Hmmm

I'm not convinced by this one. The fact that I finished it a week ago and haven't worn it yet says a lot to me. It just doesn't fit right. I did do a muslin, but I was focused entirely on the bust (which worked out quite well, thanks to this tutorial: Gathered bodice full bust adjustment). Here's a little secret. I'm a lazy musliner. I do the basics, but I don't go as far as zippers and buttons. I did get as far as putting on one sleeve - a giant puffed sleeve which I promptly rejected in favour of these slightly fluttery ones. But because I didn't properly fit the closure, I didn't notice that it didn't totally fit around the hips, or in the shoulders.

 

I don't know why I didn't think to make the two adjustments I made so successfully with the Cambie (swayback adjustment, and an inch off the bodice length). It's too bad, because those are exactly the problems. Note to self: FBA, swayback, and bodice length! Every time. Maybe one day I'll figure out how to do that before the muslin, even.

The thing is, I'm not sure it's a great style for me anyway, at least not around the neckline. Doesn't it look better without the collar? (And it would look even better without the sunburn.)

 

So, all in all, unconvinced. I'm going to make myself wear it next week and see how it is in real life - with that skirt, I think; it perfectly matches some of the flowers in the pretty yellow fabric. 

Upcoming

I've traced my next pattern, but my scissors are off being sharpened, so I can't get started. Instead, I poked through my pattern and fabric stashes to see what's next. What's actually next is TROUSERS - I figure if I start them after this shirt I might finish them at some point in the winter. If I'm lucky. But after that! So here are a few options.

I bought this silk blend in New York at one of the few fabric stores that was open on Memorial Day. There are 2 other projects in the book before this shirt, though, so it'll have to wait.

I bought this random piece of overdyed paisley at a garage sale. I have visions of making a summery top with wide ribbon straps. That's right, I'm going to attempt making my own pattern ("pattern"). I suppose I should do that before summer is over.

Owls! I haven't looked closely enough at the pattern to see if the owls would be right side up. And I don't have quite enough fabric for the length I want. But I'm going to see if it works.

I want to try another Sencha.

 

I'm not convinced this random soft material will work for this shirt. Maybe the top view?

I also have a few other pieces of patterned material. Most of the rest of of my patterns are for dresses, though, and none of the fabric has enough yardage. I guess I need to go shopping!

Break's over

Well, that was an unplanned sewing break. I blame summer - even with air conditioning, I find it hard to have enthusiasm for anything in the summer. Even reading! But we're having a few cooler days (bliss), and suddenly things seem interesting again.

Which means I finally managed to finish my skirt. HOORAY.

I blend into my living room. I'll have to remember this outfit if I ever need to hide in plain sight.

The skirt didn't turn out quite like I expected - based on pattern art I thought it was going to sit at the waist, but it sits quite a bit lower. The yoke is kind of oddly curved, too, and I'm pretty sure that's the pattern, not me (see how it comes up again at the side seam?).

I do like how swishy it is, though. The cotton voile I used for the lining is very soft, so it's quite comfortable to wear. I think the white kind of wiped out the funkiness of the pattern in the fabric, sadly - you can kind of see it in the picture below, but mostly it just looks lime green. And it's longer than I had planned, so I might re-hem it. Maybe. If I ever get the energy.

So, what did I learn? I figured out how to add a lining when there isn't one in the pattern - very useful! I also learned not to sew the lining too far into the zipper tape, or else the zipper will be hard to close. Oops.

All in all, a very useful summer skirt, even it's not exactly what I thought I was making. And it perfectly matches the awesome Miz Mooz shoes I just bought (which many people pointed out today, hee).

Sewing beeeeeeeees

Have you heard about the Super Online Sewing Bee? I suppose first I should ask if you've heard about the Great British Sewing Bee, aka look! there are people sewing on tv! Best thing I saw all year. And now there's an online version - 10 sewers, 5 challenges, lots of prizes. I can't wait to see it all play out.

There's also a "play along at home" component. I wonder if I could manage to do any of the challenges? There are prizes involved! And more time than the official competitors get, heh. I'll have to see. The first challenge has been posted, but I STILL haven't finished my supposedly easy skirt. :)

Summer skirt

After all the fitting and finishing of May, I wanted to do something simple for Jume. Okay, really I was secretly hoping to do two quick projects in June, since I'm one project behind for the year. In any case, "simple" means a skirt, since I don't have to make a toile or any alterations. Therefore:

 

Front, back, waistband, zipper. Done! HAHAHA. First, I realized that the fabric was really light and a little see-through. Whoops. So I decided to add a lining. And then I saw a cute version on Pattern Review and decided to add the pockets. This, as it turns out, was a terrible idea. Not only is the pocket pattern badly made, with markings that don't line up, but they looked horrible once they were on. Like some sort of pocket-y jodphur. 

I'm currently in the middle of picking the pockets off. I think it'll be okay - because the fabric is so thin, it got a couple of small holes just from the stitches, but they're not very visible. And then I think I have to attach the lining - I'm kind of making it up as I go along! Thank pete for the internet.

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.

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.