Railroad Stripe Eileen Barrel Pants

 I'm very behind on the barrel leg pant trend. This is my first pair!

Helena Wrap Dress

My wrap dress extravaganza (or wrapstravaganza for short!) continues with a recently/perfectly timed wrap dress pattern release!

Alex Apron for Tim

Tim has really stepped up his cooking game during the pandemic... previously he was a dish duty guy who dabbled in pancake flipping, now he's a gourmet chef, cooking up beef bourguinon ala Julia Child on the weekend and spicy pork noodles on weeknights. 

Grainline Willow Tank x 2

Two Grainline Willow tanks for your viewing pleasure... a wearable muslin and a more refined linen/cotton version.

Style Arc Blaire Shirt Dress

It seems these days that Meg : Style Arc patterns as everyone else : Pokémon. I gotta catch 'em all!

Me Made May: Week 1 Round-up

Here's my wrap-up for Week 1 of Me Made May!

Stripey Halifax Hoodie

I sewed a sweatshirt! A non-hoodie version of the Hey June Halifax Hoodie, to be exact...

Wiksten Tanks

I am waaaaaaaay late to the Wiksten tank party. But after seeing so many Wiksten tanks pop up in the #mmmay15 feed and realizing I am in need of basic wardrobe staples like tanks and t-shirts, I thought I'd give it a try.

My Extended Me Made May Challenge: Me Made Living

Welp, I've completed my extended Me Made May challenge, which was to wear hand made for the first two weeks of my new job.  Success!  I'm going to categorize my extended challenge as an exercise in #memadeeveryday and #memadeliving

This was pretty fun for me since I got to wear many of my me made garments for the first time... and there really wasn't a dud in the bunch.  I was particularly happy with my dresses, Sureau and Emery... comfortable, quick and easy to throw on in the morning (no matching!).  Good stuff.

Holes I found in my professional handmade wardrobe: solids.  I need basic solid pieces, bad.  In particular, a solid black top, some solid pants to wear with all of my printed blouses...  And while I'm at it, I might add a few more work-appropriate dresses, too.

Week 1

My batik New Look 6808, plus bonus cat:

My floral Sureau:

Japanese poplin Josephine:

Digital Datura blouse, plus bonus Tim:

Forgot to take a photo on Friday of Week 1, but I wore my ikat Victoria blazer.

Week 2

My polka dot Josephine, plus cat lurking in the background:

My navy Emery:

My Simplicity 1666/Lisette Attache Blouse:

Ikat Tiny Pocket Tank under the blazer:

Red polka dot Simplicity 1542, plus bonus cat:

Me Made May Update #3

May 13: Trying to find a better way to take outfit selfies since my full-length mirror is so poorly lit. Not sure this is any better. Wearing my faux-ikat Tiny Pocket Tank (with no pocket).

May 14: Going super casual in one of my first me-mades, a Grainline Scout:

May 15:  A real ikat (from Bali!) Tiny Pocket Tank, paired with leggings:

May 16:  My By Hand London Polly tank, worn out while fabric shopping in Bangkok's Yaowarat/Chinatown fabric district.  Is it weird to wear clothes made from fabric you bought at a store to that store?  Well, I did it at Belleboo, so that's that.  But look at the new additions to my stash!:

May 17: Hanging out/sweating profusely in the gardens at the Jim Thompson House here in Bangkok.  Jim Thompson is the rejunvenator of the Thai silk industry who disappeared mysteriously... read up on him, he's a pretty interesting guy.  Anywho, I was wearing my brand new Belcarra blouse:

May 18: A repeat of my green Plantain, but paired with my brand new Colette Mabel skirt.  Unfortunately the french terry I used for the skirt got quite stretched out after walking around for a day in Bangkok's humidity.  Next time I would use something with better recovery for Mabel:

May 19: On the way out for a casual dinner in one of my original me-mades, a Tiny Pocket Tank:

Pretty Polly

I've had By Hand London's Polly tank top pattern printed out and ready to roll since they first posted it (it's free!!), and am regretting not getting it sewn up earlier!  How has my to-sew list gotten so long?!

