Me-Made-May 2013 week three recap

OMG I think I have never worn that much blue in a row!
On 15th I wore my 70's denim skirt with a sweet Uniqlo tee:

On 16th a blue wax dress with plain black yoke adapted from a Burda mag pattern with the refashioned denim jacket:

On 17th the usual 70's dress pattern, this time in navy Japanese cotton:

On 18th a 70's skirt in cotton veil and a 70's kimono jacket in navy raw silk:

On 19th the same jacket with my cropped trousers in navy ponte from a Japanese pattern:

On 20th a brand new self-drafted blouse in light blue crepe graciously gifted to me by my bff for my birthday with a 70's skirt in fruity navy cotton fabric:

I made self-covered buttons for the back.

On 21st I wore a self-drafted shirred maxi dress in white and blue cotton lawn and the refashioned jacket:

Me-Made-May 2013 week two recap

Another week of having fun with me-made things, this time I wore rather old stuff but I felt soooo good in it :)
On 08th I wore a 70's dress, the same as the broderie anglaise one except I used red Japanese cotton for it, I love the print which features traditional children's summer staples such as uchiwa fans, kitsune masks, iced desserts etc... and a refashioned denim jacket from my teenage years^^:

On 09th I felt tired and I obviously wanted to bring my bed outside with me since I wore pajama-esque shorts in white dots on navy crepe and the oldest tee I could find:

On 10th I was in a much better mood since 1) I had washed my hair 2) I wore my cute Burda peplum top with beaded daisy triiiiim:

That outfit was totally inspired by Dora. 

On 11th a blast from the past with this Japanese top I had almost forgotten about, I changed the sleeves from gathered to straight and it became much more wearable:

On 12th I had ZERO inspiration for my outfit so dragged an old black gingham shirt (with daisy trim naturally) that I copied from an RTW garment out of the drawer and my trusted denim shorts from Fait Main and somehow it worked:

On 13th it was mah birthday, my mom gave me an awesome malachite necklace so I paired it with my old navy blended linen Japanese dress -bonus for the sack design because I went to an all-you-can-eat buffet for lunch:

Finally on 14th another "Please don't make me leave my bed" day with the denim shorts from Sunday and a self-drafted bag in Japanese linen:

Me-Made-May 2013 week one recap

Yes, it's that time of the year again and I'm so happy to be part of it! This year I've promised I would go until the end of the challenge so bear with me please^^
So, on 01st I wore a white broderie anglaise dress made from a 70's pattern, it used to be longer and looked a bit dull so I shortened it and tadaaa:

On 02nd a new skirt made from a 70's pattern in super nice navy linen:

On 03rd the same skirt worn with a scowl and a brushed cotton shirt made a few years ago from a Female pattern:

On 04th my first Macaron dress, it was supposed to be a muslin but it's become one of my favourite garments:

On 05th a self-drafted sack dress in navy bedsheet with a tiny plastic elephant brooch:

On 06th a self-drafted loose top in mustard cotton veil (the secret is the top actually has a contrasting purple band at the hem but you can't see it since it's tucked^^) and an eight-gored skirt made with a 70's pattern in fruity cotton:

On 07th a meh chambray skirt from a Simplicity pattern, I have already taken it apart and remade it twice because it was too big and unflattering but it's still not working well. I wore it anyway but I looked horrible in the pics^^ so here's the skirt:

Instant gratification

Don't you love it when you find the perfect fabric for the perfect project, that your machine works perfectly well, that you don't even have to make another spool of thread along and that you finally discover the perfect bias tape in your stash to finish the hem of said project? Well, I sure do^^ and this is exactly what happened with today's top: first, I adore the fabric, it's some airy crepe that I found in my beloved treasure shop -actually I should call it "Hoarder's" because it's a tiny fabric shop that's been open for almost 60 years and they still have stock from the past decades crammed in piles going up to the roof, complete with vintage dust and spider webs, seriously. The cute, colourful print immediately caught my eye and I knew it would make for a great late 70's style camisole so I paired it with my usual self-drafted baby doll pattern and less than an hour later I got this:

My derpy face says it all, I'm in love with my top! Also I tried it tucked into The Skirt and it looked great too :) I hope the fabric is strong because it's probably going to get a lot of wear!

Casual tops

After years of DREADING to sew with knits -fabric will move like crazy when tracing, chalk lines won't show, I need a serger, etc- I took the resolution to at least try it in 2013 and now I feel silly because it's actually super easy! I made two pairs of leggings and two tops and then I even made a dress!
So, the fabric didn't move around as much as I thought and about the tracing problem, I sew so often with Japanese and Burda patterns that I'm used to adding seam allowances while tracing^^ so here I simply added the seam allowances to my pattern and then cut around the paper, duh. I still don't have a serger -I almost got one in 2010 but had to give it back before I could use it because I was broke as hell and needed the money :(- but my brave little Singer does the job perfectly well with its zigzag stitch!
The pattern for the tops comes from an old Burda, I needed a design similar to my old beloved black top and this one is perfect with a boatneck and slim 3/4 sleeves:

Of course I chose stripes, I managed to match them on the sides but not with the sleeves unfortunately. To finish the top I simply zigzagged the edges, folded them and stitched. I also have a leopard one which I made first, you can tell because I used stretch bias to finish the neckline, which was a bad idea since it ended a bit wonky -still love the top though:

These two have become staples in my wardrobe, even when I don't feel like dressing I'm happy that I can slip into something handmade to wear with my jeans!
And since I have some of these fabrics left I want to make matching cardigans because I have a serious thing for twin sets :)

Stop me if you've heard this one before...

... I made a skirt! OMG this is turning into skirt week, right? I hadn't sewn any in months and now I want to make plenty of outfits from them. Yesterday I showed you the forgotten green 70's skirt and I liked it so much I immediately took to making another one, this time out of blended denim.

I didn't remember that the pattern for this skirt actually consisted in three pieces, a waistband as well as a centre and a side that you have to cut 4 times hence the eight gores. As you may imagine construction was pretty straightforward, the only change I added was to put the (handpicked) zipper at the back rather than on the side and the most time-consuming part was to finish the inside of the waistband and do the hem by hand, so it took me one big evening to make the skirt.

I even have 70's-like platform shoes to wear with the skirt:

And I should get a lot of credit for making it through the handsewing because here is the kind of attack that I had to deal with every 5 minutes or so:

Something old, something new

And for once nothing (navy) blue! I felt super good in today's me-made outfit:

Such a nice little surprise, while sorting my clothes I stumbled upon this:

It's an eight-gored green poplin skirt made from a 70's pattern that I had forgotten about because it was a bit too big back when I made it and now, ahem^^ it fits -not sure if I should be glad or desperate! I wore it with a simple gathered top made with mystery synthetic fabric, and the pattern is a smaller version of my baby-doll tunic.
Finally I wanted to say that I've been extorted by my mum ONCE AGAIN, after she saw my blue and white R dress she asked for one so I had to make this for her:

Lol I'm such a giving seamstress, I should totally get rewarded with tons of fabric and patterns for my upcoming birthday^^