Week 3: Me Made May 2013

Welcome to Week 3! You may have noticed that day 14 and 15 don't appear in week 2, or indeed this week. Stomach flu. Less said the better.

From the Ashes Blouse: worn during week one, blogged here.

Pretty much a repeat of Day 5, but with sandals. And there was no way I was wearing a belt.

Worn: Walk to the library and back, also to get popsicles.

Anouk blouse: blogged here.

Worn: To see The Great Gatsby! But it was sold out. I guess everyone buys tickets online these days - lesson learned!

Stashbusting t-shirt: Soon to be blogged. 

Worn: After whipping it up this morning, gardening and groceries.

Wiksten tank: New make from an older make - this fabric used to be a sundress I wore once. 

Worn: out and about.

Not sure what happened to Day 20.

Vogue 8805: blogged here.

I'm still not sold on this one, but I think I have a plan...

Victory Patterns' Chloe: blogged here. 

And yes, I'm wearing the same shoes. But I did just take this photo today, I swear!

Well, another week down, nine days to go! I've been sewing quite a bit lately, so there should be some new items popping up in the next little while. Meanwhile, if you're in Toronto, check out the More than a Yardage sale at the Textile Museum of Canada this weekend? You never know what you'll find...

Week Two: Me Made May 2013

Week 2! We're pretty much at the half-way mark now. Here's what I was wearing this past week.

Self-drafted Party in the Back top: same as last week.

 Clover capris: blogged here.

Worn: To work - it was a desk day.

I was really happy with this outfit, not so happy with the wrinkly photos, but that's ok. Two me-mades at the same time!

Bright Green Jeans: self-drafted, unblogged.

Necklace: Me-made a couple of summers ago. Love it still.

Worn: To work, and drinks after. I did have shoes on.

Scarf: I'm counting this as Me-Made, the hand rolled hem took almost 4 hours. It's the fabric I picked up at the Toronto Sewing Blog Meet-up, I couldn't bring myself to chop it up, it's so gorgeous.

Worn: Errands & grocery shopping.

Blouse: Self-drafted, unblogged. It hasn't come out of the closet since last May!

Worn: To the garden centre.

Sweatshirt & matching hot-water bottle cover: h/w bottle cover blogged here.
Worn: Lounging around the house - it was COLD! Yes, I did have pants on. But I was still cold.

Blouse: Vogue 1170. As you can tell from my expression, not a favourite.

Which brings me to my mini-goal for this week: fixing up a few items that just weren't quite right. As soon as I got home on Monday, I took this blouse apart, removing and re-cutting the front, but salvaging the back. It looks OK in the photo, but I could barely lift my arms without the sleeves cutting in to me, and the loose cut means that I'm always worried about my bra peeking through the keyhole - this blouse will just not sit in place! I cut a size smaller than suggested, but still could have taken in 4". And the bias centre front seam was just not flattering. I'm almost done this refashion, and hope to wear the "new" blouse again by the end of the month. I love the print, and want to salvage it!

Happy sewing - bring on Week 3!

Week 1: Me Made May 13

Week One is complete! Here's how I wore my Me Mades this week. I realize now it was a largely self-drafted week. I love sewing from patterns, I find it relaxing to just follow instructions, but if when inspiration strikes, I won't let lack of a pattern stop me.

Bright Green Jeans: Self-drafted, unblogged.
Worn: To work.

Blouse: Colette Sencha with yellow buttons.

Worn: To work, for an extra long day. The bright colours gave me a boost.

Top: Self-drafted, made many years pre-blog.

Worn: To work, then on Saturday for errands.

Yes, I just wore the same outfit two days in a row. That happens sometimes.

Top: Ashes Blouse, blogged here.

Worn: To work.

 Top: Party in the Back, blogged here.

Worn: To work.

I was really pleased with the grey/mustard/ivory colour combo.

Day 7 was a work day filled with cleaning and lifting heavy boxes. No me-mades that day, I'm afraid. It was jeans and a t-shirt I wasn't afraid to get dirty.

All in all, I'm pleased with my first week's results. It was a busy work week, so not too much time for fun stuff, or sewing. We had excellent weather, which certainly helped - it was an explosion of spring flowers everywhere! I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else has been up to, via the Flickr pool.

See you soon!

Rising from the Ashes Blouse

Let me begin by saying how happy and relieved I am that this worked out! This is the story of a girl and a blouse - it was love at first sight. The blouse was white silk, it fit perfectly, could be worn anywhere, with anything, in any season. They one day the girl discovered the blouse was worn and discoloured beyond repair. So, with a nervous hand, she unpicked the blouse, traced it off and cut a new one!

Result! Let's have a look, shall we?

Short cap sleeves, open neckline, ties at neck.

The yoke seams are finished with bias binding on the outside.

Cap sleeves, with just the right amount of fullness.

Looks nice from the back - just enough fullness.

At first I thought I would take a pattern using the rub-off method, but after much hemming and hawing, I decided to go ahead and unpick the whole thing (well, half), to get the sleeves just right. Too much pouf would not have made me very happy, and I didn't want to be struggling with these sleeves. Also, the original blouse is no longer fit to wear, and the temptation to put it on again may have been too much!

