Mini-Me-Made-May Officially Started

Yesterday. It was a day of travel, so I opted for total comfort, and wore this ol' thing:

I originally made it in 2011, but this spring felt like the arm holes were too gape-y, and just sewed the side seams together more. Maybe not the official fix but it worked. [Edit: I made it in June 2010! Time flies, right? Vogue 8575]

The picture was taken outside of Red, Hot and Blue, a favorite BBQ joint in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Today, was a very casual, and slightly hot day, so I wore the black kwik sew shorts and the cotton voile jasmine top, both made last year. [oops, let the record show that I made the shorts in 2011!]

We are concluding our visit to the Pentagon Memorial, which is very moving and well done. Blue t-shirt behind me (son, Kyle) and the rust t-shirt (husband) spent at least 15 minutes discussing how the significance of that concrete wall works. The design of it does have some significance. I'll link to it when I sort out how linking works in blogsy.

So... links to all things linkable will come later. I am still a certified blogsy beginner, aka "wow, I am so slow at composing anything on my iPad."

Posted with Blogsy

New Black Shorts from a Frankenpattern

Chihuly Update: Yesterday evening there was a hailstorm that hit Dallas, and specifically the neighborhoods that included the Arborteum.

View more videos at: http://nbcdfw.com.

Only one sculpture suffered damage. Read the entire story here.


Back to the Shorts!


Just to refresh your memory from yesterday, here they are again:

The basic pattern I used was Kwik Sew 3614, and this is the 3rd time, so I've got the fit down pretty good. The thing that I was never quite satisfied with was the pockets. Behold the new pockets and see if you can guess which pattern I used (I used a flash and fill light to enhance some of the details on the black twill):

Did you guess? How about now:

If you guessed the Colette Rooibos Pattern you would be right! But wait! Isn't that a dress? Yes, but the piece for the pocket area worked great. Basically, I took the original front piece for the shorts:

It's kind of hard to see, but overlaying the Rooibos exterior pocket section piece, I traced the top, curved line, and the right edge, indicated by the left and right arrows. The center arrow indicates the cutting line for the top portion, to the waistband piece that is sewn to the (not seen) pocket facing. I used the Rooibos instructions for sewing assembly.

I did want to preserve my original pattern piece though, so I traced new pieces. The right center piece did have a seam allowances added running down the left side:

Again, the curved pocket piece I used is the original Rooibos piece, shortened to the length of the shorts. Yes, there is a seam from the waistband to the hem that is completely off center, but with my black fabric, it's not noticeable at all. Or at least minimally noticeable. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments, and check back for a reply directly in the comments.


Check out the cute lining:

Weekday Roundup #3, Days 20, 21,22

September 20

:

Dress:Butterick 5450, blogged here.

Cardi and belt: Talbots

Shoes: Dk. Brown Naturalizers

Thoughts: I really like this dress. Comfy, fits well. Except I didn't wear it much because I hated the gapping in the front pleat. Here's a better pic of the pleat in a non-gappy state. It only stays in that non-gappy state when you aren't moving. I turned it inside out and did a line of handstitching, securing the bottom 2 layers of the pleat, and voila! Now I'm happy. Do dark brown shoes go with black accessories? I kinda think so.

September 21

Top: Vogue 8151

Thoughts: The eating and drinking challenge. Well, taking a picture of it. Eating and drinking is never really a challenge for me. Bad hair day. Lovely dinner of veggie burger, baked sweet potato fries and white wine. The cows in the background? Roland likes to collect folk art and this painting is a recent acquisition.

September 22

Top: Boden

Shorts: Kwik Sew 3614

Shoes: Mephisto

Thoughts: The longer I've worn this outfit today, the less I like it. The top is too big and has a tendency to slip forward, making the low neckline even lower. Ugh. I have a white cami underneath for modesty's sake. The shorts are fine, but do they even go with the top? Plus, I'm kinda cranky today.

Weekday Roundup #2, Days 12, 13, 14, 15

September 12

Dress: Butterick 5181, blogged here.

Shoes: Sofft

Thoughts: This sundress is comfortable enough, and fits pretty well, though the bodice is kind of weird. Not visually, looking at the picture, but more of a weird feeling when wearing. And it's really... flower-y. Maybe better suited to spring and early summer.


September 13

Top and belt: Talbots

Skirt: Simplicity 2211

Shoes: Sofft

Thoughts: I still need to write about the construction of this skirt, but it's really comfortable, fits well, and this is how I imagined wearing it. I think the belt really finishes the look, and I have a lot of black tops for fall and winter, so add tights and boots, and I have a year-round skirt.

September 14

Top: McCalls 5522, blogged here.

Shorts: Kwik Sew 3614, blogged here.

Thoughts: These are two pieces in my closet that have gotten lots of wear this summer. I find chambray to be a fabric that can go with so much, and the shorts are seersucker, the perfect summer fabric here in the south. It's water theme day over in the flickr group, and while I'd love to be at the beach, my journey with water today involved the washing machine and dishwasher. I turned on the sprinkler for the pic, and got a rainbow for a little decoration.


