Pants! I made pants! It took me months of muslins, and the fit is still far from perfect… but they are totally wearable, and therefore good enough for now! 

The pattern I’m using is the Style Arc Elle pant. It’s a pull-on, elastic waist pant made for stretch wovens, which is pretty close to my favourite RTW pants. It’s also super basic - no fly, no pockets! 

The first time I sewed it up, I was really thrilled! It fit just like my RTW pants! Sweet! But then I start obsessing about the fit problems that my RTW pants share… namely, wrinkles under the butt! I did my research, got help from awesome sewcialists in Pants Club, and made 5 more muslins… and I really thought I’d made some progress! But looking at the pictures you’re about to see, the problems are still there! 

Damn you, wrinkles!

Making pants has really helped me understand the, uh, unique features of my legs. Wide hips, broad thighs, full butt, full belly, knock knees, and more! That’s a lot of separate adjustments to do, all of which end up impacting the fit in other areas. It’s a complex geometry problem which I don’t fully understand!

On the plus side, these are currently my most comfortable jeans! I’d worn them a few times since washing when I took these photos, but the denim holds up well. The waistband is so ridiculously high that it never shifts around or sags lower! (The waistband is a great construction detail, btw: It’s a self-fabric rectangle, with inch-wide elastic zigzagged in place. It’s the same circumference as the waist, so it holds snug without pulling tight.) 

Even better, the pattern is so simple that I’ve been able to whip up a few pairs already. These capris actually came before the jeans above…

I’ve been adding simple patch pockets to each pair, but it’s surprisingly difficult to figure out just where to put them! These ones are a bit too high, others too wide…

Oh look! Wrinkles!

Here’s what they look like in motion… If this is what they look like most of the time, then I’m happy enough! I don’t think they scream “Homemade!”, and they feel good on. 

Somehow I got cocky with these red ones though… I think I overdid a back crotch adjustment, and suddenly nothing lined up! A hot mess all around. Somehow these seem tighter than my other pairs, too, even though they are a very stretchy denim… Next time I’m going to slash and spread to add some ease! 

Look! Less wrinkles when I dance! 

All in all, I’m really thrilled to have made some functional pants. I’ve got a whole pile of fabric to make more, but I need to figure out some fit things first. Have you made pants? How did it go? If you’ve got any concrete fitting advice to give me, I’d be very happy to hear it! 

Oh, Me-Made May, you sure do take over! Every time I sit down to blog some newly finished items, I realise that I’ve fallen behind blogging about MMM! Time for another weekly review first, I guess… 

This year I pledged to wear MM clothes every day this month, and to create outfits using my self-assigned wardrobe colour palette. 

Here goes!

MMM14

4/9 colours, MM Peony dress, refashioned sweater (turned it into a cardigan), and “belt” made from fold-over elastic. 

My second ever dress! Made last February sometime… I had to alter the heck out of the pattern to make it work, but I didn’t know ay better back then. Now I shy away from Colette patterns for just that reason. Here’s a post I wrote last fall about my many versions of the Peony pattern, if you are interested…

MMM15: 

2/9 colours. MM Renfrew, a la Zoe! This top is made from a really lovely  navy double knit… I just wish I could remember where it came from! The stripe fabric is thin and not-so-nice, so I underlined it with a white jersey. Just spray-basted them together with quilting spray, and sewed as one!

MMM16: 

Self drafted tee and thrifted chambray shirt (Seriously, blogosphere, I blame YOU for making me want this shirt! Its not a style I would have picked before… but with all the lovely Archers being made, and the obsessive shopping for chambray fabric, when i saw this is just had to give it a go! 

Remember how in my last post I said I was going to try to beat my maximum numbers of colours worn? Well, you gave me some great suggestions which I can’t wait to try… but in the mean time, this shirt does all the work! 

7/9 colours! Bam! I got this jersey for $3/m last summer. I have to say it’s not the best quality, but come on, that print! It shrank up over time, so I recently replaced the original folded-under hem with a wide band. Now it’s back in rotation!

MMM17: 

4/9 colours, MM Renfrew hack tank. 

Woohoo! It’s the Friday of the long weekend, and my husband handed me a drink that matches my outfit! (Also, aparently my combo of turquoise pants, electric blue cardi, and blue wall turned the who pic a funny colour!)

MMM18

3/9 colours. MM Style Arc capris (again) and a new Day-to-Night cowl! 

Remember when I wishing for something a little more “fun” to wear on weekends? Well, so many of you suggested this pattern from Maria of Denmark that I just had to give it a go! I’d actually made one before for the animal print challenge back in the winter,but the print placement and fabric choices just felt off. It’s a great easy pattern though, so I have happy to make a nicer version!

