February Challenge #3

Oh, I've saved the best blog challenge for last! Have you heard about Colette Patterns? Sarai Mitnick runs this great vintage-inspired pattern company here in Portland. Reading her blog is an education in the history of fashion and the craft of sewing.

She's hosting a Spring Palette Challenge.

"The idea is very simple. You choose an inspiring palette for Spring, then you sew a tiny wardrobe based on that palette. You choose the color palette, the number of colors, and the pieces you sew. The palette can be based around fabrics you already have (so you can use what you have), or you can do something new. The challenge will be 10 weeks long (now through the end of March). Here’s how we’ll structure it:

• Week One: Define your challenge. Gather inspiration, make inspiration boards, review fabric choices, pick your palette, and decide how many garments you’d like to sew from the palette.
• Week Two: Plan your projects. Choose your patterns, sketch out your ideas, and make a plan.
• Weeks Three through Ten: Sew! Make your mini Spring wardrobe, and share your progress with everyone else."

Doesn't that sound like fun? Unfortunately I am currently without a sewing space in my house and my family is getting tired of my stealing the dining room table all the time. Hopefully, I'll get some "studio" space back soon. Or at least one spot where I can leave a giant mess and nobody cares!

I've had fun thinking about what my color palette would be. Every day on my drive to work I think about the palette of the world around me. The soft grey fog rising up out of the Willamette River. The lush greens of the firs and pines. The soft purple-brown deciduous trees as they're just starting to bud. And little hints of chartreuse where new growth is starting to poke through. My spring palette would look a little something like this:


(Thanks to Little Pink Weeble for sharing this photo on Flickr)

What colors are you loving for spring? I know some of you are in the depths of winter in the Midwest, so dream a little. What do you want to wear when it starts to warm up outside?