Hello everyone! Dag iedereen! In the midst of my busy May month, I put together this dress. It’s quite lovely, no? I started cutting the fabric before I left for Italy to meet up with my parents, actually wanting to … Continue reading
If you haven’t heard already, Roisin of Dolly Clackett is getting married. To get the online sewing community involved in the celebration, Rhinestones and Telephones is hosting a competition, aptly named #sewdollyclackett. The rules are simple:
The contest will run from February 23, 2014, and close on April 23, 2014. Roisin will be our illustrious judge and award our generously donated prizes. Contestants will sew a dress (it must be a dress as Roisin is the Queen of Dresses) that emulates her style.
Als je nog niet hebt gehoord, Roisin van Dolly Clackett gaat trouwen. Om de online naaien gemeenschap bij te betrekken, Rhinestones and Telephones heeft een wedstrijd bedacht, met de toepasselijke naam #sewdollyclackett. De regels zijn simpel:
De wedstrijd loopt van 23 februari 2014 en sluit op 23 april 2014. Roisin zal onze illustere rechter zijn en gunnen ons gedoneerd prijzen. Deelnemers zullen een jurk naaien (het moet een jurk als Roisin is de koningin van Dresses) dat haar stijl emuleert.
I just had to jump on board. I am a sucker for a pretty dress, and I live in them in warmer weather. Roisin is known for her off-beat fabric choices, so once the contest was announced I knew exactly which fabric I would choose. If you follow me on Instagram, you already know which one I chose.
Ik MOEST mee doen. Ik ben een sucker voor een mooie jurk, en ik draag altijd jurken met warm weer. Roisin is bekend van haar unique stof keuzes, dus zodra de wedstrijd werd aangekondigd wist ik precies welke stof ik zou kiezen. Als je me op Instagram volgt, weet je al welke ik koos.
My only problem was, I haven’t sewn any one of Roisin’s favourite dress patterns! I did, however, go for an indie pattern – the Belladone by Deer and Doe, which I think she would approve of. This is my third attempt at this dress (see attempt 1 and 2). And I think I’ve finally figured it out! The darts are in the right place and the back doesn’t gape. WIN!
Mijn enige probleem was, heb ik niet een van de Roisin’s favoriete jurk patronen ooit genaaid! Ik dacht, ik ga dan voor een indie patroon – de Belladone door Deer and Doe, waarvan ik denk dat ze zou goedkeuren. Dit is mijn derde poging om deze jurk (zie poging 1 en 2). En ik denk dat ik het eindelijk snap! De darts zijn op de juiste plaats en de rug zit niet losjes. WIN!
I finally figured out how to fix my fitting problem with this dress. Instead of trying to add length to the bodice and then moving the dart down, I added length above the dart (let me know if you’d like a little tutorial on how I did this). For the back, I used this tutorial over at Lladybird’s blog to reduce the gaping at the top of the bodice back, and I also pinched out a centimeter on either side of the zipper to make the lower bodice fit. Also, I finished the edges on the back bodice pieces using bias tape, so hopefully it won’t stretch out over time.
Ik heb eindelijk bedacht hoe ik deze jurk passend kon maken. In plaats van te proberen om de lengte toe te voegen aan het lijfje en dan het verplaatsen van de dart naar beneden, voegde ik lengte boven de dart (laat me weten als je wilt een uitleg over hoe ik dit deed). Voor de rug, gebruikte ik deze tutorial op de blog van Lladybird over vermindering van het vergapen aan de bovenkant. Ik kneep ook een centimeter uit op beide kanten van de rits.. Ik heb ook de randen aan de achterkant netjes afgemaakt met behulp van biaisband, dus hopelijk zal het niet uitstrekken.
Now that I have it all figured out, I am excited to try different variations of this dress, like adding a pleated skirt or narrowing the shoulders or lowering the neckline. I’m wondering if the chardon skirt can be attached to this dress…
Nu dat deze patroon heel goed past, vind ik het boeiend om verschillende varianten van deze jurk te proberen, zoals het toevoegen van een geplooide rok of verkleinen van de schouders of het verlagen van de halslijn. Ik ben benieuwd of de Chardon rok past op deze jurk …
But before that, I must start on my bridesmaid dress for my sister’s wedding. Starting with a muslin, because that’s just the right thing to do…
Maar eerst moet ik mijn jurk maken voor mijn zusje’s bruiloft. Ik ga beginnen met een muslin, want dat moet je gewoon doen…
Congratulations to Roisin! And good luck to the other contestants!
