One Click Up

Erica B had a great post the other day referencing a segment from CBS This Morning which spoke with Linda Przybyszewski, an associate professor of History at Notre Dame University.  She is working on a book tentatively titles "Nation of Slobs".  Here is Erica's post, and here is the article from Notre Dame Magazine.  Without rehashing their words, I'll just jump in and say:  Nation of Slobs?  Yup, that sounds like America.

Since returning one year ago from my 3 year stay in India, I have been shocked and saddened by the state of dress (or undress) I have seen.  Seeing people in the grocery store wearing pajamas and slippers makes be cringe and slightly nauseous.  I've seen kids get on the school bus wearing slippers too.  Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

It's likely that I'm more sensitive to this after being abroad for so long.  In India, ladies wear outfits.  All. The. Time.  Sarees always look beautiful regardless of body shape.  Saree blouses are custom made for each woman based on her measurements and desires.  An older woman would likely have longer sleeves on her blouse ending at the mid or lower bicep to camouflage loose upper arm skin, whereas a younger woman can wear shorter sleeves.  Necklines and bodice lengths can vary for each body type.  Got great abs? have your blouse made shorter, ending slightly under the bust.  Not so great abs? make the blouse longer.  Your tailor's skills are at your disposal.  

If an Indian woman doesn't wear a saree, a likely alternative would be a Salwar Kameez, or Punjabi Suit, which is a long tunic and drawstring pants.  These outfits can be custom made or purchased ready to wear.  I own several of these.  A Salwar Kameez (there are different types of pants, tighter (churidar) or more blousy (patiala), but for simplicity's sake, I will use Salwar as a generic term) is a complete outfit of tunic, pants, and a scarf (dupatta), all of which coordinate.  Typically the dupatta will match the pants and the tunic will be in a coordinating yet different design/color.  I remember reading about color choices for clothing based on skin tone.  "Lighter skin looks lovely in darker colors" or "Darker skin looks rich in brighter colors", or things like that.  In any case an Indian woman will put a lot of thought into her clothing choices.  If only the same were true here in the US.  

Remember the book Midwives by Chris Bohjalian?  I read it many years ago but the description of the lawyer character, has stuck with me.  He was described as always dressed "one click up" from everyone else.  If there was a barbecue and people were wearing jeans and sneakers, he would dress "one click up" and wear khakis and loafers.  Imagine how much more eye candy there would be, instead of so many eyesores if more people did the same.  

I make an effort to dress up whenever I go out.  I went to Lowes (big US Home Improvement store) wearing a blouse and skirt one day.  I have never had so many employees offer help than I did that day.  How you dress is how you present yourself to the world, and dressing well says "I deserve respect."

Off my soapbox now.  Thanks to Erica B. for a thought provoking post!

Vogue 8390 Knit wrap top

I have been sewing up a storm lately, and it's not panicked me-made-May sewing either.  It's just that I have the time, the fabric, the patterns, and the drive to sew.  I knew I wanted to work on some knit tops and start sewing up some of the (many many) knit top patterns I have acquired.  I was debating between Vogue 8390 and Vogue 8790 seen here:

Vogue 8390

Vogue 8790

They are fairly similar but after reading reviews on www.patternreview.com, I decided that the 8390 would be best to try first mostly because V8790 would require a bit of shortening.  

Ta Da!

I used a polyester-lycra knit from fabric.com, found here.  I cut a straight 14 making the sleeves the width of the size 16.  I love it when patterns have the finished bicep measurement on the sleeve!  It's something I often forget about until it's too late.

I did a few things differently from the pattern instructions.  The pattern calls for the front to be fully lined.  So over your stomach, there would be 4 (!) layers of fabric...on a summer top!  Nope, not going to do that!  Instead I cut a 1.5" strip of fabric across the entire width of my fabric (so it would be definitely long enough) to use as a neck binding.  This eliminated the need for the double layers of the front pieces and created a nice finished edge to the neckline.  This also reduced the amount of fabric required by at least 1/2 yard!  

By not lining the front pieces I needed to deal with hemming the overlays BEFORE sewing up the side seams since the right front overlay is raised up from the bottom hem.  I hadn't anticipated this but it worked out without any problems.  

Oh-I almost forgot!  I used Steam-a-Seam for the first time on the hem and boy was it GREAT!!

I love the finished top but I will do 2 things differently next time.  

