Wrapping Up Self Stitched September

Yes, September is over, and so is my self stitched blogging. I have a few more days to "reveal", but wanted to do a little navel gazing about the whole thing. Let's start with that since the days that are left, well, you've seen the outfits already. So, the thoughts:

• the posts are not nearly as interesting to my followers. I apologize.
• September weather is very, very similar to June weather here in Atlanta which means I'm still wearing the same things.
• by September, I'm pretty much over those things that I'm wearing, no matter what their origin.
• that means, I'm even more tired of taking my picture in those same things.

That's about it. Let's see those days we're missing:

Monday, September 26

Top: Talbots

Skirt: Half a Crepe

Shoes: Mephisto

Tuesday, September 27

Dress: Vintage Vogue 2006

Belt: Talbots

Shoes: Via Uno

Thoughts: I wore this dress back on the 8th with a different belt and different shoes. I kind of like the monochromatic look with this belt.

Wednesday, September 28

I had a doctor's appointment, and wanted to wear the lightest thing possible for the dreaded weigh in where I'm not allowed to take off my shoes thing. Yep. Call me crazy, but that criteria didn't fit the things left in my closet that I had made.

Thursday, September 29

Thoughts: ok, getting really, really lazy here, but I made the top, and the skirt is my crescent skirt, so I made that too. Originally, way back on the 1st, I thought it would be fun to track the progress of Roland's big landscape/hardscape project. Unfortunately, today is the first day there was any change and the month is almost over. But you can see he rented that machine thingie, and the path is done.

Friday, September 30

Thoughts: This is actually a rerun picture from the 6th. But I did wear the same top on the last day. Different jeans though, and different shoes. And it wasn't raining. But I had a friend from Texas visiting for the weekend, and I totally forgot to snap the picture from the last day. Do you sense a little apathy? Well, I just want to thank Zoe for an awesome idea for bringing sewists together, for making us think about what we sew for ourselves, and why, and how to make these things work out in the real world!

I've got some new stuff coming up, so please come back for the newness! I miss my followers and their wonderful comments!

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.

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.

Half a Crepe

Do you ever have the picture of something you want to make in your head or that you want to knock off? I just could not find the skirt pattern that I wanted to make for a simple A-line, and while I felt like I could just draft it myself, past efforts had been unsatisfactory. Sad, I know.


Then Patty, who seems to be my inspiration for many a project, made a wrap skirt from the skirt portion of her Colette Patterns crepe pattern. Why didn't I think of that? I had already done the fitting, and while I'm not crazy about the crepe dress I made, it's mostly because of the top. I love the skirt part.


Then comes dilemma #2. I have a piece of denim fabric that is only slightly longer than a yard. And I don't want to make a denim pencil skirt. I knew it wasn't big enough for the wrap, but I could use the front piece for the back as well. After playing around with the layout I had no other choice to cut it cross grain. Good news is that this particular denim has little to no stretch, so that's not a factor. So in the vein of "only her hairdresser knows", that's what I did.


I did shorten it considerably, both because I wanted it to be shorter, and that's all the fabric I had. I think I should have made it about an inch longer (which was possible), but I am still super happy with the results!!

Top: Vogue 8649, blogged here.

Skirt: half a crepe

Shoes: Via Uno (completely broken in, thank you very much)

The specs:

• I used topstitching thread for jeans in a double line down the front and the back, and around the waist
• wide bias tape for the waist facing, and no waistband
• the waist also has a nearly invisible row of dark blue top stitching to secure the bias tape
• a side invisible zipper
• coverstitched the hem, using the same thread as the waistband
• the hem is only 5/8" deep
• it's unlined, but I made a quick tricot half slip to wear when it's cold (and so tights won't stick to it)

When I want another simple a-line skirt, this will be my TNT.


How about a few more pictures?

The topstitching

Back view (I was worried about the denim being too stiff, but it looks like it's draping well.) P.S. I hate the way the back of this top looks, which is probably why I don't wear it that much.

Finally, Roland MADE a necklace, and bought me some new dichronic glass earrings on his recent boy's trip.) I don't know why I'm making such a goofy face.