I think this might be my new go-to tank pattern.  While I clearly love the Tiny Pocket Tank, having made approximately 8,000 of them, I think the fit on Polly might be a little better for me.  And no darts!  Woo!  Plus, I like the options for fabric mixing, color blocking, etc.

Deets on my Polly sewing experience:

- The pattern seems to have a lot of ease to it: I actually went down a size from my measurements based on the finished garment measurements and was happy I did.

- I had to sew the front panel in a couple times to get it to lay flat with no puckers.  A good pressing helped immensely on that front, though.  Now that I'm looking at the photos, though, I can see the outline of the seam on the inset piece (on top of the boobs). Maybe if I make the inset in a print and the straps in the solid next time that would hide any lumps and bumps.

- I used store bought bias tape to save fabric and also because lazy.

- I used some solid cotton shirting that I bought at the Jim Thompson factory outlet and mixed it with some pretty floral cotton from Belleboo.

Pattern Blocked Scout Tee

Q: Which one of the three design features on this iteration of Grainline's Scout Woven Tee was intentional?

a) The contrast stitching

b) The diagonal pattern blocking

c) The button down back
 

A: If you guessed b, you are correct!  I had this awesome pattern blocking tutorial by Mad Mim bookmarked for months now- I love the diagonal line (not to mention her awesome hand stamping)!  I had big plans to use my trusty Grainline Scout t-shirt pattern as the basis for my pattern blocked tee, but somehow these plans didn't come to fruition until this week. My impetus: a few weeks ago I saw that Kollabora and Sown Brooklyn were hosting a Scout Tee sewalong/contest and I decided that this was the perfect reason to put my well-laid pattern blocking plans into action.
 

The other two design elements (the button back and the contrasting stitching) were pretty much accidental.  I didn't have enough black fabric to cut the back on the fold (hence the button back) and I (in)conveniently ran out of black thread right before sewing (cue white contrast stitching).  But I kinda dig the result, so we'll call them happy accidents...
 

Here are the deets: black cotton fabic from Pasar Mayestik plus some really cool black, white and minty green geometric/floral batik (scraps from another Grainline Scout Tee as well as a Grainline Tiny Pocket Tank I made as Christmas presents for Martha and Chuck, respectively).  For the front I followed Mad Mim's directions pretty much to a "T" (har har), and for the back, I traced the pattern piece not on the fold but cut two separate pieces that I extended out 2 extra inches at the inner seam.  Before adding the bias tape to the neckline I zig-zagged the inner edge of both back pieces and then pressed each of them under 1 inch to make the button plackets, which I top-stitched down.  Add buttonholes, buttons and ta-da!  I also lengthened the top a little bit- an inch or so.

Ella Raglan Blouses

This is the Ella Raglan Blouse from I Think Sew (same pattern company that designed Zoe's cute overalls):

It's a ridiculously easy pattern that whips up quite fast and looks quite comfy.  In the future, I could see lengthening it into a dress or adding elastic to the waist for a slightly more fitted look.  Maybe piping on the seams between the body and sleeves?  The pattern includes sizes for ages 3-8, so I foresee many more of these in the future.

 Today's iterations include one made from some very pretty Amy Butler Linen Optic Blossom fabric (thanks, Jenny!):

And this sunny version is made from two Indonesian batiks, the body a beautiful yellow floral that I bought at Pasar Mayestik last week and the contrasting sleeves a cool pink batik that you might remember from this ruffle blouse and this Tiny Pocket Tank... I am getting my money's worth out of that piece of fabric!!

Shawties!

Sorry for the delay in posting... been hanging around with monkeys and orangutans in Sumatra.  To make up for it, I whipped up a bevy of toddler shorts (or shawties, if you will) in a fit of productivity after returning from my great Bukit Lawang trip.  