1.  The shoulders are too wide, you can see in this photo how the shoulder seam is off of my natural shoulders.

2.  The left front is a little loose.  In this closeup from the first photo, you can see how the bottom layer (next to my left hand) is very floppy.  I plan on slimming that piece down at least 1.5".  I'll either take a pie shaped piece out of the center of the pattern piece or take small triangular pieces off of the sides starting from the hem tapering to nothing about 3" up the sides.  

I love this top and I can't wait to make it again.  What's even better is that I have made a coordinating skirt:

I'll post about that one another time!

MMM Day 15 to 19

We are 19 days in to Me Made May and I have only taken 2 days off.  I pledged to wear me-made 5 days a week so I am doing very well!  Both of those days off were Saturdays and were chock full of the kids' activities which required me to schlep to soccer/softball fields and sit in the sun or (as was the case yesterday) in the rain.  Apart from my newly made tee shirts, I don't have many me made tops that have sleeves which I need when out in the sun.  That is definitely a wardrobe hole.  Another need I have is shorts.  I have started a muslin for a pair of Sewaholic Thurlow shorts.  I cut a straight size 12 even though I was worried the waist would be too small.  However...that was not a problem, quite the opposite.  The hips were ok, perhaps a tiny bit big, but the waist was huge!  Check it out:

I am always perplexed when there is such a big difference between what I expect and what is.  (That applies to life in general-not just sewing)  I will be taking these in along the sides and may take some fabric out at the center front as well.  There are some very good things about this pattern, but in it's current state it is definitely a work in progress. 

But let's get back to Me-Made-May!

Wednesday May 15, Day 15:

Hey look!  A new Tee shirt for me!  Another Butterick 5354, this time made in a Rayon blend Tee shirt knit from Denver Fabrics (which is very soft, thin, and it wrinkles like crazy!)

Love this neckline!!

Thursday May 16:

A warm day needs a summery top.  My first Sorbetto was pulled out!

And guess what else?  I got a wireless remote control for my camera!  Ka-Pow! 

Friday May 17:  My husband (who works from home) and I went out to play 9 holes of golf in the afternoon.  I wore my orange (aka "light tangerine") Kwik Sew 3341 for the first time.  There are knit attached shorts underneath the skirt and I was a little worried that I had made them too short to be comfortable playing golf (or doing anything in the heat).  I almost changed my mind about wearing them but decided to suck it up and give it a go.  

I don't have many collared shirts that will go with an orange skirt.  I chose navy rather than black to avoid a Halloweenish outfit.  Verdict on the skirt: yes the shorts are too short, but everything else is great.  I may add on a strip of matching fabric to the bottom of the shorts to lengthen them.  Oh, and I could use a white polo shirt.

Saturday May 18:  Day off of MMM.  I pledged to wear me-made items 5 days a week so I haven't broken that pledge yet :)

Sunday May 19:  

Once again a whole Me-Made outfit!  The top is my just completed (yesterday in fact) Jalie 2566.  Let me tell you it is a great tee shirt pattern.  It is quick, classic, and versatile.  I've made 3 versions for my girls and finally got around to making myself one.  It may even be better than the Sewaholic Renfrew.  I had fewer wrinkles under the armpits with the Jalie.  I plan on doing a side by side comparison to evaluate and decide for sure. The skirt is my second version of Kwik Sew 3341.  When I made this version, I lengthened both the skirt and the shorts underneath.  Smart move.  The shorts are perfect: there's no bunching or riding up and no 'chub rub'. :)

That's it for now, more soon!

MMM Days 7-14 and Me Made Mother's Day!

Tuesday May 7th:
I wore something I hadn't worn in ages.  It was my Simplicity 2703 Threads collection top (unblogged).  It was one of the first things I made once I started up sewing again. My brain and body were searching for things in the closet that weren't tee shirts to wear to (another) doctor's appointment.  I tried on 2 blouses, neither of which I should even keep.  My Vogue 8747 is really too small through the bust and my New Look 6894 is really too low cut to wear anywhere.  I'm tempted to give the Vogue 8747 to a friend and for the NL 6894, I may snip the buttons off and then toss the rest.  But then I found this little orange tank and knew it would work with a black cardigan. This was my 2nd PatternReview ever!  The fact that I wore this proves that MMM has some great benefits: it forces you not only to wear things you have made but makes you look at items in different ways and find reasons to wear them.   I never would have worn this if I wasn't actively looking for something me-made to wear, and I would never have thought to wear it with jeans!

