Me Made May 2015 - Week 1

May 1 - Friday 

Pattern: Bruyere by Deer&Doe

Fabric: Robert Kaufman chambray

Occasion: work 

Thoughts: still my favourite thing I've ever made. I wear it weekly and love how comfortable it is. 

May 2 - Saturday

Pattern: simplicity 2444

Fabric: cotton sateen

Occasion: driving to the USA along hwy61 which is beautiful! 

Thoughts: great easy to wear dress. The stretch makes it comfortable and the pattern and colours make me feel happy. The bodice is about 1cm too short so it sits slightly higher on my waist. 

May 3 - Sunday

Pattern: New Look 6067 bodice + Deer&Doe Belladone skirt

Fabric: cotton poplin with ships

Occasion: the first communion of my bf's nephews.

Thoughts: absolutely love this dress and love the pockets on the Belladone. Need to use this skirt pattern more frequently. 

May 4 - Monday 

Pattern: pencil skirt 

Fabric: ponte

Occasion: work

Thoughts: ponte is the best. Makes me look like I'm fancier than I am. Perfect. 

May 5 - Tuesday 

Pattern: Wenona by Named Clothing

Fabric: Robert Kaufman Chambray

Occasion: work 

Thoughts: this fabric and colour makes me love it but I made a size 38, and it has zero shaping so its massive. 

May 6 - Wednesday

Pattern: New Look 6067

Fabric: cotton poplin with rabbits

Occasion: work

Thoughts: love this dress wish I could replicate it....wait a minute.. I can! :D

May 7 - Thursday

Pattern: vogue 1610

Fabric: polyester jersey

Occasion: work

Thoughts: comfortable and easy to wear but it has poor finishings and I need to shorten the hem by an inch or so. 

See you next week! :D

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Me-Made-May 2015 Pledge

I completed my challenge last year but failed at the taking of the photos every day. So this year I shall not set it as a requirement to take daily photos, but hopefully I will and I will post a weekly summary posts of my wears on May 10, 17, 24, and a final one May 31st.

I, Chrystal McKay of SeamsLikeChrystal.blogspot.ca, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '15. I endeavour to wear one me-made item every day for the duration of May 2015. I also challenge myself to sew two pairs of Steeplechase Leggings to wear during May.



Challenge yourself: http://sozowhatdoyouknow.blogspot.ca/2015/03/me-made-may15-sign-up-here.html

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Fabric Finds and my Resulting Purchase Ban

I am now on a fabric ban. In the first two weeks of April I traveled to both the East and West coasts of the USA; hitting up New York City and Portland.

NYC was for Easter vacation, while Portland was for work.

Doesn't matter what coast I am on - I will purchase fabric. And as such I now have a fabric supply that will last me a year (Ok, Probably more accurately a decade at my current sewing rate of 2 garments a month but lets not think about that now eh?)

Portland Willamette River Cruise

View of NYC from the top of the Empire State Building

And as any sewer in their right mind (questionable as some of us are crazy) would do is seek out the local fabric hot spots. And lucky for me NYC is fabric famous with an entire district dedicated to fabric and sewing supply stores. And Portland is well documented thanks to our friends Colette Patterns - in their new issue of Seamworks magazine.

Now a little less talky talky a little more drooly drooly shall we?

3 Cottons from B&J Fabrics

Mood Fabrics:

Floral Neoprene ($18/yd)

Anna Sui Silk Cotton ($18/yd)

Swan Stretch Cotton poplin ($12/yd)

Spandex World:

$11/yd spandex/lycra blends

Fabric Depot - One of Portland's many wonders

Fabric Depot Hual:

Cotton&Steel Frolic in Coral ($8/yd)

Alexander Henry Nicole's the Romantics in chartreuse ($8/yd)

Art Gallery Fabrics Wandering Lands Voile

Morocco Blues Horse Stretch Cotton Poplin ($7/yd)

Fabric Depot:

Gaultier Embroidered Leather ($35/yd - Only 1 yd for a V1247 skirt!)

Not photographed: 4 different New balance Wicking Fabrics yoga pant thickness - absolutely beautifulllllllllll - in plain colours.

Jo Ann Fabrics:

Cotton Voile Floral ($8/yd)

Gertie's Cherry Cotton Poplin ($8/yd)

Gertie's Cherry Cotton Chambray ($8/yd)

And previously to my travels I went a little click happy and bought a bunch of fabrics from Fabric.com during one of their many many many sales. Lets take a looksie:

Art Gallery Cleta Bikeleidoscope Jet

Black Magic Stretch Poplin Rabbit Print Black/Snow White

Matisse Crepe Animals Tar Black/White

Art Gallery Indian Summer Menagerie Onyx
Bloom Stretch Cotton Sateen Flourish White/Blue
Stretch Poplin Floral White/Black/Yellow
Morocco Blues Stretch Poplin Nautical White/Navy

Monet Rayon Sateen Owls Fuchsia
Stretch Poplin Floral Magenta/Green/White

Phew. So that's it. I'm banned from fabrics for the year. I have everything I could ever need......for now.

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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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1950's Housewife Shirtdress M6696

After making the Deer&Doe Bruyere shirt and shirt dress, I decided to make my foray into the world of shirt dresses. And if you're going into the shirt dress world, of course one must start with the dearly beloved McCalls 6696: The lovechild of the sewing blog world.

Absolutely everybody has made or is intending to make this shirtdress. And with so much positive feedback from everybody, I went in assuming I'd have the same happy experience. I am proud to say this pattern is as great as everybody else has gushed about. It really is almost perfect.

