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. 

Mushroom skirt

During Me Made May I realized how versatile my pink a-line skirt is.  After all, I did wear it practically every week. I also realized that this was one of the first skirts I ever made, and some of the finishings leave a little to be desired.

Chambray Miette

This is my second Miette by Tilly and the Buttons.  It is a simple wrap skirt that is great for beginners. If I remember correctly, the first version was my first PDF pattern.  I upcycled the first one out of a green recycled tablecloth.  Green in two ways--color, and it was made with recycled bottles. I wore it during the fourth week of Me Made May, but in general I don't wear it very often because it is so distinctive.  One great thing is that it doesn't matter when i spill on it!

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...

Me Made May 2014: Week 1

I've made it through the first week of Me Made May!  The first week was just four days, so it was nice and easy.  I went to work on Thursday and then took a long weekend trip to North Carolina, so you'll see one work outfit and three casual outfits.  Here they are. I'll apologize in advance for some cell phone pics. 

Thursday, May 1: Work

Dress: Houndstooth Coco by Tilly and the Buttons

Jacket (in my arms): Blue tweed Sewaholic Cordova (pre-blog)

Cardigan: Old Navy

Scarf: Gift

Shoes: Nine West

Friday, May 2: Road trip to North Carolina

Shirt: Blue striped Plantain by Doe and Deer

Jeans: Old Navy

Shoes: Keds

Saturday, May 3: Apartment hunting and botanical gardens in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Shirt: Gap

Skirt: Blue Simplicity 2226 (pre-blog)

Sunday, May 4: Driving home and grocery shopping

Shirt: Floral teal Plantain by Doe and Deer

Jeans: Old Navy

Shoes: Keds

So far, so good. This week I've worn more casual wear than in a typical week.  Interestingly, I wore mostly knit pieces this week, whereas most of my makes are from woven fabrics.  I'm curious to see if that trend continues in the coming weeks. I also seemed to wear my most recent makes, seeing that on 3 of the 4 days I wore things that I've made this year.  I'll keep on eye on that too.

Sewing for Spring

I haven't finished any sewing projects for a while.  The last thing I finished was the floral plantain t-shirt which I blogged about here.  

My knit wrap dress is now all in one piece, but it is not finished.  I need to adjust where the bodice meets the skirt along the waist.  Otherwise, it is complete.  The sleeves are finished, the hem is hemmed.  I haven't finished it yet, though, because it doesn't fit.  The top is just too big. I don't know why I try to listen to the measurements listed on commercial patterns.  They always turn out too big.  It's another story with independent patterns, though.  

To motivate myself for some spring sewing success, I did a little shopping last night.  I bought Tilly's new Coco pattern.  

The pattern comes with shirt and dress variations with pocket and neckline options.  For my first Coco, I'm planning on making a houndstooth dress. I bought this fabric to do so from www.fabric.com. I've already printed out the 31 pages of pattern to start assembling.  I also wanted a horizontal striped dress for a while now, so that might be in the queue soon.

A while ago, I made Tilly's Miette skirt. It was my first independent pattern and I was impressed.  Her directions are super easy to follow.  They are organized as a check list, which is how my brain tends to function.  Here's my Miette.

Happy sewing!