I'm spoiled

The green-eyed monster took ahold of my eBay account yesterday. I had no idea what I was doing. I mean really, over $10 for a pattern? Thats a little much for me.

Vintage McCall's 3633 from 1956. It's a gathered-neckline halter with a criss-cross back. I think the back is even closed with buttons! I'm really excited about this one - it's not even in the Vintage Pattern Wiki. 

So, even though it was pricey by my standards - $12 - I'm glad I won that bidding war. I'm going to have a gorgeous new party top

While I was in California, I drove to Sac to see my Oma (grandmother) and Opa (grandfather). My Oma never liked sewing much, but she did quite a bit of it after moving to the US to marry my Opa. I was telling her about some of my recent projects when she offered to give me a few of the materials she had leftover from the massive garage sale of '89. Enter my newest friend

McCall's Step-by-Step Sewing Book, circa 1967. There are tons of instructions and diagrams, both photographed and drawn.

I have not yet scoured it cover to cover, but I did look AT the cover. My Oma had scribbles all over it.

"McCall's 9097" is written on the front. My dear friend Vintage Pattern Wiki had it listed

Cute, right? My Oma has good taste, thats for sure. I could totally see me her wearing view A. 

I'm trying frantically to finish my self-drafted tank so I can start the other designer knockoff I had planned, and then make myself a new makeup bag, camera case & laptop cover - all before Thursday. 

Sewing with knits this often is going to require Costco-sized Advil

I am lucky enough to have a very generous, albeit intermittent, father who learned of my trip to Zurich this summer and decided that my 4 year old Kodakwhatever wasn't going to cut it. I'm sure that readers of this blog will agree - the photo quality isn't great. Enter my gorgeous new Canon Powershot SX120 IS

I made a quick trip home to Chico, CA (norcal!) for a long weekend before I head to Zurich, and took advantage of  employed my lovely friend Alex as photographer. This is the McCall's 6121 tunic I made as a swimsuit coverup. 

I used a white solid/transparent stripe knit from my recent SAS haul. I've really been on a stripes kick lately. I pretty much adore stripes for summer, much like my love of the color emerald in winter (or whatever that slightly-less-hot season is here in AZ). 

Back to sewing; the tunic went together really smoothly as it's comprised of only 2 real seams and a few narrow hems. I can handle that. 

My only critique of the pattern would be that the armholes are a tad snug, but this very well might be my own fault. I laid out the fabric to match the stripes, set the pattern on top unpinned, and left to babysit. When I came home Auggie (cat) had clearly held a little party in my sewing room, and the front pattern piece was pretty damaged. Then again, I did do a decent patch job, so the blame is up in the air. 

I really love this swim coverup because it's a nice, neutral white and will go with literally all of my swimsuits. I'm a swimsuit hoarder. I've got at least 10 tops and 5 or 6 bottoms. The one pictured is a black and white stripe bikini. Summer stripes; told you. 

I'm about to board my flight home to Arizona, so I'll leave by asking what you guys think of the photo quality (forgive my terrible modeling skills, will work on that). I leave for Zurich on Thursday and have way too many things I wanted to sew before I leave, so I better get crackin'. I have a self-drafted tank knockoff to hem and photograph tomorrow - stay tuned! 

Me-Made-May-Lite Composite Photos

Me-Made-May-Lite is officially over. While I had lapses in my commitment to this project, overall I think it was successful. MMM resulted in 4 new, wearable garments and 1 wadder.

Before, from top to bottom; Black McCall's 6070 maxi dress, purple headscarf, purple swiss-dot cotton New Look 6873 skirt, green Amy Butler cotton A-line skirt, pillowcase skirt, mod green dirndl skirt. 

Of these garments, the pillowcase skirt got the most wear, by far. I have grown to loathe the maxi dress, entirely because of my fabric choice, and I think it's due for a refashion. I did not wear the mod green drindl skirt once, because it is so short (due to fabric constraints). 

After, top to bottom; black McCall's 6070 maxi dress, grey McCall's 6070 top, striped McCall's 5853 tank, semi-transparent McCall's 6121 swimsuit cover-up tunic (to be blogged about soon), purple New 6873 Look swiss dot cotton skirt, ethnic border print New Look 6178 wrap skirt, green Amy Butler A-line skirt, pillowcase skirt, mod green drindl skirt. 

