Me Made May 2017 – Week Three

Oh, my . . . Week Three already! How time flies when you’re wearing things that you’ve made. Come with me for a fast tour through what I wore for Week Three of Me Made May!

Day 15 – My Casual Tee shows its stripes with Terracotta Warriors

Seattle is one of just two USA locations that are being honored with a visit from China’s Terracotta Warriors. These are the actual warriors with a few painted replicas and they are AMAZING. I wore my casual, pink striped tee made from Katherine Tilton’s OOP (out-of-print) Vogue 8710 and my friend, Fonnell, was the photographer for the day. The warriors were cooperative posing companions, but the light was awfully low. Playing with the stripes was very fun in this princess seamed design!

I would never have posted a pic of me from the side until MMM. But, the focus was on the clothing and I wanted to do the best I could to show everyone all “sides” of what I had made!

Day 16 – A Floral Rayon Batik and it’s vintage BFFs

I have a passion (obsession?) for vintage kimono fabrics and vintage buttons. There seems to be quite an accumulation in my Sewing Spa and sometimes they all come together fabulously. For this ultra-drapey vest, I used a floral Rayon Batik from my CCFS (Carefully Curated Fabric Stash), vintage kimono fabric, hand dyed silk ribbon and a vintage button that echoes the fabric design. It’s loose enough to just slip over my head and it made my everyday jeans look pretty classy! The pattern is Marcy Tilton’s Vogue 8088 that is again, unfortunately, OOP.

Day 17 – Artisan Pants in Gray and the miracle that occurred

Usually it’s a top, but on this day it was my pants that were Me Made. Quite a change for me, but I was miraculously able to conquer my paralyzing fear of sewing pants by making Indygo Junction’s Artisan Pants! And, that deserved a blog post of it’s own – click here.

This is a fun picture. I loved this fabric, but wasn’t a fan of the top. I wore it as part of Week Three anyway and got SO many compliments, it was crazy!

Day 18 – Downton Abbey Top designed around a lack of yardage

When I worked in the office just outside a Pacific Fabrics store, my breaks were spent shopping. You get that, right? At one point I purchased a yard each of two retro-look cotton prints from Andover Fabrics Downton Abbey collection because they were really, really pretty. With no plan at the time of purchase, creative piecing down the front of OOP Simplicity Pattern 2586 was my solution for “not quite enough” of either fabric! I love the prints together, but the quilting cotton is a little stiff for my taste in this design. That won’t keep me from wearing it, though!

Day 19 – Navy Artisan Pants and simple, quicky, stenciling

Another pair of Indygo Junction Artisan Pants sewn in Shannon Fabrics Embrace™ Double Gauze. See, how pant-brave I’ve become! The other star of Day 19 is the purchased T-Shirt that I totally enjoyed stenciling. I put a piece of cardboard in between the front and back of the tee, laid a round stencil over the neckline and sponged fabric paint everywhere except inside the V. There will definitely be a stencilling blog post at some point because it’s easy and fun and you should all be doing it!

Day 20 – A Tropical Tunic fit for a trip to Maui

This is one of my most favorite makes of all time and I enjoyed wearing it to the Camano Island Art Studio Tour! Everything just worked and I’m so pleased with this tropical print, cotton/poly tunic. The fabric was purchased at Hawaii Fabric Mart on a trip to Maui and Butterick 6056 proved to be the perfect design. I cut the neck and pocket facings from solid black and turned them to the outside for accents finished with buttons from my FBS (Fabulous Button Stash). It was worn with me-hemmed purchased pants that I transformed into capris with my wizardly sewing machine. If you’d like to see all the tropical makes I wore back to Maui last year, read this post.

Day 21 – The Red Dress of love and thoughtfulness

My teenage daughter brought me this fabulous, tropical, red fabric from Hawaii a very long time ago. I was so touched by her thoughtfulness that it took me 14 years to find the right project! The design needed to be simple so that the fabric could shine and New Look 6866 was just the kind of dress I wanted. It’s a wonderful, quick-to-make pattern with only two main pattern pieces plus a little elastic at the back for shaping. . . and, I need more for Summer. I am very attached to this particular dress though, because it reminds me that I am loved by a very amazing young woman!

I apologize for the plethora of OOP (out-of-print) patterns in this post, but that sometimes happens when you sew with what you have on hand. Sometimes I look at the boxes of fabric stacked in the closet and think WHY??? And, then I walk into my Sewing Spa, open drawers and boxes and put together marvelous combinations that make my creative heart sing and go pitter-patter. That’s the WHY and it’s well worth it to me. There’s something wildly magical and satisfying about using what I already have to design and sew something fabulously Me Made!