The deets:
Pattern/Patroon: Belladone by Deer and Doe
Size/Maat: 40/42
Fabric/Stof: 100% cotton/katoen from the stash
Notions/Fournituren: thread, biastape, zipper, all from the stash.
Cardigan/Vest: Zara
Shoes/Schoenen: Irregular Choice (of course I had to wear my irregular choice shoes for this shoot!)
Unfortunately, it is easier to list my misses than my hits this year. Some of it has to do with fit, and some of it has to do with sewing mishaps, and then there’s losing interest and moving on to new projects. Without further ado, here are the misses of 2013, in no particular order.
Black and White Cordova: A missed opportunity, in a way, because when I wrote this post early in the year I said I only had to add lining to the sleeves. I have yet to finish this jacket, and the more I look at the pictures the less I want to. I don’t think it fits too well, actually.
Pink Sureau: This photo shows exactly why I hate this dress. It bunches up around the upper bust. And you can see the bust darts come up way too high. I even held a giveaway to get rid of this pattern! I wore it only twice: to take these pictures and one day for MMM13. Someone in the comments mentioned I probably need a FBA, so I suppose I will try to master that in the new year.
copycat challenge dress: Why is this a fail, you may ask? If you read my post, then you know how much I love this dress. Well, when I attached the skirt to the bodice, I didn’t extend the zipper into the bodice. So I am afraid to wear this dress and break the waist seam, as it is already ripping near the zipper.
Laurel contest entry: I’m not a fan of this make at all. I wore it only for the photoshoot. I tried to be all creative and shit for the Laurel challenge and by copycatting a cool, colour-blocked shift dress I found on the internet. I think the fit is a bit too loose for my liking and the block in the front makes my boobs look enormous. I was, however, super stoked at my sewing skills getting around those tricky corners.
Other (unblogged) misses include:
– Redvelvet dress from Cake Patterns or as I like to call it, saggy side boobs: I was pumped for this dress from the get-go. However, the bust pleats ended up at the side of my boobs instead of in the center of them. I’m pretty sure it’s an easy fix but I just don’t feel like it… The good thing about this project is I found out my boobs are low.
– The Ava dress muslin disaster: After taking the time to do a FBA, even tediously photographing the process to make my first tutorial, when I actually went to sew the muslin, it was an epic fail! I went with the larger size for my upper bust (a size 6 instead of size 4, even though it would end up being ½ inch too big), and then completely forgot about it when doing the FBA, therefore adding about 3 cm more than was necessary. I also completely forgot that most bodice darts are too high for me, so when I made the effort to make the bodice muslin (out of a slippery cheap satin, I might add), I tried it on and almost cried. So much for a last-minute New Year’s Eve dress… The only thing good about it was that I had remembered to add length to the bodice – 7 cm of length….
– Skinnified Thurlow trousers: Making wide-legged trousers is not as easy as it looks. Fitted through the hips and upper thighs, and beyond that turned into a disaster. I already tried to take them in myself, but I actually need someone to help me pin them. It’s not easy tailoring on your own!
What were your sewing misses this year? What have you learned from them?
Happy Holidays Everyone!
I shall be joining in on the top 5 lists for 2013. I have been experiencing a bit of a creative block as life has creeped upon me the last few months, so I haven’t really been sewing or blogging in that time. In October, I defended my thesis, then ended up having to hassle a few teachers to get my grades in by the end of the month, but missed the cut-off by a few days. I officially graduated on November 4th and went to the ceremony at the end november even though my diploma wasn’t ready, because my mom flew all the way from Canada to join in on the festivities. We had a lovely couple of weeks together hanging out, watching movies, and shopping. We even went to the infamous christmas market in Germany.
So on that happy note, I shall get into the top 5 Hits.
