What Can I Say? I'm Selfish

....Selfish Sewing that is!

I have fully embraced this round of Selfish Sewing Week and I've been spending as much spare time as I can in my sewing room working on projects just for ME. 

So far I've managed to get one project done each day of Selfish Sewing week, and I have plans for the rest of the week.  Let's hope I can keep this ball rolling!

Monday: Open Wide Pouch (Tutorial by Noodlehead)

Tuesday: Ruby Top (Pattern by Made-By-Rae)

Wednesday: Maritime Shorts (Pattern by Grainline Studio)

Thursday: Maritime Shorts #2 (Pattern by Grainline Studio)

I realized that I don't have a picture of the completed Ruby Top I made on Tuesday, so you will all have to make do with my work-in-progress picture I snapped.  I'm currently wearing the top otherwise I'd try and get a shot of it now.

Which brings me to Me Made May! (Like I don't have enough things going on).

Here goes!

"I, Steph Granite, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '14.  I endeavor to  wear at least one handmade item each day for the duration of May 2014 and to make a new garment each week"

I feel like it might be hard to wear something EACH DAY, but when I think about it I have quite a number of handmade clothes, so I should be able to so it!

I've Been Selfish

I've Been Selfish... #Selfish Sewing that is!

While I didn't get as much made during Selfish Sewing week as I wanted to, I'm very happy with what I did manage to accomplish.

First off was the open wide pouch I made on Monday:



Then there was this teapot cozy I made on Wednesday and then improved on Thursday:

The first version (above): The "spout" was a little too high, the top was a little too angled, and there was a centimeter gap at the bottom.  Plus I thought I'd like it in linen and I ended up thinking it was too boring.  The improved version (below) fixed all of these problems.





And finally there was the Miz Mozelle dress I started Thursday night and worked on on Friday (but still haven't quite finished yet):










My thoughts?

The open wide pouch was a lot of fun to make and I really like how easy it is to see everything inside of it.  I ordered a 50 pack of zippers from Zipit on Etsy so you can be sure that there will be MANY more of these in the future.

The teapot cozy was fun to make and I love that it looks like a teapot.  My first draft of the pattern was just a large half circle that covered the whole thing and it was just SO BORING.  This cute tailored cozy is much better, though to be honest it's probably much more difficult to get on the pot than the half circle would have been.

The Miz Mozelle dress pattern is AMAZING.  I was a size 18 based on my bust measurement and it fits me so well and is really comfortable.  The keyhole is a bit large and shows quite a bit of cleavage on me, but the hubs said it's his favorite part (go figure) and it makes it so that I can nurse the Little so I'm okay with it.  I used a heavier stabilizer in the collar than I should have and that's what I'm attributing my collar problems to.  I think I'm going to take the whole collar off and make a new one.  The pattern was easy to follow but it did have a few techniques I had never done before, but the instructions and images were clear enough that I had no problems figuring it out.  The fabric I used was a rayon jersey and it was great to work with.  My serger is currently out of commission until I get a new needle so I used a ballpoint needle on my regular sewing machine with a stretch stitch and it worked great.  All in all I think I'm going to make a few more of these dresses if I can find cute enough fabric.  I'd love to find a cream stretch lace to make a black and white version of this dress. 

And my thoughts on Selfish Sewing week in particular?  Do it.  Be selfish.  Just do it.  It's was great to take a little it of time to make something for myself.  I was so excited to get in the sewing room every day knowing that what I was making was just for me, just because I wanted to make it, and that I had no deadline to meet.  I  highly recommend being a little selfish to everyone.

Also, be sure to check out the Selfish Sewing Flickr group.  There are so many great projects on there that I now have about 10 new patterns that I'm dying to try.

And what about you?  How have you been selfish recently (either sewing related or just treating yourself well)?

P.S. You'll have to forgive the way I look in the pictures.  I had just managed to get the Little down for a few minutes and wanted the hubs to get a few shots of the dress in progress, so I had no time to do hair or makeup or anything.  I'm laughing in the second photo because the baby had already woken up again.  Figures.

A Little Bit of #SelfishSewing to Report

In between taking care of the Little and trying to get the house in order I managed to be a little bit #selfish today and made my first ever open wide zippered pouch using Noodlehead's tutorial. 

Super straightforward and easy to follow, I think it took me around an hour and a half to make this beauty.  She's perfect to sit next to my machine and hold all of my scissors and other things I need to have handy all the time.  I made her out of some sewing themed fabrics I've been hoarding for awhile and I love it.

...And it's okay that I was selfish today because yesterday night was dedicated to making a wet bag and bib for the newest Hoffling.  These will be going out to my friend Rebeckah's first nephew who was just born on Saturday night.

Speaking of selfish... on the birthday front a present arrived today from my sister in Hawaii.  She painted all of my favorite books like they were sitting on a bookshelf together.  I love it (and I love her).  It's totally going up in my sewing room with the other paintings she's painted me over the years.

Are you making anything #selfish this week?

It's Time For Some #Selfish Sewing!

I've been working hard making gifts for others that I really think it's about time I made something for myself.  It also helps that it's my birthday this week and if you can't be a little selfish on your birthday then when can you be? 

Thinking about it the last thing I sewed for myself was a nursing cover, but that doesn't really count, so that means that the last thing I sewed for myself was my camera bag that I made to go to Sewing Summit last October... so it's been 11 months since I've done any selfish sewing.  Yep, it's definitely about time.

I have no idea yet what I'll make, but I do have a few things I've been wanting to sew that keep getting pushed to the back burner, so maybe I'll focus on one of them.