Category: fashion

Me-Made Lingerie

Yesterday’s Me-Made item was the Florence bralette from Colette’s Seamwork magazine. Most of the Seamwork and Colette patterns have been a bust for me … ba-da-dah! Pun intended … but the Florence bralette iIMG_20160820_152036400s a fave. Here’s a photo of it on my dressform. (The Internet does not need to see a photo of me in a bra.) You make it out of very wide stretch lace and stretch satin or some other stretchy material for the contrast. You get something that looks very time-consuming for maybe 2 hours of work. I used picot lingerie elastic and sewed on a tassel, just because.

I wear this to Pilates since it doesn’t constrict breathing and gives just enough support. It’s a pattern for those small-chested among us, truth be told. I am a B+ or a C-, depending on whether I am having “a cup is half-full or half-empty” kind of day … ba-da-dah! The puns keep coming! … but it probably won’t suit anyone much more well-endowed.

Me-Made Saturday in the Park

It’s cold and overcast for May, so I am getting more wear out of my me-made moto jacket from Simplicity 8174. I took the dog on a walk in the park this morning and tried to get a selfie of me in the jacket and the dog at the same time. I managed to not get a decent picture of either, but it’s cute anyway – part of my jacket and part of my dog’s tail.

I made the jacket from ultrasuede and lined it with silk charmeuse. Fancy lining, eh? It was salvaged and recut from a failed dress project. Never throw out failed projects!

Me Made Casual Friday

I work at home Fridays, so I keep it cazh. Contrary to popular belief, people who work at home don’t stay in their PJs all day. At least I don’t. Most of the time…

Today’s outfit is jeans in black denim from Simplicity 3688. It’s a wide-leg trouser pattern reminiscent of the 1940s. 

Denim wasn’t a great call for the pattern; it needs something much more drapy. But I still got the look I wanted. I added belt loops and contrasting topstitching. 

Day 1 of Me Made May 2017

I woke up this morning and completely forgot it was May. As in #MeMadeMay. Sorry for the inelegant photo of my first day of the me-made pledge, but it was the best I could do on short notice. (Hey, you can only see a little of the toilet, so not a total selfie fail.)IMG_20170430_220955

This jacket is “Bolero Style Jacket” from the Japanese sewing book Happy Homemade Sew Chic by Yoshiko Tsukiori. I changed the pattern a bit to work well with this crazy border print knit fabric I had. I lengthened the body of the jacket and the sleeves, and I added a clasp at the front. I’m wearing a RTW top and pants.

I  don’t have enough seasonally appropriate me-made clothing to wear an item every day all month, but I have ramped up my participation steadily during the past couple of years. I’ll push myself by pledging to wear me-made items five days out of seven in a week.

I, Diane of Distaff Blog, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May’17. I endeavor to wear me-made clothes five days out of each week for the duration of May.

Who else is in?

Too Cool for 8174

When I was younger and overweight, I wanted a black leather motorcycle jacket,  but I could not find anything in the stores that fit me. So, I had one custom-made at a small leather shop run by immigrants from one of those Eastern European countries where the women use magenta hair dye.

When I lost the weight, the jacket no longer fit, so with a heavy heart I donated it to Goodwill.

Now today, I have developed the sewing skills to make one on my own. So when I got the itch for a new jacket – this time in red ultrasuede – I thought I could do it.

Ta da!

img_20170218_101343098_top

This is Simplicity 8174, a “Mimi G Style” jacket. I think it’s the best of the current crop of moto and bomber jacket patterns out there, especially if you have a curvy figure. It has nice RTW features, such as shoulder vents in the back, tab-and-button details (I used silver metal studs) and zippered pockets.

Its asymmetrical design features a zipper  in the princess seam, so you need to sew one side of the jacket and then the other. This seemed inefficient to me, but I learned my lesson when I accidentally sewed on the shoulder yoke, forgetting that the zipper needed to go in first.

I made a few adjustments, and one I wish I had made. This has a rather high bust, at least for a woman looking at the back end of 40. So I wish I had moved down the bust point an inch. I also widened the bicep a tiny bit and made my usual forward shoulder adjustment.

Back view with shoulder vents
Lined with silk charmeuse
Back view of lining
Zipper and stud detail

I lined the jacket with silk charmeuse left over from a failed dress project. I had to piece the lining together a bit to get it to work, but I don’t think it’s that noticeable.

My husband likes it – partly because he thinks I now need a motorcycle to go with it!

Sudoku Sewing

I joined the PatternReview.com “Wardrobe Sudoku” contest to sew 10 coordinating items in a sudoku-style grid in two months.

How can I explain this? Here’s a mock-up of my wardrobe idea. All the items in a straight line are meant to coordinate, like some bingo boutique, with shoes. I noted on the right if the pattern was TNT – that is, “tried and true” and therefore, easier, of if it was a new pattern with the added work of fitting and figuring things out.

sudoku2

I already realize that the blue skirt and blue jacket will never work, unless I want to look like a Smurf with a pituitary problem. So I need to rethink the upper right corner.

I finished one item already, the jacket from Happy Homemade Sew Chic, a Japanese sewing pattern book. Here’s a picture. See my other blog, Sewing Japanese, for the details.

Then I started oimg_20170128_182950647_topn the red jacket in the bottom row. It’s a bitch of a jacket – 25 pieces including lining, and most of them interfaced – but go big or go home, right? I am taking Monday off from work and will get a lot of work done on Superbowl Sunday, since I abhor football.

What compelled me to do this? Why do I sew my own clothes, like some peasant? Why I don’t just go to the mall already?

The pull of the Distaff Side is strongest in winter.