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Description
So when I stumbled across a vintage umbrella in safety orange, I grabbed for the sunglasses and the wallet simultaneously. Because, my gods, SAFETY ORANGE! I sat on it for a bit, trying to decide what on earth to do with it, and when discussing it with a friend, she without hesitation said, "Purple!" I admit, I was skeptical, as she has a somewhat well-known preference for that particular color, but I went home and laid a few fabric remnants against it and decided it wasn't as completely crazy an idea as I'd originally thought.

Then I had to find trim in purple, which was not easy. Despite the fact that so many people are plum loco over brilliant purple, I found almost no trim whatsoever in the darker shades. I ended up making the pleated ruffle from a couple yards of fabric, cutting it into 3" strips on the bias, ironing and sewing it flat, then hand-pleating it. It took almost 16 yards to make the ~4yards of ruffle on the finished piece. There are two types of trim, a brilliantly sequined and beaded ribbon and a contrasting trim that I MacGyver'd out of a doubled-over scalloped trim and some grosgrain ribbon.

Counting the flat length of the ruffle, there's over 36 yards of trim and ribbon on this piece!

Description
So when I stumbled across a vintage umbrella in safety orange, I grabbed for the sunglasses and the wallet simultaneously. Because, my gods, SAFETY ORANGE! I sat on it for a bit, trying to decide what on earth to do with it, and when discussing it with a friend, she without hesitation said, "Purple!" I admit, I was skeptical, as she has a somewhat well-known preference for that particular color, but I went home and laid a few fabric remnants against it and decided it wasn't as completely crazy an idea as I'd originally thought.

Then I had to find trim in purple, which was not easy. Despite the fact that so many people are plum loco over brilliant purple, I found almost no trim whatsoever in the darker shades. I ended up making the pleated ruffle from a couple yards of fabric, cutting it into 3" strips on the bias, ironing and sewing it flat, then hand-pleating it. It took almost 16 yards to make the ~4yards of ruffle on the finished piece. There are two types of trim, a brilliantly sequined and beaded ribbon and a contrasting trim that I MacGyver'd out of a doubled-over scalloped trim and some grosgrain ribbon.

Counting the flat length of the ruffle, there's over 36 yards of trim and ribbon on this piece!