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Saturday, February 1, 2014

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Jacket




Edna Woolman Chase on fashion. Design by ModCloth.
Edna Woolman Chase was the editor in chief of Vogue from 1914 to 1952
 
 
 My signature style has been influenced from my past experiences, love of color and fabrics, and my willingness to challenge myself to keep on learning new things.
 
 I created this jacket as my submission to the Project Run and Play "Signature Style Challenge".
 
As a youngster, I loved to read. I read all the fourteen different Wizard of Oz books.
 
Did you know there is even a map of the Land of Oz that was first issued in 1932?
 I use to refer to it as I read the books and add new landmarks on my copy of the map.
 

Map of the Wonderland of Oz
 
 
This past experience and love of reading influenced the creation of my "Signature Style" as I created this jacket for my granddaughter.

The original illustrator of The Wonderful Wizard of OZ  was W. W. Denslow, and his illustrations are quite charming.


These are the images that I used on my jacket, and not the Hollywood version of "The Wizard of OZ."



The Scarecrow




The Cowardly Lion
The Tin Woodman
 



Dorothy fast asleep among the Poppies

I'm not that great of an original artist, but I understand color and can mimic the drawings that I see. So I used a fabric marker and drew on white fabric, which I then colored and shaded using permanent fabric markers and paint with textile medium added to the paint.
  Dorothy was hand stitched onto the blue fabric after I drew the image on the white cotton fabric.
 The multi-layed Poppies, for example, are red velvet fabric with black marker used to add details to the flowers. The stems on the flowers were  embroidered using embroidery thread. 

My granddaughter was so scared while watching the movie when  Dorothy and her friends
were walking through the forest.
 I just had to add a fighting tree from the forest.

Of course, the story begins when Dorothy's house landed on the Wicked Witch of the East.
 
Does the jacket show a drawing of the Wicked Witch of the West?
 
Well I've never really liked W. W. Denslow's image of the Witch, so I tried drawing my own.
 
I drew her and then sewed her to the jacket, but 
 but then I removed her the next day, as she SCARED ME!

 
I challenged myself to create this journey through the Land of OZ.


I really enjoyed the journey, as I manipulated the fabric and colors to create my own signature outfit.

The Jacket Back

The jacket lining was repurposed from one of Miss E's grandfather's

micro-fiber shirts. 

 As soon as she tried in on she said,"OOOh, that so soft."

Notice the funky, huge, easy to close snaps that I used to close the jacket.
 I wanted the front  of the jacket to be focused on the yellow brick road, and not on any buttons that might visually interfere with the view.
For the same reason, I did not add a collar.



 
The back of the lined jacket has a pleat with this button tab sewn at the top of the pleat.  Each button is a combination of 2 or 3 buttons.
 




The Matching Hat

There are many more wonderful characters in the story that are not shown in the movie.
 
Two other characters are illustrated on the matching hat.

The first character lives in the Country of the Quadlings. He tried to prevent Dorothy and her friends from getting to the Good Witch of the South. He is a HammerHead.

The second character is a Kalidah,  which is a great beast with a body like a bear and a head like a tiger.


Notice the 9 hole buttons that I used to create the word "OZ."
These COOL monogram buttons are available in 2 sizes and many colors.

 Since these buttons are hard to find, I am providing this link to the fabric shop that I purchased the 9 hole buttons and large snaps. You can purchased the buttons by giving them a telephone call .

And now for the most important part of this outfit... the model.

 
 
 


. . . Always glad to be home,
Deborah and Miss E

18 comments:

  1. Wow, Deborah! What a beautiful job you did! I love the art work you incorporated, the poppies are beautiful!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Ashley. I've always enjoyed the illustrations in the original " Wonderful Wizard of OZ", so it was so much fun creating this jacket for my granddaughter.
      Deborah

      Delete
  2. This is soooo beautiful and original! I love those poppies! Great job!

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    Replies
    1. Carin,
      Thanks. Those poppies are multi-layered and just pop off the fabric. I love how they turned out too.
      Deborah

      Delete
  3. Very clever!
    http://xoxograndma.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joy,
      Thanks! I find that sewing is a great way to express yourself.
      Deborah

      Delete
  4. Oh. my. goodness!!!!!!! I am so impresses! This is a WONDERFUL, wearable piece of art. I love it! The style is perfect for your artwork and the jacket and hat look charming on your granddaughter. What a conversation starter! She is going to adore wearing this ensemble.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Karen,
      Thanks for your kind words. It's fun sharing it with other bloggers that love to sew like I do.
      Deborah

      Delete
  5. Great details and so original! Your granddaughter is just adorable too!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your kind comments. As a fellow seamstress, I value your opinion.
      Deborah

      Delete
  6. Your details are amazing! I love the appliques and the way you used fabric markers for accents. I had a Wizard of Oz related post this week as well. Last year, my daughter became obsessed with the story thanks to Charles Santore's beautifully illustrated book based off of the original L. Frank Baum classic. I in turn read the Wicked series, at first thinking that maybe we could read it together. I realized after about a 1/2 page skimming that there was no way I could read any of it with her, but got hooked myself and enjoyed reading all 4 books. You are reminding me that now I need to backtrack and read more of the original collection!
    Jenn @ unravelingfiddleheads.blogspot.com

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  7. Oh my goodness! The amount of detail work on this jacket is astounding. Such beautiful work.-liZ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I learn so much from your blog, and it's nice to share with you.
      Deborah

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  8. It's fun to share my ideas with you.
    Deborah

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  9. I am speechless... you have blown my mind... that jacket is such a work of art! So talented!!!

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  10. wow, that is so detailed!! I'm glad you took the witch off ;o) thanks for linking up to the Sew Many books sew a long... get voting!! Emily

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  11. Hi Deborah,
    I am looking for a map image of which you are posted. Would you be interested to exchange for something that interest you from Oz or something else?

    ReplyDelete

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