Barter baby pants

Every two years, the Whitney Museum of American Art installs an enormous exhibit showcasing some of the new, important artists of the day. Carolina Caycedo is one of the artists featured in the current Biennial. Her work is conceptual: she barters goods and services she can offer in exchange for things she needs.

This sounded like a fun way to participate in the Biennial, so one Saturday, Todd and I went out for breakfast together sans Bebe, and Carolina and her daughter came to play with the kiddo. In exchange, I opened my fabric stash and Carolina selected a print, which I made into pants for her baby.

We had a great time at breakfast, and Carolina liked the pants I made. But the best part of the exchange was that our daughters got to play together twice: once while Carolina was sitting for us and once to pick up the completed pants. I forgot to take a photo of the pants (and the baby), but here is another pair I just finished making for Bebe.


These are two of the pieces from Bebe's summer wardrobe. I'm not entirely satisfied with them, but I'll tweak the patterns a little more and make them again in a different fabric. Speaking of which, I'm really not happy with my fabric choices. This is what happens when you act of impulse and select fabric for a project long before you need it: by the time you actually start the project, you detest your selections. Initially I wanted to mix lots of bright prints together in a sort of Oilily style. But it was difficult to find attractive coordinating prints, and later I worried that the combinations I selected would be too garish. And I was right, but mixing muslin with the bright colors isn't really working either. For one thing, the muslin is going to get dirty really quickly. More than that, however, I just don't like the bright prints I chose.

On the other hand, I'm still liking my initial concept for the summer clothes. I love layers, especially tunics over trousers. And I can hardly wait to finish the little mock-wrap pieces because I know they're going to be really cute. But I promised my sisters I'd read this book for our sisters' book club, and I'm late. Must stop sewing and start reading. Quickly.

Incidentally, several people have asked me about the pattern I used for my skirt. I draft all my own patterns, so I'm afraid I can't give you a simple reference. On the other hand, if there's a lot of interest I would be happy to write a tutorial on altering a basic A-line skirt to add a scalloped hem. Leave me a comment if you're interested. I'll show you how to make my favorite no-waistband skirt treatment as well. They're amazingly easy and more flattering than a waistband, I think.