As a self-taught designer, there are many techniques that I have yet to master. Creating the chevron pattern is one of those things. I found this pretty wide stripe sequin fabric and wanted to use it in a way that would flatter my shape. Now, if you know anything about stripes, it can be your best friend or your worse enemy depending on the direction of the stripes. Well in my case, I had control over the stripes or so I thought. This fabric was so popular at my local fabric store, in fact, there was a line of sewers ready to purchase this particular fabric at the sale price. I decided that I only needed 3 yards of the fabric however when I brought it home, I quickly realize it only stretched one way. Knowledge check: when a fabric stretches only one way, you typically need more of that fabric than if it stretched left to right and up and down. That meant that I was only able to cut the fabric based on the horizontal direction.
Well, because I am still learning and working on my craft every day, I decided to get creative (courageous) with my design choice. I hypothesized that if I cut the fabric the intended way, in this case on the horizontal, then I would still have enough fabric to split into two for the front section but going vertical. This was a bit more work because it was critical to the design to line up the stripes before sewing. Once the front portion was sewn together I then took a piece of elastic to create the scrunch in the front. Creating tension in the right areas of the skirt was key to get the desired look.
The moral of this story is that thinking outside of the box is vital to creating a lane all your own. The goal was to create this elaborate chevron pattern (that I had no clue on how to do), turns out, I like how this design turned out and many of you expressed your interest as well. Always be original is a mission of Courageous Creations and this time, I had to put my sewing needle to test!
