Evaluating the mini-wardrobe

Now that I'm getting close to the end of my pregnancy, and in lieu of my participating in Me-Made-May this year, I thought it might be useful to take a look back at how I did with sewing for  myself in this transitional period. After all, I'd decided to make this more fun/interesting for myself by treating it as a capsule wardrobe, a la Wardrobe Architect. And I did learn some things about what worked/didn't work for me. Also, in case a second baby comes along down the road, it'll help me to have a reference of what I might want to consider adding!


Things I think went well:

• Overall, I'm quite pleased with how well various alterations I made to several non-maternity patterns worked. Especially since pattern hacking is not my strongest skill, and one I'd like to keep working to improve. I would further tweak my Renfrew hack, but the dresses and maxi-skirt went quite well. As did the actual maternity alteration to the Manila leggings, even if the rest of it was a fail. So maybe there's hope for me yet!
• I also think I did pretty well at sticking with a cohesive color palette. 
• I was able to surprise myself with occasionally being able to pull out non-maternity clothes to fill in some gaps. Namely my Plantain top and a couple of buttondowns worn over tank tops.
• Also, aside from the first trimester, I think I did a pretty good job of sucking it up and plowing through sewing to fulfill needs that I had, even though I've still been nauseous at some point(s) every single day of this pregnancy. So go me.

Things I wish I'd done differently:

• More vivid colors! Even though I did stick with the palette pretty well, I felt like things ended up being a lot heavier on the neutrals--the black, navy and grey in particular, just due to what I was able to find in thrift stores or what I had on hand that was working. By the time winter was wrapping up, I was sooooooo bored and wishing for cheerier, brighter things. (Ok, so I do that every year. But it was definitely worse with the much more limited choices I had.)
• More prints! Especially tops. Because even with the things I found/made that were in brighter colors, I just haven't felt quite like myself while wearing so many outfits that were just solids. I've tried livening it up with accessories, but a necklace can only take you so far on that, and I was honestly afraid to wear scarves for the first half of the pregnancy because of all the sickness. (Plus, having things close around my neck during the worst of that was really, really uncomfortable for me.) The couple of print things that I've made near the end are helping. A lot of this was really just me trying to work mostly with the stash that I had, but I think that, once I make some space on the shelves/if I need maternity wear again, I may specifically treat myself to some new fabric to expand this wardrobe.

Things I'll need if this ever happens again:

• More bottomwear. Especially of the pants variety. I refashioned 3 pairs of pants, outgrew one of them by about mid-March (which had been a little small around the waist/hips to begin with anyway, so I could only make it expand so much), and had to pretty much give up wearing the other two by mid-April because they were corduroy and therefore getting uncomfortably hot when spring weather actually arrived. Which has left me with only 2 pairs of jeans to get through the last 2 months, and I will admit that I do feel a little unprofessional when doing music lessons in jeans. I wouldn't mind another knit maxi-skirt or two either, because the tie-dye one is sooooo comfortable. (I've tried wearing some of my older elastic-waist ones over the bump here and there, and they kind of dig into my ribs and gather weirdly under my tops. So it hasn't been helpful.)
• Pajamas. I got through the latter part of the winter with an older pair of PJ pants and an oversized thrifted top--but those got worn so much that the top has several holes in it now. Once things started warming up is when things got really tough--I had to resort to buying a shorts and tank set from Target, because I didn't have anything that fit. (Note to self: Tofino pants do not make good maternity pants. Though I love them as a non-maternity PJs pattern.) 
• Another pair of leggings or two wouldn't hurt, if I have another cold-weather pregnancy. Or at least some more stylish knit pants (and casual tops) to wear around the house that aren't fleece sweatpants that I used to wear under other clothes to keep warm on backpacking trips. That's what I ended up resorting to on Saturdays/weekdays when I didn't have to go out to save my jeans for nicer wear, and I felt so frumpy. Which is not the feeling you want when you're already feeling like a nauseated whale.

Biggest hits: 
Honestly, aside from the refashioned corduroys (so useful) I feel like the best things I made were the ones that I'm hoping to continue wearing after this is over-- particularly the black maxi-dress and the tie-dyed skirt. I may need to do a follow-up post later this summer on how well they actually work for post-pregnancy/nursing.























Biggest misses: 
1. The Manila leggings. Though I'm still hopeful that I can successfully revisit this pattern, now that I know that I really need to check the stretch before diving in. And probably add at least 4" to the legs. But I really just didn't feel comfortable wearing them very often--the color meant it didn't work as a tights layer under the two shorter skirts I had (one black and one denim), and I really only wore them twice. One of those was to keep warm under the black dress for a cooler-day music performance at church, and the other was just around the house. And I have to confess that I threw the denim skirt on over it anyway, because even when alone in the house, I just didn't feel fully clothed when wearing leggings as pants! I'll probably keep these as a layering piece, but definitely not as a stand-alone.

(I still have to try out my Cake Espresso pattern sometime, too. If that one works out better, I might just transfer the belly alterations to that pattern if I ever need to sew maternity leggings again.)

2. The Ariel skirt. I actually only wore this one once, aside from the photos--I didn't want to wear it over the winter because of the cold, and when I finally pulled it out in the spring, it just didn't work well. I had to tie the drawstrings under the bust, which made the length kind of strange, and left a lot of weird wrinkles under the belly of the maternity top that I paired it with. Fortunately, it didn't take me that long to cut and sew. And since it's essentially two big rectangles and I still have almost 3 yards of the fabric left, I think this will be a good candidate for a refashion. Or at least a wearable muslin of some other pattern.

On the other hand, I did wear the top quite a bit. Though, as I stated before, I think the pattern hacks would need some tweaking for this to work well in later pregnancy. It fit fine for well over the first half, though.




Other things I won't be keeping/need to rework: 
1. This isn't one I made, but I bought this cream-colored maternity sweater at Target. I'm blaming this on poor fabric choice on their part--the structure itself is fine, but before the winter even ended, the color of the sweater just looked dingy and sad. I may just try to overdye it to extend the life.

2.This top. Though it wasn't a maternity top, it actually worked well to get me through the winter, since it was roomier in the waist than a lot of my usual tops. And it's not a complaint about the pattern, since I used the same one to make my sparkly knit top from earlier this year. It's just that since this one was already several years old, the fabric was starting to pill to begin with. And with all the extra wears and washes it got this winter, given that I was pulling it out at least once a week (if not more), it's just unsalvageable now. I do hate to just throw clothes away, even the worn-out ones, so I'm thinking I might just cut this one up and use it to stuff a toy or something. Stuffing is expensive, anyway.

So, that's my little wrap up of how my me-mades have been working for me during a period of major physical changes. I already have a mental list of patterns I want to tackle once this baby comes! Now if only I could figure out a way to predict my bust size so I could start tracing or cutting...

maternity wardrobe building, part 2: what I still need

I apologize in advance, because this will probably be a long post. Last time, I showed what I'd managed to assemble for my wardrobe so far. And like I said, I was pleasantly surprised to see how quickly a palette started emerging!

Most of what I already had or was easily able to acquire was black, grey, cream, or teal. I threw in navy as a neutral as well, mostly because of denim. And with a few additions from thrift stores, clearance racks, and the knits in my own stash, royal blue, a brighter leafy green, and coral also showed up. I think this looks like a really good balance between neutrals and statement colors, actually!

