Look, Ma! No Sewing!

For once, I’m going to post about a crafty thing that’s not sewing! I used to do lots of other things… needle felting, embroidery, cross-stitch, making jewelery… but in the last 18 months sewing clothes has almost completely taken over! This month in Me-Made May I’ve been getting the yearning for some new accessories though, so last weekend I busted out my jewelery supplies and got making!

Years ago I won a prize of a whole bunch of Fimo polymer clay, so i decided it was time to use it! (I won it when i was working at Girl Guides of Canada National office… not enough people had entered a Fimo competition in our magazine, so my bosses asked a bunch of us to submit some things to make it look better! I ended up with about $100 worth of Fimo.

Have you ever used Polymer clay? It’s a hard plasticy clay that you mix, shape and then bake to harden.  I used as a kid to make dollhouse food and hideous 80’s earrings… Something I was keen to avoid this time! I’ve been pinning ideas for a while, so it was time to give it a try! 

I ended up with 5 or 6 necklaces, and a bunch of beads left over… i forgot how fun it is to tinker around with beads! Nothing can really go wrong - you can always rip it apart and try again! Like sewing though, it’s deceptively expensive… I ended up spending $35 at the bead store just to get some pliers, beads, and some findings to stick everything together! Then I went to the cheap accessories store in the mall, and walked about with 3 necklaces for $10. Hmm. Hardly worth making my own! 

I did have fun though, and it was great to try my hand at a hobby I haven’t done in a while! Do you have any hobbies that sewing has replaced? Do you dig them up from time to time? Lots of people seem to balance knitting and sewing… or baking and sewing… What else?

MMM20-25

Oh man - so close to the end! I have heaps of clothes left to wear though… I”m hoping the weather stays nice for the next week so I can wear my summer favourites! 

Let’s do this. 

MMM20: 

2/9 colours, MM red capris and tee. I’m happy to report that these pants have loosened up a bit with wear and are now less indecently tight! :) 

MMM21: 

3/9 colours, MM Tiramisu. Now that I’m wearing my Tiras without a long winter coat, I’m finding that the wind can lift up my skirt and flash the world very easily! Anyone else find this with full skirts? (Besides Oanh, who wrote a hilarious post about something similar!?

MMM22: 

4/9 colours, MM Alma dress. Seriously, given how crazy bright this dress is, you’d think it would have more of my palette colours!  

MMM23: 

4/9 colours, MM Scout Knit tee. This was a sad wardrobe day! I got all dressed in a cute bright summer skirt and new stripe tank, then realised it was 10 degres and quickly threw on anything warm I could find. Also realised that when I lean over to lecture 6 year olds on why swearing is bad, this shirt becomes a window to my whole bra. Guess how I figured that out? 

MMM24: 

Total fail! The only palette colour I’m wearing is the poorly-fitting grey jeans that you can see! Instead, I’m showing you my first try at the Kirsten Kimono tee pattern and a beautiful button necklace that my Mom bought me on a recent Morris dancing trip to Britain! (Yup, my parents are border Morris dancers, and they regularly spend a few weeks dancing in England and Wales. We’re a family full of nerds!)

This was our Track and Field Day at school - and instead of the usually sunny, hot May weather, it was windy and only 3 degrees! On top of this I wore several sweaters and a long winter coat. Brrr!!!

The Friday theme this week is “hometown”, so here’s my town: 

Exciting, hunh? 

MMM25:

4/9 colours, MM capris. After the boring cold-weather clothes I’d been wearing for a few days, I wanted something bright and fun! I love how bright these red pats are… they make my RTW red jeans looks dark and dull! 

And that’s it for now! Not many days left… 

So, now for something completely unrelated… How do you feel about the new Flickr? Have you found anything it handles better? I’m finding it visually more cluttered, which is frustrating… but since we’ve all got to live with it, I’m trying to learn to like it!

Pants!

Pants! I made pants! It took me months of muslins, and the fit is still far from perfect… but they are totally wearable, and therefore good enough for now! 

