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!

Reconnecting With My Roots: Garment Sewing

Over the years that I've been blogging I've posted mainly about quilting and sewing small projects, but I rarely ever post about garment sewing, which is funny, because that's what I started out doing!

Yes, like many of you my first projects on a sewing machine were all clothing.  I actually sewed garments pretty exclusively until I discovered quilting 5 years ago, and it's all been downhill from there.

Well recently I looked in my closet and I decided it was time to sew up a few things for myself.

First up was the Ruby Top by Made-By-Rae.  I already had her Washi Dress pattern (see the post here) and I love it so I figured it was time to give Ruby a try.

Ruby Top #1

I started off making a dress but since I'm pretty top heavy it just didn't look right.  I need things that accentuate my curves a little bit more.  But I love it as a top.  I love it so much that I made two more and I have two more in the plans.

Ruby Top #2

Ruby Top #3 (This time in KNIT!)

And since I was on a roll (and since I had just purchased Parcel #1 from Perfect Pattern Parcel) I decided to try my hand at an Ava top.

Sleeve or No Sleeve?

 I had a hard time deciding whether to put the sleeve on it or not, so I solicited the advise of my Instagram friends and everyone said to go with no sleeve, so that's what I did!

Me!

I actually love it sleeveless.  Perfect for sunny California days (which is everyday, people.  Sorry to rub it in your faces)

And because I was feeling confident, I pulled out a WIP from last year's Selfish Sewing Week and I grit my teeth and finished it.

That's right, the Miz Mozelle dress I blogged about in September is finally finished.  I had to carefully pull the collar off and make a new one that laid correctly.  And let me tell you, taking the collar off was no easy feat.  I accidentally ripped a giant hole in the dress, but I was able to cut the neckline just a little bit lower and make the collar just a little bit wider and it all worked out.

It might actually be better, because I can ::just:: manage to maneuver the neckline so I'm able to nurse while wearing this dress.  I wore this one to church this past Sunday and it was so comfortable.  Win!

And guess what?! Selfish Sewing Week is just around the corner and I have some pretty big plans.  So mark your calendars and plan to set aside time to sew something for yourself April 28-May 3

Oh, and while you're doing all that selfish sewing, sew yourself a top as well and join Rae in her Spring Top Sewalong April 14- May 11

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.

I'm seeing... Aliens?

A few weeks ago a friend from church contacted me about making her and her son some costumes for an annual block party she and her husband throw to celebrate their kids' birthdays.  Every year has a different theme and this year the theme was "Cowboys and Aliens".  She already had everything for the cowboy costumes she needed but had nothing for the alien costumes except for some fabric she bought at M&L.

 One of the fabrics she bought was an awesome lime green spandex with holographic "scales" all over it that she wanted me to use to make her son's costume.  Luckily he is a guy who LOVES to dress up and for him the tighter the fit the better the costume so it was pretty easy to sell him on head to toe spandex.  We were originally thinking "body suit" but instead went with a long sleeve top and stretch pants so that he'd be able to wear them separately if he chose to.  He had the idea that he wanted a silver breastplate on his alien costume so I had him draw up a picture for me.

Since I didn't have a pattern to use I decided to make one from some clothes he already had that we already knew fit him.  I used a pair of his pj's and laid them out on a large sheet of paper I had to make the pattern pieces.  Since the spandex wasn't as stretchy as the knit of his pj's I took that into consideration and added a little extra fabric to the sides along with 1/4 inch for the seams.

They came together super quickly using my serger (though they did leave the inside of my serger a big green mess).

My friend wanted a matching skirt so I made a basic tube skirt for her out of the same fabric.

He had the idea that he wanted a silver breastplate on his alien costume so I had him draw up a picture for me.  Using some silver lamé and batting I whipped up the breastplate for him and quilted it a bit to add texture, then I hand stitched it onto the shirt with a long stitch so mom could easily remove it if she wanted.

I also made some long capes for both of them out of a material I called "liquid metal", but really it was just a silver reflective-looking spandex.  Since I didn't want to add any weight to the capes and since the spandex won't fray I didn't hem the sides or bottom, I just made sure to cut them really smoothly. 

The party was Sunday and it was so much fun.  They had a permit from the city so they were able to block off the street for extra room.  There were probably close to 125 people there and almost everyone was in costume.  At one point in the evening my friend rolled out bubble wrap on the street and all the kids had a "bubble wrap dance party" on top of it.  It was a lot of fun to see all the kids hopping around on top of the bubble wrap.

Bubble Wrap Dance Party

The kids were dressed in a lot of cool costumes.  There were a lot of cowboys, and a lot of aliens, and there were even some alien cowboys as well as recognizable aliens such as Superman and Transformers.  There was even a Dr. Who.

Can you spot Dr. Who?

My Cowboy!

Washi Time!

Yesterday my husband left the house to go meet up with coworkers for happy hour and I decided to use the time to finally cut into some of my DS Collection yardage to make myself a Washi dress.  Fast forward to 11:30 PM and I had made myself not one but two Washi dresses!!!

The pattern is super easy to cut out (there are only 6 pieces) and Rae's instructions are so straightforward that even a beginner would have no problems mastering this pattern.

I was lucky in that I didn't have to make any alterations to the pattern.  I made mine in XL and it fit my bust perfectly.

After making the dress in the DS Collection print I was so happy that I decided to cut into some Robert Kaufman "London Calling" cotton lawn that I bought to make a Tova top.  Luckily for me I had just the right amount of yardage.

While the DS Collection print is heavier this one is light and breezy.  Perfect on a warm summer's day.

I can't wait to wear these out.

One thing I would have changed while making these dresses is that I wish I had purchased a better elastic thread.  I just used the stuff I picked up at Joann's and I feel like it's not very strong.  It worked fine on the lighter lawn fabric but I feel like over time it might wear out with the heavier cotton fabric.  Oh well, I guess only time will tell.

Oh, and I guess I did skip a step while making the pattern.  Rae says to use bias tape around the armholes to give it a finished look.  Instead I used my serger around the armhole and then folded it under and topstitched.  I doubt anyone will ever see the difference since it will only show under my arm.

I feel so inspired now!  I think I might have to make myself a few tunics with the pattern as well!

What about you?  What are you making right now?

It's time!

Time for a new dress that is!

As soon as I saw Rae's Washi Dress I knew I wanted one for myself, and last week when the pattern finally went on sale I snatched it up.  Well, I've made my muslin and tested the fit and now I'm ready to dive in and cut into some of my DS Collection fabric.

Hopefully I'll have pictures of the finished product to share with all of you soon!

New 2226 Skirt

I have a new skirt that I finished just in time for church this morning.

Do you like it?

 

While this isn't my first time using the pattern this is my first time using organic cotton and to tell the truth I can't really tell the difference.  It's maybe a little softer than other cottons, but not by a whole lot.

Pattern: Simplicity 2226
Fabric: Free to Grow by Nancy Mims for Mod Green Pod for Robert Kaufman
Estimated cut time: 1 hour
Estimated sewing time: 3 hours