Here's what I know I still need:

• Several tops, in both long-sleeved and shorter lengths. I know I'm going to need a few shorter sleeved things for May going into June, so I'm trying to keep that in mind and plan for layering in the colder months. I've already got one top done and a coordinating layering piece in the works for this, though I'll wait to photograph until they're both done.
• A couple more skirts. I've seen a tutorial for a maternity version of the Sewaholic Crescent skirt, which is a pattern I do already have. I'm also thinking that the Colette Monetta might be a good one to try, if I add some ruching or a panel or something. Color might be nice. And I do think a nice maxi-skirt could go a long way.
• Another pair or two of leggings. I've been wearing my black pair in place of tights under my shorter skirts, but I really could use another option. I have some denim-looking knit that might be perfect for this, if I can adapt a pattern sufficiently. There's also some black knit that I'd specifically bought for trying out the Cake Espresso leggings anyway, but I can buy black maternity leggings easily enough. So I'm debating whether to hold off and make those later for more regular wear--I'm actually kind of liking the warmth of the leggings in place of tights, since I'm usually wearing boots with that sort of look anyway!
• Dresses! I'll probably be mostly living in these once the weather warms up some more. I have two that I've found so far, and I have a pattern for a top/dress that works for nursing as well. For those, I'm going to try to plan the style so that they work for the end of my pregnancy and the remainder of the summer, if I can, since I know I'll need to be careful of necklines while I'm nursing and my stomach likely won't go back to what it was that quickly.
• One more pair of jeans. I have two, and I could have sworn I bought a third, but I can't find it anywhere! But now that I'm only working a few hours a week for my teaching, and I tend to wear jeans on weekends/days at home, I know that only two pairs of jeans will not be enough to get me through any given week. I'm just going to buy that, since it would be the most time-consuming thing on this list to sew and I have way too many other holes that I can fill quicker.
• Not to go TMI, but I think I'm going to have to suck it up and buy a couple of bras, because mine are all too small in the cups now! NOT flattering. I've heard you're supposed to put off buying actual nursing bras as long into the pregnancy as possible, so I'll probably just buy a couple of cheap ones a size or two up, and hope it gets me through the next few months. 
• Warmer weather PJs. I think I can get through the winter with what I have, but all of my summer stuff is mostly little nighties and such that I was given right before the wedding. So I'm pretty sure none of those will fit this year. I guess if all else fails, I can steal one of Doug's oversized t-shirts, right? But again, I think it might be nice to come up with something that will work for both the end of the pregnancy and nighttime nursing, if that's at all possible.
• Possibly a new pair of sandals. Pretty much all of them tend to buckle around the back of my heel, and I'm honestly not sure I'll be able to get those on by the time it gets warm enough for sandals! I do have one pair of black flat strappy sandals that I can pretty much slip on over my heel, so maybe I can figure out how to maneuver those on with my toes, or get Doug to put those on for me, or something. But if that doesn't work, I'll probably need to buy something to get me through the last 6ish weeks of the pregnancy/the first couple of weeks post-partum. Which hopefully would also be comfortable enough that I won't spend that whole time fighting blisters on my overly-sensitive extra-wide feet. (Dear God, please don't let those get bigger!!) Ugh. I hate shoe shopping so much.

On a happier note, I'm trying as much as is possible to use patterns and fabrics that I already have stashed. So here's what I've come up with that could work.

Patterns! Not pictured here are the aforementioned Sewaholic Crescent skirt, the Deer & Doe Plantain top, the Colette Moneta/Mabel (pdfs in manilla envelopes are boring to show in pictures), or any leggings, though I have two patterns I could potentially experiment with. (The Cake Espressos and the Manila leggings from the current issue of Seamwork.) I've already been experimenting with maternifying the Renfrew, as you know. Actually, the two on the far right are the only two patterns that are actually maternity! They're both Megan Nielsens, even though one is distributed through Simplicity.

Fabrics! All of these are knits--nearly all of the ones I own, save a couple in colors that don't quite fit the palette. If I do try the Crescent, maybe I can work in a woven, too? The top three on the left side of the pile are ones my mom gave me for Christmas, and I'm hoping to come up with something especially fun for that ITY print on top! And I know the two solids on the bottom of the right don't quite fit the palette, but I figured they're close enough.

So far, I've tagged the black for a maxi sleeveless version of that Simplicity Threads dress on the bottom (the one with the crossover v-neck), the denim-looking stuff (that looks charcoal but is really navy) for leggings, and that dark turquoise closer to the bottom, (which is darker and a little closer to teal than the picture), for a potential maternified Mabel skirt. It's the heaviest knit in this pile. That black and blue print, which I got at Mood last year, is also screaming maxi-dress at me, so I just need to figure out what pattern I might want to use--I'm considering maybe trying to adapt the Tiramisu for that, since it also has a crossover neckline and I know it works as a maxi. Maybe if I mash it up with the Red Velvet skirt? Or just add some gathering to the front after I narrow the waistband? Aside from those and the sparkly royal blue, which is already cut up into a layering cardigan and ready to sew, any suggestions of what I should do with all these solids that won't bore me to tears when I wear them? What would be the best pairing for that ITY? (2 yards, for the record.) Any other advice/pattern suggestions for making maternity and/or nursing clothes?

maternity wardrobe building

I really have been feeling lately like I have nothing to wear! But now that I'm finally feeling up to some sewing again (yaaaaay!), I thought it might be fun to do a little mini-series about trying to put together a cohesive wardrobe to get me through the next several months.

The big challenges so far:

• When going through the Wardrobe Architect series last year, I was reminded that the silhouettes I'm most drawn to involve a fitted waist. Which means that, despite actually losing weight overall due to being sick all the time and barely eating, most of the clothes I already had stopped fitting there before my first trimester was even over! On the plus side, I've long liked the look of empire waists, but not on me, because I thought they made me look pregnant. So I guess I have an excuse to rock those for a few months!
• I've mentioned this on Twitter here and there, but finding maternity clothes in the stores has mostly sucked so far. It seems like everything is either black, grey, red, or taupe. While black is a wardrobe necessity for any classically-trained musician, and I do wear grey, I don't really do red, and I loathe taupe. Also, I was having trouble bringing myself to spend money on clothes that didn't even fit right in my shoulders or left my wrists hanging out of the sleeves oddly. It's not like those are getting bigger.
• Also, almost everything I've been able to find are solids. Which are fine and actually very important for a real mix-and-match wardrobe, but I've missed my prints. I haven't had great luck finding clothes at Goodwill either, sadly, but I did find one ITY print top recently that will work as a maternity top. The first day I wore that was the first day I really felt like myself again, style-wise.
• It's winter. And while I'm trying not to do all long-sleeved tops/make sure I have layerable things, since this will go through the spring, I legitimately do need a few more long-sleeved tops. 

I have found that I do have a pretty solid color palette emerging, at least. So to wrap up this post, I'm going to show what I have managed to assemble so far as a capsule wardrobe.


So here's what I've got, top to bottom:
2 dresses: 1 thrifted, 1 purchased new on clearance rack
5 long sleeved tops. The Simplicity top and my Plantain aren't maternity, but are fitting ok so far. Hoping the length will stay ok until it's warmer. Also my maternity Ariel top, a thrifted empire-waist shirt I already had, and a purchased lightweight pullover maternity sweater from Target.
4 3/4-sleeved tops. The black and coral were purchased new on the clearance rack, the blue print is one of my previous refashions that I'm hoping will adjust for the bump, and the other print top is thrifted, and may also not fit the entire time since it's not specifically maternity either.
3 skirts: 2 thrifted, in denim and black, plus my Ariel maxi-skirt (not pictured).
3 pairs of "work" pants, all refashions, 1 in navy and 2 in black. (One not pictured, because I think it's in the laundry.)
1 thrifted embellished tank that I already had, but it's very flowy, so it should have plenty of room.
2 short sleeved tops: 1 teal purchased new on clearance, 1 thrifted tie-dyed in navy/gold/maroon.
3 maternity/long tank tops for layering. Showing the navy, but I also have black and teal.
2 pairs of jeans, 1 bootcut and 1 skinny. Both purchased.
Cardigans/sweaters: Camille shrug, thrifted green 3/4 cardigan, purchased black, refashioned turquoise, and my Roheline.
I also have 1 pair of maternity leggings in black, purchased, not shown. And that is all of it!

