Pretty in Punk

Week 3's theme at Project Sewn is Totally 80s!  I decided to sewalong again.  There are soooo many 80s trends - acid washed jeans/vests, neon, members only jackets, mini skirts, over sized shirts, lace, shoulder pads...it just keeps going.  Most of these trends are back.  Just looking around the playground this past weekend I was flooded with 80's inspiration.  90% of people were rocking a neon color.  There were a lot of wacky prints and over sized shirts too.

I really wanted to go all out but was afraid it would be too costume-y and I'd never wear it.  I had to hold myself back from trying to make a hot pink windbreaker.  I need some new workout gear so I considered making some spandex leggings and a fun off-the-shoulder top.  Then I thought it would be more interesting to make a color blocked neon skirt...maybe I still will!  But I wanted to use fabric I already had on hand so I stared at it until I came up with a look.

I had this stretchy pink and black houndstooth fabric from Girl Charlee that I had planned to make a t-shirt with but I thought its stretch would be perfect for leggings.  When I think 80's I think brightly colored leggings.  This fabric also reminded me of punk.  Punk clothing has been on my mind a lot ever since it was this year's Met Gala theme.  And Anna Wintour claimed "Pink is punk" (ha), so it seemed like a perfect choice for my 80's interpretation.

Leggings are so much fun to sew once you have a pattern.  I used the tutorial over at One Little Minute to draft a leggings pattern from my own measurements.  This took a little extra time than just tracing around some leggings already owned, but it was well worth it because the fit is amazingly perfect. 

On to the top - I had a hard time deciding on this look.  I knew I wanted to try out freezer paper stenciling, so my husband picked an 80's punk band he likes (Dead Kennedys) and I made a tank top with their symbol.  Actually, he told me to do Bad Religion or Social Distortion, but I liked the lines of the Dead Kennedys logo better.  I drafted a pattern for a racer back top using a t-shirt I already have as a guide and curved the bottom hem in the front and back.  I only used one layer of paint with the stencil to give it an aged look.  I then went back and hand painted some lines to give it more dimension.

I was afraid this was a little too plain for me so I picked up some electric blue lace (from Joann's) to overlay on the back!  Still not convinced I was finished, I added studs to the shoulders.  I wanted to add spikes but I couldn't find them locally.  Couldn't stop there, so I added a neon green panel of fabric to the back.  I tried to make it look a little slouchy.  I think the stripes echo a ripped 80's trend without cutting the fabric.  Think I have a enough trends?


No, not yet.  I also made some black lace gloves and a scrunchie.  A scrunchie, wow!  Never thought I'd do such a thing.  Can you believe American Apparel is selling scrunchies right now?

This is definitely different than my actual look during the 80s - I was pretty young, so my outfits consisted of stirrup leggings and over sized shirts.  And I would spray my bangs and crunch them into the perfect "wave".  Ha. 

I love this little outfit and I can see myself wearing it to a P!nk concert in a couple months, or the items separately.  Don't forget to vote for this look on Friday over at Project Sewn if you're into it!

Hard to see, but I'm wearing my old banana clip and scrunchie I made!