Ah, winter. Long chilly days without nearly enough sunshine. For me and most crafting it’s also a quiet kind of hybernation. Now don’t get me wrong, my needles and thread have not been neglected. No, lately I’ve just find myself doing more practical projects that don’t really merit sharing in detail. I’ve made some basic longsleeve tshirts for layering, sewn numerous coat buttons back on and secured loose linings (Apparently I’m quite hard on my coats), made some scarves, and spent plenty of time mending and darning (don’t laugh… I get plenty of teasing for my darning already!) I turned one long slip into two shorter slips (and wondered if people still wear slips at all since a good slip seems so hard to find. Sewists, women in general, tell me: Do you prefer your clothing to be lined, or do you rely on a silky additional layer?), and I finally got around to stitching up a new purse (it’s a bit plain looking, but quite practical.)

I’ve also started another attempt at the 365 challenge.  I’ll be attempting to take a photo every day and photoblog it before midnight for 365 days, ending 12/12/2012. (just realized now that it’s a leap year, making it the 366 challenge!)

I’m posting those pictures at http://lauprepicaday.wordpress.com/ so feel free to take a look at random things I see from day to day if you’re so inclined.

But I’m keeping my head up.  Before I know it it will be sunny and time to make spring stuff!

I had this dress hanging in my closet, and I loved the print on the fabric, but the something about the length just bothered me.  It fell to a place somewhere between the knee and ankle that just felt awkward to me. Hemming up a dress to make it a little shorter is not a difficult task so I decided to make it a little more interesting by following the bottom edges of the print to make it a scalloped hem.

Luckily, the print could be seen clearly on the inside of the dress (the wrong side of the fabric). All that needed to be done was to fold up the bottom edge towards the right side, and stitch along the scalloped edge from the wrong side. (the edge to the right is the fold, and the original hem is folded underneath)

You can see the original hem at the top left here.  Next I clipped the fabric from the fold up to the point between each scallop all the way around the skirt. I cut as close to the stitching line as I could without cutting the thread.

I used my pinking shears to cut around each scallop instead of clipping hundreds of tiny notches individually.  Trimming it this way is very important though, because a curved seam will not sit properly unless it has been clipped. (You can read more about clipping seam allowances here)

The last steps were to turn the scallops out the right way, press the seams, and finally stitch the hem. I simply trimmed off the original hem fabric close to the scallops and did a simple machine blind hem stitch.

In the end I’m much happier with the length, and I think the scalloped edge just adds a fun touch that works with the spirit of the dress.

I sewed up this little light weight knit dress last night, and I’m really happy with it!  (observant eyes  may notice it’s the same fabric I used for the top in my last post)

It has a fun, flowy skirt with an interesting uneven hem.

I was working without a pattern and freehanded some shapes to see how it would look in a skirt.  The back is made of three pieces shaped like in the image above.

The front is a modified half circle skirt shape with the edges cut to match the pieces along the back.  If I had had more of the fabric I would have liked to continue the pieces from the back of the skirt across the front. In the end, though, I’m happy with it because I think the simplicity of the front of the skirt balances well with the tied front detail.

Oh yeah, and I’m currently blonde

Yesterday I whipped up this simple top after seeing people wearing similar ones around town.  I thought they looked comfortable and the design is so simple I thought it would be a great project for summer sewing.  I know I’m not the only one who gets busy and begins to neglect their sewing space when the weather gets nice!

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It ended up being just a twenty minute project, and it’s as easy to wear as it was to make.  There is no need for a pattern as it was as simple as three pieces, and since I used a knit that’s pretty stable and not prone to unraveling I just left the neckline and sleeve holes unfinished.

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To add a little something special to this simple top I put a couple of grommets onto the back and strung some chain I had between them.  (note that I said grommets, not eyelets.  Grommets have two pieces that fit together while eyelets are the just one piece.  It makes a big difference in how well they will stay in place and not get ripped out.  Also, when setting grommets into stretchy knits you want to remember to use a smaller hole than you would with a solid woven fabric)

How to after the break:

I used just one yard of fabric.  I cut it into two 18 inch lengths.  The breezey, drapey top is made from one of these pieces.

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The front and back pieces will be exactly the same, each one 18in tall and I had no problem just using the width of the fabric to determine the width of the shirt. Leave the fabric folded in half along the original fold line (or straighten it if you have to), then fold again so that your selvage and the center fold line are together.  Trim off the selvage and fold line. cut in a curve for your “sleeve”.  Mine starts about half way down from the top of the shirt and cuts in about 4 inches from the sides at the bottom of the piece.  You can free hand it or use a design curve and adjust to your tastes.

