me made may, week two.

Originally posted to sewstylist.wordpress.com on 14 May 2013

Day 4: One of the challenges of Me Made May is taking some of those less successful me-made items out of your bottom drawer and letting them see the light of day. This week you’ll see me trying to make it work with a couple of my me-mades! Exhibit one, the Drape Drape no. 1 Loose Drape Top. This is actually the first time I wore this poor little top out in the light of day! It turned out all right, though I had to add some makeshift strap carriers (safety pins) to ensure the shirt would actually stay on!

The extremely blurry pic (sorry!) shows just how low the drape goes. And since the pattern is essentially identical at the front and back, there is really no way to wear the top without some sort of layer underneath. I’m also not very happy with the fabric I chose. It’s some funky synthetic that so distracted me with its earthy color palette and cool print that I failed to notice it was not, in fact, good fabric. It appears to be a semi-sheer chiffon, but the drape is too crisp to really do this pattern justice.

Day 5: This is the sort of outfit that, while at first it may seem strange (boots + wool sweater + shorts?), is actually perfect for springtime. I made the shorts using McCall’s 6515 pants pattern, altered to try for some of the finishing details I saw on a pair of Steven Allen shorts I once lusted after. Many, many yards of this fabric were thrifted for around $5. It looks like silk noil, but I can’t say that it wears as well as all that. I suppose these are really just a wearable muslin, but I sure do wear them a lot! Though the fit needs some work, they’re really comfy!

Day 6: During the many years I worked as a wardrobe stylist I learned a lot of sneaky tricks for making clothes look better in pics than they ever could in real life. If this had been a professional shoot (and I wasn’t playing photog, model, art director, and stylist in one), I might have fixed that collar. But other than that little curiosity, my version of the blouse from The BurdaStyle Sewing Handbook looks like a decent little top, right?

Well, behold me-made making it work, exhibit two! When we get up close and personal with this blouse we see that, once again, Ebony made a less than optimal fabric choice. This wretched synthetic (yeah, you seeing an unfortunate pattern forming here?) was picked up at the thrift store for a song. I remember being really excited about the cocoa brown pin stripes and silky, flowing drape. But man oh man, this fabric was awful to work with, and as I’m sure you can see, it wears worse.

I think I probably reset those sleeves at least half a dozen times before giving in to the reality that I was never gonna get the shoulder ruffles even and un-lumpy. And much as I’ve pressed, steamed, and pleaded with that collar, it insists on hanging out, one side high. Last but worst of all, I’ve never worn a less breathable fabric! I know it’s gross to admit, but I had major armpit wetness all day. Friends, it was not pretty. The pattern itself I will absolutely sew up again in a better fabric with a few minor fit adjustments, but after a day in this version I think I would burn it if only it weren’t made of plastic fabric!

Day 7: Thursday was one of those blessed “work from home” days writers and graduate students like me live for. I spent the day in my nightgown (and was reminded, for the umpteenth time, that I should really consider sewing up some quality PJs), and I only put this outfit on to meet up for dinner, drinks, and live music. (If you’re interested, check out my talented friend, Leo London, who recently released his new album on Itunes!)

I tried to get a closeup of the shorts, but to no avail. Trying to get a decent photo of black fabric is tricky business.

Day 8: Friday was an incredibly hot day; it was also my birthday! I’m not gonna lie to you, I didn’t wear any me mades that day. As I was walking to go see the Dali Lama speak (you heard right, that’s one of a few rad things I did to celebrate my day!) I realized I should have grabbed my Charlie bag in order to keep up with the challenge. Alas. Instead I tried to make up for it by wearing a me-made on Saturday; the result is pictured here. These are a denim version of Grainline’s Maritime shorts. If you’re curious to learn a bit more about how these came into being, check out my earlier post.

Next time I make these I plan to place the pockets a little closer to the center seam, and maybe I’ll make them a tad smaller too. As it is, these pockets seem to be widening my rear. (That’s right, I blame the pockets.)

That’s it for week 2! I hope you’ll check in again next week to see what there is to see of week 3. I’ve got a few more never-been-blogged pieces to share, and I’ll debut the new item I was working on last week!