Me Made May 2019: It's a wrap

Well, it's the end of another Me Made May! Did you play along? If so, did you enjoy it?

I was focusing on looking at what I have in my closet and what I reach for most, and also trying to either mend or donate things I haven't been wearing. How did I do this month?

I did find that I reach for comfortable dresses most often. And that I don't have too many separates, especially since I don't make pants -- I actually do have one pair of SBCC Pinot Pants but they are only indoor, around-the-house stretchy pants, so I haven't made any that I wear in public yet ;)

I made two new dresses this month, one knit and one woven, both with a loose fit. The rayon Butterick 4948 (pattern from 1997) is going to be a definite favourite in future.

And the New Look 6542 (also a 90s pattern) is comfortable for cooler days, and will be worn again once I trim it up a bit -- stretchy rayon knit means it has grown on me! 

The dress above also met my goal of trying to get some UFOs finished up -- along with another quick vintage top that I finished at the beginning of the month, a Stretch & Sew 345.

I just have two UFOs left now, a stretch velvet top that I cut in January and have currently lost interest in finishing as it's not a summer piece, and a Butterick summer dress that I cut in a lovely crinkle rayon ages ago and must finish up soon!

And because I realized that I don't have a lot of summer tops that wear often -- besides my various Kwik Sew 3559s & a couple of Sorbettos -- I spent a day this week tracing off just some of the many pretty top patterns I have in my stash but haven't got around to making yet.

What's up for June? More stash sewing, some wardrobe maintenance (still one big mending/altering project I haven't finished in May), and matching up some of my fabrics with those newly traced patterns. And tracing off a couple of dress patterns as well! I'm going to try to make a few more everyday dresses since that's what I've been reaching for regularly this month.

I hope you've had fun with your Me Made May and learned a lot about your habits as well.

1997 Butterick Dress, Modernized

I picked this pattern up at a thrift store quite a while ago -- I had it put aside along with my recent New Look 6542 as styles I'd like to make in a slightly more modern version. But I'd almost forgot about it, until I was looking at some recent indie patterns that I was coveting -- The Hinterland Dress, for example. Then I recalled I had a old pattern that might have nearly the same result.

Butterick 4948  c1997 

So I dug out this Butterick 4948, and a piece of rayon challis that's been marinating in the stash for about 3 years. This was a tough piece of fabric to use; I bought it because I loved the bright print on the black ground, but only realized when I got it home that the blooms bloomed horizontally, not vertically. So I always wondered what would work with this fabric cut on the crossgrain. This was it.

It fit nicely onto the fabric, actually leaving a little over (I'll talk about what happened to that remainder in another post). Since I am so short (5'1.5") I had tons of room to cut the skirt and bodice pieces on the crossgrain, even allowing for bodice placement to avoid bust bloomage.

Because it is a rayon challis, it was a bit fiddly -- I carefully staystitched the neckline but there was still a bit of stretching happening when sewing on the bias facing -- not terrible but still there. And I did make a few alterations to adjust fit both for my body and for a little bit more of a 2019 silhouette than a 1997 one.

What I changed:

I added pockets. Of course! Why would you have a dress with a full dirndl skirt and no pockets? I used my trusty pocket pattern, and attached the pocket bag 1/2" below the top of the skirt piece so that it would be able to be sewn into the waist seam along with the gathered skirt top. That way it reduces the floppiness of a side seam pocket.

I also found that the raised waist was just a little too roomy in the end, since I left off the ties that were intended to gather the back waist. I dislike ties in the back -- they seem just that bit *too* 90s to me. So I made the back waist seam into a casing and inserted a piece of narrow elastic that was about 2/3 the length of the back seam. It gathers it up just enough and is basically unnoticeable.

And when I tried it on, I found I could easily slip it over my head so didn't bother making front bodice buttonholes. I simply tacked the fronts together with a bit of handstitching then sewed buttons on right through both layers.