The pattern I’m using is the Style Arc Elle pant. It’s a pull-on, elastic waist pant made for stretch wovens, which is pretty close to my favourite RTW pants. It’s also super basic - no fly, no pockets! 

The first time I sewed it up, I was really thrilled! It fit just like my RTW pants! Sweet! But then I start obsessing about the fit problems that my RTW pants share… namely, wrinkles under the butt! I did my research, got help from awesome sewcialists in Pants Club, and made 5 more muslins… and I really thought I’d made some progress! But looking at the pictures you’re about to see, the problems are still there! 

Damn you, wrinkles!

Making pants has really helped me understand the, uh, unique features of my legs. Wide hips, broad thighs, full butt, full belly, knock knees, and more! That’s a lot of separate adjustments to do, all of which end up impacting the fit in other areas. It’s a complex geometry problem which I don’t fully understand!

On the plus side, these are currently my most comfortable jeans! I’d worn them a few times since washing when I took these photos, but the denim holds up well. The waistband is so ridiculously high that it never shifts around or sags lower! (The waistband is a great construction detail, btw: It’s a self-fabric rectangle, with inch-wide elastic zigzagged in place. It’s the same circumference as the waist, so it holds snug without pulling tight.) 

Even better, the pattern is so simple that I’ve been able to whip up a few pairs already. These capris actually came before the jeans above…

I’ve been adding simple patch pockets to each pair, but it’s surprisingly difficult to figure out just where to put them! These ones are a bit too high, others too wide…

Oh look! Wrinkles!

Here’s what they look like in motion… If this is what they look like most of the time, then I’m happy enough! I don’t think they scream “Homemade!”, and they feel good on. 

Somehow I got cocky with these red ones though… I think I overdid a back crotch adjustment, and suddenly nothing lined up! A hot mess all around. Somehow these seem tighter than my other pairs, too, even though they are a very stretchy denim… Next time I’m going to slash and spread to add some ease! 

Look! Less wrinkles when I dance! 

All in all, I’m really thrilled to have made some functional pants. I’ve got a whole pile of fabric to make more, but I need to figure out some fit things first. Have you made pants? How did it go? If you’ve got any concrete fitting advice to give me, I’d be very happy to hear it! 

MMM14-19

Oh, Me-Made May, you sure do take over! Every time I sit down to blog some newly finished items, I realise that I’ve fallen behind blogging about MMM! Time for another weekly review first, I guess… 

This year I pledged to wear MM clothes every day this month, and to create outfits using my self-assigned wardrobe colour palette. 

Here goes!

MMM14

4/9 colours, MM Peony dress, refashioned sweater (turned it into a cardigan), and “belt” made from fold-over elastic. 

My second ever dress! Made last February sometime… I had to alter the heck out of the pattern to make it work, but I didn’t know ay better back then. Now I shy away from Colette patterns for just that reason. Here’s a post I wrote last fall about my many versions of the Peony pattern, if you are interested…

MMM15: 

2/9 colours. MM Renfrew, a la Zoe! This top is made from a really lovely  navy double knit… I just wish I could remember where it came from! The stripe fabric is thin and not-so-nice, so I underlined it with a white jersey. Just spray-basted them together with quilting spray, and sewed as one!

MMM16: 

Self drafted tee and thrifted chambray shirt (Seriously, blogosphere, I blame YOU for making me want this shirt! Its not a style I would have picked before… but with all the lovely Archers being made, and the obsessive shopping for chambray fabric, when i saw this is just had to give it a go! 

Remember how in my last post I said I was going to try to beat my maximum numbers of colours worn? Well, you gave me some great suggestions which I can’t wait to try… but in the mean time, this shirt does all the work! 

7/9 colours! Bam! I got this jersey for $3/m last summer. I have to say it’s not the best quality, but come on, that print! It shrank up over time, so I recently replaced the original folded-under hem with a wide band. Now it’s back in rotation!

MMM17: 

4/9 colours, MM Renfrew hack tank. 