Weekend Roundup #3, Days 16, 17, 18

September 16

Top: Colette Patterns Sencha

Jeans: Talbots

Shoes: Tsubo

Thoughts: I made this Sencha blouse last year from some vintage silk that came from my Mom's stash, but I hadn't ever worn it, and Friday seemed like the perfect day. The weather was a bit on the cooler side, so jeans were not too hot. Oh, I did have to self stitch a new hem on these jeans. The perils of being short.

September 17

Top: Butterick 5046, blogged here.

see Sept. 18 for the rest.

Thoughts: True confession... I took this pic today and sort of "recreated" Saturday's outfit. By sort of, I mean, I put on the top, but that's it. It was the only self stitched piece anyway. It started out as a cool day, so pretend you see this top over a brown Old Navy tee, and the jeans and shoes I wore on Friday. By noon I was broiling, and cast this off for the end of self stitched Saturday.

September 18

Top: Butterick 5495, blogged here.

Capris: The same old ones I always wear. Are you sick of them yet?

Shoes: Crocs

Thoughts: I didn't even leave the house today, so this was it. That explains the shoes.

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.

Vintage Simplicity 6385 and the SSS 11 Weekend Roundup #2

Today, I've got a full post because I want to tell you about the making of Vintage Simplicity 6385, the shift dress that I wore yesterday. Let's start there and work backwards, 'k.


September 11

Yesterday was the debut of my version of S6385. I bought this pattern recently when I lucked out with a bounty of vintage patterns. This one is missing 2 pieces: the back and armhole facings, both of which you can either recreate, or just do without, using bias binding. It's also missing the peter pan collar piece, but I didn't care about that anyway. Not sure if you can see, but this is a size 12, bust 32, and the copyright is 1966. I'm, however, not a bust 32, so let's see what I did.


After tracing the original, it was time to grade up, but I decided to do a tissue fitting first. Turns out, that across the chest, I didn't really need to do anything except lengthen by about an 1". The rest, I needed to add width.

The black line sort of represents the original, the red, the changes that I made (very roughly). Starting from the top, I lowered the neckline, narrowed the shoulder, and lengthened about an inch. For the back, I did the same, but did not change the back neckline. From there, I added overall width, and shortened the length. I made a muslin, and ended up not needing quite as much width as originally thought.


I drafted new neckline facings, both front and back, and opted for bias binding for the armholes. And I eliminated the ruffles.


The result:

The fabric is a stretch cotton shirting from fabric.com. AAnnnddd, it's a shift. Not too exciting, but actually a dress that really fits into my lifestyle. Here's a back view:

Yep, that's how I look from the back. With a little more styling, the look improves. I really like it with a belt, and I had on a wooden bead necklace earlier, but at some point must have taken it off.

I'm not sure if I'm a jumper girl, but I think it could even work as it got colder with a turtleneck, tights and boots.


For the rest of Self Stitched September weekend roundup, Friday and Saturday looked like this:
September 9

Top: New Look 6981

                     Skirt: Sewaholic Crescent

Shoes: a replacement for the bad Target shoes.

I wore this outfit for a road trip south to Macon to deliver some "fancy" clothes to Kyle who has pledged a fraternity and needed his suits and dress shirts for the Wednesday night meetings. It's a comfortable outfit, that is also presentable. The skirt is a rayon that doesn't wrinkle much.

September 10

Top: Vogue 8392 (made from a Liberty for Target scarf)

Shorts (my grandmother would have called these peddle pushers):

                             Talbots

Shoes: Clarks Indigo

This was an errand running morning, all leading up to a sewing and college football watching afternoon/evening. Kind of dorky, but I like to wear team colors (red and black!) and this outfit fit the bill. I've got the red in the earrings. Sadly, it didn't help us win. 

Weekday Roundup #1 -- Days 5, 6, 7, 8

These last few days have been a bit rainy and gray, and actually cooler than the entire summer. But who am I kidding? It will get hot again!


September 5

Top: Simplicity 2211, blogged here.

  Capris: Ann Taylor, several years old.

Shoes: I don't think I wore shoes all day.

This was the rainiest of the week, as the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee rolled through. My dancing partner is Danny, wearing his "thundershirt". He loves it! But I'm not convinced its helping with his dislike of thunder.


