The ocean and I have always had a pretty tight bond. When I was a kid, you couldn’t drag me out of the waves on summertime trips to the beach. I’d swim until my fingers were prunes and my shoulders were crispy from the sun, not even minding the water was freezing cold (I grew up in New England after all).
The sea was also my biggest source of inspiration – being lucky enough to know what I wanted to do at a really early age, I always kept one eye on the ocean…knowing it held my future. And nowadays, whenever I’m having a particularly stressful week, the seashore will greet me like an old friend, with arms out to the edges of continents, waiting to capture my woes and carry them out to her depths.
I guess it comes as no surprise that aquatic themed clothing has always been something I’m on the hunt for. And I’m similarly drawn to ocean themed art – from abstract swirls and greens, to waves cut out of oil paint – they sing a siren song that calls me home.
You know that girl who sells seashells by the seashore? I totally get her career choice….
One of the most famous works of art that speaks to the power of the ocean is The Great Wave off Kanagawa, painted by the famous artist Hokusai. He painted a series of 36 views of Mount Fuji, and The Great Wave was the first in the series. It’s a perilous moment captured time, with a gigantic wave just finding her crest, reaching out the clawlike tips, and three brave boats battling their way home. From my research, it appears these boats are oshiokuri-bune, which are used to transport live fish. And in the background you see Mt. Fuji, whose shape is mirrored in a second wave gaining strength.
To me, this art always showed the power and beauty of the ocean. Because while the ocean has always provided me with a place of comfort, it’s also earned a healthy dose of respect. I never feel smaller than when I’m facing the waves, knowing that, much like life, they could sweep me up and away in a mere moment.
神奈川沖浪裏, Kanagawa-oki Nami Ura
Print at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (JP1847)
Image from: Wikipedia
The Inspiration
Several years ago, I saw a skirt that had long been sold at Cheshire Vintage. The skirt boasted an interpretation of Hokusai’s Great Wave, with the swell about to crash upon her hem. What was most beautiful about this piece is that someone had taken the time to painstakingly hand sew sequins along the froth, casting sparkles amongst the waves.
It was definitely one of those pieces I never forgot about. I would occasionally visit her on my Pinterest Board, marveling at the detail. It’s the kind of project I think you only take on if you have no problem with it taking a good 6 months to complete. Or, you know…should you be in the middle of a pandemic….
Being that I am not a graphic artist or a textile designer, my first stop was to see if I could find the print in fabric form. Immediately, I headed to Spoonflower…I was pleasantly surprised to see a few different interpretations of the print already existed. The most true to the original was created by Ameliae – I could tell by scrolling through her prints that she was incredibly talented.
None of the versions of the print were quite right for this project – so I messaged Amelia about what I was looking for. Essentially, I wanted to have the print as a large scale single border, with the wave to be about 20″ from top to bottom to get the right scale. She messaged me back almost instantly and was able to make the print to my exact specifications – she even mirrored 1″ along the bottom for me to accommodate a rolled hem. Once the print was correct, I quickly ordered 4 yards out of Petal Signature Cotton (42″ x 144″), and waited patiently for it to arrive.
The next important piece of my latest Sewing Mountain to climb was going to be sequins – I decided I would go with a mix of about 2/3 iridescent sequins and 1/3 solid white. I set out on a bit of an adventure to find just the right ones. I ended up going with 6mm cup sequins, with the iridescent from Aqui Estoi and the perfect white option (with just a smidge of their own iridescence) at Fine Sequins.
Because I hate running out of supplies, I decided to order an overabundance of sequins (or so I thought) and initially got 3 packs of the white cup sequins (~800 sequins per pack) and 5 packs of the irredescent cup sequins (~1000 sequins per pack). I figured with 7400 I would have a ton left over – but I was sure I would use them for other projects.
Insert the sound of laughter in the background, coming from The Future….
To recreate this skirt, you will need:
The Design
The fabric arrived – and it was absolute perfection. True art brought to life in fabric. I immediately buckled down to cutting out the circle skirt. I laid the fabric out fully along my foyer. I knew for this the placement of the print had to be perfect – I wanted to wave to be cresting towards the center front, which would mean cutting out my half circle with a bit more precision than I do with plain cotton (when you don’t have a print to contend with, I just fold measure and cut!)
Although I generally despite side zips, I decided to cut this one out of two half circles so as not to disrupt the print. I cut them both with a waist radius of 4.5″ and a hem radius of 34.5″ (if this math is making you cross eyed, I walk you through how to make a circle skirt step by step on this post). I stitched up one full side seam and stitched up the second with a 9″ gap at the top, where the zipper would go.
While I usually prefer to do my hems last (for some reason, they always add finality to a piece), I decided to do it first and get it out of the way. Because there would be so much detail on this one, I didn’t want to run the risk of snagging anything on my sewing machine. I opted for a simple rolled hem, which I quickly zipped through on my Bernina.
With the mechanics mostly done, it was time to stare down the beast: The Sequins. My plan was to stay true to the original, and add sequins in the white portions of the wave, randomly mixing the white and iridescent sequins.
There are many different methods for sewing on sequins. In the past, I’ve secured them with a bead on each for extra sparkle, but I knew that would take far too long here. For this project, I wanted to create overlapping lines of sequins, mirroring the way waves swirl and overlap.
