Hi-Low Skirt (McCall's 6076)

Both this fabric and this pattern were impulse purchases (surprise!) made on separate occasions.  It took me a long time to be brave enough to pair them together, though. 

Banana Republic Look-Alike Shorts

One of my goals during Me Made May was to not buy any RTW clothes.  I was successful in this endeavor, but that didn't stop me from window shopping a few times. The photo below was taken outside of Banana Republic. 

When I saw these shorts in the window, I couldn't believe how much they looked like the pair of pink shorts with white circles I had just finished making using McCall's 6930. Here's the front view. They have the same front pockets, but no front fly.

Instead, they close in the back with a zipper and and overlapping waistband with, in this case, snaps. The patterned called for a bar and hook, but I didn't have one on hand. There are two patch pockets on the back of the shorts.  If you look close enough, you can see them. 

I'm pretty proud of some of the details on these shorts, like the front slash pockets.  I made this pair with a remnant of quilting cotton from the clearance rack.  Unfortunately, this means that they are also see-through and not wearable.  Hence, no pics of me wearing them. 

After using these as a muslin, the shorts fit reasonably well.  I'm not sure if I'll make another pair, though.  The design with a rear zipper is pretty bizarre.  I've never seen a RTW pair like this.  

It was a great learning experience, though.  These are my first pair of pants/shorts without an elastic waist (cough, pajama pants, cough). They came together quickly, and were finished in one weekend sewing day. 

Abstract

Pattern: McCall's 6930

Fabric: Quilting cotton from Joann's remnant bin

Cost: <1 yard of fabric @ $3/yard = $2 + zipper and interfacing from stash =  $2 ($3.40 if you count the cost of the pattern)

Time: Approximately 4 hours

Me Made May 2014: The End

Happy June! Me Made May is officially over. I managed to wear a me-made item every day this month.  Here are the pics from the final week.

Monday, May 26: Memorial Day visit to Fort Washington

Shirt: Banana Republic
Skirt: NewLook 0116 (pre-blog)
Shoes: Keds

Tuesday, May 27: Work

Shirt: Sewaholic Belcarra (to be blogged soon!)
Pants: Target
Belt: Target

Wednesday, May 28: Work

Shirt: McCall's6604 (pre-blog)
Cardigan: JCrew
Skirt: The Limited

Thursday, May 29: Work

Dress: Sewaholic Cambie

Friday, May 30: Work

Sweater: Gap
Cardigan: Old Navy
Skirt: Blue Simplicity 2226 (pre-blog)

Saturday, May 31: BBQ

Shirt: Floral teal Plantain by Doe and Deer
Shorts: Banana Republic

I made it through the entire month without repeating an entire outfit.  Towards the end, this was a very conscious effort, but it made for some creative outfits that I wouldn't have come up with otherwise.

My most worn item this month was my blue striped plantain by Doe and Deer, worn four times.  Three other items were worn three times: my floral teal Plantain by Doe and Deer, my black and white cowl neck shirt, and my pink skirt. Interestingly, these most-worn items include most of the me-made shirts in my wardrobe.  Speaking of patterns...

This month I wore me-made shirts more often than skirts or dresses.  I never would have predicted that, as I have far more dresses and skirts in my me-made arsenal.

I wore about 55% woven me-mades this make, and 45% knits.  Seeing how frequently I wear them, I should probably make more knit garments, as they currently make up a pretty small amount of my makes.

Another revelation was how many patterns I wear.  84% of the me-made items I wore this month were patterned.  Since I still wear a considerable amount of RTW clothes, this isn't an issue.  If I wanted to wear a completely me-made wardrobe, though, I'd need to switch this balance.

I'll leave you with my favorite outfit of the month, as chosen by me and popular vote on Instagram.

Me Made May 2014: Week 4

Another week of Me Made May is in the books.  Just one week of daily selfies left to go.  Phewf. Here's the round-up for this week.