I really like it. This pattern was a 16W - 20W Petite sizing, and I wasn't sure what the "W" meant. Was that the "plus size" notation of the 90s? In any case I found the size fit my petite, plus figure pretty much perfectly. Almost every single change I made was just to the length of both bodice & skirt. I might narrow the shoulders slightly and shorten the sleeve a little bit at the bicep level if I made it again, though, as my shoulder-to-bust area is really more of a 14.

And this fabric turned out to be a dream to wear. Thank goodness it is out of the stash and into the wild!

Weekend Review: The Wardrobe Mistress

The Wardrobe Mistress / Patrick McGrath
London: Windmill Books, c2017.
314 p.

The last Sunday of the month means a review of a non-instructional book -- this time a unsettling story by a master of the gothic/grotesque. Actually this book was much less grotesque than his early books, and I was most drawn to it, obviously, by the wardrobe part of it. So I was pleased to find that it had a lot more theatre, sewing, and women's lives in it than gothic gore.

Joan Grice is a wardrobe mistress at a small London theatre. It's 1947, it's the coldest winter in memory, and war rations are still making life miserable. On top of this comes the sudden death of Charlie Grice, 'Gricey', Joan's husband and a generally beloved star actor.

Joan and her troubled daughter Vera (who is married to a much older theatre producer) suffer though Gricey's funeral together, but then Joan is rather on her own in her small flat. And there she begins to discover that Gricey was not entirely what he told her he was. She feels unmoored as she begins to uncover more and more about his inexplicable, hateful hidden life.

There's also a new man stirring things up -- a younger actor who had stepped in to Gricey's role as his understudy -- and whom Joan can't seem to separate from his role. Then Vera gets cast alongside him...

Added to all this literal drama there's overtone of the supernatural, and this is where McGrath's love of the gothic shines. Joan and Vera's mental stability is challenged, their security in normal everyday life is challenged, and when it all shakes out it wasn't at all what I'd expected, culminating in a shocking conclusion. Dark, creepy, and yet fascinating, this story incorporates Joan's knowledge of sewing as she remakes some of her husband's fine clothes for the young and impecunious actor taking over Gricey's role(s) in multiple ways.

She regarded him critically, and in her mind's eye she saw him as he'd look when it fitted him properly; and, yes, for just a second she closed her eyes and Gricey was there.

Then she was all business. Out with the tailor's chalk for it was too broad in the shoulder, too deep in the chest. A pin here, a pin there, tighten up the trousers at the back, take it in a touch at the seat, and give him an inch of trouser cuff. She knew what she was doing when a man stood before her in a costume requiring alterations...

Then she was done. She left him to get dressed, and when he emerged he was a scarecrow once more. The suit lay on the bed, pinned and chalked and ready for the tailor, herself.

If you like an unsettling post-war England setting, with a dash of marital upset and dark developments, alongside political commentary that is still relevant to today's happenings, this is a book for you. It has a literary style, with a chorus commenting on the narrative; if it is confusing at first just keep going, you'll figure it out. It adds to the sense of dislocation and unreality that underpins the plot. And if you are also a sewist, well, you'll appreciate some of the details too. But don't expect sunshine and light from this one!

MeMadeMay and Sustainability Thoughts

One of my goals for this MeMadeMay was to look at what I'm wearing and why, and to think about how I can make my wardrobe more sustainable in terms of fabrics bought, patterns made, etc -- how to use the best fabrics I can for my budget and not make clothes I'm not going to wear.

I've found that I do like almost everything I've ever made, and the few things that I haven't wanted to wear this month are now in line for refashioning/reusing or donating. So it has been a useful practice to pay attention to my sewing and clothes wearing habits!

In addition to paying attention to my own habits, I also read and listen to many things in the area of sustainable fashion. Here are some of my recent favourites.