September 15

Top: Colette Patterns Violet

Skirt: Talbots

Thoughts: This is Violet's debut, hot off the sewing machine just yesterday. I'll do it's own post about some of the construction, but it's made of a quilting cotton that has a little green houndstooth pattern. Click on the pic to enlarge and see it.

But, a fitting question...

Do you see those diagonal wrinkles leading from the yoke to my armpits? I have a couple of ideas on how to fix them, but what do y'all think? Wider bottom piece with more gathering? Deeper armholes? The sleeves are a titch tight, and I'm wondering if that is contributing to the pull. Ignore the bad tucking in job, I've had this on all day, hence all the skirt wrinkles, too.

Weekend #1 Roundup for SSS (days 2, 3, 4)

I haven't quite worked out how I'm going to do my "roundup" posts, so bear with me just a bit. For now, here's what I wore Friday, Saturday and Sunday (the days that get the weekend designation).


Friday, September 2

Probably the self stitched garment that I've worn the most. I made it last year. It's Vogue 8575, and I originally blogged about it here.


Saturday, September 3

I went to Dragon*Con with my friend, Lisa (on the right), and wore the skirt I had just finished making on Friday! We're supposed to be Thelma & Louise... you'll have to use your imagination. Tomorrow I'm going to blog about the Dragon*Con experience, so be sure to check back in for a few crazy pictures! In the meantime, the skirt is Simplicity 2211, and it's so new I haven't even blogged about it yet.


Sunday, September 4

This was supposed to be a "stay in and sew" day for me, and a work on the path for Roland. Unfortunately, that machine on the right had a malfunction, and while Rol valiantly tried to fix it, he was not successful. So there it sits. And I'm still standing in dirt and not on the granite chips that are in Friday's picture.


Anyway, I'm wearing my "muslin" shorts made from Kwik Sew 3614, originally blogged here.


Oh, yeah. I did get a new dress finished. Maybe I'll wear it later this week!

Kwik Sew 3614 Shorts

I never got around to blogging about these shorts, a second pair of Kwik Sew 3614. You can see the first pair here. To make the second pair, I tweaked the fit just a bit. They are perhaps just a wee bit tight in the waistband, but they aren't uncomfortable, so I think they're just fine. I give them a Wearability Index of 8!

The fabric is a cotton/poly blend seersucker from fabric.com which I underlined with a white cotton. I underlined for 2 reasons: 1) the fabric felt a little too lightweight for shorts, and 2) seersucker has a bit of stretch, and I thought it would give the shorts more stability as the day goes on. I didn't underline the waistband, but used the cotton (a single layer) as my interfacing. Oh, yeah, the pattern is Kwik Sew 3614 (duh).


Ok, now that I've gotten the boring technical part out of the way, let's get to the fun part. I hated the pockets on the first pair (which I do wear a lot, have 'em on right now), and the back was just boring. It's a wide expanse that could use some embellishment, right?


For the front pockets, I traced around a patch pocket that I really liked on a skirt that was headed to Laura, made a pattern, and voila!

Can you see it? I love the way it blends, but is still useful. For construction, I cut out 2 of the blue, and 2 of the white cotton, put them right side together, and sewed the curved edges. Turned them RSO, edge and top stitched the opening pocket edge and then lined up the side edges and top edges and edge and top stitched the bottom curved line. Easy!


Now for the back I wanted to try making welt pockets, and I decided on single welt. I've made bound buttonholes and so the step of practicing I totally felt was unnecessary. I also checked out some tutorials online, and consulted my Vogue Sewing Book and Singer Sewing Book, basically looking for the best pictures.


Then I decided to go for it! I had enough seersucker to cut out another back piece if I totally screwed up. So, how did it go? The welt part is easy. It was the pocket bag that was confusing me, and the first welt pocket is actually stitched shut. I'm not planning to actually use these back pockets, so I left it. And I'm still not sure how it happened, but it was a valuable learning experience. Here's how they turned out:

Can you tell which one is sewn shut? No? Neither can I. And I'm really happy with them. For placement, I consulted several pairs of capris and trousers that I currently own.


And here's how they look on me:

Kind of hard to tell, but I really like the detail. And for the record, the one tutorial that I didn't use because I remember she had one after I finished, was the one I should have started with. Sherry of Pattern~Scissors~Cloth writes excellent tutorials. She calls them jets instead of welts. Go figure. I'll head there first next time.


So, what about you? Do you throw caution to the wind with a new sewing technique, or do you practice first?

Catching Up on Me Mades -- June 23, 24, 25, 26

June is almost over, and just thought I'd catch you up on the last 4 days. Bear with me. There's not too many days left. And there's something new.


June 23

Top: Target's 2010 Liberty collection

Skirt: Butterick 5466

Photo secret... I had to dig this out of the laundry bin on Friday because I just wasn't up for picture taking on Thursday. MMJ fatigue?

