The Western Plaid Shirtdress M6696

If there's ever a time when you find yourself thinking "what will make Chrystal snap?" Sewing 18 buttonholes for this dress is the correct answer. You know that scene from home alone where Joe Pesci starts mumbling "frigg-a-fuda-fuda" repeatedly? Try sewing 18 buttonholes; you'll realize you start to sound a lot like him - maybe a little less PG; Mumbling and with a distinctive look of murder twinkling in my eye as it switches uncontrollably.

It's not like buttonholes are difficult. I have a buttonhole foot that is automatic - A lazy sewists dream, but doing it 18 times on a plaid dress trying to line button hole to button perfectly. Cutting open each button hole without cutting the sides too much. It's the monotony of it all that drives my brain bonkers. Why 18 you say? Because I convinced myself that white buttons can only go on top of white checks in my plaid. The plaid is 1" plaid. Yeah....I hate myself too (But oh so thankful that I am such a shorty that I only need 36" height from collar to hemline). But I sure do love the outcome.....but please disregard the small bald patch that I ripped out of my hair. Minor details.

And let's talk about plaid. Why does it even exist? As a form of torture? Yes I believe that MUST be the truth of it. I wanted, nay NEEDED everything to match. I went to far as to put in extra effort; pins and markings and the whole shabam to make sure this baby matched. But alas, I still had to get creative to match that buttonband. If you look closely you'll notice my waistbands don't match.... Ooooopsie. One may be 2" thick and the other....a little more than that and not so straigh. And All that plaid matching gone to shit. But hey...the buttonband is nice and matchy matchy!

And plaid yokes. I should have been more mindfully and cut it on the bias for added pretty factor. Cause who doens't love to be distracted by pretty pretty pretty pretty. But my brain was on square mode (As am I most of the time) and I sewed right on with the plaid matching across that seam line. I was selective on which seams required matching. The order went: buttonband, back yoke.....to hell with everything else. I'm very invested in plaid matching if you can't tell...even with that WANT for matching.

 

Now let's talk luscious fabric that makes you squeal....namely robert kaufman....hello my lover, let me caress your smooth cotton weave again....you're so squishy and ironing pleats in you is so satisfying....so nice....mmmmm....oh! You're still here? I'm having a private moment with my fabric if you'll excuse me...

Ok I'm done. to summarize...I love robert kaufman. And want everybody to forever more gift me with Robert Kaufman fabrics. You've been told.

Now lets talk pattern. The ever loved M6696. So I've been progressing in my weight loss, and when I made this dress in January I cut the D-cup size 14, and now, in March, I cut a D-cup size 10 bust, grading to a 12 waist and skirt. I wanted a snugger fit under the arms and across my bust. The size 14 was roomier even then, and this size 10 fits perfect with not much ease which is appreciated. Yay for healthy lifestyle changes but nay for having to retrace all of my patterns....

That is a SERIOUS Rump! Thanks Wind!

Otherwise as you can see....I used shortsleeves so I could wear this into Spring, and used the full pleated skirt again because alas this rumpity rump still needs a little coverage.

And why Western? Because I have a Western themed formal event to go to this evening and I'ma wear my new Dress!

Details

Pattern: M6696
Size: Size 10 Bodice D-cup, graded to Size 12 for waist and skirt
Fabric: Robert Kaufman Blue 1" Plaid
Alterations: Removed gathers from back completely.

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White&Grey Easy Summer M6955

Summer lovin - happens so fast! Too bad I'm too lazy to bust out the GOOD camera. So you're welcome to peruse these lovely iphone photos. Great quality eh? Good ol self timer app!

Fabricland had a sale on all of the cotton sateen fabrics and at $4/metre I couldn't go wrong. Lovely prints too! I bought 4 different cotton sateen's and immediately started scheming what I wanted to make. During a recent $1.99 sale on the McCall's website I ordered 10 or so patterns, one of which was M6955: a Laura Ashley Easy project. 

I adored the racer back of the dress and figured the cotton sateen would be perfect for the silhouette of the dress. The fabric would also help the dress to feel snug against my body but still provide me with lots of breathing room with the stretch content. Yay!

I made a fair few adjustments to the pattern. I cut out a size 10 because I wanted to accommodate for the stretch of the fabric and opted to finish my dress with binding instead of bias tape to reduce bulk and make my life 100% easier. This type of finish is the quickest for me while using my serger. the more projects I can complete using only my serger the better! I busted out this dress in >3 hours total from cutting to wearing. 

