Project Run and Play Week 3

Handmade Boy

I am so excited to be a part of week three!! Thank you for all of your support!

Week three's brainstorming session started much like week two's. Thomas and I had a conversation. Upon being asked who his favorite artist is, Thomas replied with "Oh! That guy who likes red and straight lines and doesn't use a lot of colors." Now, that could be quite the puzzle. But, I was luckily enough to be a helper during his second grade art classes last year, and I had a rough idea of who he was talking about. A quick text to his art teacher (for real, I'm friends with her. ;) ) and she was able to tell me the name of the artist, Horace Pippin. Filled with American Folk inspiration, we designed our look, Modernly Primitive.

Horace Pippin was an American Folk artist from the 1940s. He was self taught and used a limited amount of color in his work, with the primary use of colors resembling those from war times with lots of grays. However, he enjoyed adding a stroke of red to each of his paintings. So of course, we needed a bold red in our look, and what is more bold than a pair of red pants?

Contrasting topstitching mimics the simple straight lines Pippin used in his works. Specifically, the designs of the back pockets were inspired by the perspective lines used in his rooms. The handcrafted suspenders mimic the style of the men's clothes in the painting.

 They are detachable with buttons sewn to the waistband and buttonholes through the leather tabs.

 Pants were self drafted and have a working zipper and button closure, back welt pockets, yoke elastic in the back of the waist, and suspenders. They are made from stretch twill from Simply by Ti. I love how this fabric washed up and it has enough stretch to make moving easy, but they hold their shape well. Even after a day of wear, the knees weren't stretched out!

We had to recreate this painting, Man on a Bench from Horace Pippin. I believe Thomas nailed it.

Pippin liked to include striped rugs in his paintings. That was a detail we had to include! This striped pull over is easy to wear over anything from a tee to an oxford with it's exposed zipper adding a touch of modern style.

The muted tones that Pippen liked to use were easy to replicate with this sweater knit from So Sew English. It was so perfect! It's light weight and great for layers, even for kids that get hot easily. 

The lining of the collar was designed to flip over to the front creating the look of a bias binding. The seam of the neckline is enclosed in the collar lining making the pullover comfy even for a kid who doesn't like seams.

 Another element Horace Pippin enjoyed was the use of numbers. He would feature a number by including groupings of items, for example, three windows, three cracks in the wall and three chairs in a painting.

We had fun with the challenge of this detail! With the exception of the bow tie, each article of clothing was drafted to be made from seven pieces; pants (front and back leg, yoke, waistband, fly guard, welt pocket, belt loops), shirt, (front, back, sleeve, collar, button placket, pocket, cuff), pull over (front, back, sleeve, collar, collar lining, zipper placket, cuff), and jacket (front, back, sleeve, collar, pocket, pocket flap, bottom band) The shirt features seven buttons (two on placket, two on collar, one on each sleeve cuff, and one on the pocket.) The pants have seven belt loops.

The line art of the bow ties in his shirt reminded me of the primitive feel of many of Pippin's sketches, but has that touch of modern that I love. I used my Driftwood as my base to create a woven collar shirt typical of boy's clothing in the 1930s.

The jacket is our modern take of the overcoats worn by men. Simple, clean lines keep the look fresh, while the gray bottomweight fabric pulls in the gray tones used by Pippen. Black piping at the collar and limited black topstitching were inspired by the straight, bold lines from the art.

Trying to teach Thomas the coy "scratch the back of your head" pose. It's much harder than you would think!

I think the jacket may be my favorite piece from this. The weight is perfect for crisp fall days and I love that it can look great with jean or dressier clothes. Made from a soft cotton bottomweight, it's super easy to wash.

We really enjoyed creating this look and Thomas can't wait till fall is really here so he can get some good use of that jacket! (Anybody else have a kid who loves coats?!)

Still working on that behind the head scratch. Getting closer!!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out our look! Don't forget to go back over to Project Run & Play and vote for your favorite!! Next week is finals week and we are crossing everything hoping me make it through!!

VOTE HERE

This week's look was sponsored by So Sew English and Simply by Ti.