handmade wardrobe

Sadie Slip Dress

finished objects, sewing
a woman poses for the camera in a red and blue silk dress made from Tessuti Pattern's Sadie slipdress.

I was not in the market for more fabric (…groan), but curiosity gets me every time and I always check Blackbird Fabrics’ emails to see whats new. Recently they had some “leopard print” deadstock silk, and I pounced on it.

I’ve had the Sadie Slip Dress on my “to make” list for quite awhile, and this fabric seemed perfect for it. As soon as the fabric arrived I got to work on cutting and sewing up this bad boy. I cut a straight S, but ended up taking in the waist a bit after I sewed the first seam of the french seams. It was a little tricky to cut the pieces on the 45″ wide fabric, I ended up having to shave off an inch or two of the total length.

a laydown photo of a blue silk dress made from Tessuti Pattern's Sadie slipdress.
Closeup of the neckline.

The bias cut is SO swoony, but the neckline facing was very tricky to get right. I completely ripped out and re-understitched twice, thinking I wasn’t careful enough, but every time I tried it on, it wanted to flip out to the front of the neckline. I was unable to get past this flaw, and I decided to blind stitch the facing to the dress. That solved the flipping-out problem beautifully, but now it messes with the bias drape. I might undo some of the hand-stitching and do it yet again… we’ll see how annoyed I get with it. I suppose I could edgestitch the neckline, but I love the look of it without it.

Understitched-only facing:

versus stitched-down facing:

Definitely some trade offs with both options.

Still assessing how to best handle this scenario, but in the meantime, I am wearing it and loving the swish of bias silk on the recent hot summer days.

Bucket Hats!

sewing
a woman at the beach wearing a patterned bucket hat.

A few weeks ago I was texting my friend with a very cute newborn baby, and I wondered if she had a summer sun hat. After hearing “not yet,” I immediately started googling for a kid hat pattern. I stumbled across this GREAT free pattern from Oliver + S. I went for the smallest size, and it used barely any fabric.

a blue linen/chambray baby-sized bucket hat
a blue linen/chambray baby-sized bucket hat. Liberty-print lining peeks out.

After I made the first one, I could not get over how cute it was. Just for kicks I measured my tiny head, and could not believe I fit the measurements for the kids Medium. I went into my stash and pulled out some options. I rediscovered this super weird faces quilting cotton I got at the Center For Creative Reuse forever ago. I decided this would be perfect for a test hat. I paired it with a very neutral Essex linen to balance it out. I used smaller seam allowances (1/4″ instead of 1/2″) to add some extra wiggle room. If you had asked me 2 years ago what I thought of bucket hats, I would have told you they are really ugly, but here we are in 2019 and I am loving my hat! Its perfect for keeping the sun off my face and neck.

a group of different patterned and textured materials

I ended up making a 3rd hat for another adorable 1-year old I know… watch out, he’s a heartbreaker already!

a baby poses for a photo wearing a plaid-lined bucket hat.

If you have a normal, adult-sized head, I bet it would be really easy to add some SA to the pattern and make it a bit bigger. I think I am going to make another soon with a wider brim… a one way ticket to floptown!

a woman at the beach wearing sunglasses and a patterned bucket hat.

Myosotis Dress I

finished objects, sewing

I made this Myosotis dress back in May using this beautiful silk panel print that has lingered in my stash. My original plan was to make the ruffle-y version, but sadly, I did not have enough fabric. I purchased 2 panels worth of material, but the fabric was barely 40″ wide.

Experimenting with how to make this work. Not the final layout.

Somehow it worked out that I was able to match the prints fairly well between the sleeves, bodice and skirt. I added more fullness to the skirt piece to take advantage of the left and right selvedge edges: no need to finish the side seams! I also thought it would be a way to add more fullness without the ruffle. Spoiler alert: I think the added fullness at the waist isn’t the most flattering thing.

Because the silk is very sheer, and I am a sweaty person, I fully lined the dress with Bemberg rayon (THE BEST!). If I am going to be super-technical, I actually underlined the bodice and finished the seams with bias tape. 🙌for sewing 6 darts once, not twice!!

dress guts

I hand-sewed the collar, sleeves and front facings with silk thread to make it feel special. I love how this detail looks! This print is so unique, and I love how I was able to use the different parts given how little fabric I had. I am especially happy that I found a spare sliver of the purple section to use for the collar.

I LOVE this dress. I am definitely going to make another with the ruffles soon. Based on other people’s reviews, I went down a size and I am happy with that decision. There’s still a lot of positive ease in the bodice and waist so its quite comfortable.