Podcasts: 

Wardrobe Crisis by Clare Press
This podcast by Vogue Australia's sustainability editor is so good! Clare Press interviews a wide range of guests from fashion designers to brands to sustainable makers to the founders of Fashion Revolution, to name just a few. It really expands the understanding of how wide the push for sustainability is getting.

Conscious Chatter
A podcast "where what we wear matters", this one is hosted by a young woman with a background in journalism and international affairs, and focuses on sustainable brands, consumer habits, and wider issues in the field like women's rights, recycling, international conditions in the fashion world and so on.

Trashmagination by Carla Brown
While this isn't focused on the fashion world, it is a series of very short podcasts on recycling, reusing, and remaking things that are often considered to be trash. There are many references to fashion uses of trash, including events like Trashion Weeks.

Dressed  &  Unravel: a Fashion Podcast
Both of these fashion history podcasts are focused on designers, fashion movements and so on, but they've both looked at sustainability issues in some of their episodes. Plus just knowing how different fashion trends have come about sometimes helps to understand the background of massive fashion issues.

Books:

Wardrobe Crisis by Clare Press 
Rise & Resist by Clare Press
Both of these books by the author & presenter of the Wardrobe Crisis podcast follow on with the same themes -- a look at the fashion industry in the first one, and a collection of essays and interviews with changemakers in the second one.

Overdressed: the shockingly high cost of cheap fashion by Elizabeth L. Cline 
This classic looks at fast fashion and our consumer habits and talks about ways to counteract the rapid movement of trends and buying and trashing our clothes.

Websites/Actions:

Fashion Revolution
This is the mother ship for questions of sustainable fashion and the call for transparency. Full of resources of all kinds, and best known for #FashRev week and the #WhoMadeMyClothes initiative.

Craftivist Collective
This movement uses craft and stitching as a protest delivery system; their Mini Fashion Statement project in particular looks at fast fashion and the fashion world overall


Do you have suggestions of titles of books or any podcasts that you love listening to that will help me along my learning journey? Is there a great website that you love that talks about this topic? Do you have any go-to tricks to help make your own sewing more sustainable? Please share!

New Look at a 90s Dress

This last weekend was a long weekend -- and I took advantage of it to start a new dress project, and also to finish an old one! I've had this soft rayon knit cut out as a New Look 6542 since January, and thought I'd better finish it up before the hot summer weather arrives. It's also one more UFO off my list for this month...I only have two more to go.

In any case, I wanted to try this simple 90s pattern for a pullover dress. It looked comfy and back in fashion, at least enough to try out! It was a very easy sew but my fabric choice made it a bit trickier. This is a thin, very soft and drapy knit. I had to try a few needles before finding one that didn't leave marks in the fabric (ended up with the finest stretch needle in my multipak). It also means that the weight of the skirt has pulled the waistline down a bit, so it's less empire than intended. This dress grew about an inch today while I wore it!

The problems I had with this were mainly fabric ones. But there was also an issue with the pockets -- the markings have them so low, especially with the vertical stretch effect, that they are not usable as they are. I will have to take them out and move them up about 3 inches, to the waistline seam. This will not be too hard as I didn't understitch or reinforce them, wondering if they'd need to be moved in the end. So it will be a relatively quick unpicking and shifting project, one night's work. Then I can wear this as I like.

It was a fun project, and a good use of more of my stash fabric. But the pattern is so similar to the more current Moneta pattern by Colette that I'll probably just stick with that one in future. Now to finish my black floral dress that I also started on the weekend...

Weekend Review: Clothing Care & Repair

Singer Sewing Reference Library: Clothing Care & Repair
Minnetonka, MN: Cy DeCosse, c1985.
127 p.

This is an older book -- straight from the 80s in fact! But it is a very useful book even after 30 odd years. And it's easily found in thrift stores and online if you want to check it out yourself. 

This is full of useful information; the pictures are dated, but excellent mid-80s examples of clothing choices! 

