May Day!

You know what that means, sewing bloggers!

It's here!

Calm down a little!

This isn't what I had originally planned on wearing. Oh, no. Hot from under the needle is a new Pavlova circle skirt. But it's a wee bit chilly, and the skirt, well, it just didn't go with my activities for the day.

So... I'm wearing an artsy-fartsy top, Vogue 1246, originally blogged about here. Wow, I look a lot different. (Did you go look? hehe)

I've had a look at my May work schedule, and it looks like there will be 11 days that I'm not at work, so that will be my Mini-Me-Made May Challenge. Plus one post of the black stuff.

OK, so besides being Me Made May, May has also been declared Mental Health Awareness Month. It's time.

And finally, just what are these guys doing?!

Red Dress Revealed -- Vogue 2692

Oops, I bet you didn't even know I was making a red dress! Well, I am. Or I did.

This is the pattern I used:

Hmmm, from the 60s, I think. I started this in May, I think and there is so much I've forgotten about the construction, but I do remember that I bought it from Denise, Miss Blue Gardenia herself!

Mine is red ponte knit, deliciously thick, but part of the reason I put it aside. It's actually quite warm, which makes it a great spring or fall dress, but definitely not a summer in Atlanta dress. And I made it with short sleeves. I think I used the long sleeve pattern, and used that as a guide for a short sleeve. Wanna see?

Necklace: Earlybird Creations
Bracelets: Amy Fine Design 

I did make a muslin, but don't remember much about the  alterations. Of course widening at the waist. The original size is a Bust 36, so I didn't have to do anything there. For some inexplicable reason, I lengthened the bodice, and now it is too long. Not really sure what I was smoking when I did that! I'm also certain that I shortened it. Oddly, even the 60s "mini" skirts are often too long for me. Was everyone super tall back then?

I made the recommended bound buttonholes. This is a Paris Original after all!

I am not the huge bound buttonhole fan that many other sewing bloggers are. For one, you make them first. For a skirt such as this, with somewhat unusual placement, if I were doing regular buttonholes I would have spaced them a little differently, or just made 3. My solution to that odd buttonhole placed so closely to the hem edge is to just leave it unbuttoned. There is a button under there, though.

I made the belt, but it is narrower than the pattern simply because I used a vintage buckle I already had in the stash and it was smaller. It makes the width about 1" which is good for me anyway. I also kind of made up my own belt making technique, using the thick black cotton pique from my Mad Men dress. On the back of the belt, I used a 7/8" wide satin ribbon, and even though the belt itself is curved I didn't have any problems with it.

 Yesterday, I pulled the dress off my dress form to finish it. Turned out all I had to do was finish the back of the buttonholes, sew on the buttons and hand sew the hem (which was already pinned up). Really? Yippee!!

The Green Walls

The Me Made May flickr group has these little mini-photo challenges on Fridays, and today's challenge is "green". As I'm sure you can see from my other days, there's a ton of green in my backyard, so that would be too easy. No, I'm going to show you the green walls of my kitchen that will cease to exist on Tuesday.

Dress: Vogue 8575

This is the wall of the breakfast nook. The painting, by a folk artist, bought at some folk art festival by Roland. And the dress, I wear this all the time.

The awkward wall of the stairway. The desk behind me will also cease to exist. This area has been the bane of our kitchen designer, and after making a decision to add some cabinets, when we needed to cut the budget a bit as much as possible, we decided to just put a chair there, maybe a little table, and some kind of artsy thing. And in that wall, we're going to have a little niche for the dog bowls. It was pretty inexpensive in the scheme of things.

Frozen English Muffins

These Me Made May posts can get, well, honestly, a little dull. This is what I wore today, yada, yada, yada. Today, I thought I'd start with a little story. You know (or really, you should because I think I've mentioned it) that we're about to remodel our kitchen. Before the contractors start their magic though, we're required to empty everything out, and pack it up. We won't be using our main refrigerator since we have a back up in the basement.


In order to go down from two fridges to one, that means some cleaning out. Yeah, the frozen chicken drumsticks dated 2005 had to go. Straight to the trash. But the frozen English muffins from a couple of years ago? Well, someone might be able to eat those, right? Someone furry or feathery that lives outside? Hubby Roland would think I was crazy (well, he might anyway), so while he was getting dressed this morning, I went out to fling the frozen hockey puck-like muffins into an inconspicuous area near the driveway. It has to be the front yard because I don't want my own doggies to eat them.


So, I quietly fling and get the job done. Alas, the bathroom blinds were not closed, and as he was crossing the bathroom, he noticed odd white objects flying onto the upper "pasture". Totally a WTH moment for him. He's hoping the critters aren't on a low carb diet, and thankfully, it was warm enough (upper 70sF) that no squirrel would chip a tooth on a muffin and sue us. 