Back to those alterations I was talking about. After completing my Flora bodice, Belladone Bodice, and V1102 Bodice I began to notice how the flat pattern bodice needed to look for it to fit my body shape better. As soon as I cut out this flat pattern, it looked nothing like I knew it should to fit me. It would fit terribly straight from the envelope. So I starting slicing into the neckline and taking out wedges as I knew the neckline would gape - I then evened out the curve of the neckline. I did this to both the front and back necklines. I also took wedges out from the shoulder strap and turned the straps inwards to fit my narrow shoulders better (bodice shoulders always fall off my shoulders - they never will again!). Next I twisted out a dart from the arm scythe in to the waist darts. By the end my tissue pattern pieces were covered in tape missing all sorts of chunks and pieces. And finally, no dress is complete without the addition of in-seam pockets! I really should have used a lining fabric for those instead of the cotton sateen as they are quite bulky and make the circle skirt stick out across my hips.

The only changes I'll make for my next version of this would be to lengthen the bodice by 1/2" so the waist seam sits a little more comfortable when I move and lengthen the skirt by 1" and opt for 3/4 or 1/2 circle skirt instead of the full circle (which really likes to catch that breeze). Other than that, I put an invisible (or not so invisible) zipper in the centre back, finished my binding edges at the back neck above the zipper (and refused to put a hook and eye out of sheer laziness), and turned and stitched my hemline. The entire dress (besides the darts and zipper insertion) is finished on my serger - Yay for quick dresses! And YAY for easy summer cotton dresses!

Details

Pattern: M6955
Size: 10
Fabric: Cotton Sateen
Adjustments:

• Removed a wedge out of the front neckline to reduce gaping
• Removed 1" from the shoulder length
• Took out a dart from the arm scythe and turned it into the bust darts
• Removed a wedge out of the back neckline to reduce gaping
• Finished the edges with binding instead of a facing to reduce thickness.
• Added in-seam pockets to the circle skirt.

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Me-Made-May'14 Week 1

Only 4 days In my first "week" of me made May ! 

Last year when I started reading sewing blogs and I came across the concept of me made may I was so ecstatic. I've secretly been waiting for May to come and sewing as much as possible in anticipation of participation! Come faster. I'm so happy it's here. And that I can participate! 

Day 1: Maroon baby doll dress

Wore to: Work in an office

One of my first makes and still one of my favourites. It's an Ottobre design and I'm smitten with their simple flattering patterns. I wear this at least once a week because it's so convenient to toss on and head out. No fuss. Just the type of dress I like to wear!

Day 2: blue Lekala sweater 

Wore to: Work in an office

My work is fairly casual, with my co-workers frequently wearing jeans, but that doesn't mean I can't wear business casual right? I actually don't own a pair of jeans, or pants that I like for that matter. Form fit knit skirts are my go-to, so I decided to make a sweater that can go with them easily but is still casual and comfortable. I wear this sweater a lot as I find it flattering and forgiving across my stomach in a tight skirt!

Day 3: Green Belladone

Wore to: Work in a bookstore / welcome home party at a friends place

I've made a lot last month that I haven't captured photos of yet. Posts are written, they are just unaccompanied, and who wants to read a post sans photos? Not this girl! But here's a sneak peek at my green belladone dress! I 100% copied the sample dress. It's a great casual dress with full coverage, but the back keeps it fun! 

Today I had to make my outfit work both at work with a dark clothing dress code as well as for a friends get together. I wanted to look both work appropriate and fun. This dress matched both criteria!

Ps. I also downloaded an app to make the collages. fancy for me!

Day 4: Green flower M6553

Wore to: Sunday shopping and dinner with friends

This dress is everything I want in a dress and is utterly comfortable with satin charmeuse. Again, it is easy to toss on and look nice without trying hard. The flowy nature is forgiving while the print is happy and distracts from my terrible hair!! I should have ironed the back better. Oops.  

Ps. See my new ballet flats! Super excited about how adorable they are! they make me feel like dancing through the streets cause they're so cute!

So one week in and I'm having a blast wearing all my hand Mades! All four of these makes are some of my favourite items and are in high rotation within my wardrobe. All fit well and are super comfortable!

As the next 3 weeks pass, and I wear more of the items I've made, I'll identify which items are uncomfortable with a days wear under my belt and make a list of alterations I should make to them. Hopefully any alterations I make will increase their wearability. I feel that if I've invested the time to create something, I should invest the time for adjustments to make it more appropriate (albeit poor fabric/pattern combo is not fixable).  

Happy first successful week of Me-Made-May'14

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