Sharp as a Shark – Project Run and Play week one

Friends! Today is the day! Project Run and Play season 9 is starting today! (let’s just pause a moment while I squeal a little and try to catch my breath!)

The theme for week one is “Put me in the zoo” – looks inspired by animals. I pretty much knew immediately that my inspiration animal would be a shark.

I’m not going to lie – I love every.single.thing. about this look.

My goal with this outfit was to have pieces that were very wearable and that could be worn separately. I also didn’t want to be super obvious with my inspiration. The hood of the jacket, of course, is the most obvious – shark’s teeth! – but there are hints of inspiration throughout the whole look.

Boy looks are all about the details – especially if you aren’t using a lot of prints.

Since we’re right in the middle of the Straight Lines and Angles series, I had the geometric trend on the brain. So I used some iron-on vinyl to add these triangles. They also reminded me of fins or shark’s teeth.

The jacket is made from a black denim that has some stretch. I based the jacket very loosely off of the shape of a raincoat we have in our house. There are a lot of pieces in this jacket, and a lot of seams. It was definitely a labor of love!

The jacket is fully lined, and because of the stretch in the denim, I cut the lining on the bias, matching the stripes to match the lines of the fins.. or the waves. Or both. The pockets are set in the front seams, and peak out just a little.

I love the contrast of the front zip.

Speaking of zippers. How pretty is this zipper fly?? So pretty. After my last zipper fly (or should I say my only other zipper fly!), I might be addicted to making them. My pants are never going to be the same!

The pants were drafted from a pair of ready-to-wear pants, with a lot of changes in the fit and style. The grey twill is super comfy, and I love how it looks with the red piping and top stitching. There also seemed to be something fitting about using red with a shark look…. am I right??

In addition to the zipper fly, the pants have an elastic back waist, inset front pockets (with a super fun whale print, just because I could!), and back patch pockets (some of those aforementioned details!)

The tee is made of a super stretchy and comfy knit, self-drafted to be more fitted and with longer short sleeves, because I love that 70s T-shirt look.

Funny photo shoot story: I took the kids to a park on Lake Michigan to play and take pictures (because you have to take shark inspired pictures by the water, obviously!) I wish someone was taking pictures of me, because I’m sure it was hilarious. Picture me with a baby strapped to my chest, chasing my two-year-old out of the water, all while taking pictures. Sounds fun, right? :)

It was a little bit, actually :) He really loves this outfit, and he had no problem running and playing on the beach (well, as much as you can do in 40F weather). And I really love this look too. It really is exactly what I wanted it to be!

Okay, now run – don’t walk – over to the Project Run and Play blog to vote for my look!
Please and thank you :)

 

Fabric sources:

grey twill/black stretch denim: JoAnn Fabrics
blue and white stripes: thrifted
white knit: JoAnn Fabrics
ribbing: upcycled