Me Made May

I took a pledge for 'Me Made May'

'I, Nathalie from http://nathaliesews.blogspot.be/, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '15. I endeavour to wear a handmade garment 5 times per week for the duration of May 2015'

I’m going to try 5 days a week instead of every day because I don’t have that much handmade clothes yet. I’m happy that it’s in May because if it would be in winter I would not even be able to make 5 days a week. So I have already noticed that I seriously lack handmade winter clothes. That is kind of the purpose of ‘Me Made May’ to find out what the holes are in your me made wardrobe. Get to know you style better and it’s just a time to appreciate your handmade clothes. I might post some pictures on the Pinterest board. And a round up on my blog, probably crappy mirror pictures. Nothing is sure I will see at the end of May how many time I  remembered to take a picture.

If you want to know more about Me Made May than have a look on Zoe’s blog. 

My perfect summer dress

Okay I know it’s a big statement ‘my perfect summer dress’ but it really is the perfect dress for me. So I can hear you wondering why perfect? Let me tell you…

First there is the fabric. I bought it at the ‘stoffenspectakel’ like most of my fabrics. It was a coupon that I found at the bottom of the pile and it was 10€, a bargain. And who doesn’t love a bargain? I know I do! It’s a very nice cotton with the perfect weight and drape for a dress. The fabric actually feels rather heavy but perfect for this dress. And then the pattern, navy and white dots. What I like that much about it is that the dots are scattered on instead of being aligned in a grid. And the dots themselves are not perfectly round but irregular in shape.

So to me it’s the perfect fabric that fits my style so well and that goes with all my other clothes.

Than the pattern it is the June dress from the la maison victor pattern magazine. It came in the magazine form the summer in 2014 but you can buy it separately on their site as well. I can’t believe that I have waited so long to make this dress. The June dress was the reason that I bought this magazine.

So the pattern, on the website it is described as flattering for every figure and with a bit of ’50 glamour. They didn’t exaggerate, it is super flattering and I feel wonderful and glamorous wearing it.

I love the high neckline at the front in combination with a lower v-line in the back. The skirt is pleated but because of the lovely drape of the fabric it is really flowy and not bulky at all, something I’m always a bit worried about.  

Than what I like the best about the pattern is that I feel that it is drafted specially for my body. I made a size 38 and made no alterations. It just fits perfectly right out of the magazine. I was a bit worried that I would mess up my beautiful fabric when I would realise that the dress didn’t fit. (But not worried enough to make a muslin, haha)

But the best thing about the dress is the finish! For once I took my time to achieve the best possible finish. And it worked, part of that is probably that I didn't need to make any alterations. Normally I sew something try it on notice that it didn't fit properly and that is where it goes wrong. I get frustrated and impatient and mess up even more. But not with this dress, I tried it on what surprised about how well it fitted and took my time to finish everything. The neckline is understitched to the facing and the facing is sown by hand on to the zipper. The hem is finished with and invisible stitch on the sewing machine.

That’s why it is perfect, the fabric, the fit of the pattern and the finish.

I’m already working on my next project a blouse form another la maison victor magazine and that one is far from perfect. But more on that when it is finished. 

Blue Lane raglan

Some time ago I cleared out my closed, it was a mess. I filled an entire bin bag with old clothes to throw away and donate. I had a sort true the clothes that I’m keeping, still quite a lot of them. I don’t have a lot of classes anymore this semester and when I don’t, I don’t bother to dress up. I basically live in sweatpants and sweaters (only at home). Recently I have made two pairs of sweatpants but now I really needed some more casual sweaters.

I really want to sew more casual clothes that I can wear on a day to day basis. It was difficult to decide which pattern to buy. At first I wanted to buy the linden pattern by grainline studio but eventually I bought the lane raglan pattern by hey june. I let my sister chose between the two of them. She bought the same fabric as I did in black for a new sweater.

Well now about the sweatshirt, I cut the size medium. According to my measurements I should make size small but I wanted a looser fit. The examples they give are made of a T-shirt material but I wanted to make it in a thicker sweater fabric. So it made sense to go one size up. The fabric is a coupon that I bought at the stoffenspectakel.

The only change I made was to make the neck binding a bit shorter, it was a bit lose. I also attached it differently than as instructed. According to the instructions you are supposed to attach the neck binding to the shirt and then stich the last shoulder seam. I have stitched all the shoulder seams first. Than I have sown the collar shut and attached it to the sweater. I think doing it my way is neater. If someone understands that explanation.

I took the sweater with me on holiday to Stockholm and was planning to take pictures there. But it was way too cold to go outside without a coat. So I took them in the garden, with a tripod this time. I think it worked well and I don’t have to annoy someone to take them for me. 

Second pair of Hudson pants

I wanted to make an easy piece to make it possible to participate in selfish sewing week. (Normally I don’t finish a piece of clothing in a week.) But I thought I should be fine with something I already made once ( and started last week). And what is more selfish than sweatpants that I only wear inside the house. I made my first pair of Hudson pants early November and I loved them. They were far from perfect but I have worn them a lot.

When I made the alterations on my first pair I also adapted the pattern. I made the waist 6 cm smaller and made the legs 5 cm longer. So in general I made them smaller and longer and I also tightened the elastic a bit more. I also started on a pair for my sister (not selfish I know) and made hers 10 cm longer. I have the feeling that the inseam on the pattern is really short. We are both 1,70m so not that tall. The Hudson pants are the first pants I have made so I have no idea if this is normal. Length is not that much of an issue when I make a dress or skirt.