Whew! I don't even remember sewing all that much this month. I feel like most of my efforts were sewing for my mom's birthday and the aforementioned wadder, the Ruby Shorts. I'm proud to have made 4 wearable, albeit simple, garments in May. 

As you can see, Auggie stubbornly proudly sat right in the middle of everything whilst I was taking these photos. He has quickly gotten used to hanging out in my sewing room over the past few days, as I have uncharacteristically been leaving projects strewn about. More on that latter. 

My next project? I have two tops I MUST make before I leave for Zurich next Thursday, but I'd also like to copy this top:

I found this Ella Moss tank at a thrift store last spring, and its one of my favorite summer tops. ShopStyle has her tanks listed roughly between $75-120 each. I got mine new, with tags, for $3. Can you say score?

I love the swishy cut and the direction of the stripes. I'm pretty sure I've figured out how to cut the skirt, and I have a black, white & purple stripey cotton knit in about the same weight that I think would look quite nice made up like this. First though, I'll probably work on redrafting McCall's 5853 to work with the floral chiffon I found at SAS a while back. If anyone has ideas or comments about knocking off the Ella Moss top, let me know! 

Happy Sewing,

Jana

Cheater!

Me-Made-May-Lite update: I'm a cheater! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but I'm going to come clean. I had to take advantage of my cheater backup plan from this post that said if I wore 2 Me-Made accessories it would count as 1 me-made garment.

Vanity came crawling in and I got tired of wearing the same 3 or 4 outfits. Plus, this is the last week of school and I didn't want people remembering me as boring when in fact I usually have a very diverse range of outfits. I'm not proud of it, but I did resort to my backup plan.

May 21st - The McCall's 6070 top with jeans and a cropped, lightweight black jacket over it

May 22nd - McCall's 5853 striped tank with a gray denim miniskirt and red converse

May 23rd - Sunday Sweats! McCall's 6070 dress. The fabric has faded really quickly with only a few washings, and in addition to being all crazy baggy after an hour or two of wear, I'm really just not in love with this dress anymore. I really wanted to be because the fabric is organic cotton, a little pricey too, but this fabric and I just weren't meant to be friends.

May 24th - McCall's 5853 striped tank again. Originally I tried tucking it into a black high waisted skirt, but it looked a little awkward, so I wore it with jeans and red pumps instead.

May 25th - I cheated. I'm bad. My outfit was entirely RTW. The only me-made items were my purple hair scarf and me-made undies...

The pattern is free "Cheeky Panties" by ParaNoire/Emily Kate on BurdaStyle. The original size 38 pattern was by Emily Kate, but I downloaded the graded version by ParaNoire, even though I ended up making a 38 anyway.

I actually took the time to trace the pattern in my size onto new paper, to preserve the other sizes. I figure cute booty short underwear is an easy, silly gift for friends and whatnot and I'll probably want a nice version of this pattern.

The underroos are really only one main pattern piece with 2 seams, then a gusset for comfort/cleanliness and a waistband that I left off. The waistband is suppose to be stretched into the top part to keep them up, but I didn't need this because my fabric was very stretchy. It's a cheapy polyester from the red-tag area at Joanns that I bought for muslining. These were intended to be a muslin, hence why the legholes aren't finished, but I put them on the next morning in attempt to salvage my Me-Made pledge. 

They were super easy and I'm totally going to buy some lingerie elastic and keep this pattern ready for any leftover knit fabrics I have. They are a nice, classic booty short shape and perfect to wear under skirts and dresses for a little bit more modesty than briefs or thongs. 

...And if you're wondering about the photo from the top of this post, that is Auggie (named after Augusten Burroughs) and the as of yet unnamed Singer Genie that arrived late last week. The genie got a thorough cleaning this weekend. For some strange reason, Auggie really likes the Genie. He's been napping next to it ever since I set it up. Weird, right? I just thought that picture was kinda funny. 

Ruby shorts pattern is printed and still needs to be assembled, which I guess means I'm a day behind, but I don't have the kahones to attempt a welt pocket, so I have a free day there to make up for it, yay!

