FFFO: Stripy Seersucker Blouse (& MMM Update)

Well, here it is at last! I started this blouse over a year ago--maybe even two, I can't even remember. It's a perfect example of why my sewing moves slowly!

Forehead apparently less important than pasty ankles

The pattern is Simplicity 2501, view C:

While I love the peplum, that collar and those sleeves are just plain silly. So I forged my own path there. But the biggest effort went toward pattern matching. I had a vision of chevrons, chevrons everywhere! Of course, my vision conveniently excluded the entire weekend it would take to match all those stripes. But it was worth it:

Perfectly matched in front

And in back

The seersucker was kinda sheer, so I underlined the entire blouse with a poly-cotton batiste to avoid the stripes showing through. Sadly, that'll keep me from wearing it on hot days this summer. :(

For the collar, I drafted (if you can even call it that) a simple convertible collar. Taking a cue from Gertie, I made it 2" wide. If I had it to do over again, I would go for 3" to help it lie flatter.

For the sleeves, I gave a go at replacing the pleats called for in the pattern with simple gathering and added cuffs to contain the gathers. It worked, but the sleeves are very poofy. Next time, I'll just use a different sleeve pattern.

This is a fun shirt to wear, and I'm really glad I finally finished it. But let's not forget the most important lesson here: If you ever want to finish your project, don't incorporate a half dozen techniques you've never done before!

MMM Update:
For the past couple weeks, I've pretty much just been rotating outfits that I already posted, so I haven't bothered taking pics. Here's one outfit that I'm pretty sure is new:

I went the sporty route because of all the housework I had going on. Over the next couple days, I'll be posting more outfits that involve as-yet-unblogged creations!

Holy Geez, I Have a Lot of Fabric (& MMM Days 9 & 10)

I just got back from the laundromat, where I prewashed and dried this load of cottons:

These fabrics will feature heavily in the 20 garments I make for the stash-bustin' pledge. Sadly, this is less than a quarter of my entire stash. (Stitchas be shoppin'!)

Yesterday was pretty chilly in Chicago! So I wore the only skirt that doesn't get stuck on my tights, with my rust-colored Renfrew:

The tights change the tone of my legs from "vampire white" to "albino vampire white"

But today it's 10 degrees warmer! Awesome!

Red Renfrew with gray Ginger (and Anthro cardi)

And tomorrow it'll be 10 more degrees warmer, which I could do without. But that's alright.

FO: Red Renfrew (& MMM Days 6-8)

For the seventh day of Me-Made May, I wore my brand new red Renfrew!

Day 7: red Renfrew and denim Ginger with thrifted Roos
...and a weird Barbie doll pose

Have I mentioned that I love this pattern? This was my fourth go. I used organic 100% cotton jersey from Fabric.com. It's really soft, and seems to wear very nicely.

Has anyone else found the neckline stitching with a twin needle to be a little hinky? I had to do several tension experiments to get it so that the front wouldn't bunch and the back wouldn't be completely loose and catch on things. Here are some perhaps-not-very-helpful pics of my topstitching:

The outside view

The inside view (it's the top row of stitches)

Nonetheless, I can't wait to make more of these shirts.

Here are my MMM outfits for the last few days:

Day 6: Renfrew in rust-colored nylon and Ginger in gray broadcloth
(complete with wrinkles)

Day 8: altered Banana Republic shirt with twill circle skirt
and Bloch patent ballerina flats

OMG I CHEATED ON MMM!! I didn't technically make this shirt, but it's the only one I can wear with this skirt. And Zoe herself could hardly blame me for wanting this awesome skirt to see the light of May. Anyway, I did alter the shirt myself by shortening the bodice and sleeves, since BR apparently thinks that size-16 women are all 6' tall.

MMM is already 1/4 over. How crazy is that?

Yay, it's the weekend! (& MMM Days 4 & 5)

Mmmm, Saturday! I was delightfully unproductive all morning, and am now about to tuck into a sewing project.

On the docket for this weekend:

1. Finishing the seersucker blouse that I didn't finish earlier in the week.
2. Sewing a toile of the Colette Crepe, with lined bodice instead of those awful facings.
3. Knitting the sleeves of my Miette cardigan.