Even though there are new products now that make mending and altering clothes quicker and easier in some ways, this book has solid info on a lot of topics. And unlike most other books on mending, even modern ones, this also goes over how to care for your clothes.

As stated below, "Care Extends Wear", and we are hearing today that "the most sustainable piece of clothing is the one already in your closet." So let's learn how to care for our clothes well so we can wear them longer.

The text is broken up into 3 main sections: Care (including washing & drying, hanging & storing, even packing advice... and an extremely useful nearly 4 page spread on stain removal) -- Repair (all the usual suspects - zippers, patches, mending tears, seams or hems, and discussion of different kinds of fabrics and their needs) -- and Customizing (quick changes to styles to keep things current and wear them longer, and even though the specific changes are aimed at an 80s silhouette, the techniques are still applicable and handy today). 

Have a stain? This book will help you with that. 

There are also some tips on creative repair or customization to make something your own. Those of us who already make our own clothes to start with could really run with these ideas. 

Patch It! 

This is book is one of those "oldies but goodies" that I keep on my shelf alongside my old and much used Readers Digest Guide to Sewing. I really like the clarity of instruction and the many, many clear photos in this book. I've found the answer to nearly every wardrobe malfunction emergency in here, and really do recommend it even though it is a little older. It covers basics to more involved information, and offers ideas for mending techniques that aren't visible if you aren't into the modern trend. Really solid. Enjoy the 80s hair while you're at it.

MeMadeMay at the Halfway Point

So it is already halfway through May! I can hardly believe it, just like always I wonder where the time goes.

I've been wearing a few favourites since my last MMMay update. And I've reached for a second wear of some of them already. Here's what I've been wearing:

Left Column:

Stretch & Sew 305

New Look 6299

Colette Moneta


Centre:

Simplicity 1593 vest (over another KwikSew 3559)


Right Column: 

Blue Mystery Dress (no longer a mystery; it's McCalls 7522, in Shelli Segal's 'Laundry' line)

Stretch & Sew 345

Butterick 5388 


I repeated a wear: Vogue 9329 (not pictured) And I also wore another favourite, though unblogged, KwikSew 3559 top twice - it's blue and faintly sparkly.


I haven't been taking photos this year very much; I keep forgetting. So once again most of these are older  pics from when I first made these items. It's kind of interesting that some of them are a few years old but still in regular rotation in my closet.

I've noticed that I am wearing things over again which are comfortable and flattering, and which feel like me when I put them on. The weather has been very variable so I still had a chance to wear one of my favourite colder weather dresses, the purple houndstooth Stretch & Sew.

But I also noticed how many nice pieces I have that I still want to wear. I'll have to get some laundry done and a batch of ironing underway so that I can wear all of my cotton dresses next week!

And I have one UFO now in process, and one fairly large mending project at least moved on to the sewing table, so I feel like I'm on track for my MeMadeMay goals this year.

Are you still enjoying MeMadeMay, if you have joined in? Are you meeting your own goals for the month?

Tuesday Pattern Thoughts

A quick catch-up for a Tuesday! I have been so busy I haven't finished much sewing this month, but I certainly do have a lot of plans. I've pulled out some Indie patterns that I need to trace before I can cut them; I print them and store them in envelopes until I can trace them off so have a very large stack of manila envelopes in my sewing room currently.

I also have lots of new ideas thanks to a trip to the city that netted me the May issue of Burda magazine and a simple Simplicity pattern (that one was unexpected since Simplicity is not sold in Canada...) I'm hoping to get to at least ONE of these plans before the end of May! How does time go by so quickly?

I also had a good thrifting week. I found this amazing patternmaker's ruler for $7 and couldn't say no. 

And I also came across two patterns from first gen Indie pattern companies: the "Flounce About Jacket" by Saf-T-Pockets, and the "Kusamba Dress etc" by the Batik Butik, for $1 each. I'd never heard of the second company so when I eventually get around to trying these out I'll have to see if they're worth exploring further! I like finding unusual things when I'm thrifting and changing up my sewing room a little.

