Traveling Artist

I have been looking forward to sewing along with Project Run & Play again, and perhaps sewing past the first week and doing all of the challenges. It is just so much fun to play along!

The first week's challenge is to be inspired by art- Choose an artist, art movement, or artwork and create a children's look inspired by your choice. I thought and thought about this one. There were so many possibilities. But every idea I kept coming up with did not pass my Is This Worth Making Test: Will Drew wear it?

Because see, there are too many of my precious hours hanging up in her closet going unworn. It doesn't matter if it had every color of pink and was covered in mermaids, rainbows, and butterflies, and sang the My Little Pony theme song. This girl is all about ease and comfort.

Which for her is a knit dress. No zippers or buttons to deal with. Nothing to give her a wedgie (which she claims every pair of shorts and pants does). Something she can tear off in an instant and put on a different knit dress that better suits her fancy. Knit dresses are the only thing I can get her to wear without putting up a struggle!



So I found this paint splatter knit jersey, in reference to Jackson Pollock of course, and made a simple dress by copying the pattern of her favorite H&M dresses she wears every day and lengthened the shoulder seams. Cutting and sewing this thing together was a breeze. I'm starting to like her easy taste.

So did it pass the Is This Worth Making Test?...



Yep! It's easy and comfortable and she loves it. Add it to her slew of knit dresses she changes in and out of all day long.

And for fun I painted on the little pocket and flowers using a black textile paint and a paint brush. I can't take credit for the pocket idea since I saw it on a cute dress from Anthropologie here.



Since we are on the topic of art and Drew, Drew is an aspirting artist herself.

I think it was Pablo Picasso who said that, "Every child is an artist." I'm sure this is true. I can't speak for every child, but with Drew she is an artist because of her confidence. She doesn't overthink and she doesn't get stuck. That girl produces and produces and I have dresser drawers full of her art, drawings, books, etc. to prove it.

So a couple of weeks ago Drew came up with a whopper of an idea and even though I told her no several times, she persisted and I finally let her follow through with her plan. She combined her love of art and her new found love of earning money and decided to sell her art on the side of the road.

Yes. She made art. Then she made a sign. And she stood outside our house and tried to sell her art for 5 cents a piece.



Her exact words to me, "Everyone will want to buy my pictures and I will make so much money!"



Sadly, she still has much to learn on the business side of things. Her sign was too small and even though she continuously yelled out loud, "Picture Sale for 5 cents!", everyone that drove by didn't know what she was doing and just smiled and waved.



A neigbor taking out her trash did hear Drew's yelling though and came over to see what she was doing. She bought her butterfly picture and even paid her a whole dollar for it. I finally convinced her to close up shop and go back inside after she made a sale.

She rolled up that dollar and carried it around the rest of the day! And then her Daddy came home from work and bought the rest of the pictures from her.



Her confidence makes her an artist and I hope she never loses that. Also her drive to earn money. I think this kid is going to be successful.


If you want to see the looks I made back when I competed in Project Run & Play, check out this post!