keeping my promise: another summer maxi-skirt

In my last post I promised to be better about blogging my makes, after wearing 3 un-bloggged skirts during Me-Made-May. I'm keeping good on my promise, so here is one of those skirts:

I had picked up the light weight cottony fabric on a trip to Sewfisticated Discount Fabric in Dorchester, Massachusetts. I just LOVE the big bold floral print in this almost retro color palette of teal, olive and goldenrod. At first I was thinking about making Butterick 5886. It's a fabulous dress, and I was this close to cutting the pieces out, but because this print is just so cool I decided instead to make something I would wear more often. And a light breezy maxi skirt with a simple tank or t-shirt has become my summer uniform! (Although, I still plan on making this dress before the end of the summer.)

It's a simple elastic waist skirt with french seaming. At first I made it full, with something like 120 inches gathered at the waist. It looked really bad. So I hacked it below the knee, took the top half in to about 60 inches, then reconnected the full bottom half as a gathered tier or ruffle. Perfect! Well, except... do you know how when you are sewing french seams your brain thinks you are sewing the pieces backwards even when you are doing it right? This time my brain was right. I had stitched the bottom tier on inside out so the seams were on the outside. This fabric is so light, and I didn't have much wiggle room in length, so I was afraid that I would damage too much of it if I took out the seam and sewed it up again. Instead, I pressed the french seams down and added another line of stitching right along the edge of the seam, so it kind of looks like a cover stitch. Pretty clever! You would never have noticed it unless I pointed it out, would you?

Speaking of clever, I will let you know that I re-made and attached the bias strip binding to the Eucalypt Tank and this time it was perfect. I'm so pleased with myself that I'm adding bias binding to my current project as well! But that, my friends, is another post...

a (late) me-made-may '13 wrap-up and my indie creation

Sorry I'm so late for my last MMM '13 post! After my last post I wore:

• a self-drafted black knit pencil skirt out to dinner with Mr. Sew Rachel on the evening of May 23rd. I made the skirt in April for an opening night party when visiting my sister in Lancaster, PA. (She was working at at theater in the middle of Amish country. Weird, right?) I haven't blogged it yet, but will soon, I promise!
• my striped cardigan to work on May 27th. I love this pattern! It was a great free download from the iCandy Handmade blog. Note to self: make more of these!

• and out with a couple girlfriend on May 30th I wore this:

Yup, that's a self-portrait of my bottom half! I finished this great self-drafted maxi skirt that same week. Again, yet to be blogged so this is a teaser!

Overall, Me-Made-May '13 was totally successful! I exceeded my pledge of wearing handmade twice a week, and found that it was actually was not hard to reach for handmade in my closet.  Overall this month wore 11 handmade garments (7 skirts, 1 dress, 1 pair lounge pants (yoga jeans), and 2 tops), wore handmade on 15 occasions, and finished 5 new items, including one for someone else! WOO HOO! Maybe for MMM '14 I'll be able to pledge a whole month of handmade! I learned that skirts are both easiest to make and to wear. I also learned that my blogging is not keeping up with my sewing! I promise to work on that, and so on that note...

TA DA! Here is my first project from my independent pattern purchases! It's Megan Nielsen's Eucalypt Tank. I love that she includes instructions for french seams right in the pattern directions.  I think this would be a great pattern for someone learning to sew. The neck and armholes are finished with self bias strips, which I had never done and was a little nervous. But the instructions were nice and clear, and look how nice they came out on the front!

The inside was another story. I found a didn't enough fabric to fold the raw edge of the bias strip under to finish, most likely due to my uneven cutting. I thought I had found a smart solution by leaving the raw edges, then covering them with a fine, fusible stay tape to prevent fraying. WRONG! The stay tape didn't stick, I had to peel it all off, and ended up with this big frayed mess:

So I was left carefully cutting all the binding off at the neck and arm openings and will start again. THIS TIME I'm using a rotary cutter for nice strait cuts and making my strips just a wee bit wider for some more wiggle room when stitching it on. Always still learning!

what's rachel sewing today?

I'll give you a clue! It's one of my new indie patterns from Sweet Little Chickadee.... can you guess which one?

me? an award? i'm so honored!