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Your front and back pieces should look something like this.  Sew the front to the back along the curves, and along the shoulder lines for about 5-6 inches from the edge towards the center. Hem or finish the sleeve edges and neckline if you want.

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To make the fitted bottom part of the shirt, make a tube with the rest of your fabric. my tube was 18 inches tall and as wide as I needed to wrap snugly around my waist.  Sew along the side, fold in half (enclosing the seam and making it a tube 9 inches tall instead of 18) and stretch to ease the difference from your waist piece to your top piece as you sew them together.

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And that’s all there is to it!

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oh yeah, made these simple chains at craft night this last weekend.  Chain, some beads, and pliers are easier to tote around so I’ve been playing around with it a little bit.

It’s very girly and fun, and with the full circle skirt/lots of gathered lace combo it is too hard to resist twirling!

Gathering by hand, to me, is one of those tedious tasks that I usually can’t stand.  Today though, I’m taking the time and gathering this lace onto the lining fabric of this skirt I’m working on.  The underskirt is a basic circle skirt.

I don’t know if this is a “real” technique or not, (I know there are easier ways, but I like doing it this way when I’m feeling like a perfectionist)  I use two needles and two lengths of thread to gather and secure the fabric.  First I pin off the sections evenly distributing the length of the gathered material in relation to the base.  Then little section by little section I use one needle to gather, pull the thread tight, and secure with a couple knots at the end of the section.  I use the second needle and thread to whipstitch over the top, securing the gathered stitches to the base.

Now when I go to add the waistband I won’t have to worry about the gathering ending up uneven or bunched in areas.  With a different fabric I might not mind, but I think with this lace the unevenness would probably disappoint me later. The rest of the skirt should come together really quickly, so I can enjoy spending a little more time on this one detail.

It is officially done! I even finished it on time , it just took me a few days waiting on the weather to be able to get decent pictures.

The front

and the back

It’s just as snuggly and comfy as I hoped it would be!

My sewing table is covered in squares! I finished hand quilting the last square for my black and white quilt last night at craft night, so today I begin the process of putting the last half of the quilt together.  Spurred on by the encouragement of the lovely ladies and gentlemen at the spot, I’m motivated to get this done this week. This has been by far the longest time I’ve ever spent on a single project.  By this time next week I can finally avoid all those eyerolls and “Finish it already!”s, and just snuggle up under this baby.

fresh needle? check!

plenty of thread? check!

hot iron, hot coffee and a nice big playlist of music? Check!

This WILL be the last week I work on this! (What’s that? my copy of L.A. Noire I’ve had been waiting for since last September is finally being released? available tonight at midnight? Quilt first, play later!)

March 23rd

I love the collar on this jacket. I made it a long time ago but hardly wear it. It’s not very warm and it’s a little bit small, so to wear it for a day the stars have to align and give me a “thin” day and a little bit of sunshine. The dress is from the same pattern I used for the grey dress from March 2nd, except for a few modifications. Since everything went so well the last time I made it I just cut the pieces again without thinking about the fact that this fabric has stretch. I doubled the darts in the front and back and to bring in the bust I cut right down the middle, lapped it and added 6 tiny buttons to the front.
Me made:
tan dress, jacket

March 24th

Now if anything makes me feel like a superhero, it’s these blue tights! I didn’t make them, but I just made this blue dress and they match too perfectly not to go together. I wore it with the same black cropped hoodie I’ve been wearing all month for most of the day.
me made:
blue dress, black cropped hoodie (not pictured)

March 25th

You can tell I’m starting to feel spring starting up. Just like all the trees around town covered in bright pink and purple petals, I too am donning myself in the brighter hues. This is a simple circle skirt in a heavy green linen with my cream pettiskirt underneath and a basic 3/4 sleeve knit top I made this week.
me made:
skirt, pettiskirt, top

March 26th

A basic running errands outfit, I wore my new grey sweatshirt with it most of the day. No new pieces in this outfit, but a new combination of them!
me made:
black tank ( March 3rd), grey slacks (March 17th), and grey hoodie (March 22nd)

March 27th

This is a knit dress I made way back in my busy etsy days, but never sold. It’s really a summer dress since it’s made of a very lightweight knit, but with a thick slip underneath, cozy cashmere on top, and my bamboo sweater tights I can bring this into spring.
me made:
cashmere shrug, green and brown dress

March 28th

Greys and purples.
me made:
camisole, vest (March 17th), purple stretch skirt, burgundy legwarmers made from a sweater

March 29th

Total Outfit repeat of March 15th, so I’m just going to use the same picture from last week. You’ll just have to forgive me.
me made:
yellow and white faux wrap dress, white layered ruffled knit skirt, leggings, cropped swearshirt.