Next time: My sewing plan, as it stands so far.

So what's next?

Now that the One Dress To Rule Them All is finished (yay!) and awaiting the big reveal in June, and it turns out I do have a little bit of time left before the wedding, it's time to figure out what to do with whatever sewing time I have left between now and then! Well, I've been thinking about this quite a bit, especially recently as I've been back at my retail job and have had more mental time to kill. I'm trying not to be overly ambitious because, you know, 2 months to W-day and that might take up some time. But here's what I'm thinking...

• Doug's tie, of course. Which will be much easier and quicker to finish, because I can totally sew that while he's around.
• Honeymoon clothes! I've been plotting my wardrobe for that out in my head, and I'm sure that will get a post at some point. But I do have a few holes that need filling. Particularly, I'd like to make one or two pairs of shorts, and for the sake of time, I'm going to do a total cheater refashion and cut off/hem a couple of pairs of jeans. They're thrifted jeans that I've pretty much only been wearing to the garden shop--one is a little too short for my legs anyway, and the other was a victim of the dryer ink disaster last fall. The obvious damage looks like it's mostly lower down on the leg than I would need anyway. I do need to cut them long enough that I can also wear them to work in the summer, which means no shorter than mid-thigh, but I think I'd be more comfortable with that length anyway. And both of these pairs fit pretty decently at my waist, so it should do. I still totally want to test out my Thurlows on another pair of shorts, but that can wait until after the wedding.
• Also for the honeymoon, I'd love to do a trial run of the Tiramisu dress! I don't have too much in the stash that would have the necessary yardage, but I do have some plain navy blue jersey bedsheets that I inherited when my brother got married. They're too big for my bed, so I've been hoarding them for the last few years purely for muslin purposes, and navy blue should fit wonderfully into the color scheme that's shaping up in my head. I'd also like to knock out a quick tank top as a palate-cleanser, and I have a potential idea for a layering piece. Because you know I will be the one who will get cold on a tropical island!
• One little secret I've been keeping--I did buy three patterns off of Etsy around Christmas, for some lingerie. (Which is strange for me to type, knowing that my mom might be reading this...) But if I have time, I'd like to test out at least one of them. (My fiance would probably say that I should make this first priority, but I don't know how badly my friends will try to embarrass me what I'm getting for the bridal shower yet. I'll find out on Saturday.)

There, that doesn't seem terribly unreasonable, does it? I have a few things lined up in my head for after the wedding as well, including a whole lot of Thurlow work so I can try to have some actual pants that fit before the fall rolls around, and a couple of self-challenges that I'm setting for myself. One will be an ongoing project, one will have a deadline, but more on that later. The one thing I will reveal is that I'd asked Gillian for a sewing dare that actually involved, you know, sewing.   The dare she gave me:

@sew_and_so OK, #sewingdare: Treat yourself to a cute new pattern and lovely fabric to make it! You deserve a treat!
— Gillian(@GillianCrafts) March 26, 2013

I polled the quite biased sewcialists on Twitter, and the consensus was that rewarding oneself for accomplishing a huge and very time-consuming couture sewing project trumped stashbusting pledges. (But I promise that this will be my only cheat, since technically, the lime green silk was bought with the wedding in mind, and therefore falls under the parameters that I'd set!)

I'd considered buying something for the Pavlova, since I did already treat myself to this new pattern, I'm just not sure I have things in the stash to make both pieces.  I'd also thought that I could use it as part of the honeymoon wardrobe. But hours of scouring my favorite fabric websites turned up nothing that's jumping out at me for it at this point. And, as Gillian put it in a later tweet, "go big or go home. right?"

So, for my sewing dare, I treated myself to the Darling Ranges dress by Megan Nielsen, and some fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics. I haven't tried a Megan Nielsen pattern yet, but I've heard good things about them. It was a tough call between this one and the Reglisse dress from Deer & Doe, because that one is just too cute and it reminds me of something that Jane Bennet would have worn in the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. But in the end, the Darling Ranges won out, because...

1. I've been wanting a more autumn-friendly dress for awhile now--most of my dresses have no sleeves and are in summery colors.
2. I have two weddings to attend this fall, and will need something to wear. I'm a bridesmaid in one of them, so that's covered, but I still will probably need something cute to wear for rehearsal dinners and such, right?
3. Even though it's a longer-sleeved dress, it doesn't look frumpy. Those are hard to find. 
4. As it turns out, it's a good thing the Darling Ranges won out, because apparently I just won the Reglisse pattern from a giveaway at Paunnet! Thanks, Anna! 

But.... I'm sorry to say that I think I've failed this dare.  I bought this fabric for it:

I tried to be smart about the fabric choice, and choose a print that--guess what--already went with a bunch of things in my wardrobe! So I was thinking that I could layer this with my  brown jacket, or my brown hoodie cardigan sweater, or the thrifted tan jacket that I picked up recently,  or throw a coordinating knit top over it and wear it as a skirt, and so on. (My other choice was this adorable dragonfly print, but I realized that would require a lot more effort to work as a layering piece. I also managed to resist the temptation to further break the pledge and buy both pieces.) Also, as far as fabric choice goes, I do have a serious weakness for paisley!

But--and I am not blaming Gorgeous Fabrics for this, because I know the problem had to be my color perception--now that I'm seeing the fabric in person, I'm not so convinced that this is a good match for this pattern. The blue looked way more teal instead of this colonial blue, and the fabric looked brighter in general on my computer monitor. If I were to be perfectly honest, if I saw what I got in a brick-and-mortar store, I wouldn't have bought it. And my gut tells me that if I make this dress out of this fabric, I'm going to think it looks totally granny (and not in the chic way) and I'm going to hate it. So that leaves me with two questions--what can I do with 3 yards of dull-colored paisley fabric, and do I have anything in my stash that I can actually use to make this pattern? A serious question, given that most, if not all, of my fabrics are more separates-length yardages...

Maybe this would work better as the Reglisse. What do you think?

Catching up, 3/4: Summer Wardobe 5 (the hippie top), and some redecoration stuff

It's about time I finished something else for this, since it's almost halfway through August! Anyway, this is my peasant-top-inspired shirt. (Please ignore how badly the duct-tape wrinkles on Donna the Dummy's chest shows through the gauze.)

Since I wanted the hippie look but a little more fitted, I went with one of my tried-and-true tops, Simplicity 5683.

I don't usually pay attention to the suggested trim details in patterns, but felt that this one needed a little something since it's just plain light blue cotton gauze. So I followed their lead and added this crocheted lace and ribbon trim. (I hope it doesn't make it look like something meant for a 5-year-old... I'm thinking the lines going down the front do help a lot there.)

I do wish the trim on the sleeves had gone better... I tried to follow the placement lines, even taking it up higher, but perhaps my trim was too wide because it was still a struggle to not let it hang past the edge of the elastic casing.

