Me Made May - day 3

Wow!  Thanks so much for the nice comments on my Vogue draped top.  I hope to see some more of them now.  :-) 

Here is my outfit today.  I blogged about the top here.  I still haven't hemmed it shorter, which I do want to do, but it's amazing what a mini-skirt will do to un-frump something!

On an unrelated note: pretty gladiolas.  :-)  We've had some torrential rain the last couple of days, and quite a few of mine outside got blown over, so I just brought them inside.

Happy spring!

Vogue 1259

Woohoo!  Second day of Me-Made-May!  :-)

Today, I wore a fairly new top that I am quite proud of.  The pattern is Vogue 1259 with some alterations.  I bought this pattern some time ago because I love the look of the top and the top and skirt together.  However, I just don't need any slinky looks like this at the moment.  I figured I could just make the top, but the high neck isn't practical or comfortable for Florida springtime.  I decided to cut it off at a crew-neck but waited until the rest of the top was complete before hacking off the turtleneck.  The pattern pieces are pretty crazy looking, and I was scared of cutting off too much neckline.

Here is my version:

 I started off with the pattern one size smaller than I would take based on my measurements after reading the finished measurements and reading the experiences of others with this pattern being a bit large.  You can see the front drape piece is still less form-fitting than the model's, but that's ok with me since this is basically a jazzed-up tee shirt now.

The one part of my top that I'm not 100% thrilled with is the keyhole opening in the back.  It is a bit wavy, which could have easily been remedied with some strips of interfacing if I had thought of it.  With the lower neckline I made, I dont even really need the opening to get the top on and off, but I think it is still a nice detail on the back.

 Here are a couple more views since every angle is different with this top.  :-) 

 The fabric is a knit from Joann's.  I can't find it online, but I saw some in the store just a couple of days ago.  It is perfect for this top - very lightweight.  I think it is a cotton/poly blend jersey.

To sum up, I really like this top.  I get compliments when I wear it, and it is comfy without looking sloppy at all.  I had to pay close attention during the construction, and there were definitely some moments of confusion, but in the end, I didn't have to rip out any seams, so kuddos to Vogue for making this complicated pattern achievable. :-)

Me Made May 1

After some deliberation, I decided to participate in Me-Made-May, a creation of Zo from So, Zo...  I've pledged (to myself) to wear at least one handmade thing every day for the month.  I didn't participate last year because, well, I would miss my store-bought stuff!  I've remedied that this year by allowing handmade jewelry as my one thing (I don't have much, but just a bit in case I really want to wear a store-bought dress one day).

To start things off right, here is my outfit today.  Nothing earth-shattering, but it gets the job done.  :-)

The top is my very populer (as in, I wear it more than anything else I've sewn, I'm quite sure) striped tee.

Now, I have to tell you I am totally backlogged on blogging things I've made.  I somehow kept my sewing mojo while losing my blogging mojo.  Anyway, my plan is to blog about unblogged things as I wear them during Me-Made-May.  That doesn't sound so daunting. 

Anyone else participating in Me-Made-May?  I dream of one year going all in with the commitment to wear only me-made clothes.

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First Bloglines bit the dust and now Google Reader.  Maintaining blog readers must not be very profitable.  :-/

Dog Cushion Cover

Awww check out my beautiful lady!  (and her dog bed, the subject of this post.  Do you want the long story?  Too bad, here it comes: 

 

I was browsing around in Homegoods, as I have a habit of doing, and I saw this glorious dog bed - large and round, zebra patterned cushion, iron-look scrollwork.  It was a beauty.  It cost about $60, and steal-of-a-deal I'm sure that was, I'm sure if I spent $60 on a dog bed, Hubs would have freaked. 

So I decided to make River a nice, personalized bed instead, with stash fabric to boot, so the cost would be almost nothing.  Ha!  That foam - with the 50% off JoAnn coupon almost as much as the froufy dog bed from Homegoods.  Sheesh. 

Anyway, here it is.  I put in a zipper so I can take it off to wash it.  It's a bugger to pull on and off, though, so I don't think I'll do that too often.

Love my embroidery machine!  She seems to enjoy it, depending where I put it.  If it's right next to our bed, she will lounge on it during the day, but if I move it to an unacceptable spot (like an open area by the door), she has no interest.

At least she's pretty.

More Baby Clothes

Here is another baby outfit I made recently, this time for my brother-in-law's wee one - about three moths old.

 She lives in Michigan, so I thought a warmer layer was in order.  I came up with a little zippered vest made from the same cozy knit as the pants.  All of the fabric is from JoAnn's.

Red Stripey tee

Here are some bad nighttime photos of a tee I made a couple of months ago.  Not the most exciting thing, but it does get a lot of wear.  :-)  It works nicely on its own or for layering under sweaters.  I particularly like it under this sweater, but my wonderful husband may have told me I remind him of one of Santa's elves.

I just used my usual OOP tee pattern, Butterick 3344, and modified the neckline from there.  This knit has very little stretch, so it is quite snug, but I think it's ok.