March 31st

The last day of Me-Made-March 2011! I just made these leggings and tank top today, so here I am hanging out barefoot with my machines (you didn’t think I sewed in my crazy heels did ya?) The hardest part was definitely trying to take a photo every day! Like a lot people I’m not that comfortable in front of the camera, but I know when I’m reading fellow sewist’s blogs I’m always disappointed when they only present their garments on a dressform (I hope I’m not alone in that!) I’m pretty happy with my wealth of Me-Made clothing, and it was a lot of fun to realize just how much I’ve made over the last couple of years. I’ve even got a few things that I’m disappointed I didn’t wear and therefore never showed off! (maybe I’ll feature my houndstooth miniskirt some day, hahaha!)
Me made:
leggings, tank top, white denim shorts from last summer, white sweatshirt (march 19th)

Finally, I would like to thank Zoe, from “So, Zo… What do you know?” for creating the challenge and inspiring me and a ton of other fantastic people to talk about, show off, and most importantly actually wear the things we make. (although I will be slipping into my favorite jeans first thing tomorrow morning…)

March 15th

I loved this outfit.  You can see I’m wearing my cropped sweatshirt/hoodie/shrug thing again.  The pale yellow with the white and black was just the contrast I needed to add a little punch to my day! I’ve worn the yellow and white top once or twice before, but I never put it with black before.

Me made: yellow and white faux wrap dress, white layered ruffles knit skirt, leggings, cropped swearshirt.

March 16th

The purple top here is a repeat from March 1st, but I wore the top with a different skirt, added a black lacy cami underneath and my cashmere shrug on top.  Also, I pulled out this wool coat I reconstructed (but actually haven’t finished) last fall.  It has sat in the back of the closet all winter since it’s just not warm enough for cold weather.  I had to resize the sleeves, I added the black wool to the shoulders and black, and I’m in the process of swapping out all the plastic buttons for self fabric covered buttons.  Since the purple in the coat nearly perfectly matched the purple in the top I thought it was a fun combination.

Me made:

skirt, purple tunic, cashmere shrug, reconned purple wool coat

March 17th

My new pants! I finally got these put together and sewed the snaps for the waistband in so I could wear them.  I made these without a pattern, just by drafting, copying a pair of rtw jeans, and fitting and pinning and trial and error! I’m super happy with how the fly came together, and I added some nice pockets to the knees just for a little something different.

Me made:

grey stripe slacks, green and grey knit longsleeve, knit vest

March 19th

I am so proud of this sweatshirt.  It took me 3 days of sewing in just about every spare moment I had, but it came out almost exactly as I pictured it in my head, so I am quite pleased. It’s entirely me, except for a little help for a starting point for the princess seams courtesy of a simplicity pattern. It’s made of a soft and cozy white sweatshirt fleece which makes it warm enough to wear out as a light jacket.  I’m wearing it with a purchased longsleeve tshirt (a shame, since I know I could have made my own) and me made white ruffled skirt (same one I wore on the 15th)

Me Made:

sweatshirt, skirt

Purchased:

black top, tights

March 20th

Pajama day! I wore my pajamas all day around the house, but I’ll be honest, I threw on purchased jeans and a hoodie with my me made ribbed tank that evening to go out to crafty night down the street.

Me made:

red ribbed racerback tank, flannel pajama bottoms

March 21st

Same outfit at March 10th, except with a different skirt.  This skirt is an awesome stretch wool fabric I bought at a PDX Sewing circle swap and sale. It’s a dark plaid with shades of purple and grey that seem to go really well with my green sweater.

Me made:

sweater recon, layered six panel wool skirt, leggings

Three weeks down and so far I feel pretty good about my Me made wardrobe! My goals for this week is to finish my blue knit dress that I’ve been talking about (I’ve started and fit the top portion, I just need to assemble, cut and make the skirt part, and insert a side zip).It’s also time to dig a little deeper into the closet and see if I have anything a little older or something I’ve forgotten to wear. I know I have a few pieces that haven’t gotten a chance to be featured in my me-made-march parade, so hopefully I can get them worn next week.  My one other goal is to whip up a couple more basic longsleeve tees so that I won’t feel tempted to resort to my store bought ones.  It’s a simple project, and I know I can knock one out in an hour, I just need to make myself do it. And finally, either today, or at least early this week I need to finish my tutorial on how I’m quilting and putting together the black and white quilt I’ve been working on at crafty meetups for over a year!