MMMay 2014, Even When I'm Sick.

I have been sick the past few days and that made #MMM14 an interesting situation.  How do I keep up with wearing a make a day in PJs?  Well the answer is you wear your awesome bathrobe that your wife said she was going to make for you, which translates to, "Honey I bought you a project to finish."

To be fair my lovely wife had good intentions, however when it comes to sewing I am such a control freak that I couldn't let go enough for her to fly solo.  Basically I wanted something that I could wear and be comfy in. She wanted to cut a head hole in a piece of fabric and call it a day.  I just can't make a poncho work.  She did help me cut the fabric and she actually sewed the shoulder seams.  Love in every stitch, then she got bored.

This bathrobe is made from sweatshirt material and is incredibly comfortable as well as being comforting when one is sick.  Working toward feeling my best.  Hooray for Me Made May.

Sew for Victory (part 1- Not quite a fail...)

Here is what I would like to say about my first Sew for Victory experience, I went initially against my better judgement and it was not the most successful make ever.  I really wanted to to play with gathers and make a very femme silhouette.  This how ever backfired for me a little bit.  In my heart of hearts I knew I was not a gathers girl, but I tried to lie to myself about the shape of my body, this was not my best plan.  I'm more a pleats than gathers girl and I shall never again forget it.

This project all started with the drape.  I had a lot of fun making it regardless of the fact that the end result was not 100% my style.   There are a lot of process shots for this project so please enjoy.

After the parts were draped I made sure to mark them really well so I wouldn't miss anything when I got to the patterning portion.  Here comes the Pattern Drafting!

What I've learned with my experience in draping and patterning is that it is hard to do one without the other.  My large strength is pattern drafting and it is hard to get a really fit on a drape if you don't know how to correct the pattern pieces when you draft.

Next it was time to get down to cutting and sewing.

My favorite part of this dress is the plackit and small Peter Pan collar.  While I may not repeat this dress again verbatim, the collar action with definitely be happening again.

Now for the end product.

As a sewcialist I like to think of all my projects as an opportunity for learning and growth.  I definitely learned and grew with this project.  Things I learned:

1. I am starting to really enjoy draping and I will need to do more of it.
2. Gathers at least along the bustline are a little doubty on me and should not be repeated. 
3. Working in fabric other than 100% cotton is a fun challenge but if I decide to do it again I will drape in something with a similar weight.

I did do a second project which I will write up later that is more my style.  I can't wait for the round up and to see what everyone else has done.  Once again a big thanks to Rochelle from Lucky Lucille for this awesome sew-a-long.  Definitely one of my favorites.

MMM14 Recapping

Yesterday was an amazing day.  I got to sew for most of the morning, then my wife and I went to a soccer game where I got to snuggle an adorable baby named Theo, followed by dinner and beers with friends and our pup Figaro.

The one thing that is hard for me about Me Made May is casual wear.  I have lots of cute skirts and dresses to go to work in but nothing really great to sit in the grass and snuggle babies in. I was digging around my collections of makes and my hand landed on a t-shirt I made during one of my seasons at the opera. It's a light weight knit that I found mad cheap at Ben Franklin crafts when they still existed in my area of STL.  The pattern for my t-shirt was self drafted and it was a really great fit.

This was taken when we were out for dinner and beers.  That is the best behaved puppy in public.  We think all of our babies are awesome, but Figaro is really good in social situations.  It was a really lovely afternoon and evening.

Another day of Me Made May.

I love the pieces in my outfit today.  That said, now that I have seen a picture I don't necessarily love them together but what can you do.

My top is the Portrait Blouse pattern from Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing.  The patterns from Gertie's book are some of my absolute favorites and this is my second version of this one.  One of the things I love most about them is that even being a curvy lady I have had to make very few adjustments to the patterns.  I made this blouse in a cotton voile and it is just so light and comfortable to wear.  The only modification I made to this version was that I added two inches to the hem so that I wasn't displaying my navel. I'm not on team crop top, especially for myself.

My skirt is made from a khaki twill with a navy twill contrast for the pockets. It washed up well and is soft and comfortable but holds it's structure nicely.  With this shirt on you can't really see it but it is fairly high waisted.  The only thing I may do differently in the future is to remove some of the fullness and flare from my center front panel, I like my skirts a little less full.

Also can we have a moment for my awesome wife who surprised me with a dress form trellis for our garden?  That woman knows me and clearly loves me a lot.  Thanks for being behind the camera on this magic shot babe.

Let's take a moment for the horror that is seam ripping.

I would like to briefly address the absolute agony that is seam ripping.  First and foremost this is coming from a place of very raw agony as I have done my fair share of seam ripping today.  The project I was slaving over is this fabulous top, well I have hopes that it will be fabulous anyhow, and needless to say it has not been going according to Hoyle. It is my foray into knits for this months Monthly Stitch theme. I will be sharing it upon completion, because that is not the point of this post.

I was trying to put in a t-shirt neck edge with self fabric and it just kept coming out wonky and uneven. I swear I was nearing a temper tantrum state and it was feeling incredibly volatile in the studio.  I took this collar out three times.  Those of you who have seam ripped before know that once you have ripped that seam you are left with tiny awful threads that can be tough to get out.  However if you leave them they poke out of your seam and make you look a hot mess.  It is so infuriating.

I do however have a solution to this problem.  Its a trick that a friend and I stumbled upon whilst seam ripping 1600 feet of cording (it was a process extremely lacking in fun, though I did have good company).  It all started with an eraser...

Look I know it sounds crazy, but an eraser is a huge problem solver with seam ripping.  Once you've torn it your take your eraser and run it over the area with the little tiny specks of thread.  It pretty much rocks at taking them away.  I will add one disclaimer, I would suggest using a white eraser.  I had a pink one and it left pink on the fabric.  Also if you're worried about that, you could always make sure to erase from the back side.

One of my favorite new little sewing hacks.  I hope you enjoy it.!

Me Made May, for the very first time

I'm extremely pumped to be doing Me Made May for the first time. Im going to try to wear one me made item per day.  It shouldn't be too tough, plus I do have sewcial plans for May, so im sure some brand new items will be joining the lineup.

My first item is a dress I made two years ago when I was working in St. Louis. Its drafted from my own bodice sloper. The fabric is from DS Quilts fabric, I just love her retro inspired prints.  I did a simple straight skirt and the all star of the dress, the offset Peter Pan collar. Its just so fun and easy to wear. Hope you enjoy.

Call me ambitious, I made a schedule for May.

Hne l am pleased to say that I have created a new schedule for my May blogging. l have an ambitious plan that involves posting twice per week. This feels crazy and exciting. I think that I can do this but please bear with me as I endeavor to become an allstar. 

That said I am trying out a new series on Thursdays where I'll break down some basics of garment sewing.   I will then do follow ups with other ways to do this that are either fun, functional or add a dash of style. Im pretty excited for this, and if you can think of anything you're dying to know about, please let me know.  I want to bring that to you!

Here's the May schedule,  things to watch for:

May 5th- Two post bonus, Lucky Lucille's Sew For Victory and Project Sewn's Leading Ladies Challenge
May 8th- 1st mini post on under stitching
May 12th- Project Sewn week 2
May 15th- Using facings with under stitching and linings
May 19th- Project Sewn week 3
May 22nd- Under stitching with piping
May 26th- Project Sewn week 4
May 29th- Let's talk linings
May 31st- A recap for May

Alright you guys I've put it out there. Keep tuned in and we'll see what happens. Stay tuned and enjoy.
-Caroline

My excited face!