I think this top is the anti-Cake top: If I tried to do the “Look! No gapping!” pose, you’d all see straight to my belly button! (In other words, when I leave over, the cowl drapes right open and everything is on show! Not that my husband seemed to mind that feature… Did I mention I’ve already made another one? ;) 

MMM19

3/9 colours. MM kimono tee (traced from RTW), Style Arc capris (finally photographed and ready to be blogged!), and a polymer clay necklace I made this morning! 

It’s a lazy Sunday today, so I actually spent most of the day in Maria of Denmark lounge pants and a sweater knit cardigan. It’s warm during the day, so I switched to this. I spent a couple house this morning making beads with polymer clay and fiddling around with jewellery. (Blog post to follow, eventually!)

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So here we are, with 11 days left in May… What colours have I worn most? 

Navy = jeans, most of the time… and white tend to be mixed in prints, so no surprise there! I really did think I wore more fuschia though, and less emerald… and more grey and red! It’s interesting how evenly worn most of the colours are, in fact! We’ll see what happens for the rest of the month! 

P.S. I’ve been having fun making wardrobe colours palettes for a few other bloggers… It’s really neat going through someone else’s blog pics and trying to figure out what colours they are consistently drawn to! If anyone else is interested, I’d be happy to give your colours a try!

MMM11 

A measly 1 colour from my palette! I really think this purple needs to be added though, because I own an awful lot of RTW tops in this shade! 

MM STyle Arc Jeans, cropped out, and appliqued Echino birds on the hoodie.

MMM12

3/9 wardrobe palette colours.

MM flannel scout tee and McCalls cardigan, blogged here.

It snowed ALL DAY! WTF, Canada? It’s May! This was Mother’s Day, so I spent 2 hours each way driving to see my mother-in-law. (And somehow, I just happened to find myself in a fabric store on the way home! ;)

MMM13

4/9 colours. MM Tiramisu dress, blogged here.

This dress is so comfy! It’s a drapy rayon knit, which means that the self-drafted a-line skirt hangs quite close… but it feels comfier than pyjamas! 

* * * 

Oh, as as an added MMM bonus, my sister just spent 3 days at a conference and happened to wear made-by-me clothes for every day! I’m so excited that she actually wears that things I make… certainly motivates me to make her more! And we’ve cut a deal for her to knit me a cowl for the fall - sweet!

(She is very kindly letting me share her very-early-morning selfies!)

Recognise the green skirt that I wore last week and then promptly gave away? Turns out it’s a much better match for her wardrobe colours, which are slightly warmer than mine… (Those are knitting inspiration pics, BTW…)

So my new goal? Wear an outfit with 5 colours! I’ve had a couple of 4-colour outfits… which makes sense, because I tend to wear either warm or cool tones with a neutral, but not warm and cool at once. Can you picture any 5 of these colours together? Let me know what you think might work! 

Thanks to everyone who voted on the sewcialist logos - We now have a winner! 

Thanks to Make Magazine the winner will get 

• A 1 year subscription to Make magazine generously offered by our official sponsor Make

Thanks to individual donors (this is not coming from Make: Magazine), the winner will also receive:

• A $100 cash prize
• A custom ipad sleeve

Wow. MMM is just rushing by this year! Thanks so much for all of your supportive comments when I was whining about job stuff in my last post - It was another rough week this week, but c’est la vie, right? I have faith that this coming week is going to be better! :)  

MMM5: 

3/9 colours from my wardrobe colour palette.

MM: Style Arc leggings, French terry knit Scout (not-so-woven) tee, and infinity scarf.

Here I am, blatently showing off my sister’s lovely rainbow blanket to distract from a rather basic outfit… 

MMM6

3/9 colours from my wardrobe palette

MM Alma blouse, made with reversible Japanese double gauze. Blogged here.

Can’ you believe this is my first time wearing this top? I made it last fall and it’s hung in the closet ever since. I didn’t like all the buttons and plackets and cuffs that I’d had to add after botching a neckline alteration. It’s still not my favourite, but wearing it really helped me appreciate it’s strengths: the double gauze is buttery soft and drapes beautifully over my bumps and lumps, but the darts of the Alma shape it really nicely. I think I need to give some other double gauze a go this month!

MMM7

4/9 colours from my wardrobe palette

MM Tiramisu dress made with ITY border print fabric.

Tiramisu #5 for me! (And #9, if you include sewing for others!) I got so many compliments while wearing this dress - and not one person said, “Hey, don’t you own that dress in another colour?” Phew! 

MMM8

3/9 colours… barely! 

