weddin' goin' dress

As a dressmaker (is that an up-to-date word for someone who doesn't do this professionally?), I am a firm believer that sewing a new dress is required any time I attend someone's wedding. No question. Mostly because a wedding is usually a reunion of sorts where I see all my friends and/or family at once, so I have to be ready to appease all the "Did you make that?" inquiries. And because it's one of the few formal occasions I get to attend all year, so I enjoy the excuse of working with shinier, silkier fabrics. And of course there's just that modern mentality that most women have regarding special occasions, which is that they don't want to be "seen" wearing something they have worn before.

My boyfriend's cousin got married in Baltimore last weekend (congrats Jordan!) so I had to make a new dress to wear. It was an obligation to myself. What you see here is actually my third attempt. As I mentioned in my previous post, I almost finished a Colette Chantilly dress and realized in the home stretch that it added 8 million pounds to my frame (tooooo many gathers at the chest and waist). Then I tried to recreate the silhouette I used for my pleated sundress for Project Sewn. Who knows what happened but the chest was too tight and my fabric too heavy. SO I cut into dress #3 and hoped it'd be wearable at the very least. 

This is a frankenpattern. It was a relatively informal garden wedding so I didn't want to get too fancy. I knew I wanted a wrap bodice but a non-wrap skirt, so I used the bodice front and back of Butterick See & Sew 5546 (my other version seen here) and the circley skirt of McCalls 6599 (version seen here). I used the sash from the Butterick pattern but instead of sewing it to the dress and weaving it through one of the sides, it's just a free belt that is tied in a bow and held up with thread loops. I used Suzanne's video tutorial for making the thread loops (found at the end of her post here). Speaking of Suzanne, where's she been lately anyways?! Not like I'm one to talk about bloggy silence.

I drafted some tulip sleeves using this tutorial. They look cute and hang flat on the dress as is, but the bottom layer tends to scrunch up on my arms while I'm wearing it. Not sure if I should have laid the sleeve parts differently, or just made them larger. Womp.

The fabric is a soft silky polyester something from JoAnn. That was a rare awesome shopping trip, because I stumbled across like four different cute geometric prints in apparel fabrics that I actually liked. I'm glad I wasn't wearing nice fabric (or nice shoes -- but I don't own nice shoes) the night of the wedding, because it started pouring rain in the middle of the outdoor dance party and we all got happily soaked and muddied up to the sweet tunes of J. Timberlake.

The thing I forgot about the stupid McCall's skirt was that it's supposed to sit on your lower waist, not your natural waist. So, thinking it was going to be knee-length otherwise, I immediately chopped off two generous inches from the hem before attaching the skirt to the waist of my bodice. ...Which meant that it hiked the skirt up an additional two or more inches. Ooof. If I could do this dress over, I'd definitely make it a bit longer, especially for a grandma-friendly festivity, but I decided to brave it because I had no other options. I did wear a camisole at the wedding, however. This low neckline is for the internet's eyes only. ;) ;) Here we be IRL, hot and frizzy and me without jewelry because I forgot to pack it:

Corey's wearing the floral shirt I made him. I lazily didn't make his collar buttons functional, thinking he wouldn't ever need them, so when he went to put on his tie he couldn't undo the buttons. Ha, sorry. But dudes aren't supposed to wear a short sleeved shirt and a tie anyways, right? Would you call him a Dwight Schrute or a fashion daredevil?

Do you tend to make a new dress to wear to every new wedding? I'm sure if there were enough weddings in one summer, I wouldn't. Well, who knows. I DO love making dresses...

ging'um up

Hey! I finally mustered up the energy to do this whole primp-iron-pose-edit-ramble-blog thing again. It seems I still can't tuck my shirt in like a proper lady, though.

Can I admit my deepest darkest secret to you, Internet friends I've never met? I've kinda... spent the past few weeks sucked into a self-inflicted... Dawson's Creek marathon session. Yes, Dawson's Creek, that teen soapy drippy TV rom-com (without the -com; those kiddos had cruel wit but were not funny) from the late 90s. I never watched DC when I should have as a thirteen year old, but I stumbled across it on Netflix recently and I lost self-control. What can I say? The writers are manipulative with my emotions, and all those 24-year-olds playing high schoolers are exceedingly attractive. Anyway, I finished it, thank God, so I can move back to my more reasonable addiction of making clothes, which we will all agree is a more appropriate hobby for a responsible and mature adult woman like myself. (Team Pacey!)