Since it's the weekend and I'm letting my hair down, here are some random thoughts going through my head:

• Seriously, facings suck.
• UFOs are several hundred times harder to finish than normal sewing projects. Stupid inertia.
• I'm not a huge fan of knitting on DPNs. My enthusiasm for the Miette has started to flag.
• Sewing buddies rock! I met the lovely Gail of Today's Agenda for coffee last night and we totally nerded out about sewing and knitting. It was awesome.
• I think I might have enough separates to get through Me-Made May without repeating any outfits. Haven't decided yet whether to actually try.
• With this morning's yarn.com order, I am officially at maximum yarnpacity. No more buying until I've finished several projects. (The order was warranted because I'm making a sweater for my bf so that I'll have an on-the-go knitting project. So I had to buy exactly the colors he wanted. Then I had to pad my order to get the biggest discount. So, really, I saved money. *rolls eyes*)
• I desperately miss my standing desk! I'm heading to Ikea tonight to buy the materials to hack one together. Sitting all the time makes me feel gross.
• The "sewing queue" pages that I've seen on some blogs recently are really cool. Might have to add one of those myself.

Here are my outfits from the last two days:

Sencha blouse in vintage poly and Ginger skirt in lightweight stretch denim

Renfrew test garment in lightweight nylon and Simplicity 7134 skirt in vintage double-knit

And finally: The world lost someone really fucking cool yesterday. MCA, you had more spice than the Frugal Gourmet. We'll miss you.

FO: The "Long Live the Queens" Dirndl (& MMM Day 3)

Honestly, are dirndls flattering on anyone? I made this one last year, so I could easily accommodate my fabric's massive zig zags. This week, I had to take it in 6" at the waist. Now I either need to wear it with a tucked-in shirt or basically a crop top. Tucking seemed like an option, til I tried it and threw up all over my mirror. So this one will just hang in my closet or be an around-the-house skirt. Not even gonna model it for this post, but here's a hanger pic:

We're having a really warm, summery day here in Chicago. And yet, I'm cloaked in synthetics. (They aren't bad, actually. Just seems wrong.) Here's me in a Renfrew and Simplicity 7134 straight skirt:

This skirt pattern got me through my heaviest times--at one point I graded the pattern up 4"! It was a very exciting day when I made this plaid number using the original, ungraded pattern. I even added ribbon to the waistband to make sure it wouldn't stretch. The fabric is a 70s poly double-knit, which I really don't mind using for skirts. And I love the plaid very much.

ps--I've totally fallen behind on my goal of finishing one UFO a day this week. But since I've now scratched the second dirndl off my list, I'm still in decent shape. And I'll be clothed tomorrow, which is what really counts during Me-Made May, amirite?

FO: The Glass Tiles Blouse (& MMM Days 1-2)

Here's the blouse I made over the weekend:

It's the Colette Violet, made up in Michael Miller's Glass Tiles cotton. (Oh yeah, look at that bedhead! I'm working from home today, so that shit ain't going anywhere.)

I liked making this blouse: it was quick and pretty painless. I left out the facings (I hate them--I really hope Colette stops using them at some point), and ended up botching the bias-bound neckline. It's totally wearable, just a little janky and needs special ironing. No biggie.

I'm not completely convinced about the shape of this pattern. It's obviously meant to be a kind of smock, but that's not too flattering. I may end up adding some darts at the front waist like Lauren did.

Anyway, here the blouse is paired with my denim Ginger skirt. And also my new Puma ballet flats! Why yes, I did have light grey and neon green shoes in my closet, just waiting to be worn with this blouse!

For the first day of MMM, I also wore a Ginger, in gray broadcloth:

This one was paired with a teal Renfrew made of some super-soft vintage acrylic. It was pretty comfy, though I totally underdressed for our Chicago spring weather.

Me-Made May '12: It's Happening

Me-Made May starts tomorrow! Here's my pledge:

I, Alicia of Iron-On Maiden, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '12. I endeavour to wear a handmade dress or blouse/skirt each day for the duration of May 2012.

Basically, me-made items have to be what keep me from getting busted for public nudity this month. At least, that's how I'm thinking of it.

Like I mentioned earlier, my wardrobe's been a bit of a challenge of late, what with the changing seasons and my changing size. Also, I burned two weeks knitting instead of stitching. Oops.

But I've got a plan! A plan to quickly round out my available clothing. And here it is:

Monday: Finish the Glass Tiles Violet blouse.
I started this over the weekend, and it just needs hemming and buttonholes. Here's a sneak peek:

Tuesday: Alter the "Long Live the Queens" skirt.
This is a dirndl that needs to be sized down 5-6". Of course, all that means is gathering the waist tighter and reapplying the waistband! I unpicked the waistband yesterday so this should go quickly. (BTW, this got its name because only gay men have ever complimented it--but in really unexpected stop-me-on-the-street ways. Bless them.)