The really nice thing about this one, since I had it already cut out, is how fast it was to make, even with inside finishing. I sewed the trim onto the pattern pieces on Friday night. (I probably could have gone further, but Cassie was over at the time for one of our crafty tv-watching hangouts, and we got a little sidetracked by an urge to play Guitar Hero.) I sewed the rest of it together in its entirety on Saturday.

I haven't tried it with the skirt yet (and obviously not with my ill-fated jeans... I'm still trying to figure out if it's worth the effort to rip out and resew the back seam in an attempt to salvage them!) Looking at it now, I'm really not convinced that this top will go with the skirt either--I think the top is too light a blue and the skirt is too red a brown. I'll have to try it on to see for certain, of course, but I have to admit that I'm not feeling very hopeful about it. (And having a little trouble shaking the overall feeling that, even though I've finished most of the intended pieces, as far as mixing and matching goes this mini-wardrobe is kind of a bomb.)

On a non-related note, I stopped at a used-furniture place this afternoon, the type that does estate sales and such. After my brother gets married in October, I'm moving into his room (he got the larger one even though I'm older...mine used to be my mom's sewing room and so that was the first to go) and turning my current bedroom into a guest room/teaching studio for my flute lessons. (My parents are so cool about the musician income thing.) Since I still have the same furniture, sans bed, that I've had since I was oh, seven or so, one of the things I've really been hoping to do is replace some of the kid dressers. Really, hoping to go down from the three dressers I have in here (one long one, and two that used to sit under the loft bed I had when I was a kid, one of which is a really bad use of space) to two. But I've been having trouble figuring out how to get that to work without ditching half of my clothes, seeing as how my closet is also crammed full. (The hazards of sewing clothes/having costumes/having old recital dresses that need to be kept because in my line of work, I actually do use them sometimes!) So I've been hoping to get two dressers that are larger sizes than the ones I have now. Or maybe get one larger one and move one of my old ones over. Or something. I'm still sorting it out.

Anyway, the point of that ramble is that I did actually find something at the used furniture store today-- no pictures, because it's on my phone and I can't figure out how to get pictures off of it. :P But it's a little outside of the box, so part of me is excited about it and part of me is wondering if I made a $100 mistake!! I'll try to describe it-- they listed it as an arts-and-crafts hutch (though I don't know how old it actually is). So it's kind of this light oak-ish color, 3 drawers and two doors that open out. There's a shelf inside to split that into two parts, so it's not just a total waste of space like my armoire dresser. And then sitting on top of that, there's a little built-up part with 3 shelves. (I'll take pictures once I get it home-- I have to get my dad to help me pick it up, since he has access to vehicles that hold larger things than my Civic!) So I'm thinking the lower part can be used for clothes, though I'll have to play around with the shelved section to see if it would be better for smaller clothes, like underwear or rolled-up t-shirts (an excuse to make fabric storage boxes), or for a better way to store my jeans than rolled up and crammed into a too-shallow drawer in that waste-of-space armoire. (Can you tell I really don't like that dresser?) And then I can use the shelves for things like makeup/hair stuff/candleholders and such that I can't bear to get rid of. Or maybe my dvd collection, if the shelves are tall enough to accommodate them. I really hope this was a good move--in thinking ahead, this could be a piece of furniture that could work well in the long term, like if I can eventually afford my own place or if I actually can get married someday and therefore move out, because then I could just use it for another function. Like, say, craft/sewing room. ;) And I like the quirkiness of using a piece of furniture for a purpose other than its original intent. But I hope it works!! And then there's the question of refinishing it, since I do have to paint over my free computer desk... (Damaged section that had to get repaired= power-sanded down particle board. Not pretty.)

A 2-for-1 special: The "Sea Flowers" top and dress

I finally got around to taking the pics this afternoon, so I now present parts 3 and 4 of my summer wardrobe: the printed top, and the dress that was supposed to be maxi but wasn't.

1. The top- McCall's 5662

Pattern Description: Knit empire-waist top with bodice and sleeve variations. I made C, which is a kind of kimono-esque one.

Pattern Sizing:X-small- Med.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Mostly-- I eliminated that ropey belt thing.

Were the instructions easy to follow? I didn't have a problem with it, but it does skip back and forth a bit between views so a more beginner sewer might have problems knowing where to go next.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I like the style of it-- it came together easily, and it's very comfortable to wear. I had more dislikes than likes, unfortunately. #1: This top is basically unwearable without a camisole underneath. For one thing, the back is way too low, with the V ending a good 2"+ below my bra. The other thing is that the neckline doesn't stay in place very well-- I've worn this top once so far, and it has a tendency to slide off of my shoulders. So there's a lot of potential for wardrobe malfunctions. #2: At least for this particular view, the sizing is huge. I made it a full size smaller than my usual, and still had to take it in some. #3: A more petty complaint, but the talking cartoon heads of the two girls who created the pattern that pop up in the instructions with tips annoy me. ("Sew an applique onto your top! Put beaded trim around the neck!") I know that I'm probably a little older than their target market, but it just seems a bit over the top.

Fabric Used: I used a rayon lycra jersey from Lucy's Fabrics.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: As mentioned, I made it a size smaller and eliminated the ropey belt thing. If I was making this again, I think I would have added in some kind of knit interfacing or clear elastic to fix the neckline issues.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I won't be making this top again. It might be good for a teenage sewer, as long as they know not to wear it out without a camisole for extra insurance against flashing people.

Conclusion: I think it looks pretty good on me, but it's just not as functional as I wanted it to be. Too bad, since I had high hopes for this one.

(A final note: One of the saddest things about this top for me is that it really doesn't work with the bamboo skirt. So from a mini-wardrobe perspective, a fail of sorts.)


2. The un-maxi dress- Simplicity 3678

Pattern Description: "Misses' knit dresses with bodice and sleeve variations" is the description given on the back. Also has waistband and gathering and the front and back center of the skirt. I made view A

Pattern Sizing: 8-16

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? From the waistband up, yes. From the bottom down, no.

Were the instructions easy to follow? I found them very easy to follow, though I did make some construction modifications to allow for using my serger.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I like the bodice-- the stitched-down pleats add a nice detail, and while it's low-cut enough that I'll be wearing it over a camisole just for my own comfort, it's not ridiculously so. I didn't like the skirt--the gathering made it look like I was about five months pregnant, especially when looking at it from the side!

Fabric Used: A rayon-lycra jersey from Lucy's Fabrics (the same one I used for the McCall's 5662-- these were both made as part of a summer mini-wardrobe.)

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I did have to take it in some at the waist, which is perfectly normal for me. I ended up having to take all of the gathering out of the skirt and sewing it in as a flat seam. I'm not entirely satisfied with the silhouette of the skirt-- the fabric's a little too clingy for it to work really well with such a fitted silhouette-- but it's still a lot better than where it started. I did add a seam in the back bodice, but only because I didn't have enough yardage left to cut it on the fold. I also added a strip of fusible knit interfacing to the neckline facing and hand-stitched it down for extra insurance against stretching and gapping, after what happened with the McCall's pattern. It seemed to work pretty well, though the stitching is showing up a bit more than I wanted it to.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I think I might revisit it if I ever do end up pregnant (edit: though I'd have to see some improvement in my husband-finding skills first, seeing as how I haven't even had a boyfriend in a very long time!), because based on how it originally looked on me, it would probably make a really cute maternity dress! However, if the gathered waist is a flattering thing on you, I would recommend it.