Moving on. Guess what I made with a sewing machine and my own two feeble hands? A Grainline Archer shirt and a Moss mini skirt. I mean, why ever stop, right? This is my fourth Archer but it's my favorite. As with my plain white one (here), I tapered in the side seams and brought in the shoulder seams for a sleeker silhouette. I've been dreaming about this exact shirt ever since I pinned this exact pin. I love gingham but I don't own anything else gingham, I don't think. It definitely conjures up images of plastic tablecloths and Dorothy costumes, but it's just such a classic pattern that will never (and should never) die. You really can't go wrong with gingham. 'Cuz literally, there's no wrong side or right side. It's ALL right. This fabric is 100% cotton from the "homespun" section of JoAnn's. Whose home you spinnin' in, girl?

Can't say much more about this shirt pattern. I can make it up in a hot minute (aka 4 hours?) and that's a great feeling, especially since I just spent a full week making a Colette Chantilly dress that is finished except for the hem but looks dreadful on me. The Archer pattern consoles me when other projects go wrong. It consoled me back when I tried the Colette Anise jacket pattern and ALSO had poor results. Do I sense a theme here...?

This red Moss mini skirt is my third but is actually too tight in the bum to wear in public comfortably (I'll spare you the photos), so it's clear I haven't mastered the fit of this pattern yet. As with my others, I lengthened it by four inches and left off the pockets. My black spotty one seemed too loose in the waist, so I guess I got overconfident with the serger this go-around. And all that Dawson-watching has led to a few more lbs. on the scale. Wah, wah. This fabric is red stretch cotton twill from fabric.com. Wrinkle town USA. Ever been there? 

So. When it comes to gingham, friends, are you more a fan or big checks or little checks? I'll say with confidence that I could and would definitely wear a bigger check than this check. And when it comes to fictional TV love triangles, who's your favorite unrealistic and overly self-aware teen couple? Be honest. I shalt not judge.

finished project update

Dears. Deers. So sorry about my unexpected hibernation. I'd be lying to your pretty little faces if I said I wasn't exhausted with sewing and blogging by the end of May, considering all those Project Sewn weekly sewing frenzies and the endless photo-taking and editing that accompanied Me-Made-May. I lost my sewing mojo (sewjo, if you will) and signed up for a Netflix account. It was tragic. I didn't even want to shop for fabric.

My desire to sew has returned somewhat, so I have completed a couple items lately. My desire to model my creations and write detailed blog posts about each individual item has NOT returned, however, but I figured I should alleviate my guilt and post a brief little wrap-up of some of my recent projects. I don't want my blog to start growing mold or gettin' crusty, after all. Um.

Above Left: Grainline Moss Mini skirt in black and white speckled cotton sateen from fabric.com (here). The red zipper was all I had. This is a quick little pattern but I still can't insert a fly zipper without instructions. One day...

Above Right: OK I actually made this forever ago as a pattern tester for Megan Nielsen's new Cascade Skirt (currently sold out while Megan takes a break, but still available through her stockists here). I never blogged it because Megan released her collection in the midst of crazy May bloggery and I am a bad person. Anyway, I made my test version in a teal/green poly crepe. I evened out the back hem and shortened the whole thing overall because I am a thick-calved girl who can't wear midi length skirts. This too is a quick pattern with a lot of punch.

Above Left: My second version of MN's Cascade Skirt, this time in a printed floral rayon and with a buttoned band instead of the tie band. I shortened the whole thing four inches more from the crepe version in an effort to make a casual and flirty summer skirt, but the front hem grew like crazy so it ended up being crooked and knee length. I do not recommend you wear this wrap skirt in windy outdoor situations. Again, sorry to the people of Philadelphia for what you've had to witness.

Above Right: Speaking of flowers, here's a floral men's shirt made from a lightweight vintage cotton found on Etsy. Awhile ago I traced my boyfriend's favorite and best-fitting shirt to make his perfect pattern. I've made him four shirts from it since. For this short-sleeved version, he wanted to be brave and hip and try a dainty little floral print. Aight, grandma. I ain't mad.

