thank you, sew short nissa and reves mecanique!

I've recently written a couple of times how blessed I feel to be a part of this amazing, online sewing blogger community, and today is another reason to do so! Sew Short Nissa and Reves Mecanique (two awesome sewing bloggers you should check out!) have both nominated me for a Liebster award! I get to answers some questions about myself given by person(s), then nominate some other amazing blogs with under 200 followers for you to check out! I received one last year as well, but a lot can change in a year and I think you'll find both different questions and answers than from before:

1. Why did you start blogging? Why did I start blogging? I knew I wanted to get back into sewing my own cloths, and just prior to that I had gotten a lot of inspiration reading other sewing bloggers so I thought "why not document my journey as well?" I'm so glad I did! And I hope others have gotten even a tenth out of reading it, as I have writing it and corresponding with other bloggers. 

2. How do you get yourself out of a sewing funk? Reading other sewing blogs every day is often inspiring. I also might allow myself to do something sewing related, that isn't sewing, like clean up my sewing space, or thumb through my patterns for inspiration, check out Pinterest.com, sketch out ideas. I also usually cut out my fabric on a day before I'm going to sew, maybe in front of the TV in the evening, so that it's ready to go!

3. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? I love Portland, ME, but it would be so cool to live a year in Europe or Asia, or even Canada! I visited friends teaching in South Korea and absolutely loved being in a foreign place, and the lives they got to live there. Mr. Sew Rachel and I have also talked about living on the west coast sometime, like the San Francisco/Portland, OR area.

4. Sewing for other people: love it or loathe it? I don't often love it when other people ask me to make them things... but I love making people things when it's my idea. :) Selfish seamstress maybe? 

5. What is your best feature? Hmm? My body has changed a lot the last couple years, and somedays it's harder to love those changes than others. I have to say, my daily photo pledge for Me-Made-May 2014 has been really positive in that regard. Even on days I'm not feeling so pretty I need to produce a flattering photo, which not only requires a degree of self-love but also presents myself back to me in a beautiful way... and for 31 days in a row. 

6. What is your favorite fabric shop? My new favorite fabric shop is one I just discovered a month or so ago when visiting Boston: Grey's Fabric and Notions. I also stumbled into (and quite literally... plantar fasciitis is painful!) Gather Here in Cambridge, MA. Bother shops have beautiful patterns and fabrics, and are staffed by very cool helpful people. It might be a tie.

7. What is your biggest sewing sin? Not taking the time to make a muslin, or time and time again not properly shortening a pattern when I know it's designed for someone a half-foot taller!

8. If you could make any sewing process disappear, what would it be? While I used to hate hemming, I've been learning some new techniques and tools to make that process less painful. I would make disappear when you finish are this close to finishing a garment only to find out it doesn't fit right or it doesn't look good on you. I hate that. Sure... some of that could be taken care of by making a proper muslin first, but sometimes you just cant tell until you have the whole thing together. 

9. Which other crafts, if any, do you do? I'm also a painter and printmaker (www.rachelchurch.com), and working toward that being my profession. Besides that I just plain old enjoy making things. I love decorating Easter eggs! I dabble in knitting. I like to cook (but not do the dishes....), and every year get a little more successful at gardening (and I DO NOT come by that naturally!).

10. Cats or dogs? Cats.... and house rabbits :)

My baby bunny boy, Filbert. (He's actually more like 6 y.o.)

So now I'm nominating these 6 blogs of less than 200 followers (based stats from Bloglovin.com) I read for you to check out. This is just a small sample of the 144 amazing bloggers I follow who inspire me daily.

Lady Sewalot (ladysewalot.blogspot.co.uk) - This girl is only like 17, and makes very cool outfits with great personal style!

Fabric Tragic (Fabrictragic.blogspot.com.au) - I would wear everything she makes.

One Small Stitch (onesmallstitchtoday.blogspot.co.uk) - Her last knitted project was amazing!

Seams Right to Me (seamsrighttome.wordpress.com) - I just discovered this blog. She's made some really nice indie pattern creations.

