MMM 2016 ~ Week 4/5

Every year I look forward to the last day of Me Made May.  By the end of May I’m tired of the daily photographs and thoughts of what should I wear vs. what do I want to wear.  Sometimes I feel pressured during MMM to wear things and freeze up at the thought of what I should put on.  When it’s not MMM I think I wear more of my makes because there is no pressure. 

MMM is a great idea, and tons of fun.  I think this is my last year participating though; it just becomes too overwhelming for me.

We have been remodeling our upstairs so Monday, Tuesday were spent in dirty drywalling clothes.  Wednesday I needed to rest because it makes my body so sore to hang drywall.  That brings us to Thursday.

Thursday, May 26th, 2016 - 82°F

Burda 05/2007 #130 Tie-knot tank made all the way back in Nov 2013!  I love this tank and keep saying I’ll remake it but never do.  It is a bit loose on me this year and my bra straps try to peek out but I love this tank so much!  Worn with A.n.a. Jean shorts.

Friday, May 27th, 2016 - 77°F

Jalie 2921 Scarf Top casual, yet classy made in March 2016.  This is one of my favorites in the closet.

Worn with A.n.a. Jean shorts

Saturday, May 28th, 2016 - 82°F

Lazy day at home.  This is a new top I just made and unblogged.  It is Patterns For Pirates Sweet Tee.  I was hesitant about the fit with a dolman sleeve and sadly I was right.  I don’t really like the fit of this top – it bunches up above the bust near the armpit. It will remain a PJ top.  Paired with my Ottobre Joggers made in Dec 2015.

Sunday, May 29th, 2016 - 79°F

I’m sure you are tired of hearing this but Sundays are Game of Thrones Night at our house. So I’m wearing my Targaryen Tee I made with my silhouette

 paired with my Jalie 2908 Jeans I made in May 2016.

Monday, May 30th, 2016 - 82°F

I planted my garden and hung more drywall today.  Burda 05/2007 #109A Tank made in June 2015 and worn with A.n.a. Jean shorts.  I should remake this too – only longer as it’s a tad short.

Tuesday, May 31st, 2016 - 74°F

Taped drywall, planted some trees.  I wore my Pisces Tee I made with my silhouette and some A.n.a. Shorts.

I realized that I need more tank tops and shorts.  I need to focus on them as well as a few more tank dresses.

There you have it!  Good bye MMM and hello June!

How was your MMM? Did you accomplish what you set out to?

MMM 2016 Week 3

It strikes me as funny that you don’t realize how you really look in outfits until you see a photo of you in that outfit.  MMM certainly shows me what looks good, and not so good on my body.

Tuesday, May 17th, 2016 - 63°F

This Gap top is so comfy and soft but it looks horrible on me!  I never knew! 

Paired with my BurdaStyle 11/2012 #135 Joggers from Dec 2015. 

I was stiff and sore this day from working on drywall Monday.

Thursday, May 19th, 2016 - 72°F

My #1 favorite pattern of all time is these Jalie 3022 yoga pants.  So comfortable!  These are from June 2015.
I paired them with this Jalie 2444 tank.  I made the tank on Thursday morning and then wore it all day 

Saturday, May 21, 2016 - 82°F

Lazy day at home with only Mr. T.  I wore my Ottobre joggers and took it easy.

These are Ottobre 05/2011 #5 from Dec 2015 and I just love them!

Sunday daytime, May 22, 2016 - 84°F

Finally warm enough all day for me to wear my new Brazi (made in April)

I must make more of these.  Super comfortable and fun to wear.

Sunday Evening, May 22, 2016 - 59°F

Game of Thrones time!  My Targaryen Shirt I made with my silhouette

And my Jalie 3022 Yoga pants in black from Oct 2015

This week has been busy for me with the remodeling upstairs and also I decided to open my Etsy shop for T-shirts made with my silhouette.  I have so much fun doing it that I wanted to branch out and start selling the shirts.  You can see my shop here (though I am still working on adding more designs).

I have also been sewing like crazy with mixed results.  More on that to come…

How is your Me Made May going?  We are starting our last week so lets finish strong!

MMM ~ Week 2 2016

This week was really cold for us.  We had a deep freeze warning one night/morning, and even some snow falling!  I hope it warms up here so I can wear some of my summer makes.
Anyway, here is my MMM week 2

Tuesday, May 10th, 2016 - 51°F

Purple Jalie 3355 Sweatshirt sewn April 2015.  This make amuses me because I wasn’t feeling it at the time; however, now I love it and wear it all the time!  I added the alice graphic with my silhouette in Dec 2015.  Also wearing my new Jalie 2908 Jeans.

Friday, May 13th, 2016 - 52°F

Jalie 3022 Yoga Pants sewn Oct 2015.  And my Pisces Tee I made with my silhouette.

Sunday, May 14th, 2016 - 61°F

It must have been Jalie week in my house!  Here is an oldie but still much worn goodie, Jalie 2805.  I made this in August 2013.  I’m wearing my new Jalie jeans 2908 with these – I must make another pair because I’m wearing these all the time!

And Sunday night is Game of Thrones night in our house, so naturally I wore my House Targaryen tee I made with my silhouette.  The pj pants I haven’t blogged yet but they are so comfortable.  I made them with Jalie 2686. 


That’s it for this week.  Today I’m hanging drywall upstairs.  We have been working on remodeling it for Mr. T as a “now you are in high school here is your man-cave” sort of surprise.  It is now gutted and ready for the drywall - so exciting!

Hope your MMM Week 2 was a good one!

*~* Happy Sewing *~*

Kristin

Sewing for small ones

My nephew and niece were at my mom’s last weekend soI sneaked in some measurements.  Then I came home and ambitiously cut out quite a few things to sew for them. 