This time I made them in black but the same rather thick fabric. That fabric is incredibly soft on the inside. I bought the fabric last time I went to the stoffenspectakel for 12€. I love that I can make pants for as little as 12€ of course it will be more if you need to buy thread and elastic, but I got mine for free from my grandmother.  I used a piece of robe that I found in my grandmothers stash instead of making the ribbon myself like I did last time. The black fabric would have been way too thick anyway.

I’m so happy with the result, the extra length makes the fit in general so much better. 

Mimi blouse in African fabric

Al lot of you are probably familiar with the Mimi blouse, it is one of the patterns in the love at first stitch book. It’s the first pattern I have tried from the book and I love it. According to my measurements I should have made size 4. But the book also has the measurements of the finished garment and based on that I decided to make size 3 instead of size 4. I like my blouses to be more fitted. I would even consider making a size 2 next time.

The fabric I used is a cotton print that I bought when I was in Tanzania for a school project. I love the print of the fabric. The fabric was rather stiff when I bought it but the local students told me that it was because they add starch to the fabric. They told me it would come out when I washed it. But I still think the fabric is rather stiff for the pattern. I hope the fabric will get softer if I wash it more.

The instructions in the book where easy to follow with plenty pictures and detailed instructions. The only thing I struggled with were pleads in the sleeves. It took me ages to figure out how to fold them.  

This is one of the more complicated patterns I have made lately. It has a collar and pleated sleeves. I loved making something that I required a bit more concentration than my latest projects. I made this blouse in small steps, drew the pattern one evening, cut the fabric another and sewed the bodice one evening, the sleeves another time. I did that because I thought it would help me be more concentrated. It worked until I wanted to overclock the facing and accidentally cut of the tip of the collar. Please tell me I’m not the only one that has done that, I feel so stupid.

I made a new collar and I think the finish is great. I finished the hem and the sleeves by hand with an invisible stitch. I noticed that my sewing machine can automatically attach buttons.  So now I have got perfect buttonholes and it took me 5 minutes to attach all the buttons. I love it.

What is your favourite pattern form the book? Which one should I try next? 

Julia cardigan and fabric shopping

When I saw this fabric I knew immediately that I was going to use it to make the Julia cardigan by mouse house. The cardigan has a drapy front without any buttons or zipper. And that model really shows the colour on the inside of the fabric because of the drape.

It’s also the first time I made an entire garment using only my overlocker. And I love it! It goes so fast, I made the cardigan in a little over an hour, not including the time spent on cutting. I used grey thread on the majority of the seams, because I only had white and grey. I didn’t know how I wanted to finish the edge on the collar. I didn’t want to double the fabric because that you would not be able to see the turquoise inside. The instructions suggest a rolled hem but it looked too bulky. So I left it for over a week and then my grandmother gave us a box with four spools of thread in different colours. And eventually I decided to finish the collar with black thread. I segerd the edge with a very small stitch and it looks very neat if I say so myself. I’m still not sure about the fit, lt looks nice form the front but I’m not sure about the back. I don’t even know what is wrong with it.

The pictures are too bright again, sorry. It was difficult to photograph a black garment and I should make more of an effort.

Last Sunday I went fabric shopping at ‘stoffenspectakel’ in Leuven with my mom and sister. And I bought a lot! I had hardly any fabric left in my stash and can’t wait to start working with them. I definitely got better at sewing because my sister asked me to make her black Hudson pants and a sweater. She never wanted to wear handmade clothes and now she asked if I could make her something.

From party dress to sweatpants

I finally got good enough pictures to upload this post. I made these pants in November and I took pictures back then but they were blurry and the colours where off. And I never had the time or good enough weather to make new ones.

I made the Hudson pant form true bias. I bought the perfect pattern parcel 6 because I really wanted to make the Hudson pants, and I liked the other patterns as well. I could use some more sweat pants to wear over my leotards when I go to ballet. As I said, I made these last year when it was getting colder in November. And as expected I wore them a lot, at least a few times a week. I’m wearing them at the moment when I’m writing this, and I should be writing my thesis. They are my go to lounge pants so soft and warm.

The fabric is a ponte roma knit from the ‘stoffen spectakel’. A lot of vendors offered ponte roma or other sweatshirt fabric for €10 a meter. Eventually I bought a coupon for €10 and the fabric was a little over 1,5m!!! The pink contrast fabric is leftover from my Christmas party dress.

I made a size 12, based on my hip measurements. The pants fit well on the legs and hips but were too big at the waist. I took out 3cm in the front seam and 3cm in the back and shortened the waistband. I used the pink jersey on the pocket detail, the pocket facing and the string. The pink fabric is a lot thinner and is a nice contrast. The grey fabric is rather thick and I didn’t want the extra bulk on the waist.

Next time I make them I’m going lengthen the legs a few cm and tighten the elastic at the waist a bit more. These pants are barely long enough, a bit too short for my liking. It’s fine because I hardly ever wear them outdoors but next time I will change that. Next time I’m going to use fabric that is a bit stretchier and has better recovery. The ankle band doesn’t stretch a lot so that makes it a bit difficult to get my heel through the opening. Or some ribbing at the ankle and waist, my mom has some dark purple ribbing leftover that would be perfect. But I’m definitely going to make some more.

These pants don’t count for the 12 pieces that I’m planning to make this year but I already started on a Julia cardigan and a Mimi blouse.