New Pavlova Skirt & Renfrew #5

It's a holiday weekend here in the US....wishing everyone a thoughtful Memorial Day here. I have the day off, and with family scattered far and wide today, it's me and the dogs. I briefly considered shopping, but decided to play the anxious recluse instead. I do suffer from time to time a bit of free floating anxiety, mostly as a result of things beyond my control, and there are several facets of my life right now that fit that description.

Anyway, enough with the soul baring... a few weeks ago I made Pavlova circle skirt #2 from some wonderful cotton shirting from Gorgeous Fabrics. Yesterday, I finished my 5th Renfrew t-shirt, this time making it sleeveless with a modified cowl collar. The fabric is a modal knit from fabrics.com, which was like sewing on kleenex, and just about as sheer. I've got a white cami underneath, and see this top more as a winter layering option. We'll see.

The only changes made to this version of the skirt were to make the waist slightly smaller, and the length a wee bit longer. Oh, I did make the belt, too... for another dress. 

And the dog... he would not leave me alone, and was in every picture, mostly trying to lick me in the face. And my attempts at the spinning of the circle skirt pic... impossible because he apparently thought it was some kind of game wherein he was required to jump on me. Good thing he's cute!

Mini Me Made May 2

Today is my 2nd day off this month, hence the title. I won't have another day off until my vacation starts next week, so this was the day to finish a couple of big sewing projects. Those will debut during the vacation, so tomorrow you'll get a peek of at least the hem. It's a shoe thing.

Anyway. Today was sewing and laundry, with a brief outing to the grocery. That meant super casual, and this me made outfit totally fit the bill:

Sewaholic Renfrew blogged about here.

Denim skirt, made from Colette Patterns Crepe, blogged here.

I'm standing in my sewing studio. Do you like my red sconces? They used to be brass! Technically, I guess they still are. I really need to do a post about them.

It's a bit of a mess, but I'm actually getting ready to finish the hem, so this is more than just a posed picture. On the TV behind me... the last disc of Season 3 of Dr. Who. I had to find out for myself what all the hoopla was about this show, and now I'm totally hooked! Besides, it's a great thing to watch while sewing.

Mad Monday Reveal: Lacy Renfrew

I've decided to change the Mad Men Monday thing to just a Mad Monday Reveal. Trivial, perhaps. Anyway, a few points of business.

First, I'm pretty sure all my readers know all about the Google Reader thing. I've signed up for Bloglovin', but haven't gotten the whole widget thing organized. Thankfully, we have a few months to get this worked out, but I've gotten the "Reader" blogs I follow already synced up with Bloglovin. OK, that's all I have to say about that.

The "Bangs/No Bangs" question. I'm going with bangs (fringe for all you non-American English speakers). Looking youthful trumps sophisticated at my age. Thank you for all your lovely comments!

Finally... a couple of weeks ago I whipped up a 3/4 sleeve  Sewaholic Renfrew. It's my 4th, but my first with this sleeve length. I hadn't planned to add the cuff, but without it, the sleeve was just at my elbow. Kind of an unfortunate length, frankly.

It's black jersey knit, with an overlay of stretch lace on the front, and the sleeves are just the lace. It will get a LOT of wear!!

Have a great Monday!!

The Bloggess' Book Signing

Just a quick post. Yep, I've been sewing this week. Yep, I've been emptying out cabinets in my kitchen. We're officially starting demolition there this coming Monday. Yikes! But tonight, tonight! I'm not one of those groupie kind of girls, but when I heard that Jenny Lawson was making a stop in Atlanta on her book tour, well, I knew I would be there!

And yeah, yeah, I'm wearing stuff I made, not that long ago. :D

My Name is Ellen and I'm a Sewaholic.

This post has SO much to cover and I'm sorry it's on a Saturday when, according to my stats, y'all just don't read blogs. Well, be that as it may... let's start with the mini photo challenge for Me Made May. An ugly place. Sad, but I didn't really leave my house yesterday, so I went trolling for said "ugly place" in my house. Found one.

Eeeps, please tell me you have a closet like this in your home. See that red bag in the lower right hand corner? I made that, oh, 20 years ago for Laura (you can see the "L", right?) to haul around her little girl stuff. It probably still has little girl stuff in it, I didn't check. Let's take a better look at my outfit though, and I'll tell you what I'm wearing.

Top: Sewaholic Renfrew Blue
Skirt: Sewaholic Crescent skirt... new!

OK, the new crescent skirt had some alterations, but this is my 2nd one for me, so I'll just direct you to the post for the first one, since I used the same traced pattern pieces. I've lost  misplaced the envelope, but I could probably guess that it says not suitable for plaids. Pshaw, I say! Well, not really, but I did try to make it work. You can see they kinda sorta match along the side seam, and if my hand wasn't in the pocket, you would see that the pocket (which I had to piece because of a fabric shortage), also kinda sorta matches. Where the trouble comes is in the yoke. Exhibit 1:

The curved seams in the side fronts and backs are just NOT going to match completely. No way, no how. But I can live with it, and I'm mostly going to wear my shirt untucked, so there you have it.


Let's just get today's outfit(s) out of the way, too. I'll call this:


Day 12


Did I mention we're about to renovate our kitchen? I think I did. Anyway, it's got to be emptied, and this morning my job was the pantry. After breakfast, I just got right to it, and, guess what? My pj's are "me made" (well the pants anyway).

Look. Empty pantry. Hmmm, don't think I'd brushed my hair yet. Those pjs are mostly self-drafted. You'll be happy to know that just before lunch I managed to shower and get dressed for, you know, possible lounging around on a Saturday afternoon. Or more likely, emptying a couple more cabinets at least.

The dogs let me squeeze in between them for this picture of me in my 2nd Renfrew and the denim mini skirt I wore on day 5.


Have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Renfrew 2 and Renfrew 3

I love this pattern! I think this is the first time ever that I've used the same pattern 3 times in less than a month! The Sewaholic Renfrew tee shirt is officially a TNT! The 2nd and 3rd versions were short sleeve V-necks. I made it just like the first one, size wise, and only raised the v-neck 1".

Meet the Renfrew Black Stripe. I had this blue ITY knit left over from making a yoga skirt, and was hoping there was enough for something else. It was, but I didn't have the length for the front bodice without cutting it in half (or thereabouts). I didn't make the stripe go all the way around because I just didn't want to bother with matching. I know. Lazy. Biggest design change... no sleeve band, and I lengthened the sleeve just a bit.

The Renfrew Pink. I used a jersey knit from fabric.com, possibly a bamboo. It's pretty thin, but making it a little bit loose helps avoid seeing all the lumps and bumps. I love this color, and will be wearing this a lot! Can't see them too well, but I did use the bands on the sleeves this time.


I've got more knits waiting to become tees, but currently under the needle is another Colette Jasmine top with a couple of twists. I should have finished it yesterday, but Roland bought me an iPad. Um, not much got done after it arrived...