Conclusion: It's a nice pattern, but just doesn't look nice on me without a lot of help.

(So it doesn't really look very hippie-ish at all in the styling-- there's just no way I would have been able to make the originally planned maxi-dress, because I wasn't counting on having to cut out almost every piece between these two on the fold. But it is still a cute dress. Now that it's not maternity-looking, that is.)

I have a new pattern in the queue as well... one of my friends is getting married in January, and so I need something to wear to the wedding. I've found it's hard to find long-sleeved dresses that don't look frumpy (and with my complete inability to get my internal thermostat turned on in the winter, 3/4 sleeves is NOT an option!) So I found this one-- I know there's a slit in the sleeves, but I do like those drapey, Rennaisance/fantasy heroine-type sleeves . (And the slit actually makes them more practical, because then there's no danger of me getting my sleeves in my food at the reception! Now I just need to find some fabric-- I'd love to find something in a subtle teal/brown print, because then I can also get some more use out of the wrap I'll be wearing at my brother's wedding in October. (Which, if all goes well with the dyeing, is going to be chocolate brown silk velvet. YUM.)

Summer Wardrobe, part 1: Mission accomplished.

And as I type that title, I keep hearing it in Kronk's voice after he dumps Kuzko-as-a-llama off the waterfall....without the shoulder angel... now I kind of want to watch The Emperor's New Groove again!

Anyway, look, I have jeans! And they (mostly) fit! In retrospect, this probably wasn't the most brilliant shirt to wear for the photos, because it looks like the jeans are extending up my sides. Ouch. But you get the idea. There are some weird fit issues that I haven't figured out how to resolve yet... need to tweak the pattern some. But for a first pair of jeans, I think they're pretty good, and they still fit better than most of the jeans I own!

And now, on to some of the details...
The waistband/pockets/carriers. Don't like: There is a little bit of gapping around the waistband. And I'm not really sure why it's flaring out at the top. I think to resolve it, I may need to shorten it a bit, or make the rise a bit lower. Leaning towards the latter, since a lot of it seems to be with the yoke in the back. Either that, or I need to recut the pattern altogether and try it as a contoured waistband. And the rivets were a bit of a pain...my dad ended up having to teach me how to nail them in. You can't really see it from here, but on my first two attempts (on this side), the rivet nail actually pierced through the rivet! The rest of them look better, but that's because I'm not the one who nailed them in. :P However, I do like the way the topstitching turned out. The double-topstitching on the carriers was due to the fact that the first row didn't quite catch the serger stitches and it wouldn't have stayed completely flat, but I like the look of it.


Sorry for the butt-shot. This was the best I could do, holding the camera behind me to take the shot. You can see that there's a little bit of fitting weirdness in the back too, but again, it's still better than most of what I have! Guess I need to work on that muslin a bit. I really, really like the way the back pockets turned out, though.

So, in conclusion, while I haven't reached fitting nirvana yet, I think I'm off to a good start, and would be willing to make a second pair. After all, I still need to get that perfect fit!



No pictures yet, but I started a side sewing project today before I finished the jeans, since the weather was perfect for it... making a new set of seat covers for my car. The ones I have in there are completely faded and threadbare and just not looking good. (I make them out of beach towels, and got these last summer, but didn't have time to sew it up.) No actual sewing done on it yet, as it's currently a mass of safety-pinned towel, and I need to trim the seams down and then use it as a pattern for the second seat. (The reason the weather was important was I have to actually sit in the car and cut and pin it around, like a slipcover.)

Also made this week: a "wristy resty thingy", as I dubbed it one night when I was really tired. :P Unfortunately, I'm having a slightly worse phase of carpal tunnel again, mostly induced by a few slow days at the garden center where I spent the whole day working on spreadsheets and stuff instead of ringing things up. Since the keyboard just sits on the counter, I wanted to try and make it a little more ergonomic for me. I basically just took a piece of a long fabric sample I got for free, cut it in half, sewed it into a tube with one end shut, dumped half a bag of the cheapest rice I could find at Acme into it, and sewed it back up. Tried it one day at work so far, and I think maybe it did help a little... hard to tell when they're off in the first place. I made this on Tuesday night.

Finally, another project in the works: it was decided this week that this fall, when my brother moves into the apartment that he'll be sharing with his fiancee after the wedding, I'm going to move into his bedroom. It's bigger than mine by several square feet. My current bedroom is going to be turned into a guest room/teaching space for me, at least until I can afford my own place. So that means that some redecorating is on the horizon. I'm excited about the chance to make some stuff for that, and very excited that I'll be able to have a room large enough that I can have a real desk for my computer! (Right now, my setup is that the monitor sits on this little curved IKEA stool, the actual computer sits underneath it, and the keyboard sits on my lap while the mouse sits on the bed next to me. And I wonder why I have carpal tunnel flareups!) I do need to try to figure out an affordable way to reconfigure the closet, and will probably have to enlist my dad to help me build some bookshelves. I have a lot of books. Right now they're on these fake wooden shelves resting on brackets that screw into the wall...what I've always had. And I've never liked them. So I want an actual bookcase!

Muslins, muslins everywhere...

...and not a finished garment to show for it! Yet.

I cut out muslins for 3 different things in my mini-wardrobe on Saturday-- the jeans 2.0, my pair of shorts, and the bodice for the maxi-dress I wanted to make. (And since I had to find a knit for the dress, that means I'm using up another piece of stash! Ha!) Spent some more time on Saturday sewing the dress "muslin", and worked on tweaking it again this morning-- no band today, so I had a couple hours to sew!

And, well, I'm not sure this dress is going to be happening as originally planned. I'd already raised the neckline a bit, and the front part of the bodice fits really, really well. The midriff part had to be taken in about an inch and a half on each side (which I did after taking these pics), but I'd expected that.

Also expected was that I'd have a bit of trouble with the back, due to the elastic. (And, I'm pretty sure, reading some Pattern Review articles on it.)
I just wasn't expecting this much trouble...good thing I'm wearing the camisole here, because the back is definitely sagging below my bra! And this is with a mere 3 inches or so of fabric sewn to the bottom. I shudder to think of what an entire maxi-dress skirt would do. After these photos, I lopped off about an inch of the elastic (minus seams) and several inches off the back side pieces. Still was sagging. I'm really doubtful that I can modify this enough to support an entire maxi-dress skirt, even with building in a bra. So I'm thinking what I may end up doing instead is to use what's left of the knit and the stuff I got to make the built-in bra to just turn this into a halter top. Would be good for July 4th, if it doesn't clash with my hair too much. And then for the dress, go with a slightly more bra-friendly pattern from my stash. (I'm thinking the bottom right-hand corner with the big print view. At any rate, will make it a faster sewing job, which I kind of need right now. And though I usually don't pay much attention to it, I think the maxi-dress trend is supposed to have passed.)

No pictures of it, but I did sew the jeans muslin 2.0 together. Took some tweaking, probably due to my slightly oddball pattern drafting (masking tape on newsprint), but I'm glad I allowed 1" seams. Taking those down to 5/8" made it fit just about perfectly. The yoke is still a bit off and gapping in the back (and on the sides a bit), but it's close enough that I think I may just cut it like this and then tweak it in the actual denim so I can make it work with any additional thickness.

Also done over the weekend: Using some scraps from that muslin to finish the first section of my much-needed jewelry organizer. I've got 18 necklaces in it so far (9 per side), and it looks like it's going to work pretty well. I'll try to get pics soon.

