this book to use as my photo prop.  It just happens to be the current criminal law handbook that I use in my practice! Wasn't that fortuitious?

I was also very lucky that my darling daughter was in town this weekend to hang out with me and attend a fashion show my sorority hosted.  She was the photographer and since she is a model AND sews, she was the perfect choice to stage these photos.  I chose the outside location sorta accidentally.  I wanted to take some shots in front of a local mural, but the one I wanted said MEMPHIS and was all black and white.  But, I drove to this one by mistake.  By the time we got there, there wasn't going to be much daylight and of course this was the day the submission was due (because I am ALWAYS last minute lucy!) so I decided we would make it work.  It was actually perfect.  Not only do I LOVE what the mural says, but the pops of color were a perfect backdrop to my black and white.  So, all these unplanned elements came together quite nicely.

And to top it all off, I WON the 3rd challenge round in the Pretty Girls Sew (http://prettygirlssew.com/rae-2016-challenge-3-voting/) competition.

 I also made the top using this wonderfully simple Burda pattern. Burda 6838.  The fabric was way thinner than I wanted and yes, had I the time (I didn't because I made this Thursday morning around 3:00 am, I could have doubled it.  But it worked out ok in the end I think.  LOL..

So, now it's on to the 4th and I think final challenge. 
We have a "freestyle" challenge now.  We can make whatever we want as long as we use Ankara (African/Wax Print) fabric in the piece.  I'm excited! I used to make things all the time when my children were young using African print.  The options and choices are SO much better now than they were back then.  So, stay tuned!