Me Made May - Week of May 24 - 29, 2015

On vacation this week.  Here are the highlights:

Sunday, May 24 - Simplicity 1808.  "Vegas lights dress" in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Monday, May 25 - Butterick 5856 - Bringing Back the 80's blouse - at Hoover Dam, Nevada side.

Tuesday, May 26th - Mariposa Tee by Sew Liberated (not previously blogged).   Sorry, a bit of a bad selfie, but we were traveling this day so I needed a quick shot.

Wednesday, May 27th - Simplicity 3503.  In San Diego by the Star of India ship.

Thursday, May 28th - New Look 6245.  On board the USS Midway aircraft carrier in San Diego - awesome by the way if you haven't seen it.

Friday, May 29th - McCalls 3017 - my favorite pajama pattern - still on vacation in San Diego.  I look like the headless vacationer here.....

That's it for my Me Made May items.  This challenge was harder than I anticipated, especially while we were on vacation, but it was still fun to do.  I wore alot of items that had been hiding in the back of the closet for awhile so it was nice to bring them out into the open again.  I'm looking forward to doing the challenge again next year with hopefully, a whole new set of ensembles.

Happy sewing everyone!

Star

Butterick 5856 - Bringin' Back the 80's!

This blouse is my rockin' version of Butterick 5856.  This blouse was made completely from leftover pieces from two previous projects.  You might recognize the colorful print on the front and the back fabric from this top.  And again the back fabric from this blouse.

It's an asymmetrical style and I'm not sure I really like it.  It was a good use of the leftover fabric to give the pattern a try, but it's a bit awkward to wear.  The tank style shoulder kept falling off my my arm when wearing it and I took it up 2.5 inches in total to start with.  The drapey shoulder side kept creeping to the back too.  

Here's another view: 

This blouse was very quick to make, but I did need to piece the front fabric piece because I didn't have enough.  You can't see where it was pieced though because there is so much going on with this fabric - Bonus!

 Back view:

This adds to the stashbustin total too - This used a total of 1.875 yards to bring the YTD total to 34.125 yards.  Yippee!

Happy Sewing everyone!
Star

Me Made May - Week of May 18 - 21, 2015

Here are my garments for the week of May 18 - 21, 2015.   Didn't have time to take pics at work this week so they are all at home after work.  Sorry for the wrinkles!

Monday - Skirt is Vogue 8561 - a Marcy Tilton skirt (not previously blogged).  Top is purchased.

Tuesday - Dress - Simplicity 2369.

Wednesday - This was after a long day and I look a bit haggard!  It was too late for a photo outside so the DH quickly snapped one inside. Dress - McCalls 6883.  I'm not sure if I actually like this anymore - it might go into the donate pile.

Thursday - Top is Simplicity 2927.  A little windy outside and it looks like a storm is a brewin', but unfortunately, still no rain.

Happy Sewing everyone!

May Make a Garment a Month - Simplicity 1808 Dress

This dress is made from Simplicity 1808.  The fabric is a knit and it reminds me of the lights in Las Vegas - which will be perfect for an upcoming trip there so I'm nicknaming this my Vegas Lights dress.

I've made the blouse version before and love the fit and comfy factor so I decided to use this fabric from the stash to make the dress version.

 Back view.

This dress will be perfect for walking "The Strip" in Vegas - hopefully I'll look a bit better than I do in this pic though - no make-up on and I don't think I had even combed my hair yet!!

This counts as a stashbustin project - adding another 1.625 yards to the YTD Total of: 32.25 yards sewn.  Yippee!

Happy Sewing everyone!
Star

Me Made May - Week of May 11 - 16, 2015

Here is this week's list of garments.  I was so busy at work this week, that most of them were taken at home after work so please excuse the wrinkles!

Monday, May 11 - The Miz Mozelle Dress by Jamie Christina (not previously blogged about).

Tuesday, May 12 - New Look blouse (I forget the pattern number because I just sold it!).  Sewing Workshop Origami Skirt (both not previously blogged about).

Wednesday, May 13 - Skirt - Anna Maria Horner's Study Hall Skirt.  Blouse - Simplicity 1808.  

Thursday, May 14 - Skirt and Top - New Look 6762.  Cardigan - McCalls 6844.

Friday, May 15 - Blouse - Simplicity 2181

And bonus day Saturday - May 16th - Here's what I plan on wearing tomorrow to a sewing event!
The new Vogue 9114 skirt by Kathryn Brenne.   Kathryn was a guest speaker at my sewing guild's Fall event last year and she wore this skirt.  I can't tell you how pretty it looked on stage and how it flows so nicely.

