Confession: I totally forgot about Me Made May until May 3. Back in April it was on my mind, but it fell away. So, I recreated my outfits from May 1st and 2nd as laydowns. Because it makes more sense for the scrollback, I’m going to go in total reverse order, so May 1 will be at the end of this post, and May 7 at the top.
A friend sent me some awesome woven fabric she found at an estate sale. She asked if I wanted it, describing it as “Emily fabric.” Spoiler alert: I said yes, and when it arrived last week, I immediately got to work. I thought it would look great as a shirtdress, so I gave the Blaire pattern from Style Arc another go. The first time around I made the shirt version, so this time I wanted to make the dress.
To compliment the elaborate woven fabric, I used some bright blue scraps for the pockets. I think they go together pretty nicely. I drafted a hem facing instead of hemming as the pattern suggests. When I made the shirt version of this pattern, the hem was a nightmare because of the X-TREME curves, so I wanted to come up with an alternate solution. I googled “blaire style arc hem facing” and found a particularly helpful post from someone who accomplished this quite nicely, so with my initial instinct validated, I went for it.
I feel too strange to go outside for pictures right now, so instead here are some COVID-style glamor shots of the details:
I’ve had this quilt since I was a kid. This blanket is not my most favorite colors, but its not about the looks, its about the feels. Sitting on the couch with this blanket brings me immense comfort and calm. I love snuggling with it. Unfortunately, over the past few years the edges have become very weak and frayed. A few weeks ago, part of the edging got caught on my foot and ripped away, revealing the batting.
This week I decided to repair it. I chatted with my fastidious quilter friend, Lizzie, who is immensely talented in this area. She thought repairing was do-able and suggested the french-fold binding technique. The original quilt didn’t have any binding, and its state shows why a binding is so key to longevity! Its condition is fine everywhere else, but the edges are torn and frayed all the way around.
I needed a fairly wide strip of fabric to create the binding to make the finished repair look as natural as possible. As I was contemplating what fabric to use, I remembered my sad attempt at a 9″ block linen quilt from years ago. I wondered if I could use the cut-but-not-sewn squares to make the binding. Once I dug them out, it felt like fate. The block colors blend wonderfully with the quilt. I got to work and sewed several blocks together to create a long binding. Then, I pinned it to the quilt and machine-hemmed it, and then folded it over to hand sew it to the wrong side. By the way, these two lovely ladies have a fabulous tutorial with tips to hand-stitch the miters down on both right and wrong sides at once.
Now my favorite quilt has a personal touch! I’ve had it on my lap all day, and its been heavenly! By the way, this was from a department store and I am pretty impressed that its hand-quilted. I don’t think you’d find something like this in department stores today! I’m so happy I am able to give it some more life.
Friday night, I cleared off my makeshift work desk to reveal my sewing machine, because I thought sewing would help me relax and feel like things are temporarily “normal.” I’ve had the Kabuki Tee from Paper Theory on my to-make list for a long time, so I decided to give it a go. I decided to use this extremely soft vintage cotton/poly blend from my stash, so I got to cutting.
This is the most comfortable woven top I’ve ever made. The body has great shaping, but still has a boxy look. The fabric certainly adds to its comfort, but the unique arm drafting makes it so easy to move around in.
So, I couldn’t let it go at that, and immediately decided to cut out another version in some eyelet. I spent some serious time figuring out how to arrange the pattern pieces to make the small amount of leftovers I had work. I didn’t have anything that I thought would look nice underneath the eyelet, so I went with silk organza. I hand-basted the organza to the eyelet and used it as an underlining, and used french seams througout. One exception: I bound the armhole seams with bias tape. I decided to blindstitch the armhole and waist hems to make it feel a little more fancy. The organza helps “diffuse” whats happening underneath, and works very well as a modesty layer.
When The Virus hit NYC hard last week, I needed an easy, mindless knitting project to help calm my nerves. Zooming around on Ravelry, I spotted a friend’s beautiful blue hat. Ysolda to the rescue! Musselburgh is a very of-the-moment silhouette, with miles of stockinette at a tiny gauge. Hit it!
I went “shopping” in my stash and found some odds and ends, and started knitting a striped version, but I didn’t like it. A single-color version was much more in line with what I envisioned. The only suitable yarn in my stash was a leftover skein of Manos del Uruguay Fino from my wedding shawl. I wasn’t sure about the color, but got to work! I ended up knitting 17.5″ before decreasing. The last few inches felt like forever, as they do. But a week later, I have a new hat! Not that I needed one, but its really comfy and I think I’ll wear it a lot.
MORE TO COME! I’m now on a mission to finish knitting something that’s already in progress.