MM skirt, modified from the Colette Truffle dress. 

Oh man, this one *barely* fit the colour palette challenge… and consequently it was SO HARD to make an outfit I liked around this green skirt! I bought the fabric thinking that I could pull out the pops of turquoise and coral in the print, but that wasn’t as easy as I thought. In the end I went with this 9 year old cardigan (from my bridesmaid outfit at my sister’s wedding!) and this 5 years old lace cami from Japan. End result? I felt like it was an outfit I’d have liked 5 years ago. 

Don’t worry, there is a happy ending - I gave the skirt that night to my sister, and she loves it! 

MMM9

4/9 wardrobe palette colours.

MM sloper dress.

I love this dress! It’s made with a quilting cotton that I stashed just before leaving Japan… and it’s a gaudy, bright, rainbow! I’m such a sucker for bright colours on a dark background. 

3/9 colours from my wardrobe palette - though you’d never know the jeans are blue from the picture!

MM Style Arc jeans and self-drafted kimono tee.

Not much to say here… I got less than .7m of this rayon knit for $3 (with printing errors), and just barely squeaked a top out of it. I love the colours, even if my camera didn’t appreciate the saturated colours! :P

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It’s occurred to me lately that 2 years ago I’d never even THINK of wearing a loose/tent-like top like a Scout tee, and now I wear them all the time! On the other hand, I’ve also realise that my wardrobe is a bit, uh, professional and demure. I don’t have ANY me-made’s that I couldn’t wear to work. I want something for a night out or a day shopping with friends… and more confusingly, I’m not really sure what I would want to wear these days to show a bit of skin. (I’m starting to look forward to my Seamless Pledge ending so I can go buy some clothes and find out!) 

Does anyone have a suggestion for a knit top that is a bit more youthful or sexy? Help!

Hurray! It’s time for MMM!

Here’s my pledge this year: ‘I, Gillian from Crafting a Rainbow, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ‘13. I endeavour to wear me-made clothing that matches my personal colour palette for the duration of May 2013’I’ve been honing my palette all year - these are the colours that I love, look good in, and am allowed to stash! My goal for this month is to see if they really are the colours I wear and sew, or if it’s just wishful thinking! 

(The eagle-eyed among you might notice that I already tweaked my palette before starting… I had a paler coral in there originally, but I switched it for the cool pink on the right.)

How’s it going? Well, spoiler alert: I’m pretty sure one of those colours does not belong! 

 Day 1: 2/9 colours, Me-Made head to toe! Renfrew tank, McCall’s cardi, Style Arc jeans, and me-made necklace. 

I had to wear blue for a school event on May 1st, which lead to me making a rushed royal blue top the night before… which of course, ended up with a wobbly hem and a weird fit! Doomed to be pyjamas, I think. As I was digging through my (clean) laundry piles looking for something better to wear, I found this cardigan, which doesn’t get much wear…. but score! It worked for this outfit.

Also: LOOK! A remote! I’ve borrowed my dad’s DSLR, tripod and remote to make picture-taking a bit easier. I love getting my husband to take outdoor pics when there’s time, but at least this way I can grab a quick shot before work in the morning!

Day 2: 4/9 colours, MM sleeveless Pendrell blouse

Not much to say - I stashed this fabric just before leaving Japan, and made it up during MMM last year.

Day 3: Water-themed fishy face! 2/9 colours. MM Scout woven tee and Style Arc black pants. 

My class had a zoo-themed party today, so I wore this koala top with a very 80’s animal necklace of my mom’s! I got funny looks for other staff all day, but who am I to be shy when there is a dress-up theme? 

Day 4: 4/9 colours on a MM Renfrew dress!

Enough of all that coral - time for greens and blues! I didn’t quite buy enough of this fabric, so the skirt is a big snug… emphasizes my gut IRL! Added to which the waistband is think in some spots and thin in other… I think I’m going to have to hack it up and make a peplum tee at some point.

(In other news, I spent the day working on job applications for myself and my husband. His temporary teaching job just ended 2 months earlier than we hoped, and new laws mean that I’ve got all kinds of hoops to jump through just to be eligible to be hired for the same kind of job next year!  It’s all pretty frustrating, and means that we’ll be living with my parents for a while longer… They are wonderful, and have already let us live here for two years. Unfortunately work is so hard to come by that two qualified, experienced 30 year-old teachers can’t support themselves! ERGGGGGHHHHH!)