This skirt is so simple to make it's almost ridiculous.  It can easily be made in an afternoon.  It's the same piece for the front and back, has a separate elastic waistband piece and the drapes are created by 8 different ties that are sewn on the inside and then tied in a bow.  Easy, Peazy!

If I make this again, which I probably will, I will omit the separate waistband piece and just extend the skirt an inch at the top and make a casing for the elastic.  As it is, the waistband piece is a little tight to get over the bootie, but I can wiggle into it!

This linen has been in my stash for years, so of course it counts towards the stashbustin' goal.

I made an XS in this skirt and it calls for 3 3/8 yards.
This new skirt brings my YTD total up to 30.265 yards.  Yippee!

Happy sewing everyone!

Star

Me Made May - week of May 4 - 8, 2015

Here are my Me Made May garments for the first work week of May:

May 4 - The Monique Dress by Serendipity Studio.  I just finished this dress and this was my first time wearing it.  Not sure if I really like it yet, but I might give it another try.

May 5 - The Madeline skirt by Modkid patterns.

May 6 - Butterick 5923 Blouse.  This is made from a rayon that has a fun coffee print on it.  I have a matching coffee necklace too -  this is pure coincidence.  I am a tea drinker, not a coffee drinker.

May 7 - Vogue 8817 - A Katherine Tilton top that I lengthened to be a dress.

May 8 - New Look 6026.  I know - it's pajamas, but it's my day off on Friday so I'm going to be comfy at home!

Happy Sewing and MMM15 to everyone!

Me Made May 2015 - May 1st

I've done it now - I've signed up for the Me Made May 2015 Challenge.

I, Star of www.starsthreads.blogspot.com, sign up as a first time participant of Me-Made-May 2015. I will endeavor to wear a different handmade garment 5 times per week for the duration of May 2015 with no repeats.  There I said it - no going back now!

Here is the first day's garment for Me Made May 2015 - The Anna Tunic by Amy Butler.  I call this my "Jetsons" top because it reminds me of something from the cartoon.  This polka dot print is a rayon and the blue band on top is a cotton.  I embellished the blue band with stacks of buttons and made button stack earrings to match.  

Now - I need to plan garments for this coming week - I'll do a summary of the garments worn on Friday.

Happy Sewing everyone!

Star

April 2015 MAGAM Finally Finished!

I'm a few days late in posting April's MAGAM Challenge - but not without a good reason!  Here's the finished garment - Serendipity Studio's Monique Dress.

This pattern gave me all kinds of headaches.  Here's the first muslin - the bust darts were way outta wack.

I pinned in the bust darts to make the fit a little better...

Modified the pattern for the bust changes:

The made Muslin #2.  Fit was much better, but a little bit too fitted...

So I decided to let out the bottom dart and change it to gathers instead.  I was happier with this but then when I actually tried on the muslin (instead of having the dress form do the work), I didn't like the placement for the waistband - it was way, way to high and looked more like an empire waist dress.

So I added 2.5 inches to the overall length of the bodice.  Here's a comparison of the original pattern on the right with my lengthened and modified pattern on the left.

Lengthened pattern front piece comparisons.  I ended up moving the bust dart again after this pattern was altered.

After all of these tries, my garbage bin was getting pretty full!

Here's the final muslin.  Still not happy with it, but at this point I was fed up and just decided to cut it out and go for it.

My side seams are a bit wonky.  See how they are pointing to the front?  I know - only a seamstress would actually notice this, but it bugs me.  And I don't like the armsyce shape either.  Nice and rounded in the front, but a bit to straight in the back.

The loop braid I added at the waistline looks nice and I wanted to add some to the hemband as well.

Here's what the loop braid looks like.  After stopping by 4 different fabrics stores in the course of a week, I finally learned that this particular braid is no longer manufactured.  I didn't want to wait to find some on e-bay or etsy, so I just finished the hem band without it.

Back view.   

My lining fabric is a bit of a mish mash.  The bodice lining is from an old curtain and the waistband and skirt linings are a polyester.  I trimmed all of the seam edges with ric rac and used bias tape to finish off the armholes and neckline.

And I just happened to have the right color green zipper in my stash too.  What are the chances of that!!

Of course this was another stashbustin dress.  All fabrics, trims, zipper, etc were from the stash.  With four yards for this dress, my YTD total is: 27.25 yards.

Happy sewing everyone!

Star