Hope you've been having a wonderfully creative sewing week as well. 

Weekend Review: Visible Mending

Visible Mending / Jenny Wilding Cardon
Bothell, WA: Martingale, c2018.
80 p.

This book is much shorter than the previous mending book I just reviewed; but I liked it just a shade more. This book is not so much about the philosophy or politics of mending, it just tells you how to do it. It's practical and to the point. I appreciate that.

It also has a wide variety of instruction -- from boro stitching to embroidery, patching, and darning. The author has a colourful sensibility; this isn't all denim and white sashiko mending. Thank goodness! I like the colours and the variety of styles and options shared in this book. It's also nice that the author uses fabrics and items which are not denim -- there are ideas for tea towels to tote bags! And she includes some ideas for mending a sweater as well.

And she also goes beyond hand stitching options, which I haven't seen talked about as often in this area. The last chapter covers machine mending -- really useful for when you want to repair something in a hurry. Machine stitching also gives a different look and feel, which is nice for people who aren't so much into the folksy hand stitching look.

Overall this short book had quite a few great ideas, and shared lots of examples. Again, the examples are the author's taste so may not appeal to all readers. But the techniques are solid and are shared with good visual and text instructions. I'm sure that readers interested in these techniques could adapt them to their own style. I liked this one a lot -- short and sweet and useful.

The Amazing Technicolour Thrifted Fabric Top

photographic evidence that I do sometimes wear pants!

I've met one of my goals for MeMadeMay this year -- to finish up at least one of my UFOs! I've had this project cut and waiting since January. I paired this thrifted Stretch & Sew pattern with a piece of thrifted poly fabric when I was going through my stash in early January, cut it out, and there it stayed. But this week I got busy sewing and this only took a night to sew up. 

I made View B, the straight top in the middle. View A is a blouson top with a ribbed band at the bottom and View C is the dress. I like the fit and think I might try the dress view next! 

The most interesting part of this pattern is the shoulder yoke element. You could really play with this to add interest to the top. In this case, I thought that changing the direction of the stripes would be a perfect use for this fabric. 

It was a simple construction process, with the shoulder yoke stitched on to the front and then the middle hem folded down and everything topstitched, then the same in the back. There is a folded sleeve cuff that is sewn in on the wrong side then folded over to the front, which adds a nice extra touch to the simple lines of this top. 

I did grade out from a 38 at the shoulder/bust to a 44 at the hem -- the sizes are based on body measurement so I had to adjust for my more pear shape figure. But the grading doesn't change the lines of the pattern, and it skims the body well at the right size. I might take a 1/2" pinch out of the centre front bodice on my next try but otherwise I really like this bright, cheery, sample top and am so glad I finally sat down to finish it!

Me Made May: a beginning

Well, it's the end of Week One of Me Made May and what have I learned so far? My pledge was to look at what I most often reach for and what gets worn -- style, fabric, patterns all under the microscope this month!

I haven't made any plans around my wardrobe, I'm just dressing as I normally would, and noticing what I feel best in. So far this week I've worn the following:

Left Column, top to bottom:

Kwik Sew 3559
McCalls 7597
McCalls 7251 (Tracy Reese Plenty blouse)

Centre:

Vogue 9329 (Marcy Tilton)

Right Column, top to bottom:

Simplicity 2927
Colette Moneta
New Look 6602


What have I learned from this? I reach for clothes I feel comfortable in. I like a looser fit, sleeves, lots of knits or softer wovens like rayons or linen blends. Also, obviously I love dresses ;)

It has been cooler than usual in these parts most days this week, so I haven't been able to get away with many lighter dresses unless I'm also wearing a cardigan or tights. But that also means I can wear things like my Vogue 9329 or any of my Monetas.

I still have some of favourites to wear, but have found that dresses that shift around on my body or don't fit quite right (like the beautiful Simplicity 2927 "Carnival Rose" dress) aren't fun to wear even though they are beautiful. Sigh.