Construction was fairly straightforward, the yoke seam binding was the trickiest part. The neckline and sleeves are also finished with a narrow bias binding, and I used French seams throughout. And although they are barely visible, the cuffs are finished with a tiny button and fabric loop.

Pretty fabric, too!

This project was an unqualified success, and has already been worn at least three times. I have visions of a new white one, but I haven't come across the perfect fabric yet.

I'm sure this blouse will make a few appearances in May - I've decided to post my Me Made May round-ups mid-week, so stay tuned.

Happy sewing!

April Stashbusting: At the Beach!

In my first "grown-up" apartment, my bedroom was decorated with an Indian theme - marigold walls, a princely marionette, and saffron fabric swagged over my bed. It was great while it lasted, but eventually I moved, gave the marionette away, and folded up the 5-6 yards of quite lovely cotton voile and put it in a bin. I thought I might use it as mock-up fabric, but then April's Stashbusting theme "bright colours" came along.

It hangs so nicely!

This is Vogue 1247, by Rachel Comey. It's been pretty popular, and I had been meaning to make it up for some time. I even had a matching thread at the ready, so this is a 100% stash bust.

I was a bit nervous, after my experience with V1170 , which was very large, as well as very weird. I'm still trying to find a way to salvage that one, it may have a post of it's own yet!  So this is really a wearable mock-up/beach top - it's not long enough to be a cover-up, but the neckline is far too sassy for my everyday life.

I cut one size down from the recommended size, which still left plenty of ease. Putting it together was fairly straightforward, it just required a bit of patience with the bias cut and french seams. If I make this top again (which I may, I love the silhouette), I will raise the neckline, but that's the only thing I would change. 

As I mentioned, it has a home in my beach wardrobe - here's a shot from my recent mini-break in Mexico! This was in March, when the sun and sand were a very welcome change from the sleet and snow of home. 

It was so warm!

Well, that was short and sweet! And my next post will branch out from Stashbusting, promise!

March Stashbusting - in April

Hello spring (I think, finally), and hello again stashbusting! Now, the March theme was "impending seasonal change", and let me just say, we're still waiting. But I dutifully pulled a fabric out of my stash, and got to work. 

This is a fabric that I picked up over a year ago, and have been struggling to find a good use for ever since. It's a beautiful cotton with a multicoloured wool/silk strand striped through. I settled on a simple sqare-ish dress, and was really hoping to use an existing pattern, so I tried turning the Colette Patterns Sencha into a dress. No go, friends, no go. The front neck, which I lowered, still insisted on sliding backwards, as if to choke me. And it was a bit of a sack, with or without the darts. I cut the back on the fold to avoid having a seam or closure (I can get both versions of the blouse over my head without undoing any buttons), and extended the hem to knee length. And then I went pattern shopping. That was March.

In April, Vogue 8805 arrived in the mail, a pullover dress with multiple cup sizes to choose from. For a bit of contrast, I cut the bodice widthways to have my stripes meet up on the perpendicular. It too was a bit sack-like, so I added two tucks front and back to give it a bit of shape. And since my fabric was striped (and I was recutting anyway!) I cut the bottom two pieces as one. The only other alteration I made was shortening the sleeve about 1". I'd say this was a case of tweaking, not making drastic changes. As for sizing, I cut a 14, one size down from the pattern envelope recommendation.

Here I am pretending to be warm.

Don't be fooled - the bare legs are for the photos only! It was maybe 6 C.

The back has a small silt that closes with a hook and eye, which has already been stuck in my hair. 

I'm not sure how much wear this will get, but I do love the fabric. But, what with Me Made May coming up, it should get a couple of outings at least.

And speaking of Me Made May,

I, Chloe of Button and Needle, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May 2013! I endeavour to wear one or more pieces of Me Made Clothing each day for the duration of May 2013.

Looking forward to a month of fun, and hopefully far fewer repeats than last year. This year I'm starting with at least double the number of me-mades to work with, and May will see more sewing time, so I'm ready to go!

See you all soon,

February Good Times

 This past weekend saw the Toronto Sewing Blog Meet-Up, which was just an all-around good time! Of course, I forgot my camera, but there are lots of great shots of the absolute crowd of us who took on Queen Street, shopped, swapped and hung out. Thanks to the dynamic duo of Adrienne and Gillian for organizing the event, and introducing us all in real life! I'm in the process of adding you all to my reader list at this very moment.

Now, February is a short month, but I did get my stashbusting in - this month's theme was love, naturally enough, and the challenge was to make something for a loved one. Well, I held true to the theme, but not the challenge, since I made something for myself - or, more accurately, my cold feet.

Yes, it is a new hot water bottle cozy! My old one was very sad (navy polar fleece, it was on there forever!), and I happened to have a few pieces of this fun sweatshirt knit in the bins. I made a knock-off un-blogged sweatshirt with this fabric last year, which I tried to post, but taking photos of this stuff was a bit crazy. At any rate, there are a few hearts in there with the animal print, and I even lined the "collar" for an added pop of red. 

So there you have it, true love.

All in all, a busy and surprisingly fun month - this stash busting is a good antidote to the winter blues. It's nice to have something fun to work towards when the grey days drag on, and it was such a treat to meet so many fellow sewing bloggers, too!

Til next time...