Laurel in her matching mismatched outfit.
Some time ago, there was an article in Sew Beautiful magazine that caught my attention. After buying children’s separates from the clearance rack, the author coordinated them with other separates by using embroidery or appliqué designs. The little outfits looked like matched sets from an upscale department store.
I couldn’t help but think of on-line dating services, like Harmony or Match.com. Previously unknown individuals meet up and match up and sometimes even marry up. Ask me how I know—but then again, I took an oath of secrecy so never mind. Don’t bother.
“diamond” button at waist. With that match-up concept in mind, I purchased these pink gingham belted pants for a song, recalling that I had a blank pink polo for Laurel. With a touch of appliqué, they could be a couple!”diamond” pocket buttons–Laurel’s crazy for gems!
At the very top of my storage box of gingham checks was ¼ yd. piece of pink that I thought would do the job. The gingham “belt” was a large check, unlike any I had on hand, but I thought the difference in size would not have major impact on the look. So I snatched up the scrap and had the monogram embroidered in a flash.
Uh-oh…….Fatal error. I failed to obey one of the Sewing Commandments–you know, like “Measure twice, cut once.” My sewing sin was ignoring the commandment, “Match colors by the light of day. Or an Ott light.”
I had, in fact,  matched the blue-ish pink shirt to the blue-ish pink gingham belt by daylight. But when I selected the gingham for the monogram appliqué, it was by the dim light of the garage/fabric resource center. I got a peachy pink and didn’t notice until the next morning, by the natural light of day.
even “diamond” buttons at the knee
The best I could do for a fix was to make a new belt from the same gingham as was used on the monogram. But the shirt is still blue-ish pink. I have found some comfort in the fact that this is a PLAY outfit, for which I paid a total of $10. And no one but the blog readers and I will ever notice the color discrepancy. Still, I can’t help but think if only I had followed the rules, I would have loved this outfit.
template for Five Star Fonts Gift Box collection
The monogram is Five Star Font Gift Box collection. I simply omitted the orange ribbon wrap that indicates the gift.
Because the pants are embellished with “gems,” which really make Laurel’s eyes dance, I put one hot fix “diamond” on the monogram.
So now my granddaughter has a nice, monogrammed, bejeweled play outfit that almost matches. Sigh….But Laurel sparkles!