Above Left: omg more florals. And pastel florals at that. WHO AM I. I guess I was drawn to the slate gray background and the pixelated flowers that look like blown up pics from the internet. This knit fabric is really weird, though. It's reversible, but the prints have nothing in common and there was color bleeding and staining on one whole edge, so it was obviously a mistake on the fabric printer's part. That's why it ended up at Jomar, a junky discount fabric warehouse, and into my shopping cart and my sewing heart. The picture doesn't show the whole thing but trust that it's a dress. The dress pattern is Burdastyle Double Layer dress (bottom layer only) from 6/2013.

Above Right: Derp. Here's a lazy Instagram photo but I just wanted to share a life update that I was prescribed glasses this month. I was getting terrible eye strain and headaches by the end of every workday, so I knew it was time for an eye exam. Still trying to get used to seeing myself in specs, especially in photos other people take of me, but at least I can now focus on all the details of the lurvely clothes you post on your blogs. Pain free! #nerdsunite

My frames are from the Victory Collection, a brand established in 1941. The style I have ("Honey") show the above little photos of the original ads on the website. Those women are way more elegant than I am.

So, a bunch of quick and easy projects at an attempt to get myself back in the sewing room. Have you ever lost your sewjo and blog-jo (?) at the same time before? Rough, man. Hope you understand! 

me.made.may.the.end.

I achieved two sewing-related accomplishments in the past week: finishing and successfully fulfilling my first Me-Made-May pledge, and coming in second place in Season 1 of Project Sewn! Now, to come in second to the all-around talented, hilarious and stunning Sophie of Cirque du Bebe is no small feat, so I'm very proud of myself and incredibly grateful to those who voted me for throughout the series. Congrats on your win, Sophie! Totally deserved and totally impressive. And also congrats to Jess, the Sewing Rabbit, who made some stellar women's clothes, though that's not her usual focus. She did a great job and I loved everything she made. All my fellow contestants were superstars and I was so happy to get to know them better and sew alongside them. Great groupa gals.

So onto the final MMM round up. I decided to squeeze the remaining ten days into one post so I'd only bore you once instead of twice more. I think we're all a little relieved it's now June, whether you participated in Me-Made-May or just had to witness the madness on the blogosphere. And I'm happy to stop dismantling my living room all the time to photograph myself in front of this damn brick wall.

Days Twenty-Two and Twenty-Three

Wednesday - Black buttonless Beignet skirt (never blogged) with an H&M blouse. I had a meeting with a funder today so tried to look half-professional, which to me means wear a basic black skirt. This blouse is the last new off-the-rack made-in-China item of clothing I've bought. I bought it in August 2012 when I first moved to Philly and needed something to wear to the first day of my new job. I still wear it quite a bit even though it feels like polyester hell and gives me guilty heebie geebies.

Thursday - Blue OWOP dress (blogged here). It fits all wonky in the shoulders/bodice. I rarely wear this. 

Days Twenty-Four and Twenty-Five

Friday - ikat skirt from the black & white challenge of Project Sewn (blogged here), with a secondhand jacket. Guys, I just wrote ikat as "iKat," as though it were an iPod or iPhone. ~*~* Apple's taking over our iLives~*~*~ 

Saturday - gray knit dress (unblogged). Another dreary day, another dreary outfit. I was hungover and had to sit my ass at my sewing machine all day, so I wore this dress which is basically a belted nightgown (I have worn it to bed a few times, too, let's be real). I never blogged about it because it didn't seem worth it. I used an 80s pattern but I changed the button placket to a deep V-neck, and gathered the sleeves vertically.

Days Twenty-Six and Twenty-Seven

Sunday - striped chambray dress (blogged here). Today I finished and took photos of my Signature Style dress and wore it to the park where Corey and I chilled along the river reading books on a blanket. 

Monday - Blue denim Moss mini skirt (blogged here) with F21 tee and cardigan. Today was a holiday -- holler -- and I wore this to our friend's cookout. I love this skirt, but as with all straight fitted skirts, when you're sitting down you have to cross your legs or otherwise hold a pillow or your purse in your lap to hide that peek-a-boo gap thing. To avoid any indecent moments, I had to stand up and hover awkwardly around the fire pit all evening like a chump.