#5: Vogue 8651 tunic: I did not blog about it, and I did not take any pictures of it, but I made the sleeveless tunic for my sister-in-law and she wears it almost every time I see her since I made it for her birthday in August. I also made her a different tunic for her birthday last year and she wears that a lot as well. My brother-in-law tells me that she wears the things I made her ALOT, so I definitely consider this make a win.
#4: The Rebecca Taylor design dress (Vogue 1152): This dress doesn’t fit perfectly, and maybe I didn’t use the best fabric for the pattern, but I really like it anyway. I can wear it in the summer, or in the winter with leggings and a long-sleeved tshirt underneath. I am a big fan of versatility (and dresses!).
#3: The retro-print, stash-busting Briar: This is probably my most-worn me-made make of 2013. I absolutely love this top. It is super comfortable and (imho) looks good too. I made two other briars in two different sleeve lengths, but I like the long-sleeved one the best because I am cold more days out of the year than not. There are also two more in my sewing queue – one for me and one for someone else. And I might just use up the rest of my knit stash for briars…
#2: Purple and green polkadot belladone: The Belladone from Deer and Doe is quite possibly my favourite pattern. Even though there are still fit issues (ahem, do a bloody FBA already, Joanne!), I love this dress! I love purple on me, and I coveted this fabric for almost half a year online before I bought it at a fraction of the cost at the bi-annual fabric fair in Leeuwarden. And don’t forget that green piping! I feel as though this garment was kind of an aha moment. It only took me 15 years to figure out that my torso is 4-6cm longer than commercial pattern bodices!
And the #1 hit of 2013: The not-so-retro dress. It just goes to show how important a muslin is! I shall never make a fancy dress from a new pattern again without making a muslin first. This dress fits me like a glove! I got a lot of compliments on the dress, and had fun doing the crazy photoshoot with my best friend back home in Canada.
What were your hits for 2013?
Hello everyone!
I have this crazy idea of starting my own indie pattern line. It’s totally crazy because I’ve never taken a pattern drafting or design class but reading about some indie pattern designers on the internet like Dixie DIY and Closet Case Files gives me hope!
My idea is to have a line of knit dresses…. that you can mix and match! I have a few self-drafted patterns which I mix and match myself and I just love having options. Plus, knit dresses are amazing! They go together so quickly and mistakes are easily hidden by knits.
The question is, how on earth can I offer a line of mix and match bodices and skirts??
That is where you, my lovely readers, come in.
I have created a short survey (less than 10 questions) asking you about how you would like to see this project take shape.
I would really appreciate if you would share this survey on your facebook and/or twitter. I will be forever grateful! Plus I am offering a small token of my gratitude to one lovely survey-taker. A €10 (or your currency-equivalent) gift certificate to the online craft/sewing supply store of your choice! I know it’s not a huge amount, but I’m a recent graduate with student debt and I would really like to start my own company.
To give you a little idea of what kind of patterns you might expect, here are a couple of my self-drafted makes from me-made-may. So you do the kimono sleeved bodice with the A-line skirt or the patchwork top with the bubble-ish skirt, if you know what I mean.
So you’d really be helping me out by taking this survey and sharing it with the world. I hope you like this idea as much as I do!
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/92XWSG2
It’s fall, so pattern companies are introducing new patterns. I am especially interested in what the lovely indie pattern companies are doing. Aren’t you? With their beautiful instructions and great fit.
Most patterns I’m really excited about but some patterns I’m very underwhelmed by (I’m looking at you, Colette patterns). So I thought I’d give a roundup of all the indie patterns that I’ve seen. Maybe some of them you haven’t seen yet (I doubt it, though). Plus you’re getting my two cents on each one. You can click on any of the pictures to be taken to the website.
Zinna by Colette Patterns
Let’s start off with the one that is irking me the most. I’m sorry but I can’t get behind this pattern. The one pictured here is the one I dislike the most. The chiffon one with lining, that one looks pretty, but nothing I can’t find in one of my back issues of Burda magazine. If you’re handy with patterns, I think you could easily make it yourself with a couple of rectangles and a fitted waistband. I gravitate more towards the Kelly skirt or the Beignet skirt for a skirt with buttons.