For this sequin effect, I brought my needle up and threaded the sequin onto my needle. I then brought the needle down on the front side of the sequin, holding it in place. Then, I would bring the thread up again, a few mm way from front of the first sequins. Repeat this over and over until you start to see a line of sequins forming.
Then, it was a matter of repeating this process over and over (and over and over again). I found the process to be pretty therapeutic, and mostly worked on it about an hour at a time each evening after dinner. It’s the kind of thing that, once you get into a rhythm, you can do mindlessly. So, while we had our tv break each evening, I would be steadily sewing on sequins. One at a time.
Up. Thread. Down. Repeat.
I tackled one wave at a time, which was mentally a bit easier to manage. To keep some flow to the design, I followed the lines of the wave rather than sewing sequins on haphazardly. I really loved the effect of mixing up the white and the iridescent, and made a point to add more white at the frothy crest of the wave.
At one point Finn got curious and decided to catch a few waves….
About halfway through the project, I began to think my “big” order of sequins just wasn’t going to cut it. I was moving through these packets at an alarming pace, and was a bit shocked at how little real estate a pack of 1000 sequins would cover when all was said and done. Before I knew it, the 7400 sequins that made up my first order were attached to the skirt.
In for a penny in for a pound – I knew there was no going back. So I ordered another 2 packs of white and 4 packs of iridescent, and battled sagely on.
Before I knew it, my fingers were pincushions and my wrists were aching, but I had brought the needle down on the final sequin. I spent a bit of time securing any that appeared loose, adding a few here and there but mostly just marveling at how sparkly it was. At the end of it all, I had about 1 pack and a bit of the iridescent left, and about half a pack of white. By my calculations, I had had sewn nearly 12,000 sequins onto the skirt.
Wow. Probably best we don’t think about it….
Once the sequins was done (it seriously took me a few days to recover), I quickly cut and attached the lining at the waist (in white Kona Cotton), then it was a matter of cutting and sewing in the waistband and stitching in the zip! I went with a 9″ natural lapped zip.
Then, I cut two long 2″ by 32″ rectangles out of some of the taupe sky print in my fabric. I backed the waistband with interfacing and stitched the waistband and waistband lining together, pressing the seam flat. I attached it to the skirt at 1/2″ seam allowance, and pressed it to the inside of the skirt. I secured it at the waist with a slipstitch.
Last steps were to attach two clasps at the waistband, secure the hem to the lining with a quick slip stitch, and press in my personal finishing touch: my custom made labels from Heart of Wonder!
While I usually like to calculate the number of hours that went into a project, I think it’s safest for my sanity not to think too hard how much time was invested in this piece (but my best guess is well over 100). But honestly, it was worth it….
The Debut
Looking back, I honestly didn’t realize what I was in for with this project. If I had, I may have run in the opposite direction. But, suddenly there she was, twinkling at me from the corner of my sewing room. As a true magpie, I got a bit enamored by all of the glitter. Given I had just sewn 12,000 sequins onto this baby…it should surprise me by how sparkly it was. And yet, I had serious star eyes for a few days and kept poking my head into my sewing room to marvel…
There was only one place to take her that was appropriate for her debut. All right people….to the seashore!
Because there’s nothing more beautiful
than the way the ocean
refuses to stop kissing the shoreline,
no matter how many times
it’s sent away.
Sarah Kay
I am the shore and the ocean,
awaiting myself on both sides.
Dejan Stojanovic
I have to say, I could use a bit of the calm the ocean provides me right now. We are at that pivotal point in the semester, just at the wave crest. I’m managing to stay upright, but can feel the power of the wave ready to crash and engulf me. While there’s a part of me that just wants to let go and be pulled under, because a fight against the ocean is one you will never win, I have to believe that with perseverance I can get through and find calmer waters ahead.
Never one to not see the silver lining, the madness and the stress of this past year has definitely taught me that sometimes you just have to give yourself permission to run with an idea, no matter how crazy it is. To let go and keep sewing and eventually you will find your way to the end of the journey. And this is one journey I can admit I am really proud of.
Yeah, I plan to seriously make some waves in this skirt….
xoxo
Construction Details:
Circle Skirt: Self-drafted
Skirt fabric: 4 yds of The Great Wave XXL from Ameliae on Spoonflower
Lining: Kona Cotton in white
Sequins: 9 bags iridescent sequins; 5 bags white sequins
Additional notions (zipper, thread): JoAnn’s
Outfit Details:
Blouse: Micheline Pitt via Unique Vintage (similar)
Skirt: Made by me!
Sunglasses: gift (similar)
Belt: Alannah Hill (similar)
Bracelet: gift, Swarovski (similar)
Handbag: Betsey Johnson (similar)
Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell
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Any items marked with a “c/o” (courtesy of) a retailer mean I was provided with an item for free in exchange for a review and/or feature on my blog. I always provide my honest opinion of any item I’m reviewing, regardless of whether it was sent to me as a courtesy item or if I purchased it myself. In addition, this post may contain affiliate links. This means that if you click and/or make a purchase through certain links or ads on this site, I may make a commission from that click and/or purchase at no cost to you, which helps with the day-to-day running costs of my blog.