Days Twenty-Eight and Twenty-Nine

Tuesday - striped chambray dress again. I wanted to wear my new dress to work, but it turned kinda cold AGAIN so I had to put on tights and my granny shoes.

Wednesday - blue rayon feather dress (new, unblogged). I'm kind of embarrassed to admit this, but I made this dress with the intention of it being my Signature Style entry. I wasn't sure about the print and how the whole thing would turn out, but I followed through with it until it was finished on Saturday morning. It didn't feel right -- too busy and bright, maybe -- so I vetoed it and ended up pre-washing, cutting and sewing the real Signature Style dress on Saturday night to be photographed on Sunday and submitted on Monday. I'm glad I made the switch and finished the new dress in time because I'm much happier with it. Anyway, the feather dress was made using McCalls 6503 (my first version blogged here) with a circley instead of pleated skirt.

Days Thirty and Thirty-One

Thursday - blue check dress (blogged here) and white Archer shirt (blogged here). I like this dress in theory, but I never want to wear it because I feel that the weird bodice darts call attention to an area I typically try not to draw attention to. Solution? Cover it up. Sorry the blue checks look distorted and wavy in this photo. It happened every time I resized the photo to fit into this collage. I can't be bothered to fool with it. I've already culled and edited 31 self-portraits for these MMM posts and I'm exhausted by the process.

Friday - black OWOP blouse (blogged here) and a skirt that I found in my mom's storage closet and hacked off the hem a few years ago. 

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Weee! I did it, we did it. My first Me-Made-May was a pretty good run and I'm proud that I have handmade items that can stretch across 31 days with only a few repeats. Some observations:

1. The most repeated items were my new blue Moss mini skirt and my white Archer shirt (three wears each). What does this mean?! I love Jen Beeman, I guess.
2. There are still several handmade items in my closet that never made it on my body this month, mostly because they have poor fit, poor execution, or poor historic judgment on my part of what looks good on my body. Others I just never had an occasion for or are more winter-appropriate. 
3. Most of what you see in my round-ups is what I wore to work, but I often changed when I went out to bars and such. A lot of my clothes are pretty cutesy or conservative, so I'm wondering what I can make that will better suit the other part of my life. Don't think I wear knee-length floral wrap dresses to work and then change to sequined bodycon minidresses or anything (ha!); I just want to make some clothes that are casual and flattering (= not jeans) but with more of an edge. Suggestions welcome, fashionistas. How do you balance your work/play wardrobe?
4. The store-bought or thrifted items I wore were mostly tops, so I've concluded I need to make more tops, though I knew that before May started. I just never know what kind of tops to make and I'm not inspired by my current stash of patterns. Sounds tedious to trace off my current tops but maybe it's worth it.
5. Oh yeah, I still need new shoes.

How did your MMM go, and did you discover anything about your wardrobe that may affect your sewing plans for the future? Whose MMM inspired you? I enjoyed following along with the me-made round-ups of Lauren of Lladybird, Sue of Sewin' Steady, Morgan of Crab & Bee, Rachel of House of Pinheiro and Anna of Paunnet, just to name a tiny few. I'd gladly snatch anything out of those girls' closets.

Thanks for following along. Onto another year of furious me-mading...

project sewn: signature style

The last challenge! I've made it to the top three of Project Sewn and I can't thank you all enough for voting for my looks and being true sweetheartz. I hope that the whole series has inspired some of you to sew more for yourselves or start creating in general, as that's what it's intended to do. What has been your favorite theme so far?

The guideline for this week's theme "Signature Style" was: "Design a look for yourself that is all you---your look, your style, what you love to make and wear." Perfect. I love making and wearing things that I love to make and wear. 

As you probably know, I kinda only wear dresses and skirts (see here, here and here for evidence). Casual dresses mostly, made in solids, stripes/plaids or geometric prints. Feminine silhouettes but nothing frilly. No embellishments, no ruffles, no ric rac. Pink is limited. Kinda preppy and modest, but also kinda cool (maybe?). Fitted waistline required, fitted skirts discouraged (less so lately, though). Must be beltable. Must pair well with a cardigan or cropped jacket. If it's not neutral, it's probably blue, red, or something in that color family. Must be able to be cut, sewn and finished in about a week or else I'll get bored. If it's not office-appropriate (i.e. knee-ish--length and cardiganable), it must be appropriate for my low-key social life that involves going to a lot of ethnic restaurants, drinking beer at microbreweries, sitting in my friends' living rooms, and walking around parks or whatever.