Hawthorn by Colette patterns
I was just added to Colette’s mailing list a few weeks before Hawthorn’s release. I was so excited because I really love their designs. I was a little bit disappointed by the Laurel, as I just don’t think it looks very flattering on me, although I saw a ton of beautiful versions in the Flickr group. But I was definitely underwhelmed when I saw this dress. I thought it could just be the styling on Colette’s model, so I waited until a few versions popped up in the blogosphere. Some were beautiful, but most I didn’t like too much. I think shirt dresses just aren’t my thing. But I do love the half-circle skirt!
Aupebine by Deer and Doe patterns
This dress is so adorable. Since I made that apron of mine with the pintucks, even though they’re really annoying to sew, they look really cute. This is definitely high on my wishlist. I think first I will make a tunic of sheer material to wear over a slip and leggings.
Red Velvet by Cake patterns
I’ve never been so excited for a pattern release before. I liked the tiramisu from Cake, but I never purchased it because I kept thinking it was only so-so. But this…. This is really quite lovely. You have some options for the bodice and skirt, plus you can go crazy with colour or print blocking if you want. I’ve heard great things about the fitting of Cake patterns, so I think I won’t be able to contain myself when it’s released (there’s no release date yet; I’m hoping end of september/beginning october).
Virginia leggings by Megan Nielsen
I’m a sucker for leggings. I have a pattern from McCalls and they were way too low rise for me. I’m happy that Megan included both high rise and low rise in her pattern. Plus they’re available as a PDF download. Instant gratification! This is definitely coming up in my sewing queue after my unselfish sewing is finished, for which I’m actually using a Megan Nielsen pattern for! I’m making the maternity skirt for a pregnant friend of mine.
Dandelion dress & top by Disparate Disciplines
I was one of the kickstarter campaign investors, so I got this pattern for ‘free.’ I really can’t wait to try it out. It’s got really interesting seaming along the side, and you’ve got a lot of options in just one pattern: a top, a dress, and different necklines. I think it would be great for job interviews with a blazer over top. She’s also got a ‘pay what you want’ cami pattern that was recently released. Also very pretty.
Anna dress from By Hand London
Ok, not so new, and they’re coming out with one or two patterns shortly (Georgia and Polly, I believe). But I just had to give a shout out to the By Hand London ladies for taking the blogosphere by storm! I’ve been seeing multiples shoot up on many blogs. I am also a fan! I want to make the short version with an asymmetrical v-neck.
Asymmetric Kimono dress by Ralph Pink
I thought I’d add this pattern by Ralph Pink. If you haven’t heard of this pattern company yet, go check it out. Not that their collection is all that new. Kazz the Spazz wrote about their jumpsuit a few months ago. There’s some interesting stuff over there, especially if you’re into making corsets. The 2013 collection has some cool looking designs that you can have fun with colour blocking, like the jigsaw dress. I haven’t tried one yet, but I find them to be very reasonably priced.
So, what do you think? Which fall patterns are on your wish list? And did I forget to mention any new patterns?
*disclaimer: all pictures are copyright of their respective owners. I’ve used them here for illustrative purposes.
I am so terrible for not posting this sooner, but I’m going to have to say ‘sorry, not sorry’ after reading this blog post by So, Zo. I’m not sorry that I have a life in addition to sewing and blogs. But I do thank all my readers for following me and posting all of your lovely comments.
So, a couple of months ago, I was nominated for an award by Sally of Sally Bee Makes! 😀 Thank you Sally, again. Sorry it took so long to get up this post (sorry, not sorry).
Hello everyone. Again I’ve been neglecting my blog, however I think I’m not the only one because it is finally SUMMER and we are all going on vacations and spending time in the sun. Amiright? Myself included. I went back to Canada for a couple of weeks, this time with Mr. Livana, who hadn’t been there for 3 years, since my accident. So he figured it was high time he showed his face. So it was less of a vacation and more of a howmanypeoplecanwevisitin2weeks? Let me tell you, the trip did not start off well (for Mr. Livana).
