PPR Challenge 1 – Kat’s Design

Challenge 1: – Come As You Are
Challenge:Use either the clothes your model is currently wearing OR a 10″ x 10″ square of fabric similar to your own pajamas. On top of that, you can use a handkerchief worth of white cotton or cotton-ploy blend fabric. The standard woman’s handkerchief is 10″ x 10″. You can manipulate the fabric anyway you want with dye, fabric paint, etc… You can also add things like buttons, velcro, and trims
Time: You have 18 hours to create your design

I decided actually use the fabric from a pair of pajamas that no longer fit me. For the white fabric, I used a 10″ x 10″ square from a pillow case which I figured would be just like using sheet fabric. I knew it would be a little tricky because the print on the pajamas was a little big.

I decided to stick with my simple, chic esthetic and make a white gown with a bold statement created by one of the flowers from the print. I used Stiffy to make the flower a little easier to cut out and, well, stiffer. I planned to have the top of the flower sticking above the top of the dress almost like a single strap, but when Tim saw it in the work room he told me that it looked a bit silly and frankly I had to agree. He also said he was worried that the judges would mark me down for using so little of the pajama fabric and keeping the sheet white. So, I went back to the drawing board (because you know, I don’t have one of those HP Touchsmart Computers).

In the end, I moved the flower down on the dress and added a jacket made from the pajama fabric. The jacket has a shawl-like quality to it because of the large dramatic collar. I kept the dress white because I felt it was striking with the brown of the pajamas.

When it came time to style my model, Mía, I decided her hair needed to be pulled up to show off the collar of the jacket. So, it is in a high almost 60’s style, big ponytail. For the accessories, I picked gold metallic items from the Piperlime accessory wall. I thought the gold would add a bit of glitzy and richness to the design.

In the end, the judges thought my jacket was great, but that the dress was a little too simple. I’m safe this week, but am warned I need to up my game if I expect to make it to fashion week. I’ll admit I feel like my design skills are a little rusty since last year’s Project Project Runway. I am proud of the jacket though, as I was scared of sleeves last year. Also I think the dress fit beautifully and I liked the way the bust darts went all the way to the back to create an extra design feature.