Thoughts:
The top is a twill, so a little bit hot in high summer. Today it was perfect. One weird thing about the top... when I first put it on, it feels a bit constricting, but as the day goes on, I stop noticing the feeling. Weird.




September 6

Raincoat: Amy Butler Raincoat, blogged here.

Top: Vogue 8536, blogged here.

Jeans: from the Gap, and they're at least 10 years old.

Maybe older.

Shoes: Merona from Target.

Thoughts:
The sleeves are a bit short on the raincoat, which is kind of annoying. The top has been in heavy rotation this summer. You may see it again. And the shoes... these are the most uncomfortable shoes I own, or at least in the top 5.


September 7

Top: Vogue 8151, blogged here.

Jeans: the same one's as yesterday. Yep.
Shoes: Liz Claiborne black flats. Better than yesterday's.



Sorry for the horrible picture. It's been gray most of the day, and lightly raining on an off. Blue sky has been spotted.


Thoughts:
You can't really see what the top looks like unless you click through to the original post. But it's one that I do really like.  The coverstitching has some issues, and I'm afraid that it will just start to come out unless I do a bit of repair work.


September 8

Dress: Vogue 2006 (vintage 1960s), blogged here.

Belt: Talbots

Thoughts: This is the first outing of this dress since I did a bit of remodeling. And with the belt, which totally improves the look. Other remodeling included taking off the front pockets, and removing the hand done top stitching that ran down the side seams and pulled them up oddly. Today was delightful weather, in the upper 60s F, and this dress is perfect. I underlined it with tricot, so it's a bit warm for those hotter days. My only other complaint is the too high neckline. Choking!

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!

Day 1 in a New Dress -- Vogue 8553

I finished this dress over a week ago, but I wanted to unveil it today on the first day of Self Stitched September... happy September, everyone!

This is a dress that I really should have read the reviews on Pattern Review because I might have made a few different changes. As it is though, I started with the 12 for the shoulders, and then graded out for the front pieces to size "Ellen". The skirt is pleated, so I just made the pleats a little less deep. I didn't make the self-fabric tie. I hadn't planned to anyway, but looking at the pictures on Pattern Review, all the ties just looked a little sad and limp. I made one other addition... you'll see that in a bit.

Why am I standing in the dirt? Well, to make the SSS '11 pictures just a bit more interesting, I thought I'd take the pics here in the space where my hubs is making a new patio/seating space in our backyard. Right in front of me is a huge pile of dirt that he has dug out of some other spot. You can watch the progress with me. Fun! Wearing heels was a bad idea.


So. Several of the other V8553 makers over on PR commented that the "V" in the neckline is really low. Mine was already started, so I thought of a different solution:

Can you see it? You can click on the picture to enlarge it. I made a thread loop on one side, and added a cute button that matches the light blue spots perfectly. Without the button, I get this:

Va-va-voom! Might be a good dress for a date night!


I think this dress will be a great transition into fall piece, changing it up with different belts and shoes, and adding a cardigan or jacket. Even a pullover sweater would be cute.


If you've read this far, fear not! I'm going to post my SSS '11 pictures twice a week, Thursdays and Sundays. New items will be revealed on other days, and Wednesdays will still be Wilma day.

Self Stitching Again

I've been on the fence, fellow sewists, about the Self Stitched September. I made it through Me Made June quite successfully, but I haven't done a lot of sewing this summer. Or rather, it seems like I've sewn a lot, but don't have much to show for it.


Anyway, the badge is ready, and I've decided to jump on the wagon again. September here in Atlanta can seem just like August. And July. And June. Hot. But yet, when getting dressed, you are sick of the summer outfits, and ready for fall. There is the added possibility (hope?) that it will get a little cooler as the month winds down. This should provide plenty of opportunities to style outfits that are comfortable during the heat of the day, but still work with the impending fall season, and perhaps a cooler evening or morning.


Plus, Kyle will be back in school, and I'll need to keep busy. So. There you have it. I'm joining in. I've added the badge to the sidebar as proof, but here it is again.



And here's my pledge:


'I, Ellen of  http://itsasewinglife.blogspot.com/, sign up as a participant of Self-Stitched-Sept '11. I endeavour to wear at least one item that I have either self-stitched completely myself, or have refashioned, each day for the duration of September 2011.'