Me Made May 15 wrap up & final days

I hope everyone participating in Me Made May ended strong and enjoyed their challenges and everyone else isn’t bored by all updates.  Just remember: inspiration can be anywhere, I know I’ve found it checking out other people’s makes.  The second half of the month is typically the time when repeats start cropping up and I won’t disappoint on that aspect.  Also there’s Memorial Day weekend in the US and that’s provided a bonus challenge.  I went down to Berkeley for a family wedding which meant I wanted to bring out my favorite makes but also not bring my entire closet along.





Day 18

·         Sewaholic Renfrew

I think today was mostly about the shoes – which is also the #1 reason I bought this fabric.  I was especially thrilled to hold them up to each other and see just how closely they matched.  You take a basic t-shirt and jeans outfit, add in matching shoes and it goes up a notch.

Day 19

·         Simplicity 2863 (Built by Wendy)

One thing I like about Me Made May is giving the garments in the back of your closet some love.  I almost always wear lower necklines so I have a tendency to fuss with this dress despite it otherwise being super comfy.  Which is probably why I rarely wear it out – today it pulled the inside cleaning shift after spending the morning deep cleaning my deck.

Day 20

·         Deer & Doe Datura

I knew I wouldn’t be able to wear this just once this month. It’s been warmer than expected this week so a sleeveless top is a must for looking presentable after hauling a dozen sewing machines in and out of the car twice and picking my parents (plus 3 large, heavy bags) up from the airport.

Day 21

·         Sewaholic Alma

This is my heavy lifting day of teaching – 13 sewing machines carried two by two up 2 sets of stairs and down the hall to a classroom – and according to my phone it was 79 degrees.  Even completely underlined, this Swiss dot blouse is still lightweight enough to help keep me cool and not sloppy looking by evening when this photo was taken.  Another warm weather top, I hate wearing it with a sweater or cardigan due to the collar.

 Day 22

·         Tilly & the Buttons Coco

I spent a good part of the day traveling from Seattle down to Berkeley for my cousin’s wedding reception so comfort was key.  Enter Tilly & the Button’s Coco dress made out of navy and white striped French terry.  I made this just before the trip and looking back at these photos I need to redo the hem – it’s drooping down a bit at the sides.

 Day 23

·         Maria Denmark Kirsten Kimono Tee

·         Biscayne Orca Dress

Weather in Berkeley was much cooler than Seattle so I had to rethink my options, meaning the shorts had to stay in the suitcase.  This top ended coming out sooner and I spent most of the day with my jacket on so it didn’t really matter what I was wearing underneath.  Surprisingly late in the afternoon it warmed up enough while wandering through the Berkeley Botanical Gardens where the reception was taking place.  I’ll be doing a separate post on the dress but it’s my first design project at fashion school.  I was super excited to have it finished in time to wear to the reception, knowing I would be getting questions about what I’ve been up to.  It turned out to be perfect for dancing with the skirt being made for twirling shaking it.

Day 24

·         Grainline Hemlock Tee

I had been hesitating on Grainline’s Hemlock tee for a while due to the lack of sizing options, but after picking up this tissue weight jersey featuring a massive print I thought I would give it a try.  I’m so glad I did because the oversized shape didn’t break up the print too much and was super quick to put together.  The only thing I would change is the sleeve length, it’s at that awkward length where instead of being 3/4 length it looks like I ran out of fabric and cut them too short.  But that’s an easy fix.  Regardless it was comfy for a chilly post wedding picnic, hanging out with family and driving up to Sacramento.

Day 25

·         Megan Nielsen Briar

Bonus puppy photo – everyone’s favorite cute and furry accessory.  This was another travel day which also included picking up my parents’ new little puppy.  This is probably my favorite t-shirt due to the print so I knew it was going to make more than one appearance this month.  But back to the puppy: his name is Toohey, a mini Australian Shepard, total sweetheart and a wonderful little traveler.  He went through airport security like a champ and slept through the entire flight – including take-off and landing.  Expect to see more of him in future photos!

Day 26

·         Megan Nielsen Briar

Another puppy photo and another Briar.  At the last moment I threw this in my suitcase in case I decided to spend the night at my parent’s house and get in some more puppy time.  Naturally I decided that was necessary and spent the morning playing with the little guy before leaving to go teach.  Despite all the changes Toohey went through during the past 24 hours, he bounced back and seemed to enjoy getting to know his new family and home.  I will say I was surprised this was the first time in May I wore this shirt, the perils of being stuck in the dirty laundry pile…

Day 27

·         Deer & Doe Bleuet

This was my second Bleuet and I decided to stick with my love of pearl snaps.  Because why unbutton a shirt dress when you can rip it open and feel like the Hulk.  (With the added bonus of not having to sew any buttons on later to wear it again!)  This dress is super comfy to wear and makes it very quick to get dressed in the morning and still feel put together.

Day 28

·         Jamie Christina Mission Maxi Tank

·         Colette Madeline Mini Bloomers

I was feeling under the weather today so put the minimal amount into what I wore.  The main difference between my me made pjs and my “outfit” is the tank top.  Despite having made this over a year ago I still haven’t gotten around to properly hemming it.  Needless to say, it was the perfect thing to wear on a hot day when it seemed like effort just to move to the couch.