Wait, let me back that up a little bit. About a week before we were scheduled to fly, my hometown, Calgary, FLOODED. I don’t mean a puddle in the street. I mean, like, thousands of people being evacuated and houses floating down the river, flooded. I mean, making international headlines flooded. The whole downtown (city center) was flooded, with some places without electricity or phonelines for weeks. Luckily, most of my family is “poor,” thus not owning riverfront property. Only two family members were evacuated, and didn’t sustain damage to their actual property, though one was without electricity. My sister also works downtown and wasn’t able to work for quite a few days, and once she could go to work, they had electricity but no phone lines.
Highway 1, the main highway running through Canada, was partially washed away in the direction of the mountains. And we were planning on driving to the mountains with my friends the weekend after we arrived. But construction workers worked day and night to get the highway open to non-commercial vehicles within about a week, so we were ok to drive! Which was great, because the Canada Day long weekend (the weekend of July 1) always brings a lot of traffic into the mountains.
Our friends had to work until late, so we didn’t get on the road until 22:00 on a Friday. But it was good because most of the long weekend traffic was gone. Mr. Livana had volunteered to drive that night, and we made it to the Days Inn in Golden within about 3 hours. When he got out of the car, he said “I don’t feel so good” and when we got to the hotel room, he continued to say that until he ran to the bathroom. He threw up several times that night, including once in the sink when he woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t quite make it to the toilet. Poor Mr. Livana’s weekend was also ruined by the fact that he needed to find a bathroom about every hour to empty his bowels. His diet consisted of pedialite and immodium for much of the trip. It’s really too bad, because we stayed at an amazing resort in Kelowna, in an apartment/condo for the four of us complete with kitchen, a large tv, bathroom with jacuzzi tub connected to our room, and the pool a stone’s throw from our balcony.
But we did end up doing some fun stuff, like visiting Mission Hill winery and having a fancy dinner there. That’s where I wore my new Kelly skirt by Megan Nielsen patterns, which I paired with a Banana Republic top that is not unlike the Datura blouse by Deer and Doe patterns (which makes me want to make one now, but I can’t because the pattern is out of stock until the end of July).
The skirt is made out of a dark grey fine corduroy. And the pockets are lined with the New York fabric from my Ginger skirt. I will not say that this skirt was a dream to sew because it WASN’T.
This project had its ups and downs all around. The first few steps were a breeze, just sewing straight lines to attach the pockets to the front, and sewing the side seams. Oh yeah, I was flying. But then I didn’t follow the instructions, which no where tell you to tack down the pockets, but I did it anyway thinking I was smarter than megan nielsen. So when it came time to set in the pleats, I couldn’t figure out why it was bunching up the *&?% pocket. Until I let out the basting at the top and then it was a breeze again. (this also happened over at Ginger Makes while making her sister’s Kelly Skirt).
Then when I was attaching the waistband, I didn’t pin down the pockets, so I caught one of them in the bloody stitching and had to unpick a good chunk of it. *TACK DOWN YOUR POCKETS PEOPLE!* And by the time I sewed down the waistband, not all of it was caught on the inside, but I stopped giving a shit and just left some of the raw edges sticking out. GAH.
And those button holes…. *^$#@^ All I can say is at least I had the foresight to practice first. I hadn’t done a buttonhole in years, so I figured I better make sure it looks ok. That was a nightmare. Mostly because I think after 10 years it’s probably about time I get my machine serviced. I couldn’t get it to do the ends right. So after about 8 attempts, I figured out that I needed to change the width to do the ends, which worked on MOST of the buttonholes in the end. But there is one buttonhole in the middle that has a really fat line because my machine didn’t want to turn back to the narrower width apparently. So, yeah, my machine should probably go in for a checkup sometime soon.
This winery had amazing food, which cost as much as a night at the resort, but since we don’t do it every week (or every month, or EVER), it was a delicious treat that we all thoroughly enjoyed. We got the matching wines for each course as well. It was the last night, so Mr. Livana joined in, guts be damned!
Things started to look up the following weekend. We had a BBQ at my (soon to be) brother-in-law’s place near the mountains on Sunday, then we went to Drumheller with my parents on Tuesday. I wore my Kelly Skirt again, this time ‘dressed down.’ But I must say, it did not travel too well. Sitting in the car for almost 2 hours and the top and bottom button both came undone. It was uncivilized! But it looked pretty cute, no?
