Alma Blouse Reveal

And the Theme(Last)Friday in the flickr group. Last week, the mini theme for the Me Made May flickr group was to show off your hometown, and I was stuck working, but today presented the perfect opportunity.

I was stuck working last Friday, but I was off today, and spent part of it visiting the Atlanta Botanical Gardens with a friend. The current temporary exhibit is "Imaginary Worlds". And in keeping with my apparent usual "dog theme"...

I'm wearing my Sewaholic Alma blouse which I haven't formally blogged about, but here ya go. It's a great pattern, and I made the size 10 grading out to the 12, starting at about what would be an empire waistline... down to the hem. It's a great pattern, and a very quick sew. Admittedly, the instructions are a bit confusing regarding the zipper insertion, but I just did my own thing. I've worn the skirt a lot... most recently back on May 8. Always great to have a denim skirt in the wardrobe!

And my "hometown"... technically, my hometown is Dallas, Texas. [side note: Georgia has it's very own Dallas, not too far from Atlanta. Sad, but I usually have to add the "Texas" when explaining where I'm originally from when talking to folks here]. I've lived in Atlanta, Georgia since 2005. From the Botanical Garden, which is in Midtown, you can see a great view of the Atlanta skyline just beyond the trees.

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!

Shoe and Dress Update

Finally! The shoe decision was made, and yet I still managed to pack 4 pairs in my carry-on. And still wished I had my sneakers. But let's get to the dress first. You saw the picture on the mall and it was covered by the lovely green raincoat. How about the end result and just a few details (like what pattern is it, after all!).

Jacket: Vogue 8640. Originally blogged here. I shortened the length by 2" to make it less weird and somewhat wearable, but the honest truth is this is not a good shape jacket for me. Too boxy. I obviously forgot that I was not shaped like the drawing on the pattern... i.e., model tall and thin.

Dress: Bodice is McCall's 7569, a vintage pattern from 1964. Skirt is the Colette Macaron.

Fabric: from fabric.com. A cotton/linen blend designed by Valori Wells for Free Spirit. These 2 patterns were from the same collection which is a couple of years old, and now the remaining bits are on clearance.

The Starting Point:

 (which I had in my Etsy shop, but is now sold)

And my dress:

Many of the sizing changes were mentioned in this post, complete with pictures of the muslins, and the altered pattern pieces, so I won't repeat myself here. I will mention that instead of the ruffle from the pattern, I used self made piping from scraps from the jacket.

The piping went around the armscyes and the neckline, and down the back. Subtle, but I like it. Don't you love the birds?!

I tacked the crossover in the back just to avoid any gaping, though I don't think there would be any.

An alternate jacket (and possibly a better look than the jacket I made)... a linen Talbots blazer I bought a few years ago, that I don't think I've ever worn:

And the shoes?

Well, I wore the wedding shoes for the Friday graduation, but took them off after the walk to the restaurant. Those were seriously not walking through the city shoes. Last Sunday was drizzly in Washington, DC, and tromping across the Mall was way better in these closed toe, T-strap Naturalizers, with a sensible 2" chunky heel.

Finally... pockets!

Yeah. Barrett walked up to check out the photoshoot, and I was bracing for the "kiss".

Puppy love!

Me Made Continues

The vacation is over, but I have a few non-working days left in May on which I can wear stuff that I've made. Of course, my days off mean super casual. Behold:

Hair's a mess, minimal makeup. And apparently while I was on vacation, summer arrived in Atlanta. The heat is on! Top was made in 2010, and is a great summer wear. Seersucker shorts were made in 2011.

Last Mini Me Made Vacation Day

But not the last post about it. I definitely have ways to drag this thing out. For instance, the whole adding links thing. Edit: I've, with a little help, have attempted a few links. Fingers crossed.
But more than that, the last two days have debuted some new stuff.
Let's start with yesterday (Saturday). Side note...sometimes the weather does not turn out to be what you're expecting when you pack. It turned cool and rainy, and I really wished I had packed a pair of jeans. I didn't, so there was some layering and borrowing involved.

Top is a brand new Sewaholic Alma made on a white with red polka dot quilting cotton. In spite of what appears to be pulling across the bust, I love the fit. The skirt is a refashioned Colette Crepe. Black cardigan for warmth, and raincoat draped over my arm, Laura's (though it used to be mine).
We're visiting the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum.
Today (Sunday) was the main graduation for George Washington University.

Lovely weather.

This is the dress/jacket that I made to wear. Covered up with a stunning green raincoat. Shoes you haven't seen before... More on those another post. Well, frankly more on the whole outfit, complete with better photos.

Walking the grand puppies. Post graduation meant another outfit change. Me wearing my pavlova top with a RTW skirt. I wouldn't have chosen this combo if I wasn't out of other options, but I do kind of like it.
Synopsis complete. I'll add pictures to the Flickr group tonight, and work on some of the links in the next couple of days.
Stay tuned, and have a great day!

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A Celebration

Today has been a fantastic day! Sure, I wore a me made dress, but the reason I'm taking this little vacation and able to participate in the mini me made event is all about my daughter, Laura.

And, if I remember correctly, the Flickr group Friday theme today is "hat".

Congratulations, Laura, on your Master of Arts, Security Policy Studies from the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University!

Great hat!

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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."

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