Monday: Work

Dress: Moneta by Colette Patterns
Belt: Banana Republic

Cardigan: JCrew

Tuesday: Work

Dress: Floral NewLook 0180

Jacket: The Limited

Wednesday: Work

Shirt: Express

Cardigan: Old Navy

Scarf: Gift from the Gap

Skirt: Miette by Tilly and the Buttons (pre-blog) 

Shoes: Nine West

Thursday: Work

Jacket: Banana Republic

Shirt: McCall's6604 (pre-blog)

Skirt: The Limited

Friday: Work and sewing

Shirt: Blue striped Plantain by Doe and Deer

Capris: Loft

Belt: Banana Republic

Saturday: Bike ride

Shirt: Floral teal Plantain by Doe and Deer

Shorts: American Eagle

Shoes: Keds

Sunday: Brunch and BBQ

Shirt: Camaieu

Skirt: Simplicity 2226 (pre-blog)

Belt: Banana Republic

It looks like this was another week of me-made knits.  Four out of 7 me-made items worn this week were knits. The pattern of wearing my newer makes has continued. Check out how many of the items I've worn this week that are on my blog, a.k.a made this year.  It's great to see that my most recent makes are getting more wear. I'm especially excited about my last two dresses--worn on Monday and Tuesday. 

So far I've been able to not have any complete outfit repeats.  With just a week left, I think that I can keep that up for the rest of the month. 

Me Made May 2014: Week 3

Another week down! This week I wore one me-made make each day: 3 black and white dresses, 2 colorful skirts, and 2 patterned shirts. About half are repeats from earlier in the month. Here they are:

Monday, May 12: Work

Dress: McCall's 5972 (pre-blog)
Belt: Banana Republic

Tuesday, May 13: Work

Dress: Moneta by Colette Patterns
Belt: Banana Republic

Wednesday, May 14: Work

Shirt: Banana Republic
Cardigan: JCrew
Belt: Banana Republic
Skirt: NewLook 0116 (pre-blog)
Shoes: Nine West

Thursday, May 15: Work and happy hour

Shirt: Express

Cardigan: Old Navy

Skirt: Hacked version of McCall's 6503 (not yet blogged)

Friday, May 16: Work

Shirt: Blue and white plantain

Cardigan: Thrifted Jones New York

Pants: Banana Republic

Belt: Banana Republic

Shoes: Keds

Saturday, May 17: Chilly barbecue with friends

Shirt: McCall's 6613

Sunday, May 18: Lunch and shopping

Dress: McCall's 6609 (pre-blog)

Jacket: North Face

Taking pictures of my outfit every day is getting pretty old, so I'm glad that this month is over halfway over. I'm finding that, even though I have more clothes that I've made in the closet, I keep reaching for the same pieces over and over. I think that I may donate the clothes that I still haven't worn by the of the month.  Fortunately, my mom and I are the same size, so she'll get first dibs.

The next week of Me-Made-May will feature at least one new make that I'm pretty excited about, so stay tuned!

Me Made May 2014: Week 2

I'm pretty excited to have made it through 11 days of May with little difficulty--and 10 days without any me-made repeats!  This week was a full work week for me, so there are more work looks than in my last post. There are a few unflattering cell phone selfies, but if I'm okay posting them to the internet, hopefully you'll be okay looking at them.

Monday, May 5: Work

Dress: McCall's 5972 (pre-blog)
Shirt: Express
Belt: Banana Republic
Shoes: Nine West

Tuesday, May 6: Work

Shirt: McCall's6604 (pre-blog)
Pants: Cynthia Rowley c/o Marshall's
Belt: Banana Republic

Wednesday, May 7: Work

Dress: McCall's 5972 (again, pre-blog)
Cardigan: Old Navy
Belt: Banana Republic
Shoes: Nine West

Thursday, May 8: Work

Shirt: Express
Skirt: NewLook 0116 (pre-blog)
Belt: Banana Republic
Bag: Vera Bradley
Shoes: Kenneth Cole Reaction

Friday, May 9: Work and shopping

Shirt: H&M
Cardigan: Bought in Paris
Skirt: Simplicity 2226 (pre-blog)

Saturday, May 10: Embassy open-house and lunch

Dress: Purple knit McCall's M6347 (pre-blog and the first knit garment I ever made)

Sweater: Maxx Studio

Belt: Target

Sunday, May 11: Mother's Day spent with my mom

Headband: Gap

Shirt: Blue striped Plantain by Doe and Deer

Shorts: American Eagle

Sandles: Kenneth Cole Reaction

What I'm learning is that I have a few wardrobe staples that I like to wear over and over.  They include my skinny black leather belt, orange cardigan, and white button-down shirt.

I've now worn all of my knit garments. I think that means I should make some more, since clearly they are what gets worn. It appears that I tend to wear dresses and skirts to work, and pants more on the weekends.  I think that pattern holds true whether or not it's Me Made May.  I own quite a few pairs of dress pants, but hardly ever wear them.  Most of them are hemmed to wear with heels, which I've been trying to avoid due to a running injury.  I could shorten them, though. Hm...