Wednesday: Finish the stripy seersucker blouse.
Last year, I spent an entire weekend matching stripes and painstakingly cutting out pattern pieces. And then I just left it on a hanger to languish--tsk, tsk. It just needs some self-drafted cuffs, one buttonhole fixed, and the buttons themselves.

Thursday: Fix and finish the Cordy Ginger skirt.
I need to do Sunni's magical zipper insertion to make this skirt work. But I've mucked with the zip enough already that the entire back seam needs redone. This will be a biggish job, I think.

Friday: Finish the English Garden dirndl.
Yet another half-finished project from last year, when my sewing confidence was much lower. Should be pretty straightforward, though.

So, if all goes according to plan, my closet will be five garments richer by the end of the work week! With all these bold patterns, mixing and matching outfits might still be a challenge. But I'll worry about that later.

OWOP Roundup!

I don't think of the Renfrew and Ginger as proper painting clothes--do you? I didn't think so. Well, I've spent the last three days renovating and painting my office/sewing room! So I hope you'll understand when I say that my OWOP week didn't end as spectacularly as it began.

Day 1

I loved all the neutrals in this outfit. The necklace provided the only pops of color.

Day 2

Though you might not be able to tell in this pic, the shoes are a lovely indigo that really goes well with the autumn colors in the Renfrew and Ginger. My fave outfit of the week! And I got to wear it to knitting class, another LYS, and piano lesson, so it was well and properly shown off.

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Super comfy!

Day 6

Here's where things get hinky. This is the outfit I was planning to wear. What I actually wore? Black t-shirt, black increasingly-paint-spattered yoga pants, and Tevas. Ah, well.

Day 7

Aaaaand OWOP complete! Seven unique combinations, all me-made. Speaking of, this has been great practice for the upcoming Me-Made May. I've never participated before, but I'm up for it this time! I've gotten faster and more confident, and I think I'll have a small spring wardrobe pulled together by then.

So, shall we take a quick peek and the project that got in OWOP's way?

Before

During

Bright light instead of dark paneling? Yes, please! And now, I'm off to buy more paint.

Thanks to Tilly for creating OWOP! It's been super fun.

OWOP Day 5

High of 66 in Chicago today, and I've got the perfect shirt for it! My teal Renfrew, made from a vintage sweater-knit (acrylic, I'm guessing), is warm and comfy. Too bad I can't capture the real color—it's incredibly rich and vibrant.

This Ginger is made from 6oz stretch denim. It's quite comfy ... and I'm glad I used stretch denim, since I accidently made it a size too small!

Speaking of sizing, I believe the Ginger is an ideal pattern for when you're losing weight. The zip is in the center back, but the only seams that change between sizes are the side seams! Since I'm in the middle of losing weight (25 pounds down, 60 to go), I'm planning to:

• unpick the waistband edgestitching
• unfold the waistband facing
• stitch 1/2" or so inside of each side seam (including the waistband and facing), tapering off before reaching the hem
• re-edgestitch the waistband

Easy-peasy!

And if you need to go up a size? You can still use your traced pattern, but add 1/2" to each side of all the pieces. Here's what mine looks like:

The main piece is a size 14, which I used for this skirt. But I realized that any non-stretch woven would be impossibly tight, so I added on the green part, turning it into a size 16. Love that simplicity!

OWOP Day 4

This week is flying by! For Day 4, I paired my rust Renfrew with my light gray Ginger. Though you can't see them well, my shoes are gray Mary Janes by Miz Mooz, and my socks have orange stripes in them.

OWOP Day 2

I loved this outfit! The shirt was my first attempt at sewing knits on my serger ... and it came out great! The fabric is some kind of lightweight rayon. I chose not to topstitch around the neckline, cuffs, and waist, because the stitching keeps coming out tight and bunchy. No idea what I'm doing wrong, so I'll have to experiment.

The skirt is a pinwale corduroy plaid, with a grid of small flowers laid over the plaid. I cut it on the bias to make version 3 of the Ginger. Had some adventures there! At first, the pattern was mismatched on the center front seam. I was able to match it properly by taking about an inch out of that seam, then using tiny seam allowances on the sides.

Source: fabric.com via Alicia on Pinterest

This skirt actually needs some more work. I somehow managed to sew the top of the zipper to the inside of the waistband (yeah, I wore it held together with just safety pin). And the zipper is fubar. I'll be using Sunni's tutorial to reinsert it properly.

I love how OWOP is encouraging me to actually wear some of my jewelry! This necklace is a vintage glass number full of what I think are oranges, orange blossoms, and leaves.

OWOP Day 1

I started the week with slim pickings! Just this one Renfrew top, which was my first experiment with knits, and two Gingers.

I'm really loving the combination of light brown and light gray here.