Summer sewing has begun!

Shopping for something else and found this watermelon fabric I couldn't resist at 50% off. Bought a half metre for $7 and made this halter top: 

In my backyard showing off my clematis 

Sort of improvised as I went along, just sketching out a pattern based on measurements directly on the wrong side of the fabric. I am so happy with it I might try to trace off the pattern onto paper so I can make again (maybe as a dress?).

I also made a skirt, that one I at least took pictures as I was making it, thought I had done that for this as well but it appears not!

Me Made May week 5

The final week of Me Made May! I even actually made (and wore) something new!

This is a shirt - my favourite shirt pattern - that I started eons ago and never finished. Getting the idea to zhuzh it up a bit with a contrast running stitch got me inspired to get it done. 

Monday got cold again. Old cardigan in Knitpicks Gloss, corduroy wrap skirt that i never wore because it was teal, removed colour and over-dyed (might over-dye again to get a better red?)

I saw a cut top on Instagram recently and then realized it was near identical to this one I made out of old sheets three years ago (self-drafted, inspired by this dress), but with an extra flounce (now I'm tempted to add an extra flounce). Polka dot skirt is one i made in 2018 or so.

Me trying to dress like a capitalist for a peace mission. Same favourite shirt pattern (you can see this fabric in that post from 2013), this time in a really nice black pinstripe, and pencil skirt in a fine wool windowpane check.

I love this dress so much. Black cotton broderie with white collar. I have had it (and the shoes) since 2016 or 2017?

Yellow gingham circle skirt (to match the top from last week) and a black silk halter top that was another pandemic project (ugly print remnant bought at discount, colour removed, over-dyed). Note bike shorts and helmet! I cycle in all these outfits; I don't usually bother with shorts but this in particular was for a ride to a gallery about 30km outside of town.

Me Made May week 4

Gardening season has arrived! I am loving the summery weather and I hope my seedlings are, too.

This sundress is one I made last year, after finding the cutest cherry-print cotton. It ties at the neck, and ties up the back, and has ruffles! (n.b. this dress was sadly not cute enough to solve all of life’s problems...

Sundress with cherry print

This butterfly-wing top was inspired by a Ravelry poster who is no longer with us. Bittersweet to wear in her memory, but she’d want us all to be twirling.

Polka dot butterfly top with denim pencil skirt 

Pulled out this gingham top from almost exactly 12 years ago - originally inspired by Bye Bye Birdie, interesting to compare my garden then to my garden now!

Yellow gingham sleeveless shirt 

This dress was a very pandemic project: cotton baptiste bought in a colour I didn’t care for, but was on sale for next to nothing. I de-coloured it, and then hand painted all the  polka dots. Lined the skirt with an old bedsheet. Buttons from stash. Really everything was stuff I had on hand already, except the vintage buckle which you can’t even see in this photo, from Agnes Vintage Buttons. Because during a pandemic, why not wait for something shipped from Spain?

Polka dot cotton baptiste dress with pussybow 

This linen-cotton top is from yeeeears ago... matching pencil skirt as well, although it got worn more, and washed more, so it’s faded more. I keep thinking I will over-dye them both. One day. Skirt is a simple wrap, cotton print from a Fabricland haul a couple of years ago.

Linen bateau neck top, wrap skirt with bicycle print 

Currently raining, hope my sprouts enjoy!

Me Made May week 3

Another week over!

Weather was up and down, as was my mood.

Mother’s Day was this week, so feeling blecch. Even though I made sure it was a lovely day—breakfast in bed, group bike ride—I want someone else to do the legwork for once. Waah waah.

Polka dot nighty 

Sundress with yellow roses

This was the year that I finally bought shoes a size large for the sake of handknit socks, just in time for it to be too warm (mostly) for handknit socks. 

Socks 

The uppy-downy weather made it good for a wardrobe staple for me: the sleeveless shirt, perfect for layering for changing temps. Also another pair of handknit socks, and the jeans that are my bellwether of fitness (bit on the snug side, but we’re getting there.

Sleeveless polka dot shirt, straight leg jeans, wool socks

This is my Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief cosplay. Linen sweater, linen pants. Still working on my Grace Kelly. 

Striped linen sweater, grey linen trousers 

Getting even warmer, a cotton knit top (with a really interesting construction) and cotton twill skirt (just tailored enough to make the very casual top feel work worthy).

Cotton striped knit top, cotton twill skirt

And finally, long weekend, more sleeping in.

Pyjamas 

Me Made May week 2

It's Me Made May week 2! Summer dress season! 

Copying the summer dress manifesto I posted on socials:

You might see someone wearing a summer dress and think 😍 and feel compelled to express your feelings! Here are 2 tips on how to do that in a way that will be appreciated:

1. Wear a summer dress 💃

People wearing cute summer dresses almost always appreciate seeing other cute summer dresses. Be part of summer dress season by wearing one yourself!