Sew Unravelled (sewunravelled.com) - I want her clothes :)

Gloria & Me (gloriaandme.blogspot.co.uk) - Just finished a series on the Colette Wardrobe Architect Project. Always has something thoughtful to say.

So ladies, are you up for the challenge? Will you post a little about yourselves then pass the Liebster award along to other amazing sewing bloggers?

finished silk copy-cat maxi-dress

Here it is! My copy-cat maxi-dress inspired by Reves Mecanique! What do you think?

 

You may remember that I decided to alter  Very Easy Vogue V8870 from my pattern stash from a hi-lo skirt to maxi-length. The alterations came out fairly well. The front bodice fits nicely, although the side and back I think could be taken in a little at either the waist seam or at the side seams under the bustline. I think is would be just that much more flattering if it were a tiny bit less blouse-y in the back and sides. Unlike the Sewaholic Saltspring pattern I was inspired by, this bodice has a facing at the neckline instead of being fully lined. With this fabric that worked just fine. I used lightwieght fusible interfacing on the facing and sergered the raw edge. The side seams on the bodice are finished with a french seam, and I inteneded to do the same with the skirt... but made a in a moment of absentminededness I sewed the piece right-sides together, and trimmed the seam allowed to 1/8 inch before realizing my mistake! (For french seams I should have sew wrong-sides together, trimmed seam allowence, then stitched the seam again right sides together for a beautiful encloused seam.) So I eneded up having to finish my skirt seams with the serger instead. A neat enough finish, but not as nice as french seams would have been with this lovely fabric.

The back also has elastic on the top, too, and I like how it holds the bodice in place. This pattern calls for two, narrow straps on each shoulder. I had to fiddle a fair amount to get them to lay even on the shoulders, and even still one strap likes to slip down.

The fabric is a silk/cotton blend from Grey's Fabric and Notions in Boston, MA. It sewed up very nicely. I used just a regualar size 9 needle. The fabric slipped only a tiny bit along the skirt side seams, which is barely noticible after a good pressing. Speaking of pressing... I can not seem to get the original fabric fold line out of the center back, even after a pre-wash and good pressing! Maybe it'll work itself out with wear.

I used my rolled hem foot again for the hem, and most of the hemline cam out really, really well! There were a few spots I had to go back over with hand stitches, but no one will even notice that way down by my feet! I think this will be a great tool.

Overall I am very pleased with this dress and expect to get a lot of wear out of it!

work in progress: a black, silk copy-cat maxi-dress

When I stumbled upon this amazing silk, black, Sewaholic Saltspring maxi-dress by Kim at Reves Mecanique, it was lust-at-first-sight! It's a perfect summer staple yet luxurious in silk, stylish yet comfortable, casual yet sophisticated, wear it dressed it up or down... I MUST MAKE ONE!! But me? Sew with silk? That thought was terrifying.

source: http://revesmecanique.blogspot.nl/2013/09/silk-saltspring-maxi-dress-i-love-you.html

That was six months ago. Now I'm feeling a lot more confident in my abilities, enough to risk using nicer fabrics and try new materials. So while in Boston a few weeks ago I visited this a great locally-owned shop called Grey's Fabric and Notions ("Where sewing is foxy!") and picked up some black, silk/cotton blend with just a little bit of sheen. That last part, the cotton, makes the fabric just that much less intimidating than 100% silk would be.  They also carried lots of great indie sewing patterns, and after my Cambie success, I was very tempted to pick up a copy of the Saltspring pattern for a true copy-cat, but decided instead to try a Very Easy Vogue pattern already in my stash.

I've extend the skirt pattern to maxi-length, and have sewn up a test of the bodice in a synthetic fabric from my stash. I LOVE the print of this fabric, but absolutely hate the feel of it so I was not making this as a wearable muslin.... but once I got it together it just looks so awesome! While this test isn't going to be salvageable as a wearable item of clothing (and it turns out is a size too small), I think I'm going to have to try to make something out of the remaining fabric. Maybe I can line it with a fabric that will feel much nicer against my skin.

I also plan on turning the v-neck into a scoop like my inspiration dress.  And though I'd really love to splurge on another one of Sewaholic's amazing pattern, I think this pattern-hack may work out nicely after all!