finally moving on

The pink and grey plaid shirt is finally finished! There are a few things about it I would have tried harder to make perfect (like the very weirdly fitting sleeve caps) if it were a fabric I loved, instead of just liked, but in general I'm pretty pleased with it. I used simplicity 8399 (from 1968), with a few alterations.

I took in one inch from both the front and back pieces between the arm and waist, and added back waist darts so it didn't hang like a pillowcase (ha ha).

And most exciting, I made my very first fabric covered buttons! I used a kit from my local fabric store, and it worked quite well. The buttonholes ended up right on the grey block of the plaid, so I used that part for the buttons to match. One of the back pieces didn't want to stick, so I had to take pliers to it. It got a little mangled, but I just used that one for the bottom, as it will be hidden when the shirt is tucked in.

I'm pretty happy with the pattern matching on the front too (I didn't even try to match the side seem or the shoulders, maybe next time). I was nervous about putting in a collar, but it was actually quite easy.

And that's it! I even finally got a tripod, so taking pictures of finished projects no longer involves a stack of boxes on the kitchen table and hope that they won't fall over. Tomorrow, on to a black gingham Sencha.

progress, finally

With Betty-the-Janome happily back in her place on my coffee table, I'm finally making progress on the pink and grey plaid shirt. I catch: I can't seem to care about it. I know I need more shirts, and that it will be very cute, etc, but all I can think about are pretty dresses with matching half jackets, fourties trousers, sweet little tops in brightly coloured silks. Spring is popping up all over, and it's whispering to me to make gingham dresses, not flannel shirts. Unfortunately, all of the projects I'm excited about have either the pattern or the fabric (or both) still in the post, so I'll just have to bide my time.

shapeless box of a shirt

So far, I have the darts, side, and shoulder seams sewn and edged in bias tape, with the sleeves about to be put in. I'm a little nervous about those; not only have I not set in sleeves since grade nine home ec, but after unthinkingly taking in the side seam on the blouse body, my sleeve hole is two inches smaller than it started out being. Pinning that much out of the arm seam made for awkwardly snug sleeves, so I'm going to try either gathers or tucks in the sleeve cap to take up the extra slack. With some luck it will look like an interesting design feature instead of a slapdash fix, ha ha. My first attempt at pattern matching didn't work very well, I will have to read up on it in my lovely new sewing books before trying it again.

side seam pattern matching = fail

After that I guess I'm done for the night, as I realised when I went to cut it out that I'm right out of interfacing for the collar and button strips. Oh dear, that means it's off to the fabric store for me tomorrow morning, with all their pretty spring fabrics... and a fifty percent off everything sale... Somehow I think I'll be coming home with more than interfacing ;).

As far as me-made-march goes, I've been good about remembering to do it, but not so much about the photographing. Days 6, 7, and 11 somehow got missed, but here's the rest of the week:

day 8/12

Me made pink peasant skirt, with black/white striped shirt on day 8, black/pink striped shirt on day 12.

day 9

Me made pink ruffle shirt, with a lovely pink skirt from the now closed In The Starlight website.

day 10

Me made red peasant top with me made grey corduroy jumper skirt.

And next week I'll try to remember pictures every day, and hopefully some new wardrobe additions to show off :).

challenge outfits

As I have yet to get up and do something productive with my next project, here are days 3 to 6 of the me-made-march challenge.

day 3

Full length, self drafted, ruffled peasant skirt, made from my christmas present fabric, and a matching blouse (new look 6599) with ruffled lace trim and heart buttons. I still have some extra fabric left over to make a matching corset and shrug, one of these days. 

day 4

And this is when I ran out of self made shirts, ha ha. Self drafted corduroy and satin kilt with black eyelet trim.

day 5

 One of my first sewing projects, two layer ruffled skirt with ribbons sewn into the waistband on top and between the layers, which can be tied together to gather the top skirt layer at each side seam. I rarely use it, but it's nice to have in case I feel like dressing like a bar wench, ha ha.

Day 6 (today) is just day 3s skirt and a rtw top. 

Bonus Jewellery shot from day 2, self made dangley earrings and super cute octopus pendant from etsy.

decisions, decisions

I desperately need more blouses. Skirts are so tempting to make, and then I end up with nothing but lovely fancy skirts paired with t-shirts, not good. In my stash is this pretty pink/black/grey plaid, just calling out to be made into something while the weather is still cold enough to  wear it.

wouldn't this be great with a black pencil skirt?

This is definitely up next on the cutting table, I'm just having trouble deciding which of these shirts it wants to be. The Smooth Sailing blouse from the ever talented Lauren at Wearing History?

very Katharine Hepburn

Or the short sleeved version of this Simplicity pattern I got from my grandmother?

c. 1969

On the one hand, if I use the first one, it will give me the chance to work any kinks out of the pattern before I make it up in a fancy gold fabric I have waiting in the wings. On the other hand, my grandmother's notes on the second one indicate that it won't need much tweaking (it evidently fit her, and we're pretty much the same size and shape), and as this is my first try at either inset sleeves or a collar, not having to worry about the rest of it too much would be nice. I had meant to pick one and start cutting it out this morning, but too much procrastinating (and watching Muppets Tonight on my computer) has left me with no time, so it looks like I have till tonight to decide. In the meantime, here are my outfits for the first two days of me-made-march:

top adapted from butterick 3906, self drafted corduroy jumper

the circus skirt, new look 6599 blouse