Pictures in public make me so self-conscious!

Tracing a RTW Short Sleeved Shirt

finished objects, sewing
You can’t even see the pocket! Pattern matching FTW!

I’ve made quite a few collared shirts for Jacob over the years from different patterns but none of them fit him perfectly, so I ripped apart a RTW shirt that fits him well to make a pattern from it. I was pretty intimidated by the idea of this, but it wasn’t too hard.

To start, we went to the thrift store to find a short-sleeved shirt that fit well. Next I spent an hour or so seam ripping it while watching TV. I found this strangely meditative, and it went very quickly. I dissected almost everything completely, except one side seam and the center front folded stuff, I ripped those just enough to figure out what was going on there.

Some of the shirt pieces.

I noted the seam allowances and where they were trimmed down. I then traced the pieces and added SA where necessary. I harvested the buttons from the shirt to use on my version.

Scribbles for notes.

At this point in my sewing life, I have sewed several collared shirts so I didn’t need instructions. It was helpful to have the seam-ripped pieces handy to check things, like where to put the pocket. It was SO EASY to lay the RTW left front over my cut one, and figure out the perfect pocket placement. My buttonholer hasn’t worked since the Jean Jacket Saga of 2018, so I took this shirt to Jonathan Embroidery and they sewed the buttonholes perfectly and quickly.

The verdict? Jacob is really happy with the fit of this shirt, so its going to become his go-to short sleeved shirt pattern! He requested a fun fabric so he could participate in “tiki shirt Fridays” at work this summer, and I am in the process of sewing a second one in a more subdued check.

Me Made May 2019: Week 4+

me made may

Phew. Home stretch.

May 23

Here’s that Myosotis dress again! Going to blog it soon I promise.

May 24

Brumby-ing again. Jacob made me laugh so there’s an extra smiley pic for you to enjoy.

May 25

Took advantage of the perfect-weather day and had a birthday picnic in Central Park. Alexis and I are posing for our Hat Squad: Summer Edition pic. I am wearing my eyelet Ruby dress.

May 26

WOW it was a hottie today. I wore my seersucker Ruby dress to attempt to beat the heat. (I guess I never blogged about this one!)

May 27

Linen Ruby again, but with a scarf belt! (wow, 3 days of Rubys in a row…)

May 28

a midi-length viscose Brumby skirt.

May 29

Forgot to get a photo, but I wore my favorite mended tank top again.

May 30

Self-drafted linen tank top again!

May 31

Here’s my sleeveless Archer! This was before I knew what side the chest pocket should go (the left). Smell ya later May. Except I bet June, July and August are going to be smellier because of the hotness of NYC.

Me Made May 2019: Week 3

me made may

May 15

Self-drafted basic elastic-waist skirt (and that jean jacket again…)

May 16

White linen gauze Inari tee.

May 17

Linen Ruby dress.

May 18

barely visible linen Brumby skirt (repeat)

May 19

Riding on the Hudson River Greenway on a beautiful Sunday. Wearing a self-drafted linen gauze tank (same fabric as my Inari crop tee from earlier this week!)

May 20

Its a scorcher today, wearing my favorite vintage dress and a Tokyo Jacket.

May 21

hand-me-down RL collared shirt, Peppermint Mag Peplum top, Ginger jeans.

May 22

Previously unblogged Astoria cropped knit tee. I don’t wear this much, but I really should! Maybe thats the whole point of Me Made May!

Me Made May 2019: Week 2

me made may

May 8

Brumby skirt. This guy is a workhorse, and it matches everything!

May 9

Megan Nielsen Dove Top in the SAME linen as yesterday’s Brumby. I forgot to take a pic all day and remembered just before I changed into soccer garb.

May 10

I have to get better at remembering to take photos. I wore this Tea House dress yesterday.

May 11

Knitting and workin’ on my sunburn in a grey linen Acton dress.

Thanks for the photog, Asheley!

May 12

See my sunburn??? Today it was rainy and cold, so I wore my Carbeth. (and those Ginger Jeans…)

May 13

Pulled this quilted top out of the closet, I think I have only worn it once or twice since I made it four (OMG 5!!) years ago. Its hard to not see all my mistakes when I look at it. Now that I am wearing it, though, I don’t mind it! So I should wear it more!!! The quilting also really nice and cozy in the yoke on this dreary day.

May 14

My first Archer button up I ever made! The fabric is from Bolt in Portland. PS its still dreary.