Two pairs of teeny Bubble Pocket Shorts (using the pattern from Elegance and Elephants), one made from the remnants of my favorite Tiny Pocket Tank (well, maybe my second favorite) and one made from the remnants of a purple flowered Scout Tee:

And two tiny pairs of simple cuffed shorts (using Simplicity 4203, same pattern I used for Zoe's flowered prairie dress) made in hand-stamped batik leftover from a couple Scout Tees:

Batik Ruffle Tunic

One of my to-do list items, check!

 

This is the ruffle top pattern from Elegance & Elephants, the tunic version... for Zoe, of course. 

Quite cute, very easy to put together...  I made it with some bright pink batik left over from the Grainline Tiny Pocket tank that I made before Christmas.  The batik had a border print that I left off the tank top because it was a bit twee for an adult, but it worked perfectly here for the ruffles!

I could definitely see lots of variations for this top.  I love the versions with contrast side panels that I saw on imagine gnats, as well as the ruffle-less piped version at StraightGrain.

Lincoln tried it on... he thinks it's cute and comfortable, but not his color:

Craftin': In Progress, In the Scrap Pile, In the Queue

In progress:

1. Knitbot's Spring Ribbed Cardigan (here's the Ravelry page) in Cascade Yarns Cotton Rich DK bought at Webs during their post-Christmas blow-out sale:

2. Colette Peony, perhaps in a beautiful blue Balinese ikat once I get the bodice fit right on this one-sleeved muslin (made from an old Ikea duvet cover, below).  I think I need to raise the waist a half inch, shift the bust darts slightly and take out a wedge of fabric from the back, as I am getting a massive bulge along the seam... I think it's called a swayback adjustment?

3. Diane Kimono Dress by Sew Serendipity: I have a muslin of this one made out of some crazy fabric from Martha... the top part only (below).  I'm having a little bit of a gap problem at the neckline, hate the facings, which keep popping out, and am finding the waistband to be entirely too fiddly.  When I make the tunic/beach cover-up version I am planning to make from some batik, I may skip the waistband and just sew some elastic on the inside.  We'll see.

4. Darling Ranges Dress by Megan Nielsen: I have a muslin in the works, but the bust darts are giving me a headache.  Trying figure out a) what changes I need to make and b) how to make them. 

5. Crochet wire and bead necklaces for the Jenneth wedding party... drafted, but still awaiting final instructions: 

In the scrap pile:

1. Ug, Butterick 5561, I shake my fist at you!  I'm not sure why I thought this top would be flattering, and maybe I made a poor fabric choice, but what I ended up with looked unfortunately like a hospital gown, both in shape and color.  What a waste of a pretty fabric (Lisette lawn, to be specific)!  I tried to salvage it by changing out the ill-fitting facings with some bias tape and gathering the front... no dice, neckline still wonky.  Then I decided give the waist some shirring for some shape.  That helped a little, but it still looks like a maternity shirt.  I did learn how to use elastic thread for shirring, though, which is exciting!

2. I started this "1 hour dress" well over a year ago, but it was a hot, lumpy mess for me...  I may try to turn the material into a pencil skirt a la Mimi G?

In the queue: 

1. Bubble Pocket Shorts and Ruffle Top from Elegance and Elephants... for Zoe, of course.
2. Jersey Knit Dress as seen on Prudent Baby (free pattern!), maybe from from an old t-shirt?
2. Layer Cake Skirt, also from Prudent Baby, a good use of scraps from other projects
3. High-Low Gathered Back Shirt from Cotton&Curls... maybe a modified Grainline Scout Tee or a Tiny Pocket Tank?
4.  Newcastle Cardigan from Thread Theory when it's released, maybe?  A cute hipster cardigan for Tim, a follow-up to his Negroni.
5. Victory Patterns Nicola: Perhaps using some batik rayon challis I have in my stash... 
6. Simplicity 2684: Batik ruffle pants and tank for Miss Zoe?  Or perhaps Miss Anna! Thanks for the pattern, Chazay
7. Ella Raglan Blouse from I Think Sew: simple and cute.

8. Many, many others!