But the next day we got some really bad news. Mr. Livana told me that our kitty was going to die. Before we left, he had been having problems eating and going to the bathroom. We took him to the vet and they said he was pretty healthy except for a blockage in his intestines and an inflamed kidney. They gave him laxitives over a weekend, gave us some antibiotics and sent him on his way. So while we were in Canada, he got a bit better, then stopped eating again. Mr Livana’s parents were taking care of him, and took him to the vet only to find out that his kidneys had shut down and that he was going to die. It was devastating. We made the decision to put him down before he got any worse. They could have kept him alive for the next few days until we got home, but his quality of life those last few days would have been nothing. Our poor little kitty was only 2 years old. Coming home to an empty house was hard. We both miss him a lot.
Korban, our little kitty
Hello lovelies. I was MIA for almost two months from the blogosphere. I hardly kept up with reading my sewing blogs, people! I flew to Canada for 2.5 weeks in May for a family affair. My grandparents were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and we were in for quite the shindig. My sister was in charge of organizing, so she had delegated loads of tasks to every member of our family. When I arrived, two weeks before the party, there were still lots of little things to do. My cousin was in charge of a photo presentation, but my Oma’s (grandma’s) photo albums hadn’t been scanned yet. Since everyone else was working, I had the lovely task of scanning almost 200 old photos from my grandparents’ family and their wedding. Let me tell you, scanning is quite the long and arguous task. It took me two afternoons of scanning, plus another full day to touch up the photos in photoshop. So I sent the jpgs off to my cousin, and in the meantime, my sister and her got into a tif about the presentation, my sis blaming my cuz for not caring about the presentation, and my cuz accusing my sis of leaving everything to the last minute. Of course, no one is phoning with each other, it’s all going through texting, which is the reason this all started because texts do not show intonation, but they do allow you to write things you may not say in real life. Oh dear, the drama! In the end, it all worked out of course.
So in the midst of all the preparations and visiting family and that, I didn’t give myself the time to take pictures every day. I shall remind you of my pledge before I get started with the pictures: I, Joanne of Zoe Livana, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ’13. I endeavour to wear a handmade or refashioned item each day for the duration of May 2013. In addition, I endeavor to make a pair of pants or skirt (hopefully both) in May 2013.’
Day 1: refashioned threadless tshirt
Day 2: a UFO brought to life!
Day 3: 3/4 sleeve Briar top
Well, I never said I was going to take photos every day! haha. I actually thought since I was repeating outfits that I had gotten everything, but now that I’m going through it I see that I have not. I missed my polka dot Rebecca Taylor dress and my long sleeved Briar top.
Day 4: Two tshirts into one refashion
Day 5: threadless tshirt refashion
I got to wear a lot of my threadless tshirt refashions. I really love the prints at threadless, but I don’t always want to wear tshirts, so I bought some XXL tshirts and converted them into dresses. 😀
Day 6: Colette ginger skirt
Day 7: Deer and Doe Sureau dress
Day 8: Military-inspired Burda jacket
I wore this Burda jacket almost every day of this month. I really love it! But I have a sad story, a cautionary tale if you will. I prewashed the shell fabric, but not the lining because I thought it was just a regular old polyester satin. I WAS WRONG. I washed the jacket at the end of the month and now the hems are puckered because the lining shrunk. :(((((( So, ALWAYS PRE WASH YOUR FABRIC EVEN IF YOU THINK IT’S NOT GOING TO SHRINK.
Day 10: threadless tshirt refashion.
Day 11: At the airport wearing my comfy Briar top
May 11 is the day I left for Canada to visit my family. You can tell, because my Me Made May pictures suddenly get very sparse.
Day 11: threadless refashion
I seriously do not trust Dutch hairdressers! I have been to see quite a few, and every single time, they cut off way more than I ask for. I ask for a trim, a couple of centimeters, split hair removal, and it always ends up being about 10cm shorter. So I’ve been cutting my own hair. So it was a treat to get my hair cut in Canada and get EXACTLY what I asked for. Well, except for the styling perhaps…
Day 13: Burda jacket and Deer & Doe’s Belladone
Day 16: threadless refashion
The above photos were both taken by professional photographers. The first was a family photo shoot because it’s been years since we got one done, taken by the lovely Anna Michalska. The second one was taken in a ghost town, Dorothy, Alberta, by my best friend N. If you want to see some cats beer posing, go check out her blog.