I've never written out my style requirements before, but it's easier to do now that I've made it most the way through my first Me-Made-May. Seeing the weekly collections of photos and hearing the feedback in the comments gives me a better understanding of what kind of clothes I most like to wear and how other people interpret my style. 

This dress seems to hits all my key style points. I love it, anyway, so that says something. Is it epic enough for a Project Sewn finale? Maybe not, but it's going to get worn and enjoyed a helluva lot. I started with Vogue 8665, a pattern I made recently in red ponte knit. I chopped it at the waistline and added a quarter-ish circle skirt. For more stripey fun, I added a 3" thick band of horizontal stripes at the hem. I was worried about how the straight grain of the band would interact with the off-grain circleness of the skirt, but it didn't freak out too much and actually added some needed structure and weight. It swings like a bell when I wear it.

The fabric is pinstripe chambray from the Michael Levine online fabric store (found here). It's labeled as black and white, but altogether it looks gray, of course, which is exactly what I wanted. Gray looks great with yellow belts, and red belts, black belts, and even brown belts. I think I'm set.

I lowered the back neckline by a few inches because the only matching zipper I had wasn't long enough otherwise. It probably would have been fine as is since the skirt is full, but I do like the look of the lower back.

I used a regular zipper but decided to hand-pick it instead of fiddling with trying to get straight machine stitches all the way around. The little hand stitches sank into the fabric so they're basically invisible, even if the zipper itself is not.

I didn't re-read the pattern instructions so I don't remember how it has you finish the neckline and armholes, but bias tape made the most sense to me. Of course I used red bias tape. Of course!

So that's my final look! If you're feelin' it, please head over to Project Sewn and vote. This is my final solicitation for votes, I promise.

Thanks everyone!

me.made.may.week.three

Sweet! Onto the next. If you're just tuning in and wondering why I seem more narcissistic than usual with my selfies and am going overboard with the Picmonkey collages, it's because it's Me-Made-May 2-0-1-3. Every day during the month of May, I'm wearing at least one handmade garment. In case I'm audited by some MMM enforcement service, I'm taking daily photos to prove that I'm sticking to my pledge.

Day Fifteen

Red ponte dress (blogged here, kinda, with my coverstitch machine review). The perfect work dress.

Day Sixteen

Thrifted plaid button-up with navy half-circle knit skirt (blogged here). Today a volunteer at the place I work complimented me out of the blue and said this outfit "really suited me." Can't say I disagree. Definitely an Andrea outfit.

Day Seventeen

Black OWOP blouse (blogged here) over thrifted knit dress. One of the remaining survivors of my One-Week-One-Pattern sewathon last March. This blouse has always been a bit tight so I don't wear it much. I felt a little awkward tying it in a knot like this, but it's a good way to cover an unflattering dress bodice by featuring it as a skirt instead.

Day Eighteen

White Archer shirt (blogged here) and blue denim Moss Mini skirt (blogged for my 80s challenge here). A Grainline Studio Pattern kinda day! I finished this skirt on Saturday morning so was pumped to wear it out. But it looks like I wore this outfit to bed, damn. Tuck your shirt in! Use an iron! Well, I wore it to eat French fries and drink beer, so I was not projecting much elegance today as it was. Cute 'brella, though, amirite? Cute Philly sidewalk litter, amirite?

Day Nineteen

80s outfit (blogged here). Tubular. I'm digging this jacket more and more. It's stretch denim and actually fits my broad back so I can flail my arms around like a normal person (who flails). My other fitted jackets provide no such luxury.

Day Twenty

Cambie dress (blogged here). Zzzz. I mean, it's fine, I'm just kinda tired of it already. Maybe it's because I look so cool in my 80s outfit from yesterday and I look so... precious in this knee-length A-line dress and cardigan combo today. I think my style is definitely changing (for the worse?) because I just want to hack off this hem and yank down the neckline. Whoa, girl, calm down.

Day Twenty-One

White Archer shirt again (found here) and chevron print skirt (blogged here). I'm pretty excited that I'm still actually wearing stuff that I made a full year ago. Last year at this time is when I really noticed my sewing starting to improve, which means more wearable and long-lasting garments, hoorah. I know I wore this shirt on Saturday but it's great to finally have something to wear with this skirt. For some reason I always struggled to style this thing because I didn't want to overwhelm my body with color and prints. A basic white button-up was the ticket.