McCall's 6070 top

After my first experience with McCall's 6070 as a maxi dress, I mentioned that I could see it as a top instead. I used a light cotton/lycra knit from SAS fabrics by the pound which was scored for $4 for two yards. Boo-yah!

I loved the wrap over front and back and the lightly gathered shoulders, but I wasn't so crazy about the empire shape. I'm not a very busty girl, so hitting right under my bust isn't the most flattering cut. For the top, I added an extra 2'' in length to the bottom of the top front and back piece so that the top would hit at my waist. I overlapped the pieces by an extra 1'' or so in both the front and back, to keep the neckline at a decent level and reduce the amount of bust gathers I would need. 

I wanted the top to be fitted, so I reduced the width of the midriff bands as well. I didn't actually use a pattern piece to cut these, just two rectangles adjusted to fit as I went. 

I didn't want to gather the skirt portion around the whole midriff band as in the original pattern because this didn't do anything stylistically for me. Instead, I cut the front and back skirt portions at 3/4ths the original width so I would have less excess fabric and gathered only in the very center front and center back. 

I really like this top. I haven't added any elastic at the waist, and I might not. The top is fairly fitted as is, but after a day of wearing I think it might need a tiny bit of elastic. If it rides up the front gapes open. I'd like to avoid a wardrobe malfunction, thank you very much. 

Overall, I love the top. I really, really despise my photos though. I'm using photobooth on my laptop to take them, and I can't for the life of me find a proper place or lighting to get a decent product. Hmph.

I'm a little bit stuck as to what my next project will be. I've got general ideas floating around - expect an inspiration post soon.

Me-Made-May 15, 16 & 17

May 15th - black maxi dress from McCall's 6070, quickly my new version of sweats. It's sacklike and huge now, I'm not a fan of walking out of the house in it. It is suitable when paired with wedges and attention-grabbing earings though.

May 16th - My Mom's Birthday! I didn't have any inspiring ideas and not much time to work with either, so I took her out to lunch instead. I wore my New Look 6873 purple skirt with a black T-shirt and black wedge heels. I felt cute.

May 17th - My new McCall's 6070 top and jeans. I know, I've been a bad blogger, I didn't tell the Internet about this project. It was a spur of the moment thing, I assure you. Blog post about it to come soon. I want to take decent photos this time.

Me-Made-May-Lite days 11, 12, 13 & 14 + McCall's 5853 tank

May 11th - Me-Made pillowcase skirt, Urban outfitters yoked front tank, BP heels

May 12th - Me-Made black McCall's 6070 maxi dress

May 13th - Border Print New Look 6178 skirt, white tank

May 14th - Me-Made McCall's 5853 tank, Ripped black jeans (thrifted a long time ago, rips were my fault), classic red converse

I finished the McCall's 5853 tank on Wednesday. I didn't use the applique pattern given, instead I cut strips of ruffles and just gathered those. I played with the positioning, but decided on 3 little strips on the right shoulder, together forming a single round.

It was an easy top, and I like it considering how little effort it took, but the fit could be better. The shoulders are very, very wide and the armholes gape a bit. I'm a very broad shouldered girl, I could imagine this problem being more pronounced on a more petite build. I took 1'' off the straps as well.  The hip/waist shaping is cut in, but not at all near where my waist and hips hit. It's very bagging all over and makes me look wide.

I can see myself trying this pattern again, but next time I'd take an inch off the center fold of the two main pattern pieces and altering the armholes so that they are smaller. Neither adjustment would take much time.

Me-Made-May-Lite Days 8, 9, & 10

May 8th - Me-Made purple New Look 6873 worn with an Old Navy gray wifebeater, purple head scarf and flip flops, and displayed in a terrible photobooth photo.

May 9th - Me-Made black McCall's 6070 Maxi dress, then later I changed into the purple New Look skirt (photo above, kinda) with a crisp white top and heels for Mother's Day Dinner.

May 10th -New! Me-Made McCall's 5853 top in blue and white stripe cotton/lycra jersey knit, with jeans and a lightweight black jacket. This top isn't finished, I was only able to get the neck and one armhole's binding on, so the jacket served to hide the unfinished armhole. I will post a review when I finish it, but so far I can say it was very quick and easy, but I think it's too roomy for my taste. I shortened the straps quite a lot, and the armholes just seem so weirdly big. I cut the smallest size.