About a month ago I was honored by Dani Jayne of One Small Stitch with a Liebster Award! So what's I Liebster Award? (I asked the same thing...) After a little Google-ing I've learned it's a informal award in the blog-o-sphere passed along from blogger to blogger. I've found a few different variations of the rules, but here are the guidelines that Dani posted April 20th when she nominated sew rachel!:

"So, as I understand it, the Liebster Award is given to bloggers with less than 200 followers. I need to answer  the 10 questions set by Helen [who nominated One Small Stitch], then nominate another 10 bloggers, again with less than 200 followers, and give them another 10 questions. What a fantastic way to share the love!" 

How neat is that?!?! I guess the first order of business is the answer some questions...


1. Why did you start sewing?
My mom always sewed. She made a lot of our clothes when we were little, and doll cloths, and toys, and quilts. So I started "creating" at a pretty young age.  I liked to create anything out of anything (and kinda still do).  The first thing I remember sewing was a hand puppet in my 1st grade class.  I really picked it back up again last summer when I decided to make a party dress for my wedding. Here are a few pics of that dress from a photo shoot up on the blueberry fields behind our house, and a pic from the post-wedding BBQ with friends. I worked so hard on it, with all of this ruched, and gathered burn-out chiffon on satin lining. WHAT WAS I THINKING? It actually came out really well and gave me the confidence to start sewing again and start this blog! In retrospect, there are so many things I've learned since that dress. I didn't even know to finish seams!

I have to make a shout out to Andrew Davis for taking absolutely beautiful photos at my wedding! If you are looking for a photographer in New England, I HIGHLY recommend him! http://www.andrewdavisweddings.com/

2. What's your favourite part of sewing/making?
I just love that feeling when the right fabric combines with the perfect pattern and you create something even better than you expected! Or when you finial master a new technique that elevates your final product, like recently when I learned how to make a narrow hem.

3. And least favourite?
Easy. Two things: First, when you've spent all this time cutting and sewing, and then when you are finally 90% finished and can really try it on for the first time, and it looks terrible on you. Part of this is due to the fact that my figure has changed a little in the past year, and I have to re-learn what styles look good on me. I'm also learning to try out new patterns with inexpensive fabrics first, or make a muslin. And second, I hate hemming. BUT the more tricks and techniques I learn the less I dislike it.

4. Who is your muse/style idol/style inspiration/style crush? Can be real or fictional. Famous or civilian.
Tough question. With this whole making-my-own-cloths-thing, part of it is about trying to figure out what MY style really is. I'm inspired by many different bloggers who seam to have really figured that out for themselves.

5. What is your favourite make?
Just one? Even with all it's flaws, it may be that party dress for my wedding.

6. And least proud?
I don't think "least proud" is the right term, but I do have my fair share of items abandoned mid-way through. Maybe my first big disappointment was late 2012 when I was trying to make a party dress, and decided to completely change the pattern without any knowledge on how to actually do that...

The fabric was really beautiful so hopefully I can reuse it for another project.

7. What's your sewing/making bete noire? Your biggest challenge, or the thing you've been putting off?
I pledged this spring to make pants and a jacket. I tried making pants and abandoned them after they were 80% constructed and I was having problems fitting (I didn't know you could even have a baggy knee, much less how to fix it!). I've picked up a couple of simpler pant patterns to try next. I haven't even started a jacket.

8. Where do you find inspiration?
Sometimes I see things on Pinterest. Sometime I'll see something in the mall or Modcloth.com. I often get inspired by other blogger's makes. Most of the time I'm first inspired by either a fabric or pattern that speaks to me, and then I search for fabric or pattern to complete it.

9. Do you have any other hobbies, other than sewing/making?
I'm also an artist, primarily printmaking and painting. I like to grow, cook and eat good food. We're kinda foodies up here in Portland, Maine. I like to camp and hike. I take classes whenever I can, and I like to create pretty much all kinds of things.

10. What is your sewing set up? Do you have a dedicated sewing space? Are you relegated to a corner of the living room?
I've recently converted 1/2 of a unused back bedroom in our apartment into a sewing space! It's got a folding table for cutting, a tabletop ironing board right there and handy, my sewing machine in the window, and big plastic drawers underneath for fabric and patterns. It's always a mess, but that's ok because it's still very functional, and because that mess is no longer in my dining room!