Wednesday May 8th:  My first Sewaholic Renfrew:

I made this from a purple burnout knit from fabric.com.  I didn't know what "burnout knit" meant, but now I'll know what to expect.  The design is not printed on the fabric but it burned out of it leaving thinner and transparent parts of the fabric which create the design.  I was disappointed when I received this (last summer) and used it to make a wearable muslin for my first Renfrew.  Wouldn't you know it...I really like the fabric.  Yes, I must wear a beige bra with it because it is see through, but it's different and interesting.  The only mistake I made was that I forgot to wash and dry the fabric before cutting it out.  Doh!  So I'm a little scared...I will be washing it in cold water and air drying it.  (I hope I don't forget!!)  

Note to self: brush your hair before taking photos.  

Thursday May 9th:  Purple New Look 6407 (love this pattern btw).  Strangely enough I think this blouse looks better now than it did when I first made it.  I think I have lost some weight around the middle and it just fits better.  The pants are Me made as well!  Woo Hoo for full outfits!!  They are and my (modified to become front fly) New Look 6789 (unblogged).  These are not the best pants in the world.  They look good from behind, but there's a lot of issues in the front.  The main issue is that they are too snug across the front of the thigh, and that creates all kinds of crotch wrinkles (boy I hope I don't get increased site traffic from that phrase).  But this was my first attempt at really altering a pattern, and I'm still proud of the results.       

Friday May 10th: I wore my striped Simplicity 4149 skirt aka the "What was she thinking skirt".  If you ever make this pattern I do NOT recommend using a diagonal print fabric.

Saturday May 11th was a day off.  I had softball games followed by a ladies golf tournament then dinner at the local Chinese restaurant all of which left no opportunity for any me-mades.

Sunday May 12th:  The Me Made Mother's Day Trifecta

From left to right, there is Simplicity 2437 for my youngest, Simplicity 3588  in white eyelet for First Communion (original version blogged here), and my pink linen Simplicity 2588.  A Triple Me-Made on Mother's Day!  

Monday May 13th:  No photo from that day but this is the top I wore:  Butterick 5354.  It was once again unseasonably cold and required long sleeves.

Tuesday May 14:  Purple Renfrew (again) and Purple lined Jacket: Simplicity 2638.  Wow, I have a lot of purple!!

So that's it for now!

MMM Day 2,3,4,5, & 6

True to my word there have not been daily posts.

Lets start with Day #2 (Thursday):  I wore my purple Renfrew hot off the machine and my eldest daughter, who was home sick from school, wore her matching Jalie 2566 (not blogged yet).  The fabric was purchased from Denver Fabrics and is a nice thick jersey with good stretch and good recovery.  I used the same fabric for my New Look 6150.  I think 3 tops out of one piece of fabric is pretty good.

Friday May 3:

I realized today (day 3) that I really don't have many places to go and it's difficult to get dressed up for a trip to school to pick up the kids when I don't even have to leave the car.  But I did it anyway and it turned out to be a good thing.  My youngest and I wound up going directly to the doctor's office.  Long story short, she had a splinter under her thumbnail (ouch) and it got infected, wasn't healing very quickly and her teacher and school nurse recommended taking her in to get checked out because they were terrified of staph infection.  Sigh.  So we spent some time at the doctor's office where I wore this:

The top is an unblogged version of New Look 6111, and the skirt is my favorite most worn me-made item ever: my denim, McCall's 3830 pencil skirt.

 Day 4: Saturday May 4
It was an unseasonably cold Saturday morning watching a softball double header, and I had to break out my long sleeves and a winter jacket.   I wore my Purple New Look 6150 (no photo from that day-oops!):

Day 5: Sunday May 5 (Cinco de Mayo)

Worn to swim practice (thankfully it is indoors right now): my newly finished and not yet blogged Vogue 8390 in Brown jersey knit.

A proper review of this is forthcoming, but you can see a couple of issues I had with this top.  I cut a straight 14 and the shoulders are too wide.  You can see where the seam is versus where my shoulder is.  I will cut it narrower through the shoulders and upper chest.  In the left photo you can see the under-layer (left front) is a bit floppy by my left hand.  I found the entire layer too loose.  Next time I make it (and there will be a next time) I will take a pie shaped piece out of the center front of the left front to take out some of the looseness.  Otherwise it is a big winner!

