The Pink Boot Saga

Hey guys, it’s Diane here. So today I want to tell you a little story that all started with some pink boots. I got them home and realized that other than a couple of dresses, I didn’t have a lot to wear with them. But with more time on my hands (my son grew up and moved out!) the boots spawned a whole bunch of fresh creativity.

I crocheted a crazy granny square sweater and sewed a blouse with some vintage ric rac. Then I found some beautiful scraps of fabric that had been left over from a dress production.

So I made a new fit block pattern and designed a shirt for the purpose of using my stash of short leftover fabric pieces. Then I began to coordinate the prints together. It did require a lot of extra time to figure out how to use the individual lengths of fabric. For example, if a piece was too short to cut the back panel, I revised the pattern to include a longer back yoke. 

I thought about the concept of 'zero waste' while drafting the new shirt pattern and how wonderful it would be. Unfortunately, no matter how tight I make my markers, some waste is just unavoidable. The neck and top of the sleeve have curves, which leads to leftover fabric after the production process. Since a roll of fabric has a limited length, the pieces cannot be magically positioned to finish in the perfect place. To truly achieve "zero waste", you'd have to essentially create the entire garment out of rectangles. But who wants to wear the shape of a potato-sack?? Not me and I'm sure you'll agree.

My stash of fancy scraps came together beautifully. It was such a fun project creating these eclectic shirts. When I posted the results on my social profiles, the feedback on them was incredible! So much so that I put them in production and you'll be able to get your very own soon. I'm already thinking of other 'patchwork' pieces to create in this free-spirited style. So stay tuned to see what's next!