Purple Printemps Dress

I finished the purple dress that I wrote about on my last what I'm working on Wednesday post. The pattern is McCall's M6507. It features a cowl neckline with the front cut on the bias, low back with a horizontal bar across the upper back, and tucks on a front skirt overlay. I made the dress from a thrifted sheet, bought with this pattern in mind.

Making this dress was a great learning experience. I tried out a number of new techniques.  One was making my own bias tape, which was used to enclose the zipper tape on the inside and the armcycles. Making bias tape is actually super easy.  It does eat up a lot of fabric, though, as it is cut on the bias. 

I also used French seams for the first time and did my first tiny hem. I'm excited to be able to apply these new techniques on my future makes. 

One great thing about the back of this dress is that the zipper ends low enough that I can easily take it on and off by myself.  Speaking of zippers, I used my invisible zipper foot for the first time on this dress, which resulted in a nice invisible finish.  Sorry, no pictures of that. This was also my first time enclosing the edges of the zipper tape with bias tape.  It looks super clean on the inside. 

Overall, I like this dress, but if I make it again it will need some tweaks. The top of the bodice is pretty right, especially around the shoulders. It would be much more comfortable if I could move my arms more easily. It's also not the most versatile dress.  It's a pretty distinctive style, that's only really appropriate for spring (printemps en Francais) and summer.

I'll leave you with a picture of me wearing this dress in real life.  Here is a picture from Easter Sunday with my brothers and my brother's girlfriend Becky. 

Abstract

Pattern: McCall's M6507

Fabric: Purple and white patterned thrifted sheet

Cost: $6 fabric + $2 zipper = $8

Time: 20 hours?

What I'm Working on Wednesday April 9

For the past week or so i've been working on a flirty purple spring dress. The pattern is McCall's M6507.  This is my first time making it.  The bodice has a cowl neck and low cut back with a horizontal strap, and is paired with a flared out skirt. Here's the line drawing from the pattern.

No one else will have a dress like this. The fabric I'm using used to be a sheet.  I bought it for $6 at Goodwill, specifically for this dress.  I love the lilac color and petal stripes. The dress also features tucks on the skirt, as you can see in the picture below.

So far I've prepped all of the pieces, including stitching the tucks and hem.  Next I need to put it all together.  I hope to finish up this weekend, so that I'll have a new spring dress to wear in the 80 degree weather next week!

What I'm Working on Wednesday Feb. 19

I'm still working on the same two dresses as my last WIWOW two weeks ago. For the Vogue couture dress, I still haven't been able to pick out a fabric. I'm leaning towards black with small white polka dots. In my vision, the dress would be work appropriate, as well as for a nice dinner out. A polka dotted LBD.

I have made some progress on the McCall's knit dress.  I have started to assemble the dress and it is now in four pieces.

Front facings

Skirt

Bodice with collar

I ran out of black thread while assembling the dress, so it's been on hold for about a week now.  I was able to pick some up on Monday, though, so I'll start working on it again soon.  Look for the final product in the near future!

What I'm Working on Wednesdays

This is my first post in a weekly Wednesday series on my current in-progress projects.  Normally I work on one project at a time, but right now I'm working on three different projects. Here's a sneak peek at each:

Couture Dress

As a Christmas present, my dad enrolled me in an online class on Craftsy called The Couture Dress.  This class teaches high-end couture techniques using a Vogue pattern (my first Vogue pattern!). By the end of the class I'll have a custom-fitted dress made "the right way" with no shortcuts. So far, I've gotten as far as making a muslin, a test-run if you will.  It's made out of plain white fabric and has markings all over it.  Here's what it looks like so far.

Front (Sorry, the lighting in my apartment is terrible)

Back

Wrap Dress

The second project I'm working on is a knit wrap dress.  I've had this pattern for a while now.  I made the shirt from the pattern before, but this will be my first time making the dress.  The fabric is an abstract print with black, brown, blue, white, and orange.

McCall's 6519

At this point, I've cut out my pattern pieces and need to put them together.

Cut-out pieces

Baby Pinafores

Last, but not least (except in amount of fabric!) I'm working on a series of dresses for little girls.  There are three different dresses, each with two complementing fabrics. The dresses are pinafores because they are open in the back.  The pattern I'm using is from another blog, Smashed Peas and Carrots, complete with tutorial. 

So many colors!

These dresses are for friends of a friend, and should be finished this weekend! 

So, that's what I've been up to.  I'm hoping to make a lot of progress on the wrap dress and baby dresses this weekend.  I'm a little stuck on the couture dress, because I just can't decide what fabric to use!