June 24

Top: Vogue 8151

Shorts: Kwik Sew 3614

Mini-challenge animals: Teddy, some sort of setter mix and Danny, perhaps a corgi/shepherd mix. Both rescues.

I've worn the shorts and the top this month, but not together.

June 25

Dress: Butterick 5173

I wore this back on June 6 next to the pool of our beach house rental. Now it's the last Saturday of June, and I'm at home doing Saturday stuff. Not really the same vibe. Danny does love to be in the photo though.

June 26

Top: Land's End that I've had forever

Shorts: Kwik Sew 3614

News Flash: new shorts!! Same pattern, different pocket details. Better fit. Well, they are a little snug, but I'll work on that, more from the inside than the outside. I'm going to do a longer post on it on a future date.

I think that's enough for today. After 27 days of wearing clothing that I personally made, I've learned a few things about what I make for myself, for better and for worse.

Three More Me Made Days...

...or are you bored yet? I still haven't done any sewing yet this month, but I do hope to remedy that very, very soon. In the meantime, how about the last three days of me mades.


June 18
We decided to celebrate Father's Day on Saturday by heading to the baseball game. Added bonus was that the Atlanta Braves were playing the Texas Rangers, and my mom, who is still visiting, is a huge Rangers fan. It was hot and humid, so I wore the only pair of shorts that I've made. You've seen them before. With the added excitement of a 2 hour rain delay, we really got our money's worth.

The aliens were ready to land.

Top: Ann Taylor

Shorts: Kwik Sew 3614

Convenient that both the Braves and the Rangers wear blue and red. The drunk girl sitting next to me snapped this pic. Can you see my navy shorts? The top is from Ann Taylor, but I did hem it.

After the rain.

June 19

Father's Day, and my mom, Roland and I headed to church. So, here's a problem with any wardrobe, me made or RTW. When you go on vacation and eat too much, nothing really fits when you get home. This dress is no exception, and has the added problem of being extremely overfitted, especially across the bust. You can see the dress in a better fitting day here. The white cardigan was a defense against the A/C, and I really love the little green Coach purse with the pink.

Dress: Butterick 5353

Just home from church, and the dress was quickly exchanged for a complete RTW outfit.

June 20

This top. Oh, I want to love it. I want to even like it, but even with wearing a tank underneath, I was fussing with it all day. I do like how it looks with the white skirt, which is from the now defunct Harolds. This was at the end of a long day of shopping, but the skirt was *ahem* just as wrinkled when I put it on.

It's ironic that I bought quite a lot of stuff at the Talbot's sale today, but there are still some gaps in my wardrobe.

Top: Butterick 5328

Skirt: Harolds

Surprise! To balance out the RTW from Talbots, mom and I went to Whipstitch to spend the Groupon I had purchased earlier this year. (paid $20 for $40* worth of merchandise... woo hoo!!)

*If you think there is more than $40 worth of merch there, you would be right.

Crescent and Shorts

The crescent skirt is finished!! Actually, I finished it yesterday, but I'll do the full reveal when I give it to Laura and can get some pictures of her in it. I love the voile fabric. It almost feels like silk. But about the zipper. I might give this technique one more try, but I'm just not happy with the outcome. It does look ok, but it's not really hard to get way better results. And I do love the crescent skirt, and how flattering it is, and how easy it is to make (zipper aside). A sneak peak of just the zipper:

If you're participating in Me Made June, you're probably well aware that June is just around the corner! The gaps in my wardrobe are screaming, so I've been sewing like crazy! I won't show you everything before June, because there could be some boring days full of repeats, but suffice it to say there are a couple of "not my usual style" kinds of things that I'm really loving!

One thing I will show you, that I'm pretty excited about is the pair of shorts I just finished. I haven't really made any pants successfully, so I was a little nervous about this project. I chose Kwik Sew 3614, and read the reviews on Pattern Review. Several said the pockets pooched out, but I got my cocky sewing attitude on, and thought "not MY pockets". *sheepishly* Here's ya go:

I used some cotton twill from my stash, that has a teeny bit of stretch. I felt like these were kind of going to be a "muslin" of sorts, and while the fit is pretty good, it does need some tweaking. For one, my next pair will have some different kinds of pockets. I've got a cute idea for them, so stay tuned for that. Next, the shorts are a little big, so taking in on the sides will be necessary.

I think I'll also attempt some welt pockets for the back on my next pair. And I'll make them a skosh shorter. Finally, there's the issue of the rise. Here's the skinny. I traced the size Large. But I have a super short rise in the front, so after tracing the large, I had the tracing tissue over the pattern, and simply traced the XS (yes, EXTRA small) waistband line, extending it out to the side seams. I took out an inch in the back to help the side seams match better. And it still seems like there's a bit too much fabric at the crotch level. If I pull them up as high as they want to go, they are an inch over my belly button. Oh, my. So, a bit more tweaking there, but that's it!

I'm loving the waistband, too. I don't/won't usually wear my shirts tucked in, but this doesn't really look too bad.

Finally, I finished a top today, that I'm not 100% sure about, but I'll talk about it tomorrow. Do you want a sneak peak though?