Day 14 (Monday)

Top: Butterick 5328
Shorts: Kwik Sew 3614

 I have a love-hate relationship with this top, and I think the hate is winning out. The gapping drove me crazy, so I deployed the safety pin, but this may be the last wearing.


Day 15 (Tuesday)

Top: Ann Taylor
Skirt: Sewaholic Crescent Skirt

Day 16 (Wednesday)


A better look at what I wore yesterday:

Top: Renfrew Pink
Skirt: Half a Crepe Wrap First seen on Day 1

Day 17 (today)

Top: Vogue 8536
Skirt: Denim "half a Crepe" worn on Day 7

I've worn this top a lot, and sadly, it has shrunk in length, so tucking was really my only option, but I think it looks ok.


Finally, wanna see the English muffins? Some of them have been eaten.

A Cambie Skirt for Day 9

A Cambie skirt? You read that right. As a pattern tester for the Sewaholic Cambie pattern (have you ordered yours yet?) I made the full skirted version, but that A-line skirt was calling my name, and I had the perfect fabric. Yesterday, a friend of mine and I went to the Roswell Womans Club Showcase Home to oooh and aaah (and support the fundraiser), and I had her snap a picture in the showhouse of my entire me made outfit, featuring this new skirt. (Disclaimer: she had never taken a cell phone picture... I know.. so it's a really bad picture.)

Raincoat: Sewaholic Minoru Jacket
Top: McCall's 5522
Skirt: A-line Cambie skirt

A few more details about the skirt... I made the straight size 14 without any alterations, except maybe the length. The length was dictated by the border print on this Echino linen. I lined it because the linen is kind of scratchy. I put an invisible zipper in it and had it go all the way to the top of the waistband. And that's about it. It's a great a-line skirt!

This picture is a little better. The rain had stopped and the sun came out, but it was still on the cool side, upper 60s. I did some topstitching around the waistband and the pocket openings, and you can't really see it, but my thread color matches that yellow strip at the hemline.


Day 10


Might as well add today's outfit to the post. It's a rerun. Temperature in the mid-70s, sunny and gorgeous. I got to enjoy the morning at the dentist, and the afternoon napping off a headache. Yippee. Once the headache subsided, I did finish another skirt and think I'll wear it tomorrow.

Top: Vogue 8151
Jeans: Talbots
Can you see the dog?

Days 5, 6, 7, 8

Day 5

Top: Butterick 5495, originally blogged in July 2010
Skirt: originally blogged in May 2011

Day 6


The start of the "gardenia days"...

Top: Life is Good souvenir tee shirt from York, Maine
Shorts: Seersucker, Kwik Sew 3614, originally blogged July 2011
Land's End suede flip flops
Dog: Danny
Lipstick: what was I thinking?!

Day 7

Top: Anthropologie (old)
Skirt: half a Colette Crepe, originally blogged September 2011
Hand out oddly? Trying to get Danny to come on over
What I did: worked from home plus a trip to the grocery. Fun!

Day 8

Dress: Vogue 8553, originally blogged September 1, 2011
Belt: Talbots
Shoes: Land's End chambray espadrilles
What I did: worked from home, plus Parents Support Group at Skyland Trail

Wilma on Wednesday Made a Shirt

... or is it a jacket? A shirt/jacket? I actually have a recipe ready so I'll post it tomorrow, but tonight I wanted to show you "the shirt". Vogue 1246. I'll even do a proper review.

Pattern Description: Very loose fitting shirt.


Pattern Sizing: 8-14. I made an 8 at the top, and a 10 along the sides.


Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?Mostly.


Were the instructions easy to follow?Yes, for the most part, with some exceptions.


What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?I love the artsy look. And I liked that the basic construction of the shirt is easy. I disliked how the instructions made some easy parts way harder than they needed to be. Basically, the mitering of corners is not that hard, but you wouldn't know that from the instructions. And the buttons on the sleeves. The instructions are unclear, the markings are in the wrong place on the tissue, and the picture doesn't match any of the words. After making 2 of the worst buttonholes I've ever made, probably in my history of sewing, I glanced at the line drawing on the back, and got the idea of how they were supposed to work. Well, it was too late. Mine look like the picture on the front.

Speaking of buttons... the large center button was in an ancient tin of buttons that originally belonged to my grandmother, and was what I designed the shirt around. For the sleeves, I ordered buttons from an extremely helpful Etsy seller, Sunny Buttons.


Fabric Used:An Italian iridescent cotton from Gorgeous Fabrics. This fabric is amazing to sew. And I interfaced the collar and facings which is not called for in the instructions.


Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:This pattern runs huge! I am normally a 14+. But I'm short, and I was worried that I would be swamped, so after reading reviews, and the measurements on the tissue, I did a tissue fitting, and ended up cutting an 8 at the top and sleeves, and a 10 along the sides. And I shortened the sleeves an inch, and the shirt 1-3/4".


Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?I will probably not make it again because it's kind of a one of a kind kind of shirt.


Conclusion: It looks best with skinny pants. Like my clovers.

On the cutting table... a denim pair of clovers.

Vogue 1246 is Next!

Greetings! I'm back from the holiday, and trying to get back on track with my sewing. I actually have been sewing, and finished a slip made from a vintage Butterick that I have in the shop. For details and a review, I'm sending you over to the other blog. (Whew! So much blog juggling!)


My next definite project is a new, artsy top that I've mentioned being in the queue before, but now the tissue is out of the envelope and I'm really, really going to make it. Really.

I've even done some preemptive fitting research over at Pattern Review, and found some excellent advice from ClaireOKC which will be useful because this pattern runs big enormous! There's loose fitting, and there's "I'm wearing a tent".


Don't miss tomorrow's Wilma on Wednesday recipe... a particularly yummy and easy appetizer!

Vogue 7903: A Refashion

I finally turned on my sewing machine this weekend, and came up with a quick refashion of one of my husband's dress shirts, into a blouse for me. Months ago, I bought this Sandra Betzina "Today's Fit" blouse pattern, and kept flip-flopping on what fabric to make it up in.

Vogue 7903

Then, Roland ripped a shirt. And it became a great source of fabric. (He ripped the sleeve, and not along a seam, but just in a random place by the shoulder.) And this:

Became this:

The only changes I made were to grade out at the hips and narrow 2 of the front darts for a bit of room for the fluff, and I narrowed the shoulders by 1". I'm thinking the shoulder narrowing resulted in a sleeve that is a tad too tight, and that lowering the armhole a bit should relieve that. I had meant for the cuffs to not be contrasting, but an error in sewing made that not happen. I used the contrasting color because I didn't have enough fabric, and I'm happy with the "mistake". I was able to cut the collar out of the yoke. And there is very little left. BTW, wearing my Clover pants!


If you're looking for nice shirting fabric, thrifting an extra large men's shirt is a great source. And it made it quick because I used the original buttons/buttonholes. You'll just have to get used to the buttons on the "wrong" side. Why is that anyway?


Notice the patio? Remember this?

The patio is almost finished! Yay! In other news, in my other sewing blog, I'm doing a feature every Monday on fantasy sewing, choosing a pattern for sale in my Etsy shop, and then picking 3 or so different fabrics on how I would make it up. Come on over and take a look. Click here for today's installment!


Finally, a close up of the blouse:

Roland said that it looks better on me than it did on him! I was a little worried about it looking too masculine, so the sparkly necklace (doesn't look so sparkly here) is a nice touch.

The "Wedding Dress" In Action

Last Friday (11-11-11) I attended the wedding of my niece, and wore the Vogue 1252 Tracy Reese animal print dress. I opted for sheer hose, "caged" platform pumps from Talbots, and bracelets and earrings from 2 of my Etsy friends.


I'll let the pictures do the talking.

with husband, Roland

shoes from Talbots

Leather bangles from Amy Fine Design

Earrings from Kristria Designs

with daughter, Laura, in a Ralph Lauren sequined dress, and Michael Kors leather jacket (all scored with great deals at a Virginia Macy's per Laura)

Laura, me and Channing Brauer, girlfriend of my nephew

my mother-in-law, Carol; sister-in-law, Kim; me; Channing; Laura; Laura's husband, Thomas

Of course, my arms look strange in most of these pictures, but all in all, the dress was really comfortable. I didn't end up tacking any of the gathers, as recommended by the pattern. It just wasn't necessary. Quite an exciting and fun evening!

Vogue 1252, aka The Wedding Dress

I'm kinda loving calling it The Wedding Dress. So much easier than the dress that I'm wearing to a wedding I've been invited to. I'm going to show it to you, but remember, this is just about the dress, not about the styling. The complete look will have to be revealed later.


Starting with the back. The neckline was gaping a lot.

That fence heading down the hill is really messing with me. Seems like there's a lot of leaning going on. I used a zipper that has the little crystals, and wow, it is not straight. I'll have to remember that when I get dressed for the wedding... make sure someone straightens me up in the back. I put darts in the neckline and ripped out the shoulder seams after first taking off the facing (which was bad news). I think I pulled up 4 inches of extra fabric that was gaping.


I haven't decided yet between sheer black hose or black tights, so pretend like that's what you're seeing instead of blinding white legs. Also, pumps instead of loafers.

I haven't tacked the drape across the front yet and not sure I will. It's supposed to be pulled down over the boobs, but with the busy print, I don't think it really makes any difference in look. And that's it.


Hmmm, the dogs kind of match my color scheme, don't they!