I had this post queued up last week and never hit publish. Obviously we are in a crazy, unprecedented time rn and things are murky and unclear. I’m trying to power through and focus on making progress on my knitting and sewing. Anyway, here’s this thing I made two weekends ago…
Last weekend I saw a Making Mag post about how to sew up this little bag. I decided to create my own based on the post’s photos. I included the darts at the bottom, and I think it its a nice touch to help the bag stand up on its own.
A quick, cute lil’ scrap guy! The black and white hemp/wool blend is leftover from an old dress, and the lining is Liberty Tana Lawn from Purl Soho. I love this combo, plus the bright orange zipper pull I made from unraveled baker’s twine.
Hey, this wasn’t part of my last post! Ahem… a little something bypassed my sewing queue. What is the point of life if not for unplanned sewing projects? I had a long weekend at home, and the idea for this fabric/dress combo popped into my head. Without any hesitation, I got to work. Sewing with fervor like this, running on fumes of whim and inspiration, is one of my favorite parts of life. For 5 hours straight, I didn’t do anything but work on this dress. I don’t experience that level of focus too often, so it felt great. Luckily, the fabric was ready to use because I pre-washed the fabric ages ago. The bonus to all this is now I have a beautiful Myosotis Dress!
Except for the ruffles, I used french seams throughout this garment. I should do this more ofte n because french seams look so nice. For the ruffle seams, I used lace tape to hide the raw edges. I haven’t yet, but I’m planning to hand tack them down with a blind stitch.
Unlike my first Myosotis, this version is unlined. I figured that I can wear a slip / undershirt if I want some more layers. Its funny how sometimes I am adamant about lining, but then here I am, not adding a lining and proud. :shrug:
Ages ago in “internet time,” back when I still used Instagram, #WIDN was a popular hashtag for sewers and knitters. WIDN, or “what I’m doing now” is something I’m going to try out here because I miss sharing my in-progress projects. So…. here’s WIDN.
This beauty is coming along, but slowly because of it’s intricate stitch pattern. I love it and the very special Cormo yarn I’m using, but I’m knitting slowwwwly. I think I am on the cusp of memorizing the repeat…. we’ll see.
2. Weel Riggit
I’ve had this sweater in my queue since it came out last year. Once it became available as a standalone pattern, it jumped to the top of my queue. I decided to get some Green Mountain Spinnery yarn at Vogue Knitting Live to make my own. I’m trying out the “sleeve as swatch” technique, but I’m not sure how much I like the color combo I chose. I’m going to block the sleeve after I finish and see if I like it.
3. No. 13 coat from Otoko No Kōto No Hon
Jacob needs a new spring/fall jacket. Since he has very long arms, no RTW jacket ever fits him perfectly, so I’ve decide to make him one. I scoured the internet to find a suitable pattern, but nothing seemed right. I finally came across a blog dedicated to sewing all the patterns from a Japanese book of mens’ coats, and decided to bite the bullet and order the book. Spoiler alert: the book is entirely in Japanese. I think I’m up for the challenge, but we’ll see what happens when I tear into the muslin. Jacob has picked out No. 13. I am planning to start tracing and making a muslin this weekend. I am looking forward to fabric shopping for it!
Here’s my first test-knitted sweater (rav link)! Its Tectonic from Emily Greene.
This task was a unique challenge for me. I had only written instructions and 1 on-body pic from Emily to guide me (which I assume is on par for test knitting). Usually before settling on a pattern to knit, I spend hours looking through Ravelry. I like to see other knitters’ modifications and how their finished objects turned out. Emily did have to help me figure out the sleeve details, I felt pretty challenged by them with limited photo references.
I love the reverse-stockinette and garter stitch combo, its so unique. And how about those statement sleeves!? My favorite part of this sweater design is the foldover neckband. The crochet bind off looks so tidy and professional! The yarn I used is Elder from Ritual Dyes, and its so soft that it doesn’t even feel like wool. Its a joy to wear.
What can I say besides I love this sweater! One of my best knits ever, for sure.
Struck by inspiration over the holidays, I sewed a summer sundress! I bought the fabric at a yard sale a few years ago for less than $5. It has that lovely handfeel of an aged poly-cotton blend that I love so much. They don’t make ’em like they used to! The odd thing about this panel print is that the gradient goes weft to weft. Most other panel prints I’ve seen that follow the grainline. So, I did the unthinkable and cut the skirt pieces the wrong way. I did cut the bodice pieces on the grainline though, and this inconsistency is not noticeable at all. This made the hem very easy to sew because the selvedge edge eliminated the need to double-turn!
I went into my stash for buttons, and found some grey ones that look pretty perfect. I didn’t buy anything new to make this dress. Sewing from the stash feels good! This was my first time sewing my own buttons since I got my machine fixed, it was nice to be back in action on that front. Instead of using vilene shields, I staystitched the neckline pieces. The self bias tape helps a lightweight fabric look professional.
I have worn this once in the cold, paired with a turtleneck and a sweater, but it will become a staple in the spring. Happy 2020!!