Day 18: another threadless refashion
Day 21: Belladone 2.0
Day 25: A Knipmode dress from issue april 2013
May 25 was the anniversary party and this is the dress I wore!!! I shall blog more about it soon. My friend took some pictures and then her computer crashed and she lost all of her data. 😦 I was waiting for her to send me some cool edits, but luckily she already sent me a few pictures, which I will post sometime in July probably.
I also slipped up for 3 days! Those were the days I returned home and I was far too jet-lagged to bother to do laundry, so I had no more comfy me-made shirts (i.e. my briars) to wear. I just pulled on a pair of sweats and threw on a tshirt and called it a day. Which, I guess points to another gap in my me-made wardrobe: comfy pants. So I kind of missed the dramatic ending on Flickr. I was busy catching up on my sleep!
And I also didn’t really fulfill my goal to make a pair of pants or a skirt. Instead (surprise, surprise) I made two dresses, the last two pictures (one of them already blogged here). I guess my Ginger skirt kind of counts, because I made it after my pledge, but it just happened to be the end of April and it took me just one day from start to finish. Actually, I did plan on making another ginger skirt from a nice chambray I scored in my home town for $4.50/m. Instead I did things like go to my sister’s boyfriend’s house for a BBQ and get my friend to take pictures of my new makes.
Well, I hope you all had a great Me Made May, those of you who participated. I know I did! But I must say, I’m glad to be wearing my store bought clothes again.
Thanks for stopping by!
I have been pretty busy these last couple of weeks. I’m really trying to finish off my thesis before I leave for Canada in two weeks, or at least have a very good first draft, because the end of the school year is drawing near and if I don’t finish, well, let’s just say I’ve taken long enough to finish my masters. No more excuses! And when I’m not working on my thesis, I’m sewing, or doing something sewing-related. When I’m uninspired to write, I’ve been tracing patterns. I’ve traced the Ginger skirt, the Ginger bodysuit, and the perfect nursing top all in the last couple of weeks.
And in non-school and non-sewing news, I have another new nephew! He was born on Monday and I got to visit him on Tuesday already. I went to visit him and his proud parents along with my partner and his brother, girlfriend and their son. Everything went well with the birth, so the parents were very relaxed and we all got to take turns holding him. The only problem with this picture is now the pressure is on for us to be next. But we are not ready to be next!
I made a couple of tops for my sister-in-law that she wore all through her pregnancy. I love that she appreciates what I made for her. So I sewed up a nursing top for her from Megan Nielsen’s maternity line.
That box in the corner is my UFO pile.
However, I’m a little bit nervous that it won’t be very good for nursing. I ordered the fabric online, and I didn’t read it very carefully. The fabric I used is a jersey voile, therefore SEE THROUGH. Not very modest for a new mom, is it?!. Thankfully, I also ordered a brown jersey that matches perfectly, so I used that to underline it. In doing so, I think some of the stretchiness was compromised. They are both only two-way stretch, so they weren’t very stretchy to begin with. If I make it again, I’ll make sure to use 4-way stretch instead.
I just hope that she loves it enough to wear it anyway! The dressform isn’t pregnant or has post-baby belly and it looks great on it, doesn’t it? I hope it is something that she can wear post-nursing as well. We’re going to their place next week to build a fence since they also recently moved into a new house. So we’ll see…
Summary:
Fabric: 1.5m jersey voile, 1.5m polyester jersey
Notions: thread
Hours: about 3-4 (underlining takes extra time!)
Cost: The fabric cost €12. I know, I’m supposed to be stashbusting, but I can’t help splurging on others! I used my standard black thread though. I get 1000m at a time, so I don’t go through it so quickly.
Make it again?: Yes! I’m already making another top for a friend. Also not too stretchy… oops. It’s the thought that counts, right?
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