I have no little beings to sew for besides them and it is such a fun and quick process.  I was able to use scraps for all these!  Scraps!  So rewarding.

First up: Aurora by SUAT
I know you’ve seen these cute dresses on Miss K recently when I tested the pattern; it goes together so qucikly and is so cute so I popped out a size 3mo on the height and 12 mo. on the width for my 8mo old niece.  These are knee length.  Gah they are so cute!







Next I made two tanks for my nephew.  The left one is Ottobre 03/2011 #12 “Happy Animals T-shirt” in size 98cm (he’s 3).  In the magazine there is an infant in this tank and a older kid size; however the toddler size is a T-shirt so I compared it to the largest infant size and modified it to a tank.  I added his nickname of “little bear” to the shirt.

The one on the right is Ottobre 01/2013 #15 “Victor Mesh Tank Top” also in a size 98cm.  I added the paw patrol graphic to the front with my silhouette and heat transfer vinyl.  It turned out way better than I expected. This is his favorite character so he was happy to see it. (I made this tank for Mr. T before in Feb 2013).






I’ve made the above tank 7 times before in the older kid size for for Mr. T
The first time in pirate – fun fact, I just took this away  because it’s so small now on him, March 2013
An upcycle blue stripe that he still wears for bed, may 2013
More upcycling with Hurley, Blizzard, and Pokemon– too small now & were donated, May 2013
And Orange stripe and monsters – which he still wears, June 2014


Finally, I made my niece this outfit.  The top is Ottobre 03/2011 #6 “Diamond Deer Sleeveless Jersey Top” in size 56cm height, 74cm width. 

The shorts are Ottobre 03/2011 #5 “Bubble Stripes Jersey Shorts” in the same 56cm height, 74cm width. 


My binder attachment for my coverstitch made sewing these pretty fast.  However, they did take me all day because I had to design, cut, apply the vinyl as well as cut and sew them all. 

I sure hope they enjoy them!

Happy Sewing!

Kristin

MMM Week 1 ~ 2016

I signed up for MMM and then forgot about it only to realize on May 3rd, whoops! 
Here is my MMM Week 1

Thursday, May 5th, 2016 - 69°F

Pisces tee I made with my silhouette, along with Jeans from the Gap.

here is a close up:

Friday, May 6th, 2016 - 90°F 

Today was hot hot hot, but I had windows being installed so I wasn’t about to wear my brazi. 

World of Warcraft Tee with my Jalie Yoga pants I made last June

Saturday, May 7th, 2016 - 69°F 

David Bowie Labyrinth Tee I designed and made with my silhouette

and my new Jalie Jeans (2908)

Here is a close up of this tee, it is my favorite right now.

Sunday, May 8th, 2016 – 73°F    Game of Thrones day at our house! 

Targaryen tee that I made with my silhouette and my new Jalie Jeans (2908)

It is a bit hard to see my tee design.  I haven’t blogged it yet but here is what it looks like up close:

This week was pretty lackluster in terms of me-mades.   As you can see, I’m a tee and pants kind of girl.  As the weather gets warmer I’ll pull out more of my makes and fun items. 

My pledge was to to wear 4 days of MeMade items each week for the duration of May 2016.  I also pledged to actually use my pattern stash instead of buying new patterns.  I did wear 4 days of me mades.  I also did not buy any new patterns so I am right on track!

How is your MMM going?

~*~ Happy Sewing ~*~

Kristin

Jalie 2908 ~ Jeans #2

After I sewed my first pair of these jeans in March, I wanted to sew up another pair with some tweaks to the fit.




This time I went with a straight size BB.  Then I darted out 2” in the front (1/2” in two spots on the front piece for an overall 2”).  I compared this to the first pair where I used a size Z in the front and the only thing different was that it gave my thighs the much needed 1/4 to 3/8” of room. 



I also added 1/2” to the rise and 1” to the hem.  I like my jeans loooooong. 



In addition to those alterations, I took off 1/2” on each side from waist to nothing at the hip. My single most problem with RTW jeans is that I have a large butt and a small waist.  I always have that dreaded huge gap at center back. 



As with the first pair I used the“gaposis” fix linked in this post on the Jalie blog and took 1 inch off the waist and 1/2” off the yoke on each side for 1” total there in the back.  All this waist adjustment meant I took off a total of 4 inches in the waist!



Humorously they are still loose in the waist; however, this fabric had lots more stretch than my last pair.  The fabric is really soft too.



Fabric: Stretch Medium Weight Dark Denim (you can find it here); 96% Cotton 4% Lycra;  it is listed as 10% stretch but it is more like 20%.  I purchased this fabric in January – 2.5 yards for $19.95.  It is a great weight for jeans, very soft, and easy to sew.  I did make sure to prewash.



Thoughts: I really love these jeans!  The fabric is soft, the stretch is the right amount.  I love the length I settled on.  I always wear a belt with my pants so the looser waist doesn’t bother me.  I think the bias waistband is what gives me trouble.  In the future I would try a pair of jeans without the bias waist.  These jeans are about as close as I have ever come to a perfect pair. 



Pretty inside pocket bags!

Amazingly sewn zipper fly and jean button :D

Final note: I pushed to make these jeans because I can’t stand to wear the first pair.  It is my mistake and not a mistake in the pattern.  When I topstitched the first pair I used a double needle – topstitching thread in both, and then regular thread in the bobbin.  Well my skin is very sensitive and I can’t stand the scratchy feeling of the regular thread the way it is in the twin needle.  The jeans themselves don’t want to soften up either.  So they were a learning pair. I learned from that mistake and topstitched these with a single needle at 1/8” and then 1/4” – even though it takes more time and precision, I am happier in the end because the seams are soft.

I plan on wearing these until they fall apart!