Me-Made May '13 Final Week

Sunday

This skirt was originally a dress. A very unflattering dress. A bit of regathering easily made it into a skirt. I replaced the original navy blue underlining that rode up at any excuse with a bright blue static free lining. 

not me made is the top I grabbed from a charity shop

 

Monday

This skirt used to be my favorite skirt but a few years ago, I realized that I had to tug it down a lot and the fabric was ripping at the gathers. So this went on my mending pile to have the rips repaired and hand sewn arrowheads at every possible stress point. There are probably 14 of those arrowheads that get lost in the floral print. Now that I'm much more aware of fitting problems and solutions, I know that this is too long in the torso for my figure and will never work for me.

The tights have stars on them. I put them there.

 

The bag is a remake of the old version. I got the bag from a dig but it was thin cotton. No match for my bookish lifestyle or tendency to carry sharp things. Once it developed holes I could no longer ignore, it was time to remake the bag. The base bag was created out of drill, I added an interior pocket to hold the smaller things that might get lost in a totebag, and flatter straps that won't dig into my shoulder so badly. The original bag had its tears repaired and then the design half got appliqued to the drill bag base to create a much stronger version of itself.

not me made is the H&M top and Marks&Spencer shoes

 

Tuesday

A couple of months ago, the constellation scarf was making the rounds of pinterest. This is mine. I accidentally stained this scarf with red blotches so I decided it was perfect for refashioning with a row of red constellations embroidered along the blotched edge. Now it seems a little more intentionally reddish...or so I tell myself.

This was a fairly early skirt. Elastic waist and tiered design with the dots getting bigger to the hem. Not much to say there but I love it. The very deep hem makes it swing delightfully.

not me made are the Camper mismatched mary janes and H&M top

Wednesday

My first box blouse and it's made out of non-drapey almost quilting cotton so not the most comfortable. But I love the print and the little standing collar edged with lace-it's pretty much me.

not me made are the oddly sized jeans

 

Thursday

The skirt was made on the faker out of buttery soft mystery fabric. The ribbon was to hide the horrible seaming caused by the faker. It's due for a reworking. Maybe the fabric could lie flatter if it were sewn with a machine that had tension. 

not me made are the Menkes heels and H&M top

Friday

Perhaps an overkill of polka dots. This was my first attempt at a woven circle skirt. Trimmed in ribbon and two types of lace, this was a rushed work of love. Does that make sense? Also due for a reworking.

The bag was made by me out of Ikea fabric. I wanted a tote bag for my books. I carry a lot of library books to and fro and it made sense to make a bag that could hold 8 averagely sized books. It's a simple tote bag but the perfect dimensions for my average library loot haul. I like how it displays the large scale print.

not me made is the slip I grabbed from a charity shop that may have been intended as a skirt. As the fullness is like a petticoat and the fabric is nice and thin, I use it as a slip.

 

Bonus Saturday

I didn't realize it was June! So here is a bonus. I got this dress online and on the advice of reviewers went a size up...which ended up a size too big. Obviously, the reviewers were not sewers who know their measurements by heart. Instead of paying the same amount to send it back, I took in almost every seam and tapered the sides to fit my curves. I couldn't figure out how to remove the collar but honestly, even had I not made some changes to the shoulders, it would've gotten modified anyway. The white fabric is too thick and sticks out awkwardly (at the kickpleat and collar) so the kickpleat had to get sewed together (making this a wiggle skirt, going up stairs at an angle and all) and the collar got pleated. I rather like the collar more than the original vision.

not me made is the hat.

Well, I'm proud of myself. This was my first me-made-may and not only did I manage to make sure I had a lot of pictures, I even forced myself to get dressed every day despite lingering unemployment and bad weather.

Some Things I've Learned:

-I ended up hating some clothes after spending a day in them. Some of these items are leaving my wardrobe.

-My revisit/remake pile is very large. Le sigh.

-I look rumpled something like 95% of the time. If it isn't pull lines, it's wrinkles or whatever. I pretty much always look like I slept in my clothes. Nothing lies flat against my body which makes sense but also...makes me look rumpled.

-I need to remember to wear shoes for pictures. While we're on that subject, maybe I should practice non-weird expressions for self-portraits. I either look sad, weirdly tired, or just...yeah. I think I look way weirder in photos than in real life. Or at least I hope I do.