Woohoo! It’s the Friday of the long weekend, and my husband handed me a drink that matches my outfit! (Also, aparently my combo of turquoise pants, electric blue cardi, and blue wall turned the who pic a funny colour!)

MMM18

3/9 colours. MM Style Arc capris (again) and a new Day-to-Night cowl! 

Remember when I wishing for something a little more “fun” to wear on weekends? Well, so many of you suggested this pattern from Maria of Denmark that I just had to give it a go! I’d actually made one before for the animal print challenge back in the winter,but the print placement and fabric choices just felt off. It’s a great easy pattern though, so I have happy to make a nicer version!

I think this top is the anti-Cake top: If I tried to do the “Look! No gapping!” pose, you’d all see straight to my belly button! (In other words, when I leave over, the cowl drapes right open and everything is on show! Not that my husband seemed to mind that feature… Did I mention I’ve already made another one? ;) 

MMM19

3/9 colours. MM kimono tee (traced from RTW), Style Arc capris (finally photographed and ready to be blogged!), and a polymer clay necklace I made this morning! 

It’s a lazy Sunday today, so I actually spent most of the day in Maria of Denmark lounge pants and a sweater knit cardigan. It’s warm during the day, so I switched to this. I spent a couple house this morning making beads with polymer clay and fiddling around with jewellery. (Blog post to follow, eventually!)

***

So here we are, with 11 days left in May… What colours have I worn most? 

Navy = jeans, most of the time… and white tend to be mixed in prints, so no surprise there! I really did think I wore more fuschia though, and less emerald… and more grey and red! It’s interesting how evenly worn most of the colours are, in fact! We’ll see what happens for the rest of the month! 

P.S. I’ve been having fun making wardrobe colours palettes for a few other bloggers… It’s really neat going through someone else’s blog pics and trying to figure out what colours they are consistently drawn to! If anyone else is interested, I’d be happy to give your colours a try!

MMM11-14

MMM11 

A measly 1 colour from my palette! I really think this purple needs to be added though, because I own an awful lot of RTW tops in this shade! 

MM STyle Arc Jeans, cropped out, and appliqued Echino birds on the hoodie.

MMM12

3/9 wardrobe palette colours.

MM flannel scout tee and McCalls cardigan, blogged here.

It snowed ALL DAY! WTF, Canada? It’s May! This was Mother’s Day, so I spent 2 hours each way driving to see my mother-in-law. (And somehow, I just happened to find myself in a fabric store on the way home! ;)

MMM13

4/9 colours. MM Tiramisu dress, blogged here.

This dress is so comfy! It’s a drapy rayon knit, which means that the self-drafted a-line skirt hangs quite close… but it feels comfier than pyjamas! 

* * * 

Oh, as as an added MMM bonus, my sister just spent 3 days at a conference and happened to wear made-by-me clothes for every day! I’m so excited that she actually wears that things I make… certainly motivates me to make her more! And we’ve cut a deal for her to knit me a cowl for the fall - sweet!

(She is very kindly letting me share her very-early-morning selfies!)

Recognise the green skirt that I wore last week and then promptly gave away? Turns out it’s a much better match for her wardrobe colours, which are slightly warmer than mine… (Those are knitting inspiration pics, BTW…)

So my new goal? Wear an outfit with 5 colours! I’ve had a couple of 4-colour outfits… which makes sense, because I tend to wear either warm or cool tones with a neutral, but not warm and cool at once. Can you picture any 5 of these colours together? Let me know what you think might work! 

 

A Sewcialist Logo WInner!

Thanks to everyone who voted on the sewcialist logos - We now have a winner! 

Thanks to Make Magazine the winner will get 

• A 1 year subscription to Make magazine generously offered by our official sponsor Make

Thanks to individual donors (this is not coming from Make: Magazine), the winner will also receive:

• A $100 cash prize


• A custom ipad sleeve

I really loved seeing the votes role in - clearly we all identified with different aspects of the designs! I love that we had so much range in our 6 submissions… and as one of the people donating money to the cash prize, I am very happy that the sewing community had their say!