Also also done over the weekend: I spent Friday afternoon playing with my bamboo scraps and dummy to see what I could come up with for that top. So this is what I currently have pinned to my dummy. The straps are just twisted up scraps that I pinned on to determine what sort of straps-- they won't stay that rough.

Honestly, at this point, I'm kind of torn. I like the concept of it. But there's that tiny nagging part of my brain that wonders if wearing something that looked like this out in public would give off too much of a Tinkerbell vibe?

I guess it would also partially depend on if it would actually fit. There would be a zipper involved, but it would be hard to bring that past the waist at all with this skirt action going on...makes me wonder if I'd even be able to get it on!

So, it stays pinned to my dummy while I ponder all of this.

So I have absolutely nothing that I have to do on Sunday, other than go to church. My evening Bible study and flute orchestra rehearsals are both cancelled due to the holiday weekend. So my plan is to try and get the actual denim for the jeans cut out on Friday or Saturday (we'll see, since I have plans for both evenings!) I'm hoping that my mom will let me borrow one of her extra machines (yes, she has more than one), and that I can find a place to set those up along with my serger so that I can just go assembly-line style--I forget whose blog I read it on (sorry!) but I remember reading something about someone who made a pair of jeans and used two machines so she could just keep the topstitching thread in one and the actual sewing thread in another and not have to keep stopping to rethread the machine. Which is pretty brilliant, I think. If I can do that, and if the fly zipper doesn't give me too much trouble, in theory, I might be able to get these jeans done by the unofficial start of summer!

Summer Wardrobe, part 2 (and an update on part 1)

Well, here it is-- the first completed project in my "Hippie Beach Party" mini-wardrobe! I finished this up on Sunday with a trim off the bottom and a machine-done blind hem, but didn't have a chance to take a picture until today due to work busyness.

As a recap: I made this using my tried-and-true Simplicity 7229, though I lengthened the skirt several inches to make it ankle-length instead of that weird mid-calf. I used this bamboo from Fabric.com, which isn't really as dark as that looks-- it's kind of between that and the rusty brown it looks like in this picture. (When all is said and done, I'm going to have to take some pics of the full wardrobe in natural light for sure!) The results surprised me a little-- both times when I made this skirt before, it was in a much stiffer fabric (a linen and an embroidered twill). The bamboo is much drapier, and as a result, it's much clingier around my hips and thighs. Gives it kind of a mermaid silhouette when I'm wearing it. So not quite hippie, but I guess that fits the beach party part, at least, right?

The jeans update: I'm starting from scratch, kind of. I took a different pair of jeans last night that I realized would work better (not quite as tight and no stretch, and a higher rise) and did the masking tape thing again to make a new pattern. Right now, I have it laid directly on some muslin, which is not cut yet, but am thinking I will lay it on some paper first instead so I can figure out the grainlines and such. But not right now... Lost season finale time, and I can't sew and watch that!

Happy sewing day!!

After all of the business going on with me lately, it was so nice to just have a day to do nothing but sewing-related things! (Ok, sewing and laundry-related things. But technically, I sewed some of the things in said laundry, so it counts, right?)

So after taking a look at the denim that I have for the actual jeans, I realized that the flowery denim I've been making the muslin out of is probably too heavy to get an actual idea. So I'm going to make a new muslin out of actual muslin (and then once it's all figured out, transfer it to the flowery denim to use it for the pattern so I don't waste the fabric! Since I can use the muslin for other things.) But I didn't have enough muslin on hand. So what I ended up doing today was making the skirt for my mini-wardrobe in almost its entirety (since it's bias-cut, I have to let it hang before I can do the hem). Then I ran out to JoAnn's with my mom so I could get some muslin, the ribbon for the drawstring, and some trim for another mini-wardrobe component--she needed some stuff there too. (And I ran into my high school flute teacher and her daughter while we were there, which was a pleasant surprise!)

Finished as much of the sewing on the skirt as I could do-- no pics until it's hemmed. And then I started working on this-- I had some rather large pieces of the bamboo fabric left, since the skirt was only four pieces and cut on the bias. So I'm trying my hand at using the leftovers to do some draped designing. This is what I have so far for the front, pinned on the dummy-- I'm hoping to add some lacing to the front center to give it a bit of a corset look. I'm giving it a rest for the night while I think about the dart placement-- I'm leaning towards the bust dart (left) rather than the full-front dart (bottom) because it seems to be laying on the side better.
I'm also hoping to take advantage of the bias-cut lines from the skirt and make the bottom more assymetric--when I had a bunch of it pinned onto the dummy, it looked cool. But we'll see how it is after I get it more pieced together. And this is not going to be strapless-- I'm wanting this to be a more casual top, so there will be straps added! Anyway, I'm hoping I can get it worked out so it looks good, because I like the idea that I can possibly use almost the entire piece of fabric!

Executive Decisions

Since weekend camping and the usual crazy Monday/Tuesday work schedule has left me unable to sew, I've spent the time pondering sewing instead. And here's the conclusions I've come to...

1. The dress for my brother's wedding. After several suggestions that I might be better off getting a heavier fabric for that dress pattern, I've decided to go with the simpler BWOF pattern over the Vogue one. I have to admit I've been a little nervous about that lightweight charmeuse holding up to all the ruching. But since that fabric was a bit of a splurge for me, I want to use it! Apart from that, I'm also thinking that a) a simpler pattern might be better in terms of sewing time, since I've been kind of limited this spring and I have this summer wardrobe I want to make (and still hoping to fit in some quickie projects on the side), and b) this dress has cap sleeves, vs. the Vogue pattern's spaghetti straps, which might be much better for an outdoor wedding. Even though it's now settled on the beginning of October, the weather here can be rather unpredictable that time of year-- anywhere from Indian summer to time to break out the sweaters! Plus I think it'll look better with a wrap than the more heavily ruched dress would, and with my propensity to get cold...

As for the Vogue pattern, I'd still like to try it out sometime. But I'm thinking I might use that for a little black dress. Since every girl is supposed to have one, right? And being a musician, I can never have too much funky black.

2. The jeans. After spending some more time on Thursday playing around with a bunch of pins to see if I could get a better fit on the leg, I've decided that to simplify things, I'm just going to use the old masking-tape-on-the-ready-to-wear trick and tweak the pattern from there. So after trying on my three best-fitting pairs of jeans this afternoon, I've decided which one I'm going to use. I will need to make a couple of changes-- the pockets are crappy little tiny things that I can only shove my fingertips in, and the rise is lower than I'd prefer (I only bought them because they fit so well otherwise and I do tend to wear longer shirts when possible.) But hopefully this will at least give me an idea of the shape to work with.

Summer Wardrobe, part 1: the highly unwearable muslin

Trying to get back into some sewing this week. So I ordered two pieces of fabric, for one... 2 yards of my Spoonflower fabric, which I've decided to make into a simple A-line skirt-- let the fabric do the talking! And the second was this silk for the dress I'll be wearing to my brother's wedding. It came in earlier this week, and is absolutely gorgeous! (It says it's hand-washable, and I'm currently trying to get up the nerve to actually do so. Never played with silk before.)

Note to self: this puts me at 4/8 for fabric stash used vs. stash purchased. Counting the Spoonflower fabric even though technically, I won it and therefore didn't buy it.

Second order of business: starting a mock-up for the summer wardrobe jeans. I'm using McCall's 5142, and hoping that I have better luck with it than the last jeans pattern I tried. (Never got past the muslin with that one, because it wouldn't go past my thighs. :P But this one has bigger seam allowances, so more room to play with!) So since the idea is to make jeans that will actually fit me well, a muslin is a must. Thus the reason for the pink strawberries and daisies... it's far more suited to someone, oh, 25 years younger than me, but it was the cheapest stuff I could get in the bargain section of JoAnn's that was actually resembling a jeans-weight. And that determined that this is going to be a highly unwearable muslin.