I'm still hoping to alter or adjust things that I love but that don't fit right; and get rid of things that I wear that end up not feeling like me at all. Nothing so far this week is that bad!

How is MeMadeMay going for you?

Weekend Review: Mending Matters

Mending Matters / Katrina Rodabaugh
New York: Abrams, c2018.
224 p.

I read this book a while ago now, when my library got a copy in. It's a lovely book; beautiful photos, thoughtful essays on why mending and slow sewing is important, useful techniques for patching and slow stitching, and a very nicely produced book overall.

Although I love the look of sashiko mending and denim patches and so on, it's not really my own aesthetic -- I don't really wear jeans or even the kind of casual jeans & tee style very often at all. But the ideas in this book are still relevant. Think about your clothing use, consider buying less and mending more, think of mending as cool and fashionable and we'll increase its frequency among more than just dedicated sewists. I can get behind all of those things, and I do mend and upcycle, though not that often in this specific visible mending way.

Rodabaugh's own story is interesting and weaves its way in and out of the essays and the techniques. She went on a clothing fast and ended up repairing and renovating her wardrobe to keep it going, and found that it was satisfying and not that hard to do. Her style is quite minimal, lots of blue and white, denim and sashiko. It's visually lovely even if it's not my own style.

I feel like this is a book for the moment -- with increased interest in sustainability among younger people and many people who haven't thought about it before, this kind of beautifully made, stylish and modern approach to the art of mending shows it up as a feasible and stylish thing to do. That alone is important, to change the mindset of those who aren't already convinced.

Personally I felt that the book was inspiring both in concept and in projects. There are 6 essays alongside the 22 projects, and the tone of the book is consistent and achievable for beginners. It does feel a tiny bit repetitive because of the themes being covered in a few different places, but that's also likely most noticeable when you're reading the book in one go. It's the kind of book that might be used more in a project by project way. She talks about patches (interior & exterior), darning, slow stitching and weaving. There are a few other techniques that she doesn't mention at all, but one book can't cover everything, and the focus of this one is on visible mending and entirely wovens, too. If you're looking for knit techniques, well, perhaps that'll be her next book, who knows!

This book has gotten a lot of hype, and has been sold out more than once. It's a pretty good one, and I think it has captured the zeitgeist in some way. If you have never thought about mending before, it could be an illuminating read. If you mend regularly you'll recognize most of the techniques - but it's still worth a good perusal, especially if you can find it in your local library like I did.

May Sewing Plans

Here it is a few days into MeMadeMay already, and my goal, as I posted earlier, is to look at my wardrobe and what it is that I wear most. And to look at the things I don't wear, and decide if I need to refashion them or pass them on.

Part of this is also examining my stash, and seeing which fabrics I need to pass on and which I should use up soon! I do notice that I much prefer linens, cottons, rayons and other more natural fabrics, instead of polyesters. And that when I do find old polyester yardage I'm not keen to use it. So that's something to be aware of when buying thrift fabric or when tempted by a pretty print.

Here are some of the fabrics I've pulled from my stash recently, trying to match them up with patterns also from the stash -- my summer sewing is pretty much sorted just from this! I have a few more dresses in pdf format to print off and assemble, and I think that I'll have a full rota of dress sewing until the end of the summer at this point.

I also have a few things already cut out that I'm hoping to finish this month -- they've been sitting in the cut and waiting to be sewn pile for a while now!

I"m making the top view in this scrap of stash fabric

And finally, another goal for May is to mend/alter/fix a few of my self-sewn projects that I haven't worn much due to just small things that need fixing. I need to fix a zipper on one; add a lining on another, just hem another! Little things and my outfits will get worn more often. Finding the time and motivation for mending is the hardest thing for me, so it's something I really want to work on. How about you? Do you enjoy or put off your mending chores? What are you planning for May?