Day 29

·         Maria Denmark Kirsten Kimono Tee

·         Sewaholic Thurlow shorts

This was the outfit I had planned to wear last weekend if only the weather had played along.  I love, love these shorts!  They’re a plaid seersucker that I wish I could wear ALL YEAR LONG.  I miss them during winter and really should make a couple more tops to wear with them.  Speaking of making more, I should whip up a few more pairs of shorts as well.  I struggled to get the trousers to fit right, but didn’t have many issues with making these.  I think the pattern is worth it just for the shorts.

 

Day 30

·         Sewaholic Renfrew

·         Jamie Christina Mission Maxi mini dress

This is one of my ideal warm weather outfits and I’m so glad I didn’t give up on this fabric.  Despite being stiff as all get out when it arrived, it has softened up in the wash and is thick enough not to show what I’m wearing underneath.  The weather was a bit cooler than expected so I was glad for the matching tee.  Regardless even in a dress I got plenty of puppy play in.

Day 31

·         Deer & Doe Plantain

Woo-hoo! Last time taking a daily photo!  Rather than go out with a bang with a fun sundress I decided to go dog friendly as I had a puppy and two big dogs to play with.  I really need to make a couple more Plantains in rayon knits as they’re so easy to wear.

 

Once again I enjoyed a successful Me Made May.  I didn’t have too many problems figuring out what to wear, although I do need some more separates.  This is basically the same conclusion I came to last year but made minimal progress on – although now it’s more necessary with my more physical job.  I had hoped to make a pair of shorts and jeans but life got busy and that didn’t happen.  Plus my parents’ new puppy, Toohey, was an adorable fluffy distraction towards the end of the month.  But I can’t complain or blame the little guy, not much beats a puppy when deciding how to spend free time and the look on his face while bounding over to me when I come to visit tells me I made the right decision.  That said those shorts will get made!  The jeans may have to wait until it gets closer to fall.  I do want to make some more tops for the summer and maybe a few dresses as well.  Although I do have a school fashion show coming up in September and need that to be my main focus.

Dos Plantains

My computer and camera seem to be having an on and off friendship lately and this was written when they definitely weren't speaking.  And we all know that a sewing blog + no pictures = no bueno.  The good news is that they've recently kissed and made up so yea photos!

I seem to be on a knits kick right now – with the exception of my most recent make, it’s been all knits all the time.  This time I’ve made Deer & Doe’s Plantain which is another free pattern.  Considering I seem to be a bit obsessed with this pattern line, there was no way I could skip this one.  Deer & Doe’s first PDF pattern, it includes options for short, ¾ or long sleeves plus super cute elbow patches.  Lucky you, this is a twofer post so you get to see how it looks in different fabrics.

I made my first version was way back from April or May and used a super drapey rayon jersey.  Not gonna lie, this was a pain to cut as the pattern is printed slightly off grain.  I debated which was more important, staying on grain or keeping the pattern lined up and figured it was a draw.  So I did a little bit of both and hoped for the best.  I.e. minimum twisting. I’m really glad my plan from the beginning was for short sleeves to avoid any awkward arm twisting.  Not 100% satisfied with my neck binding, but not enough to have another go at it.

The good news is that so far I haven’t noticed any twisting!  Even after going through the laundry several times!  At some point I do want to make another and not have to compromise on the grain situation.  If nothing else it’ll be more enjoyable to cut and make.

 

Version #2 is my more recent sporty version.  This time I went with a navy and white striped cotton/poly blend.  I know, poly… but I loved the stripe and chose to overlook its synthetic sins.  FYI, most of the poly seems s to be located in the white stripes.  I used more of my hoarded saved interlock scraps for the elbow patches on the ¾ length sleeves. 

 

A quick word on those elbow patches, the pattern is genius and shows the perfect placement.  Don’t be thrown off on the off-center pattern placement and pretend you know better.  As drafted they will fall smack dab over your elbows, although depending on arm length they may need to be adjusted up or down a bit.  I used a straight stitch to attach them and then ended up going back with a narrow zigzag right along the edge.

Initially I cut my band on the crossgrain but this jersey doesn’t have much stretch and it didn’t look that great.  Plus it didn’t look like I used a consistent stitching line.  So I ripped out the serging and debated if I could get a better result with a second try.  After deciding that was doubtful based on the fabric’s lack of stretch I remembered by previously mentioned interlock scraps that I used for the elbow patches would work perfectly.  After all, what is interlock other than baby ribbing?  So I recut the binding out of the interlock and attached it.  So if you ever have need ribbing and can’t find it in the right color, check out the interlocks.  As a bonus they tend to be softer than a lot of the interlocks I’ve come across.

Check out that smooth curve!

The result is sooooooo much better!  Even before any pressing it behaved and stayed nice and flat.  To keep up some consistency I trimmed some length off the sleeves and cut some bands out of the interlock.  I used the same measurement as the pattern piece but should’ve reduced the band length a bit.

 

I top stitched both neck and sleeves using navy thread with a wide stitch length and added this to my pile of shirts that needed the double needle treatment.  Which meant I got on a roll using white thread on two other shirts and forgot to switch to navy when hemming this one.  *sigh*

All in all I like both versions despite them coming out differently. This has a fair amount to do with the pattern as fleece is given as an option to use although it’s suggested you size up. While I don’t see myself succumbing to the siren song of the fleece half of most chain fabric stores I can totally see this in a cozy sweater knit come winter.  If you’re new to knits or want to see what all the hype about Deer & Doe is about, the Plantain is a great introduction.  Plus I’m a fan of plantains and am now craving some plantain tostones.

P.S. Those are navy Grainline Maritime shorts I'm wearing with the stripes and will be covered in the next post!