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, clothes. Here are my thoughts so far: 

• With all kinds of employment drama going on, it feels pretty superficial to think about clothes every day… but on the other hand, it gives me something fun to focus on! 
• I’m enjoying my palette challenge… but something off with the emerald green. It’s a colour I love, but turns out I don’t really own any! I think it maybe needs to be changed to a more grass green, or even a leaf green… or then again, maybe I just need to sew more with that colour! 
• I loved participating so much last year… but I have to admit, I’m already finding this year a bit overwhelming! The Flickr group is HUGE!

How do you feel about MMM? Do you get inspired or bored when it takes over the blogosphere? If you participate in it, do you like the daily dress-up or the online community more? 

Hello! It’s time to vote on a Sewcialist Logo! We had 6 entries that met our criteria - Now it’s your turn to pick your favourite! Please consider the following before you cast your vote:

We asked each designer to design an emblem that…

• Relates to sewing and the social nature of sewcialists
• Is modern, simple, recognizable and memorable
• Is useable in black & white as well as in color

You can read the rest of the requirements on the Sewcialists.org site. On this site, you can also find the rest of the Jury Blogs. You are allowed one vote per jury blog. (The Jury itself will not be voting.)

When you vote on our blogs, please make your vote very clear, typing in the # of the entry and the designer’s name.

Included before each design is a portion of the designer’s cover letter to give you context.

Voting closes on May 8th at midnight Eastern time in the United States. 

Entry #1- Bev

I chose my designs as a globe representing the world wide sewing community, needle and threads to represent sewing, threads of different colours to represent our differences and a computer mouse to represent our mode of communication. 

Entry #2- Gareth

   

You can do so online at this address:: http://lab.decock.org/sewcialists/

Entry #5- Dylan

Entry #6- Anne

My design is a patchwork globe revolving on an axis which is represented by the dress form. The needle and thread which changes to a computer mouse representing the lines of communication going round the globe linking sewing and the social media.

My idea for this came from the inclusive and diverse nature of the sewcialist community represented by the patchwork pieces of the countries – linked by a common thread – our sewing and means of communication. My favourite author is Anne Tyler who wrote the book A Patchwork Planet so a bit of me. I also wanted to represent all sewers, the dress form for the garment sewers among us and the patchwork, yes you’ve guessed it! for the patchwork community.

The text around the outside gives a vintage feel – I think – to the design. I mention the word Sewcialist  at the top and I felt we should aim high – with a bit of humour so a bit tongue in cheek with the proclamation that we will unite the world with our stitches.

Good luck to the designers!

I’m falling way behind here on blogging finished clothes… so buckle up, because I’m going to ramble my way through pants, two tops, a skirt, and leggings! (Lucky for you I don’t have pics yet of the dress or tee!) :P

FO#1: Pavlova Top

Remember how I wasn’t in love with my first Pavlova? Well, I was so inspired by Leila from 3 Dresses, who loves her Pavlova, that I decided to make a second version. Sadly, this one is worse. The stretch of the ties must be the wrong way around, or this just doesn’t have enough give, because they feel tight when I wear it. For some reason, the ties also point off in a strange direction, so I had to take it all apart and cut out a triangle chunk to make them work. 

Oh well. It was fun to make, and I finished it just in time to help my team win the Sewalong challenge! Sweet! 

FO#2: Truffle Skirt

What’s that I’m wearing with my Pavlova? It’s a new spring skirt! 

It’s a simple lined skirt made with (gasp!) quilting cotton from Jay McCarroll’s line. (Remember him from Project Runway S1?) I love the bright colours and graphic pattern. Once again, I used the skirt pieces from the Colette Truffle dress to make the skirt. I tried to shake it up by using a button to close the waistband, but um, yeah… haven’t bought a button yet. The pavlova is holding it closed! (Though my invisible zip is pretty good! Don’t know why I fear those so much! :P)

In theory, I thought this top and skirt might work together because of the little coral paint platters on the skirt print. Looking at the pictures though, I think it will be better with a different colour! 

FO#3: Leggings! 

Behold! I have made the cake-iest of all cake garments - the humble legging! In fact, I’ve made several pairs… and this is the closest you will ever get to seeing them in full! I used a Style Arc pattern which was really simple and easy. There is no outer side seam - it’s all one piece. (Side note: It takes a terrifying amount of fabric to wrap around my thigh. Shocking!) 

Oh, and guess what? This was one of my 2013 Sewing Goals! 

Huzzah! 

OK, time to wrap this up…

FO#4: Wiksten Tank and FO#5: Capri Jeans! 

See how I snuck that in? PANTS! You guys were so encouraging last time I posted about my pants saga (5 muslins!) that i decided just to go for it and make some wearable, imperfect pants. These were made from 2 short scraps of denim, so they had to become shortie pants. The fit is far from perfect, but they are totally wearable and will come in handy during Me Made May!