The pattern comes with 4 variations and 4 cup sizes. It really is a pattern that produces many varying results. I went for the bodice from View D with the long sleeves and v cuffs and paired it with the skirt from View A. I loved the pleats and always appreciate a fuller skirt to hide my rumpity-rump a little. I cut a D-cup in a size 14. You mean no full bust adjustment? That sounds just swell.

This fabric is 100% cotton from Fabricland. It is from the quilting cotton section, but feels significantly softer than any quilting cotton I've ever felt. This is actually my first time ever using anything even resembling a quilting cotton. I started out using Ponte's and thick knits and then decided to try my hand at stable fabrics. My logic was that darts&fitting are more difficult than sewing with knits. (I think I'm still right on that because the entire concept of fitting still eludes me and I really make adjustments all willy-nilly and thus far they just happen to work out for me!)

As you can see, I've used a contrast fabric for the Collar and underside of the V-cuffs. This is Robert Kaufman chambray in Mustard. After using Robert Kaufman fabrics for both my Bruyere's I've fallen in love with the feel, the weight, and the designs of his fabrics so immediately ordered chambray in pretty much every colour way and pattern I could. You'll see more anchors and fishy's in my future.

I cut the fabric with the flowered stripes going vertical, except for the waistband, which I unconveniently hid under this belt, where the flowers go horizontal. You know..what every girl wants; her waitband pattern to be horizontal to really add some nice girth to her middle section. Yeah, real smart Chrystal...... Maybe think a little bit more beyond "ohhhh pretty" next time.....So belt it is!

Nice close up of those pleats. They were rather tedious to line up but my my my does cotton ever hold a pleat. Wait you knew this already? Oh sorry, I'm slow to every party.....Oh wait, that's a basic of sewing and ironing? .....So maybe domesticity isn't my forte.....But look pretty pleats!

My pockets are made with a black silk remnant I had in my stash. It's silk and doesn't add any bulk to my "Hellllllllllllllllo Hips" area.

And no I didn't centre my vine fabric on my button placket......your welcome type-A's

The buttons are totally generic blue buttons. Aint nothing special there....move along.

Now, the back of this bodice, I left with all the gathers. I like the billowy effect it has. It's a tad sticky-outy do to the weight of lack of drape of the cotton, but overall I think it looks good. The next one I make I'll take out the gathers from the top and just leave a little on the bottom.....must maintain some distraction from my rumpity-rump.

And for you Type-A's out there, I apologize for not lining up the vines from my yoke to my bodice, I just couldn't care less about such things. Look at it this way, I did a fairly good job of keeping them unaligned evenly?

And where the source of all my power comes from: The Wings. AKA the pretty yellow underside of my v cuffs which I topstitched with blue because, again, "ohhhhhhh pretty!"

Ps. Check out my goosebumps on my arm in the above photo. It was -25C when I took these photos. Cold weather can't hold me back! (I may have retreated inside when I could no longer press the shutter button due to lack of feeling in my fingers.)

Details

Pattern: McCall's 6696 View - Top of D with Skirt of A

Size: 14 - D Cup

Fabric: 100% Cotton

Alterations:

• Shortened the skirt length to hit just above the knee
• Sewed it completely by machine/serger - No hand sewing for this girl
• Moved the button placement to better suit my needs

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Pink Silk Jersey V1610

This silk jersey...meeeowwww! This is one of my favourite purchases from Mood Fabrics in LA from this March. The colours are so vibrant and the feel...well it's silk folks oft times you'd find me hiding in the corner slowly rubbing this fabric against my check. What I can't help it - beautiful fabrics bring the creep out of me. but meow fabric meow.

Now silk jersey isn't cheap. Nope, it is not. And this baby set me back $28/yard. So being as Cheap as possible while still purchasing enough for a dress I scooped up 2 yards. I am fairly set that if I need to I can fit any dress out of 2 yards of fabric - yay for being short and requiring only 17 inches from waist to my preferred length.

So back to the dress....this dress is mainly due to Lauren over at Lladybird.com. This pattern was found through her blog where she has created 3 beautiful versions of it. I had been looking for a fully classic wrap dress and simply couldn't find a pattern, until I saw the posts with V1610 - the most perfect simple and classic wrap dress. I needed it in my life. I scoured eBay waiting for a deal to come along....and count my lucky stars cause gosh darn I scored this baby for $9 at 3am!!! when I mean to find an eBay deal ....I'm devoted!

Now, with this silk jersey costing more than all the fabric used to make all the dresses I've made this far combined, I knew I couldn't cut in to it without testing the pattern first. I've never been able to fit wrap dresses without showing ample boobage....and I am the turtle neck queen....so you can guess how unimpressed I am by the idea of boobage on display. I had to make sure this pattern would cover up the ladies without looking frumpy. Demands demands demands. My test dress worked out wonderfully and I wear it constantly (next post). So it was time to cut cut cut cut my silk jersey and beg the sewing gods not to let me screw this up. "Do not ruin this fabric dear sewing gods. It's my precious"

Well Said sewing gods heard my whines because I think it turned out rather snazzy. It's longer than it should be but I feel very cocoony while wearing this length so I kept it; robe-esque if you will - finding my inner comfortable Greek silky goddess? I can go on....the length does up the frump factor but the wrap and the fabric help counter this.

just let me strut a few more paces for you.... work it! Work it! 

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