For some reason, a few months ago, I started craving plaid. (Technically the black & white is a check, not a plaid, but I'm going to group it in there anyway.) Most of the plaids that I've been drawn to have been cotton. One exception, though, is that gorgeous turquoise and deep blue plaid, which is the end of a bolt of Pendleton wool. It's perfectly wooly, but still lightweight, and the colors are saturated and gorgeous, and I'm getting all wistful just thinking about it.
The newest addition is the watermelon print, which I found in the flat cut cotton print section of Pacific Fabrics - usually mostly quilting cottons, but this was a lucky find! It's a woven-in pattern rather than a printed one, with a nice drape to it, and I thought it was perfect for a sundress. (Hello, summer picnics!) Sometimes prints get a little too twee for me - as much as I like cute and/or tiny prints, it's hard to pull off "I'm adorable and so is this teddy bear print" when you're a grown-ass lady.
The newest addition is the watermelon print, which I found in the flat cut cotton print section of Pacific Fabrics - usually mostly quilting cottons, but this was a lucky find! It's a woven-in pattern rather than a printed one, with a nice drape to it, and I thought it was perfect for a sundress. (Hello, summer picnics!) Sometimes prints get a little too twee for me - as much as I like cute and/or tiny prints, it's hard to pull off "I'm adorable and so is this teddy bear print" when you're a grown-ass lady.
I can probably blame this recent plaid obsession on these two dresses. Both are vintage, and I ended up wearing them a ton this summer, feeling super cute all the while. There's something sharp about plaid, and yet sort of cheeky. Not all plaids make my heart sing - some of them read too pajama or schoolgirl-y - but I've found that my tastes don't really adhere to any rational patterns. I love traditional and unusual color combinations alike, and each plaid has a very different character that dictates the design decisions that I'd make with them. I'm planning to copy the general design of the yellow plaid sundress, and improve the fit, using the Pendleton plaid, but the black and white check wants to be a fuller, '50s style dress with a bias-cut bodice and close-fitting sleeves.
Last but not least, I will also fully admit that I play favorites in my stash, and this one is teacher's pet. It's silk taffeta, and it sings of Alexander McQueen. I'm going to design a ballgown based on it - I haven't decided on a lot of the elements, but one idea I like is short raglan sleeves with cream lace accents. One of the tricky things will be to keep the design from going too Christmas-y, but I'm hoping that it will read more classic, because this fabric deserves better than becoming a festive disaster.
What do you think of plaid?
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