Just in case one of you has a magic answer…. heres what’s going on in the back. Wrinkles galore! (This is an in-progress pic - now they have pockets!)

If you are interested in stretchy pull-on pants, here’s how the self-fabric waistband works… It’s got unstretched elastic inside which holds it snug without pulling tight. It’s simple and works well, and because the elastic is zigzagged it doesn’t twist around! 

Last but not… ok, totally least: a quick Wiksten tank in challis! Lesson learned? I need darts! Quick and fun though, and an easy way to join in the Challis Chalet this month! 

Phew! You made it through! Looking back, the common thread with these unblogged garments is that I haven’t worn any of them. Seriously, If I sew it an then ignore it, it’s not a good sign! The leggings get used, and the jeans will in warmer weather… the rest, maybe! How often do you sew up things that turn out to be flawed or uninspiring? What do you do with those “meh” projects? 

Thank you all so much for your great suggestions on my Me-Made pledge!  It really helped me get inspired! I ended up deciding on a varient of the wearing-a-rainbow idea…So here’s my pledge: 

‘I, Gillian from Crafting a Rainbow, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ‘13. I endeavour to wear me-made clothing that matches my personal colour palette for the duration of May 2013’

There we go! I’ve got 11 shades to choose from… but my goal is to wear at least 2 or 3 colours a day. Even better, I’m going to challenge myself to combine colours in new-to-me ways: coral, pink, and kelly green? Monochromatic shades of turquoise? Why not? It’s time to shake things up! To that end, I’ll also be sewing some new stuff from my stash to round out the rainbow! (Pants, perhaps?) 

I’m really curious to see if these are ACTUALLY the colours that I wear! (I know I wear quite a lot of black, for example, but I don’t think it’s all that flattering on me, so I haven’t put it in the palette.) For the pledge, I figure I can still wear colours that aren’t in the palette, as long as at least part of my outfit incorporates these colours. 

I’ve got lots to work with - I counted the wintery me-mades in my closet last night, and came up with 30 things that match the palette. Plus I’ve got summer dresses put away downstairs, and some stash to sew up… Here are a few of my choices:

The only thing I haven’t decided is how to incorporate the colour palette into my daily pics. I could get some matching big paint chips, and held them in pics (yay for something to do with my hands!), or I could edit the photos and add colour swatches. What do you think would work better? Have you decided on your own Me-Made May pledge? 

It’s almost time for another Me Made May! Last year was my first time participating. I’d only been sewing for about 3 months, but somehow I pulled it off! As many other bloggers have mentioned, it was a really turning point for me: since then, I’ve worn me-mades almost every day! 

Last year, I set myself an extra challenge by creating Japanese For Crafters - a Japanese-word-a-day challenge! It was so much fun to coordinate the Japanese word each day with what I was wearing, and I was so happy that people played along by trying out the words when commenting on my pics in the Flickr group! As a total bonus, it gave me something to do with my hands while posing, and made me feel a little less ridiculous getting my picture taken every day.

 Here’s a roundup of everything from last year… you can also go check it out on my Flickr stream if you want to read the individual words!

 Now my Japanese in’t all that great, and I have no intention of doing the same thing again… but I am looking for a fun project for this year! I really appreciate So Zo’s comments about how it is intended to be a *challenge*. Daily me-mades isn’t really a challenge for me right now, so I want to add an extra level… but I’m really not sure what! 

Here’s are some of the ideas that I’ve thought of…

• Wear at least 10 me-mades a week (Sounds like a lot of counting…)
• Colour-coordinate my clothes, and somehow wear a rainbow over the course of each week? (But I need to be adaptable to weather, so it can’t be set in stone)
• Figure out another thing to be photographed with… but what? 
• Frankly, at this point, I could do a series of 4 OWOPs - One week, One Pattern: All tiramisu’s one week, and all Renfrews the next… But I fear becoming the crazy lady at work! :P

Here’s the problem: I think Japanese for Crafters worked because it built community - It was fun for me, and hopefully fun for people to join in! (I mean, seriously, how many “I love your outfit!” comments can anyone write in a month?) All the ideas I’ve thought of for this year are purely selfish - things that only I would know I was doing, with no added fun for anyone else! 

(On the other hand, I don’t want to be rude and attention-grabbing… There’s a wee part of me that feared people would be pissed at me for doing Japanese for Crafters, like I wasn’t following the rules properly or I was being too selfish! I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.) 

So what could I do that is more social? Maybe recommend a great blog to go check out every day? A can-you-name-the-pattern guessing game? Or should I just let it rest and not try anything special this year? I’d love your honest advice! 

Thanks, sewcialists!