My biggest reason for joining Me-Made-May was to motivate myself to sew more, more often. I knew that with APs finishing and school ending, I would (hopefully) have more free time than usual this month. After this week, my classes are basically over and it's 2 weeks of watching Simpson's reruns and graduation parties. I will probably show a few graduation cake photos, as I've promised 2 so far and will probably end up making a few more. For those of you that haven't seen my other blog, though I no longer post on it, I am a self-taught cake decorator and absolutely adore fondant.

Gosh, I can really go on a tangent. No wonder no one reads my blog.

My point somewhere in there was, I'm excited to see how many pieces I can sew during the month of May. So far I'm at like 1.8; the NL wrap skirt and now the McCall's tank. I want to sew another top before I move on to dresses or, god forbid, another skirt.

Regarding the mother's day lunch pail - I drafted the pattern, used a ton of stiff interfacing, and sewed everything up as planned. Nothing went awry! I still have a little bit of hand sewing to finish the very very last seam, but it's done for the most part so I gave it to my mom as is, and she liked it well enough. I'll post photos of that when it's done.

New Look Wrap Skirt & Me-Made-May-Lite days 2&3

I finished up New Look 6178 view E on Saturday and wore it May 3rd.

This is view E from a rayon challis border print from fabric.com. It went together really quickly, at least by my standards, and I'm very proud of how it turned out. This is probably my most RTW-like garmet, easy as it may be. The waistband is finished with black bias tape and I used a narrow hem all around, stiched very closely. This was also my first time sewing darts. I got one side without a "bubble," and one side with a slight one, but it's not noticeable at all and I'm happy.

I chose this pattern because it was suitable for border prints. I can't see myself making anything else from NL 6178, the square necklines are too 90s for my taste. But another wrap skirt is always a possibility. After making it once I'm sure the second would be a two hour project.

Overall, I wish the ties were longer. They are sufficient to tie the skirt snugly, but I think longer ties would add a nicer touch. On pattern review many said this skirt was way too big. I disagree, I cut a 14 and it fits my hips just about perfectly. I would take 2'' off the front overlap if I made it again though, because I don't like that the skirt ties exactly on the side. I'd prefer it to be more center front side, if that makes sense. This would not effect the fit, however.
The pattern review is here.

So this was my outfit for May 3rd of Me-Made-May-Lite. May 2nd was McCall's 6070 maxi dress. It felt strange to be wearing a dress on a Sunday, usually I bum around the library in sweats, but the dress is plenty comfy.

15 Minuets to May 1st

I wanted to post my self-imposed Me-Made-May-Lite rules before the month of May actually begins. I will be wearing 1 article of clothing produced by my own hand each day, excluding pajamas and gym clothes. I will include refashioned items, simply because I don't have very many me-made items right now. If, for any reason, I cannot wear either a Me-Made top, bottom or dress, I will allow myself an emergency exception if I wear 2 me made accessories - such as a bag and a hair scarf, for example. This option will only be utilized in an absolute laundry emergency, which I certainly hope to avoid.

I am taking the SAT tomorrow morning and have my green Simplicity 2863 set out with a pair of jeans. The top is comfy and that is exactly what I need for a long standardized test like this. I've taken the SAT once before, in December, but am taking it again just to maximize my scores. Wish me luck!

I also cut and sewed up New Look 6178 view E in the border print rayon Challis. I absolutely love it so far. It was really quick, which I needed, and I used bias tape to finish the waist. I just need to take 5 minuets to attach the ties and put up photos.

My next project will need to be a top, because I only have 1 Me-Made top right now. Possibly the HotPatterns Riviera Once, Twice, Three Times a Tshirt pattern, although I've read a lot about people needing to redraft the funky neckline on that and I'd really like a quick fix so I have something new to wear for Me Made May by the end of the weekend. Kwik Sew 3395 (pictured) is also an option, but I don't know how gung-ho on gathers I am right now. I also like McCall's 5853 view A, but I don't have any fabrics that seem appropriate for this top. Any thoughts?