Not a dress person? Try other grownup clothes, anything made of woven fabric with button closures is a good place to start.

2. Compliment the dress! 

Comments like "OMG that dress is adorbs" or "that colour is amazing on you" are 👍 

One caveat: the *only* people allowed to comment on summer dresses are people who are themselves wearing summer dresses.

So: wear a summer dress, see a dress, say "I love your dress!" And maybe they'll say "no I love YOUR dress!!" This is the ideal summer dress season interaction.

V-back Fit-and-flare in polka dot cotton poplin 

Gingham ruched and ruffled with handknit cardigan 

Black and white V-neck 

Ruched V-neck in black knit 

Vintage party dress with handknit cardigan 

Me Made May

It’s that time of the year again!

I have been making an effort to wear at least one me-made thing every day, whether it’s handsewn or handknit. (I eat something me-made every day as well but that doesn't seem like much of an accomplishment.)

The intent is to take regular outfit of the day pics to share once a week. Helps that the summer weather just arrived as I was getting bored with sweaters. Here’s what I've got so far:

Floral embroidered gingham shirt with removable pussybow, denim wrap skirt 

Felted banya hat 

Fit-and-flare shirtdress with bell sleeves in organza with silver polka dots 

V-neck ruched dress in floral/dotted jersey 

Cotton poplin wrap dress with topstitched floral trim and tie

Muslin shirtdress with waist tie and piping 

They’re not all exactly the same but there are definitely some recurring themes here... shirts and shirtdresses, knee-length skirts, wraps and ties and bows, dots and florals, black and white and red. I’m fine with that though, clearly I know what I like to wear!

Part of the purpose of this exercise is not just knowing what I like, but actually wearing it—not second-guessing whether it’s age-appropriate, or “too costumey,” or whatever other element of self-doubt and insecurity tries to sneak in and steal joy. Just be unabashedly whatever one wants to be, wearing whatever one wants to wear. So far so good?

Two for me

Before getting too stuck into kid stuff, I decided to take a day to make things for me!

First a hoodie for a cover-up after a run or tennis, and then I converted some regular socks into pompom socks!

Here are the socks:

The socks!

I had a bunch of mid-calf athletic socks that I bought last year. I hate mid-calf socks. I only bought them because I was buying a pair of ski boots from someone off kijiji (which is why it never snowed last winter) and forgot to bring socks for trying them on. So no great loss to me if I ended up destroying a pair of socks I didn’t wear anyway. And I happened to have a small length of red pompom trim, about 8” (6 pompoms).

So pompom socks! A favourite from childhood. And practical, because they don’t get eaten by your shoe.

First thing I did was to chop the socks off. I left about an inch of the ribbing that started at the calf, folded over a 1/2” hem, and sewed down using a triple zigzag for stretch. I started sewing about 1/2” to the left of centre back, so when I was reaching the place where I started, I added a length of pompom trim (about 1” long, or 1 pompom) and continued my triple zigzag to attach.

Sock trimmed, hemmed, and with pompom attached

Hem and pompom as seen from the inside

Then, using an upholstery needle and some red cotton yarn from an unfinished knitting project (whoops), I went around the edge of the sock in a deep, somewhat loose blanket stitch. When that was done, I slipped 2.25mm dpns through the loops of handsewing. I picked up and knit these as stitches, working one row of stockinette and two rows of k1p1 rib, before doing a stretchy bind off (yo before each stitch, and then slip the yo over the stitch and off the needle, along with the previous stitch). For this sock I ended up with 52 sts, but I think 48 would have been better.

Here’s a finished sock!

The finished project!

The hoodie:

Hard to see the front pocket, but it’s big! 

I wanted a cocoon-ish kinda feel, so I made it extra long, with a ginormous front pocket and a sort of funnel-neck hood, very shaped.

Started with my standard pyjama top pattern, except added a few inches in width and length, to both the bodice and the sleeves. I added an extra swoop of length to the back, for when I’m wearing it over running tights and want to cover up the rear view.

Longer in the back for coverage

For both the hood and the front pocket, I started by copying from a hoodie of my kid’s, and then basically eyeballing some modifications. For the pocket, I just made it a little bigger, in case I want to put some tennis balls in there. For the hood itself, I cut on the fold instead of having a centre seam, and then fashioned a gusset, so it’s more head-shaped.

Hood down

Hood up

Adding a truly crappy pic of how I altered the hood—black outline is roughly what I traced from the kid’s hoodie, red outline is how I altered it.

Terrible sketch, but you get the idea

I still need to add some drawstrings—I mean they’re not strictly necessary, but I want to. I also made a pair of booty shorts from the scraps, but I’m not posing in those!

Editing to add: I went to Brother WorldSew yesterday to buy some stuff for cosplay and grabbed a few of these cotton bootlaces—thrilled at what a perfect colour match they are! And a perfect length and weight as well.

Drawstrings!