Two inspirational

Hi lovelies! We’ve so enjoyed ‘check’ing out your July sewing! And now that August (and our second anniversary! Eeeee exciting!!) is drawing near, I thought I’d delve into the interwebs and see what sort of awesome things people have made around the variation of two.

 

There’s so many fun ways you can interpret this challenge – make two garments from the same pattern, or two from the same fabric. You could make a twofer or a two-toned dress, or pair up with another TMS stitcher and make a pair! Why not make a two piece suit? Or use a pattern from a year ending in two? The more you think out of the box, the more possibilities await. To help you get the juices going, here’s a few things I’ve scouted out for you:

First up, if you’re looking for two of a pattern, you can’t go past Dolly Clackett. This girl sews an amazingly whimsical and colourful wardrobe, and makes multiples of nearly everything she sews. But two that really caught my eye were her Kim dress and Scarlett dress. Both are made from the By Hand London Kim dress pattern, and both are stunning:

Left: Kim Dress. Right: Scarlett dress.

If you’ve got a pattern that you’ve made once and love to the point of wanting NEEDING another, this is an ideal option. Perhaps you wanted to enter the One Pattern, Two Takes competition for IPM and just lagged behind a bit? That’s totally cool – because here’s your chance to make that pattern again. Or perhaps you just didn’t get the first version of a pattern quite right – in which case, sewing a second version offers you the chance to improve!

Now, you could pair up with another sewist and do twinsies! My fellow editors Kat and Mel are huge fans of sewing the same thing at the same time… it’s adorable and a guaranteed way to make your sewing much more social. You can help each other through sticky bits, debate finishing and notions, go fabric shopping together – basically, pairing up means that you’ll have loads of fun.

I just couldn’t go past this example and photo to show you how awesome the idea of sewing together is: Mel and Kat’s Twinsy (Twinsie?) Coppelia cardigans.

Mel’s Electric Blueberry and Kat’s Strawberry Shortcake Coppelia cardigans

Now, if you know that you’ve got the same fabric stashed as another TMS blogger, why not pair up? Earlier this year the WSBN created a whole chain of two’s, linking fabric and patterns all together. Here’s Sewist Stitch’s mighty impressive Sewaholic Granville blouse, and Fifty Two Fancies’ adorable Grainline Alder dress:

Sewist Stitch’s Granville blouse, and Fifty Two Fancies’ Alder dress

Not sure if that’s up your alley? Why not go literal (it’s ok, that’s my plan) and make a twofer or a two-toned dress.

I first stumbled upon the (admittedly awful) term ‘twofer’ when I was obsessed with Modcloth. So named because of the two halves (bodice and skirt) being in a differing colour, they’re actually pretty versatile. You can dress them up or down, pretend it’s a blouse with another skirt over the skirt section (I’ve seen it done), and generally use it as a great way to play with colours. Go crazy and contrast or play it cool and toy with different tones of the same hue – it’s all up to you!

If you like the idea but can’t find any fabric to work together (or, as in my case, have two colours that want to be best mates, but just not enough of one), why not go two toned? Here’s TMS contributor Emily with a lovely white BurdaStyle 118 dress  with black piping, and can I just say, so chic??

Mai Attique’s Black and White

You could even make a two piece. Why not make a suit? or a skirt-blouse-dress (three pieces, but still)? or a pair of pyjamas?If you really wanted to mess with our heads linguistically, why not even a pair of trousers? – Way back when I was a student, we once flummoxed our linguistics professor as to why we refer to a single item – trousers – as a ‘pair’. And why we speak about them in plural. Pants, trousers, but never pant and trouser. Curious indeed. But I digress!

A two-piece suit, perhaps?

K-Line’s Starlet Suit

A two-piece set?

Adventures of a Young Seamstress’s two piece set

Or even a pair of pyjamas?

Ginger Makes’ Carolyn Pyjamas

 

There’s heaps of opportunities to get stuck into August’s Challenge – have fun, get stuck in, and help us celebrate two years of TMS awesomeness! We can’t wait to see what you make!