 

The winner is…

 

Joost!

1st Runner up: Anne

2nd Runner up: Sabina

A big congratulations to Joost and all designers for their hard work.

What are you going to do with our new Sewcialists logo? First, head over to Joost’s site and choose your colors. 

Then what?

• Put it on your blog


• Make an iron-on transfer and iron it on a t-shirt or a tote


• Sketch it on your Trapper Keeper


• Stencil it on your drum head.

The options are endless. What are you going to do with it?

UPDATE: Joost has asked that the prize money be sent to a charity. We’ve chosen From Boston to Bindis. Check out the Indiegogo. It’s a wonderful project. There are 30 days left to donate thru Indiegogo.

MMM5-10

Wow. MMM is just rushing by this year! Thanks so much for all of your supportive comments when I was whining about job stuff in my last post - It was another rough week this week, but c’est la vie, right? I have faith that this coming week is going to be better! :)  

MMM5: 

3/9 colours from my wardrobe colour palette.

MM: Style Arc leggings, French terry knit Scout (not-so-woven) tee, and infinity scarf.

Here I am, blatently showing off my sister’s lovely rainbow blanket to distract from a rather basic outfit… 

MMM6

3/9 colours from my wardrobe palette

MM Alma blouse, made with reversible Japanese double gauze. Blogged here.

Can’ you believe this is my first time wearing this top? I made it last fall and it’s hung in the closet ever since. I didn’t like all the buttons and plackets and cuffs that I’d had to add after botching a neckline alteration. It’s still not my favourite, but wearing it really helped me appreciate it’s strengths: the double gauze is buttery soft and drapes beautifully over my bumps and lumps, but the darts of the Alma shape it really nicely. I think I need to give some other double gauze a go this month!

MMM7

4/9 colours from my wardrobe palette

MM Tiramisu dress made with ITY border print fabric.

Tiramisu #5 for me! (And #9, if you include sewing for others!) I got so many compliments while wearing this dress - and not one person said, “Hey, don’t you own that dress in another colour?” Phew! 

MMM8

3/9 colours… barely! 

MM skirt, modified from the Colette Truffle dress. 

Oh man, this one *barely* fit the colour palette challenge… and consequently it was SO HARD to make an outfit I liked around this green skirt! I bought the fabric thinking that I could pull out the pops of turquoise and coral in the print, but that wasn’t as easy as I thought. In the end I went with this 9 year old cardigan (from my bridesmaid outfit at my sister’s wedding!) and this 5 years old lace cami from Japan. End result? I felt like it was an outfit I’d have liked 5 years ago. 

Don’t worry, there is a happy ending - I gave the skirt that night to my sister, and she loves it! 

MMM9

4/9 wardrobe palette colours.

MM sloper dress.

I love this dress! It’s made with a quilting cotton that I stashed just before leaving Japan… and it’s a gaudy, bright, rainbow! I’m such a sucker for bright colours on a dark background. 

3/9 colours from my wardrobe palette - though you’d never know the jeans are blue from the picture!

MM Style Arc jeans and self-drafted kimono tee.

Not much to say here… I got less than .7m of this rayon knit for $3 (with printing errors), and just barely squeaked a top out of it. I love the colours, even if my camera didn’t appreciate the saturated colours! :P

********************************************

It’s occurred to me lately that 2 years ago I’d never even THINK of wearing a loose/tent-like top like a Scout tee, and now I wear them all the time! On the other hand, I’ve also realise that my wardrobe is a bit, uh, professional and demure. I don’t have ANY me-made’s that I couldn’t wear to work. I want something for a night out or a day shopping with friends… and more confusingly, I’m not really sure what I would want to wear these days to show a bit of skin. (I’m starting to look forward to my Seamless Pledge ending so I can go buy some clothes and find out!) 

Does anyone have a suggestion for a knit top that is a bit more youthful or sexy? Help!