So what have I learned so far? I should stop wearing the same shoes every day. And since they're secondhand Urban Outfitters shoes (shudder), they probably have 3 wears left in them before they fall apart.

project sewn: 80s challenge

Three challenges in! I'm thrilled to have made it to this point of Project Sewn, so thanks to those of you who have voted for any of my outfits. Today is the reveal for the next challenge, for which we had to sew something inspired by the fashion of the 1980s. I'm excited to see what my fellow contestants have come up with for this one, because there are so many routes you can take. 

I decided to go with a jean jacket, a colorful slim-fitting fly-front denim skirt, and a graphic top. I almost can't believe I finished this whole outfit by the deadline; come Thursday, I had only started the jacket. I was in a cold sweat, scurrying around JoAnn's after work on Thursday, hurling bolts of cobalt blue stretch denim and interfacing at the woman behind the cutting counter yelling "Chop, chop!" Just kidding. I don't use fabric cutting puns out loud.

All of the Project Sewn challenges so far have been difficult when it comes to settling on an idea, but this one was the hardest by far. I don't personally remember fashion from the 80s, since I mostly wore diapers and onesies back then, and there's a fine line between an 80s-inspired outfit and an 80s Halloween costume. I admit that it was extremely tempting to make a sequined Tina Turner dress since I actually had an excuse, but I decided to go for something that was a bit more practical. Man, there were some scary silhouettes in 80s fashion. I just couldn't go dramatic with it, I'm sorry.

For inspiration I watched some clips from teen movies such as Sixteen Candles (1984), Secret Admirer (1985) and St. Elmo's Fire (1985). I even watched some early Cosby Show but those women sure liked their oversized clothing. I eventually returned to an old idol of mine, Kelly Kapowski from the teen sitcom Saved by the Bell. It's a little bit of a stretch because Saved by the Bell first aired in 1989 and ran into the 1990s, so I singled out her earlier style that still had an 80s hangover, like her denim jackets, slim skirts and fluffy hair:

source

I've been wanting a jean jacket anyway, so I thought this was the perfect time to make one. I'm not a fan of the acid-washed look, so I used this dark denim from my stash since it's a bit more modern. I used a Burda PDF pattern, the cropped denim jacket from 02/2010 (here). Luckily I had extra yardage because I completely forgot to add seam allowances when I cut all the pieces out the first time. Genius. Burda magazine patterns are insane. How would any beginner know where to start with them? For this jacket, there were three different style patterns printed on the same sheets, but I didn't know that until I realized there were extra pieces that didn't actually go with this jacket. Plus there are no illustrations for the steps, and adding your own seam allowances means a higher risk for inaccuracies. Anyway, I like the jacket for the most part. The buttons are kinda big, though.

For the skirt I used the Grainline Studio Moss Mini Skirt pattern, omitting the pockets and lengthening view A by 4 inches (I wanted the length but not the hem band of view B). I topstitched all the seams, though it's not called for, just to get a more casual jean skirt look. I wanted it to sit a little higher than intended so I cut a size 4 in the waist and graded out to a size 10/12 at the hips. I used a denim/lycra blend for the skirt -- which creases and wrinkles like crazy, btw -- but if I used a non-stretch woven I'd probably go up a size further so I could comfortably sit. I really like this pattern and will probably make more. Getting tired of all my work-appropriate skirts and having nothing to wear out on weekends.

The top had no pattern... I just improvised a baggy wide-neck kimono-sleeve tee like Molly Ringwald wears on her birthday in Sixteen Candles. I know I should have layered it  over another tee but I can only make so many pieces in a few days' time, people! This jersey was a local find I already had in my stash because it's awwwwwesome. Lucky break that it had an 80s vibe with the colors and geometric shapes. Huxtable-approved, I hope.

I swiped Corey's sunglasses to use for these photos since they're clubmaster style, actually from the 80s. I think he found them on eBay.

Be sure to check out the other 80s looks on Project Sewn today and vote for your favorite by Thursday! If you vote for me, I'll be like:

David Byrne #big suit

Thanks everyone!!