Which means I might as well just draw all over it, right? I've got all the pieces drawn on (at least on one side), along with grainlines/markings/etc. So rather than draw out both halves of the cut 2 pattern pieces, I just pinned the folded fabric together and will cut both at once, then draw both as needed.

I've been wanting to make jeans that fit for years, so this is kind of my "holy grail" project. Wish me luck!

Progress and Procrastination

Seeing as how I've spent much of the weekend watching Jane Austen movies (finishing Pride & Prejudice now, and watched Sense & Sensibility this afternoon as well), figured the alliteration was appropriate!

So here's my update for the weekend.
Friday, Progress: Got the zipper sewed into my skirt, and I must say I did a rather good job this time! I really do think that hand-basting the zipper in first makes a world of difference, as I've discovered the last couple of times I've done a non-invisible zipper. Also got the facings sewn in.
Friday, Procrastination: I still have to sew the facings down to the zipper, edge-finish the slits, and hem it. Which I haven't done yet.

Saturday, Progress: I have 4 scrapbook albums I need to cover, and started on one of them-- got the fabric cut out (and actually measured it this time, because I figured I've been doing this long enough that I just need a consistent number!) and started gluing it onto one side. I also started sewing together my purse for spring and summer-- got the pockets sewn on, I have all the lining/batting/outside pieces basted together, and I'm working on getting the sides/bottom on. Discovered that when enlarging the pattern, I didn't elongate the single-piece side/bottom enough, and did some slicing and dicing to remedy that.
Saturday, Procrastination: In my defense, both of these are not my fault. I did not finish gluing the fabric onto the album, because that's when Nicole got here to use my serger/hang out. So I started working on the purse then instead. (I knew I wouldn't need a serger for that one, so it seemed like the perfect project to to work on for that-- thus the skirt procrastination.) And I did not get any further in the purse, because that's when my friends decided to kidnap me (literally-- they used a blindfold and water guns) and make me go out to dinner and eat chocolatey desserts and celebrate my impending birthday. Aren't they so mean? (Seriously... I have the best friends in the world.)

Sunday, Progress: I did not continue either of these sewing or gluing projects today, because I'm not feeling well. (No, that is not an indication of what I was doing with my friends last night. I'm just kind of sick.) So since I'm less nauseous and lightheaded when I'm staying still, I decided to forgo the sewing in favor of the earrings for Susannah's wedding that I've been procrastinating on. Which I then had to put aside when Susannah actually called-- today was the last day we were getting together to work on her wedding ensemble. So while Joy worked on the bustle, I pinned and sewed a ribbon around the edge of her veil. So my part in that is done. Also, I did spend some time today on Pattern Review looking up information about the patterns for my mini-wardrobe that I haven't used yet. Particularly on the jeans, since I've decided I'm going to make them first. (Particularly since I can use them the soonest-- I'm basically down to 3 pairs of jeans that somewhat fit and aren't too torn up to wear, and out of those, one is faded to be lighter than I'd like and gaps in the back, one fits almost perfectly but the legs are too short for me, and the third really gaps in the back and is in all honesty a bit too big for me, but I loved the back pocket embroidery too much to pass them up.) So I'm thinking that I'm going to go in this order: Jeans, short-sleeved peasant-style top, long skirt, first sleeveless top, second sleeveless top and long dress (these two are in the same fabric so I'd prefer to cut them both out at once), shorts. I think I'm going to have to make muslins for some of them, too--definitely the jeans, and I already got the fabric for that, and the shorts, and at least the top of the dress (the pattern reviews seem to indicate that there's some major issues with fitting the back.) I've used patterns #2 and 3 before, and I think I'll be ok to wing it on the others and adjust as I go, but I just don't trust pant-type things to fit without testing.
Sunday, Procrastination: Which is actually future procrastination. These earrings are kind of a 3-step thing, and I'm one earring away from being done step 1. But once I finish that last bit, I'm just going to put it away for the rest of the night and veg out in front of the tv/computer. The dizzy headache just requires minimal concentration, I think. Off to do that.

Preparations

No pictures to show for it, but I've been spending quite a bit of my free time this week in making preparations for this weekend's craft/Doctor Who marathon with Tracey and Cassie. Mostly little detail things for my scrapbook pages--changing journaling fonts from all default Times New Roman, slapped some paint on a couple of things yesterday, swapped out my sewing machine needle for an old duller one and sewed some paper pockets for pages that needed them tonight. (One of my favorite techniques for doing so-- much sturdier than the average scrapbook adhesive, no problems with things getting stuck in the slightly-peeled-away sections, and sewing on paper is just fun! I still need to print out almost everything writing-wise, and I'm hoping I have time before I go to do some of the more detailed work (stuff like cutting out letters for titles and that sort of thing. What I would love to be able to do this weekend is just mostly assembly work so I can get a lot of pages done!)

Some more mini-wardrobe prep, too-- my mom went to Joann's yesterday after having found a McCall's pattern that was the style of shorts I wanted to make for it (she's my main real-life person that I bounce sewing ideas off of). I'd given her my fabric sample of the print and asked her to look while she was there and see if they had a sweater-type knit that I could use-- they didn't, but she did get me the pattern and some light khaki fabric to make them, as an early birthday present. She also picked up a couple of skeins of yarn to do some test knits, having offered to knit a rectangle for me. My mom is the best. :-)

The shirt is coming along well-- I set in the sleeves last night, and sewed the side seams. In that order-- it was sooooo much easier to iron the sleeve cap when I could just open out the sleeve! The only difficulty I had was in lining things up at the underarm seams--one side is slightly skewed, but I don't think it'll be that noticeable. And the other side is pretty much perfect. All I have left to do is the hems, but I didn't do anything on it today since I was either working or working on scrapbook stuff between lessons. Maybe tomorrow.

Biting the bullet

I went ahead and ordered most of the fabrics I'll need for my mini-wardrobe from fabric.com over the weekend. So here's the rundown:

For this skirt, I got this chocolate brown bamboo. (My most expensive item, other than possibly the print.)

Not exactly a color from the original print, but I think this ivory rayon jersey knit will coordinate well enough for this shirt.

This is the denim for my jeans. I figured that having some tan woven into the brown will bring it very nicely into the color scheme. Besides, jeans goes with everything, right? I haven't tested it yet, but I have this pattern in my stash, so I'm going to use that to test it.

For my short-sleeved, woven top, I decided I wanted the look of a peasant blouse (every hippie beach bum has to have one, right?), but more fitted. Fortunately, I remembered this already tried-and-true pattern from my stash-- I've already made the flutter-sleeve and sleeveless versions, so this time it'll be the one with the little puff sleeves. My fabric will be this light blue cotton gauze. (On clearance, woohoo!)

So I still need something for a pair of shorts (including a pattern), and of course something for a shrug. At this point, I'm seriously considering just buying some yarn in the color I wanted and commissioning my best friend to crochet a loose-weave rectangle for me! (The pattern I'm strongly considering is seriously just a rectangle of fabric that's sewed together at the bottom just enough to make sleeves, so it has that whole drapey kimono thing going.) Or would a regular knit fabric be good for that sort of thing?

In other news, I started sewing that embroidered top together yesterday. The neckline is done, the front is all sewn together. I still need to sew on the lower back, the sleeves, the sides and the hem. Maybe tomorrow.