Day 6: Monday May 6

Spent the day at home after going to the gym in the morning.  It was chilly again so I wore my long sleeve Vogue 8323.  Looking back I never did a blog post nor did I do a PatternReview.  Tsk tsk, especially since I wear it a lot.    

Look! An action shot of me making bias tape:

That's the state of my MMM so far!

We are All Wonder Women

A friend posted this on facebook this morning and I had to share it.  How great is this?

Source

This is the link to the artist's site:  http://sarahsatrun.blogspot.com/2013/04/we-are-all-wonder-women.html

LOVE IT!  Especially since I was thinking of making myself a Wonder Woman costume for Halloween this year!!

Me Made May Day #1

Happy May!  And Happy MMM Day #1.  I don't plan on daily posts, but will lump the days together to keep the boredom to a minimum.  Today however, we will start out on the right foot!

Outfit #1:  Vogue 8536 Tee shirt worn during my morning exercise:

Original Blog Post Here

#2: New Look 6110 worn out doing errands and post-Birthday Lunch at 5 Guys:

Original Post Here

There we have it, let the Me Made Month Begin!!

What's Happening Today and a Series of Goofs

These are my favorite 8 seconds from this whole movie (16 Candles):

Yes, it's my birthday, and tomorrow starts Me(igan)-Made-May.  I have been sewing, but haven't taken any photos so no blog posts.   I'm working on it.

I've been plagued by a comedy of errors, meaning that I have done some really stupid things and I can't explain how I did them all.

Oops #1:

I have been working on my "Pants Fitting Techniques" Craftsy course, and have made my first muslin.  For some unknown reason, I added a 1" seam allowance to the side seams of the pants (Vogue 2948).  Umm...it already has a 5/8" seam allowance...why on earth did I assume there wasn't any??  Needless to say Muslin #1 was gigantic.  

Oops #2:

I made a Simplicity 4589 (OOP and not on Simplicity site any more) in a cobalt blue Rayon/Poly blend.

 I had just enough to squeak out the pattern, there are only shreds leftover.  I cut out the pieces back when my machine was in the shop for repairs.  When assembling it, my sleeve didn't fit the opening, like not even close.  I check PR to see if there was some sort of drafting error, but no.  No one mentioned anything like that.  So I went back and walked the seams, and there was no way it would work.  I pulled out the pattern pieces and ...(Hand smacking forehead) I had cut out the sleeves for the square neck version, not the round neck version.  Completely my mistake.  There was absolutely no more fabric to re-cut the sleeves, so I made it sleeveless.  The top doesn't cover my bra straps at all. I will never ever wear this alone, and if I do, it will be under a cardigan.  

But wait there's more!  Oops #3:

I was looking at some of my recent fabric purchases and decided I really needed to use one in particular.  It was an ITY knit from Gorgeous Fabrics (my first purchase from them!).  I had originally planned on making a wrap dress with it, but came to the realization that I really don't wear dresses much.  Making a skirt and top from it would be better and I could mix and match them with some other things.  Decision made: first up, a skirt from New Look 6735 (a PR "Best of 2008" pattern).  

Source

With only 2 pattern pieces, it was an easy make.  When cutting the elastic for the waistband, I measured around myself rather than using the elastic guide.  Smart right?  Then I used a 3-step zig-zag to sew the elastic to the waist, serged the raw edge to the edge of the elastic, turned and topsitched it all down.  I put it on and...Gigantic!  What on earth happened?  I had to stretch the elastic when sewing it down, but did it not recover and shrink back to size??  So I spent a bit of time (2 TV shows) with the seam ripper, ripping out the topstitching, serging, and triple zig-zag (so much stitching!!)  I was tempted to chop it off, but decided against it.  So today will be spent figuring out what happened, and fixing it.  Why on EARTH didn't I try it on before doing all of that sewing???

Now I'm older and wiser, and will hopefully learn from my goofs.

  

Me Made May 2013! I'm in!

I've done it!  Me-Made-May 2013 here I come!

I, Meigan of Get My Stitch On sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '13. I endeavor to wear at least one item of handmade clothing 5 days of the week for the duration of May 2013'

Could I have said "every day of May"?  Sure.  By why stress?  Do I have enough handmade clothing for 31 days? Probably.  But I decided to under-promise and over-deliver, meaning that I said I'd wear handmade 5 days a week, but I will probably do more.  

Bring it on!

:)