Friday, May 31, 2013

MMM '13: the final countdown

Yay, it's the end of May! Here's the last of MMM '13.

May 23: I think I wore this entire outfit already this month.

May 29: New dress! I'm so happy I managed to finish something else during May.

May 30: I really can't wait to wear something else.

May 31: Last outfit!

(The missing days were when I was in New York - I didn't include those days in my Me Made May pledge. Although I did wear the new dress one night.)

PHEW. I did it! It was hard - not the pieces, but repeating them so frequently. I like to spread out wearings a little more. If I do this again I'm going to need more me-made clothes!

Least worn: the pink and green skirt. I'm passing it on.
Most worn: the blue skirt, surprisingly. Probably because it was so cold at the beginning of May!
Hardest to style: the flowered shirt - I discovered that it doesn't go with any of my more summery clothes. I mostly only managed to wear it on the colder days when I could pair it with pants.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

The Sewaholic Cambie


This dress! THIS DRESS. I may never make anything again, other than this dress over and over again, I love it that much. I can't wait to try it again with the full skirt (although I'm totally thrilled with how the a-line fits).

It's the Cambie dress from Sewaholic. I did have to make a ton of adjustments to the top (full bust adjustment, add side darts, shorten front and back, take a tuck out of the back for my swayback), but I think it's a very well crafted pattern, and the dress itself was very easy to sew (even with a full lining!).

Of course, by the time I sewed the real thing I'd already made 3 muslins, so that might be why it was so quick...

The perks of custom fit: I think this is the first dress I've owned since I was 13 where the front waistband didn't end up sitting higher than the back. In fact, it's actually lower, because that's how my natural waistband is due to my terrible posture (aka sway back).

Also, I'm in love with the fabric.

So there you have it - it took 2 months, but it was totally worth it. I even got it finished in time to wear in New York for my parents' choir concert. And one day I'm going to have a closet full of Cambies.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

MMM '13 Week 3

 May 15: Apparently I forgot to turn on the lights!

 May 16: Tired of this skirt. I'm sure I'll get over it once I've had a few weeks away. :)

 May 17: I got a lot of compliments on this outfit - mostly on the pants and shoes combination!

May 18 (okay, and May 20): New shirt! Just in time.

May 21: I got the orange shoes back from the repair guy just in time - they go with almost everything I've made. You'll see them again.

May 22: In reality I wore the little white cardigan with this all day.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Shirt: complete!

Hello! I have, amazingly enough, actually finished the shirt I started back in March. I KNOW.

(Nice pyjama pants, right?) To catch you up on all the delays, there was the FBA I had to make that was far too roomy in the centre, requiring me to unpick the sash and figure out a workaround. There was the fact that this material is a complete pain to work with - the needle kept getting stuck in the embroidery. And then, right at the end, when I finally figured out how to the binding in the arm and neckhole (terrible instructions), my machine was too wimpy to sew through all the layers. I think it might be time to upgrade my machine.

I'm very happy with how the shirt turned out, but I'm unconvinced that it's really for me. I think if I'd tried it on in a store I might have put it back. It could use a little more width around the hips. But we'll see! I'm sure I'll wear it a bunch before the end of Me Made May, just so I have another shirt.


And now, I'm hurrying through my dress, which I desperately want to finish before I head to New York (next Friday).  I think it's possible, but there's always the zipper to throw me off.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

MMM '13 Week 2

 May 8. Am I standing funny or are my breasts really that lopsided?

 May 9. I really don't mean to cut off my shoes in these photos. They are cute yellow sneakers.

 May 10. It's a good thing it cooled down again, because this shirt only seems to go with my fall and winter clothes.

 May 11. If nothing else, this is forcing me to wear this skirt in ways that don't involve trying to match the orange thread.

May 12. Yes, it's true, I wore basically the same thing on Saturday and Sunday, with the exception of legwear in honour of the giant HAIL.

 May 13. Monday morning, too tired to stand up. I liked this combo. It's cuter when you can see the shoes.

May 14. I didn't like the shoes and swapped them for boots. I miss my lost mary janes.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Me-Made-May Week 1

Day 1. As you can see by the backwards writing, I was still attempting the mirror shots. :)

 Day 2. Look, I learned how to use the self-timer!

 Day 3. Forgot my sign - I made the skirt. I took this photo after work, so I'm a little wrinkled.

 Day 4 (weekend). I never wear this skirt. It's pretty obvious why when I look at it - I look twice as short as normal. I might try to shorten it, although frankly I think I might just get rid of it. And the shirt, too, really. Super unattractive all around.

 Day 6.

Day 7. I said on Twitter that jean skirts make me feel like I'm 12 years old. They're so useful, though.

I have one more skirt that I haven't worn yet, and then it's back to these! We'll see if I can manage to make them more interesting next time around.