An update and a knitting experiment

The good news first: the stain seems to be gone! That's where it was, on the left--the whiter spots around the embroidery are where the tear-away stabilizer stuff still is. And the next picture is all three pieces, finished--the one on the right is the one that got the lotion on it. I'm thinking the Oxy-Clean may have bleached it a little bit, since it looks a little brighter than the other two pieces. Or maybe it's just the crappy lighting in here. But I don't think it'll be too noticeable. Either way, I'd rather have that than a big glob of coconut-lotion yellow!





Also, the pendant was found on my driveway, minus a leaf. But that's an easier fix than making an all-new one!


So once I got the embroidery done this morning, went out for a walk (needed sunshine and exercise) and had a late lunch, I played around with the knitting machine some more to see if I could get some workable sweater fabric out of it. I was having a hard time with it today, really-- the yarn-pushing thingy got stuck several times, the clamps eventually stopped staying on the card table so I had to try and hold it in place and move the yarn-pusher at the same time, lots of dropped stitches and latches staying closed/having to knock them open before continuing. So for about 5-6 hours of work, I got a whopping 7 or 8 inches to show for it. Plus, now that it's off the machine, there's all these weird ridges (probably where it was getting stuck and dropping stitches) and it's a really stiff fabric. Which, admittedly, could be the yarn, but there's not really any options to make the stitches looser or whatever it is that would need to be done there. So I'm thinking this isn't going to really be worth it--in that same amount of time, I could have sewed together that entire embroidered shirt and then some. I don't regret trying it, but that leaves me with the option of either learning how to crochet or knit (blech-- I really have not enjoyed it on any of my multiple attempts), or trying to find some sources online for non-wool sweater fabric/chopping up thrift store sweaters. Or maybe trying to hunt down something handmade on Etsy the next time I get the urge for a new sweater.

In the meantime, need to come up with some options for my summer wardrobe shrug. I wonder if this is the right color brown? Though I don't really need 3 yards of it. Or I could go with this...though my inner hippie is protesting vehemently at the idea of a polyester knit. Especially for the humidity that is mid-Atlantic summer. Or I could just keep hitting up my local Goodwills and Joanns and hope that something crops up in the right color (I really want to go with that light tannish-taupish color, since it's a neutral and that would give maximum versatility). Decisions, decisions....

Mini-wardrobe plotting

The winter blahs have hit me hard. Maybe it's the fact that it's extra-cold this year, and I hate being cold. Maybe it's being stressed out about all the weather-related teaching cancellations I've had to do (particularly since that's my only source of income atm.) Maybe it's just that it's February-- one of my least favorite months, despite having been born in it. Maybe I am just completely and utterly sick of winter. Actually, that's not a maybe.

So in an attempt to cheer myself up (and also to motivate myself to finish the remaining stuff for Susannah's wedding as quickly as possible), I'm plotting what I want to make for spring and summer clothes. Specifically, the mini-wardrobe I want to make. (Though I do have some other things in mind too.)

Here's what I know so far. I'd like to end up with 8 pieces: 3 tops, 3 bottoms, a dress and a shrug-type thing (for when I inevitably get cold from overdone AC, or am wearing things out in the evening. Yes, I am one of those people who can and does get cold when it's 70 degrees out.)

While doing a bit of reading up on how to plan a mini-wardrobe, I came across an article from a back issue of Sew Stylish that suggested coming up with a theme to tie it all together-- they had titles that was something like "Uma Thurman Goes To Pluto" or "Naughty Librarian" or something along those lines. When thinking of summer clothes, the first thing that immediately came to mind was Caribbean beaches and palm trees, so I was thinking it would be fun to make beach-inspired clothes in those vivid blues and greens. Then I came across this print, which I decided to use as my foundation for the color scheme:

From sew and so

No, it's not really island colors. If anything, it reminds me more of Rehoboth and Lewes (the two beaches here that I've basically grown up with.) But the name of the print-- "Sea Flowers"-- still demands that beachy vibe. So then I was listening to the Beatles while driving in my car today, and inspiration struck. So my theme is now "Hippie Beach Party."

From sew and so

I'd already known I wanted to make this dress for that component (the paisley one in the bottom left corner. And that I wanted to make this top:
I'm thinking maybe the purple one for this. So that's going to be the two print items (has to be, since I ordered the fabric for that yardage!).

As for the rest, I'm trying to come up with some ideas. Thinking I'll have to go with solids for this (which is going to be a bit of a stretch for me, because I do love my crazy prints! But the point is to have a wardrobe where everything goes together, so some solids would be a great foundation.)

I'd already known I want to make this top (from last July's issue of Burda World of Fashion.) This was actually the first look I'd picked out. But I didn't think it would work such a big print, due to the pintucks. So I'm thinking, if I can find it, of picking up the blue in a solid knit for this.



And this skirt is the one I'm pondering now-- the long version, only I want to lengthen it this time. This is one of my tried-and-true patterns-- I've made the capris 3 times and the long skirt twice. It's fast, it's comfortable, it's fitted enough at the top despite the drawstring that it'll counteract the flowy tops, my only complaint about the skirt is that the mid-calf thing didn't quite work for the embroidered twill. (Still works fine for the black linen-looking one that I have, but to fit the hippie theme, I want it full-length.) So for this one I'm thinking the chocolate brown, which I would love to do either in a linen or hemp blend. (Preferably the hemp... what I would absolutely love to do is to get as many of these fabrics as I can in organic or other eco-friendly options. But financially I might not be able to swing it-- was poking around earlier and all the hemp-type stuff in this sort of color alone is something like $20 a yard! So I'm hoping to at least be able to go with natural fibers.)

So for the rest: I know I want to make a pair of jeans--dark denim and at least bootcut, because I like the way flares look on me the best, fits the theme, and the dark denim means it'll go with everything, including the stuff I already own that's not part of this wardrobe. (Plus then I'll finally fulfill my jeans goal!) And I'm thinking a pair of longer, Bermuda-type shorts (color to be determined). Which I'll have to find a way to hippie-fy. And I need to come up with one more top--wondering if I should go with some kind of blouse or woven tunicy-peasant shirt type thing, since the other two are knits. (Color also TBD). And patterns for all three of these items. (I'm open to suggestions.) For the shrug, what I'm hoping to do is use the knitting machine to just make up some fabric, and then sew it up. Possibly with an adapted version of the pattern I'm using for the bridesmaid shrugs, since I think the kimono-type sleeves will fit the theme well, and it's less pieces to cut. My only concern is that I won't be able to knit fabric wide enough to accomodate both the body and sleeves. So I'm thinking I should sit down and knit up a full-size fabric sample soon, so I can test it out and see what I can do with sewing from it, or if I'll have to actually learn the stuff like how to follow knitting patterns and increase and decrease and all that. There was this shrug pattern on the machine website, which would work if I adapted it to short or 3/4 sleeves. But I'd much rather sew on homemade sweater fabric than actually knit a sweater on it!! What I'd love to use for this is a bamboo yarn (warm in the cooler temps, cooler in the warm temps), maybe either in a cream or that taupe color that's in the print. (Neutral enough that I can wear it with other stuff, too. This was the stuff I saw at Joann's--Soooo expensive... but it's so soft! Well, I guess that's actually not bad, seeing as how it's 3 skeins and not just one. But I still want to test this machine out on my pound of cheap hunter green before I commit to buying that!)

Ok, enough daydreaming-- time for me to get to bed and have some real dreams!