Oh, other than shortening the sleeves and lengthening the bodice, I didn't make any other fit changes, cutting a straight 14. When I lengthened the bodice, for the back pieces, I only lengthened the sides, leaving the center back the original length. That took care of the sway back alternation.


Not sure I'll have a better looking dance partner...

Twirly fun...

Have a great weekend! Hoping to have a new pair of clover pants to show off Sunday or Monday.

Wedding Dress Sneak Peak

Not that kind of wedding dress, sillies! But the kind of dress you wear when you are invited to a wedding. One that suggests you "dress to impress". And one that is TWO WEEKS from Friday.


Not too much pressure, but this Vogue 1252 has 63 steps. I've finished 31 and have 32 left, so yep, about halfway and it brings me to the skirt. Here's the top so far:

 Wanna see more? Me too. I'm off to a shopping trip to my favorite fabric.com for some more skirt lining. I bought the mesh as recommended for the lining, but for the skirt I just want some slick black tricot, for spinning drama if there is dancing.

Muslin Progress on Vogue 1252

The days are speeding by, and while I haven't done a countdown until our trip to the midwest, I'm feeling a bit of pressure. The Tracy Reese dress really has to fit well, so the other day I cut out a muslin using a horrible doubleknit polyester shiny thing. My actual fabric has a bit more stretch, so I'm keeping that in mind.


Anyway, I cut out a straight 14, and, well, let me show you another picture to get it in your mind.

I really had to plan the muslin, because I didn't want to make the entire dress, but the underneath fitted part. Does that make sense? So, full skirt... not making. Did cut out the sleeves, the left and right yoke fronts, and the upper back. Eliminated the drape from the left shoulder, and the bodice part that is all ruched. So, that just left the bodice lining.


I took a bunch of pictures, but most are just for my eyes only. Yeah... you just don't want to see these. That might make you think it isn't working, but actually it's really pretty good, and I'm only making a few changes.

#1... the sleeves are about an inch (maybe a little less) too long. Easy. The shoulders fit well, as does the bust area. I think the jersey will gather much more attractively than this hideous stuff. It might look ok in the picture, but it's actually scratchy.
#2... the bodice needs to be longer. Probably a couple of inches longer. The waistline is unbelievably high. Too much white flesh to show you below the cropping, but trust me, that's just about where the bodice ends in the picture.


And that's it! The jersey should stretch nicely, so even though my waist measurement is *ahem* bigger than the pattern, it's not an issue. And, I did the official technique of holding up the tissue to my body, and the skirt looks like a good length.


The goal now... get it cut out, and make some good progress by the end of the weekend. 

Piles of Sewing

When the summer sewing season ended, I made a long list of things to make in the fall. While it does seem like I haven't been sewing, I have been able to cross a few things off the list. Things you've seen: the half a crepe denim skirt, the red Lisette pattern skirt, the lime houndstooth violet, and a plaid shift from a vintage Simplicity. Oh, and let's not forget the plaid jasmine that I showed you yesterday. It wasn't even on the list. Of course, there was more on the list that has turned out to be wishful thinking.


But now, I have an occasion. One of those things with a definite deadline, AND a dress code. My husband's cousin's daughter is getting married on November 11 (I have a cousin whose daughter is also getting married on 11/11... do you sense a theme?). Anyway, for the sake of brevity, let's just call her Melia.


Like all the hip and happening couples getting married now, she and her fiance have a website. On it, they have a dress code. Bless their little hearts... they want us all to "dress to impress". No judging here, I'll just take it as a challenge.


This challenge has generated 4 piles of sewing:

I'm trying to be reasonable here. So if I get 2 of these done, I'll be happy. Three and I'll be thrilled. Four and, well, yeah... ecstatic!


What's the most important? The dress for the wedding. There are 2 there, but can you guess which one? If you guessed this one...

you'd be right! Do you think she'll be impressed? Anyway, I'm making a sort of muslin, and have it cut out... more on that tomorrow or Wednesday.


Thanks for all the jasmine love! Makes my heart warm!

Weekend Roundup #4, Days 23, 24, 25

The last weekend of September. Let's get right to the outfits:


September 23

Dress: Vogue 8553

Thoughts: I wore this dress for the first time back on Day 1, and it's a great one. We wandered around the Atlanta Home Show all afternoon, and it was perfect.

September 24

Top: Refashioned T-shirt

Shorts: peddle pushers from Talbots

Thoughts: Gorgeous, huh?! I don't think I even put any makeup on. I spent the majority of the day sorting through a new supply of vintage patterns that just arrived, and watching college football. For the record, Georgia won! Oh, the t-shirt? It was one of my son's and I inherited it, but the neck was always choke-y. I may have overcompensated with the new neckline, but it's great for home.

September 25

Dress: Vogue 8575

Thoughts: Great dress, I wear it a lot. 'Nuff said.