And now for my nominees! I'm going by the bloglovin.com stats for the under 200 follower requirement. Looking through my own bloglovin list, I'm finding that many of the blogs I read don't fit that requirement! So I may not have 10 nominees, but I do have:

Suzy Bee Sews - Just stumbled up her blog while researching Sewaholic's new Tofino Pants. What beautiful makes! Check out this Rose Peplum Trench!

Sew Me Love - Just squeezing by with 199 bloglovin.com followers! I love her style! This dress stands out in my mind.

We Sew Retro - Here is a fun new blog I've discovered where a whole group of sewers share vintage inspired sewing from all decades.

Manic Pop - Here is a blogger with great personal style, and on top of that she makes almost all her own patterns!

Sew, Cook, Laugh and Live - My mother sent me a link to a post on her blog. Jos is a woman who takes part in all kinds of creative endeavors, and I totally dig that.

Check them out!

they're here! they're here!

My indie patterns arrived! And early! I only ordered them from Sweet Little Chickadee on May 22nd, and according to the USPS tracking they were scheduled to arrive on May 28th, but they're here!

I opened the mailing envelope to find everything beautifully packaged! Of course, I was so excited to get into the patterns that I didn't take the time to take a picture. Oh well, next time. And after this package, there will SO BE A NEXT TIME.

The patterns were wrapped in blue tissue paper and twine, and on top was her business card in a little fabric pouch with a few pieces of CANDY (which I ate.... so no pictures, either)! How nice?

This is my first experience buying independently produced patterns, so I'll show you what I found in the blue tissue. Here are my two new Sewaholic patterns:

Inside looks very much like a traditional pattern printed on tissue paper with a large folded instruction sheet. I already have fabric picked out for these!

Now I've seen a few Megan Nielsen makes on other blogs and, to be honest, haven't been overly excited about them, especially for a $20 pattern. I decided to try her new Eucalypt Tank Pattern because I had been searching for just this kind of simple tank pattern that would give me lots of options for summer staples, and a lot of sewers seam (get it?) to love her patterns. Now that I've got my hand on one, I can see why. First off, the opening of the envelope is on the long side and has a Velcro closure to make it easier to store the pattern.

And once you open it up, you find a full glossy booklet of instructions and pattern variations!

And the pattern pieces are printed on nice, heavy, white paper, something that will really hold up to being traced and used over and over again. It's so beautifully produced and packaged that I just have to make it, like immediately! Maybe I'm seeing what all the hub-bub is about!

Like I said, I will be ordering from Sweet Little Chickadee again! She had a great selection of patterns from many different designers, including Australian and UK designers like Sewaholic and Megan Nielsen, but because she's US based it means quick shipping, no international conversion credit card fees, or extra taxes for this US chick! Check them out!

me-made-may '13 - may 19th - 23rd

Still going strong!

On May 21st I wore my slim, lace print skirt to work with a black t-shirt and purple-y cardigan. This was one of my earlier makes, and wearing it again this week I can see how far I've come in my sewing skills in just a few months! The fit isn't quite right and the zipper is sewn a little bit bumpy. But the print camouflages most of that so it still look good and I'll wear it again!

I wore my new McCalls 6751 and I love this fabric! I paired it with skinny jeans and a red cardigan.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I  have to wear a black cami under so that my bra doesn't show with the deep V int ha back. BUT I'VE ALSO DISCOVERED that the straps like to slide off my shoulder... another reason for the cami! 

me-made-may '13 - may 14th -18th

Here is my MMM '13 update! I'm doing really well, and finding it easier than I expected to reach for my me-made items when putting an outfit together. It's totally reaffirming my decision to dedicate so much of my free time to making my own garments.

Everyone at work loved my new Butterick 5885 on May 14th! Still too early to go sleeveless, and I was having a hard time figuring out what color cardigan would go with this graphic print. I decided on fuchsia... because fuchsia really goes with everything this season!

I wore my new maxi skirt on May 15th AND 16th. This is SO going to be a summer staple! I've already planned another maxi skirt fro my next project. Given how many times I've work this since just a week ago when I made it, you will be relieved to know that it launders beautifully. :)

On May 17th I wore the purple lace fold-over waistband skirt out shopping with my sister and mom. I dressed it casual with gold flip flops, a white t-shirt and a slouchy, grey sweater. So cute! 

Until later!