The penultimate day of me-made May, and I have a post planned to spew out some vitriol reflect on my experiences. Only kidding there. I have no vitriol, of course. Well, very very little 😉 hehe, but seriously, I am going to be throwing a party that it’s finished!!
But ahem, my outfit. I am wearing another sorta new, but not actually new thing, today. I sorted through my Tshirt drawer. And found this batty Pattern Magic top sitting there, sad and unloved and in need of a makeover. I made it a year ago, using bright blue cotton jersey, dyed brown. The resulting colour is a great colour for me, a very dark and quite rich chocolate brown that is almost purple in a certain light.
Great colour.
Not such a great top, though.
I wore it a couple of times and each time felt just a bit too… weird in it. The pokey-out bits required pulling into place and arranging just so in order for them to not look Very Weird. Mind you, I’ve nothing against “weird”, but there’s weird and there’s weird, if you know what I mean. There’s interesting, avant-garde, attractive weird, and then there is just plain weird. Don’t worry if you don’t see the difference there, I know what I mean.
But hmm, still a great colour. And there was a fair bit of fabric in it…
I half winged it, using my custom-fit Tshirt pattern. I had to piece a new bit in the lower edge of one side, and angled the hem a bit to encompass this, a smaller, pieced-in bit would have looked too bitsy. It’s still a bit bitsy probably, but this was the best I could do! And I do really like that slightly angled hemline. I hemmed the lower edge using the blind hem stitch, only on the outside; so it’s decorative close-up.
The sleeves also had to be pieced to get any length to them, and were stitched inside and underneath the existing narrow hem of the top’s armscye. It has the effect almost of a tank with a little cap sleeve underneath, and then with a longer sleeve underneath that. The sleeve hems are angled too; shorter at the underarm seam than on the outer arm.
Sorry if it’s boring now, compared to the before. The good news is that I will actually wear it now, being no longer, you know, weird.
min 6C, max 17C do not let that sunny blue sky deceive you, it is blinkin’ freezing! and we had heaps of rain this morning!
Details:
Jeans; Burda 7863 modified, ivory stretch denim, details here
Top; my own design, blue cotton jersey dyed brown
Jacket; Vogue 7975, thick woven wool, with silk lining and black braid edging, details here
Socks; handknit by me to a 60’s pattern, details here
Boots; nylon, from Zomp shoes
my family mmm13, Craig is wearing this shirt, Cassie is wearing these handknit socks, and Sam is wearing this hoodie
Craig’s shirt; Burda 7767 modified, green cotton, details here
Cassie’s socks; handknit by me to a 60’s pattern, 2ply yarn, details here
Sam’s hoodie; self-drafted, blue/grey jersey, details here
You've put these bitsy bits together in a workable way. Not so weird.
I've enjoyed MMM but will be dressing with less stress come Saturday morning:)
We are in the final countdown of MMM13!! I´m enjoying with this challenge and with participants like you 🙂
You ladies are not selling MMM, you all sound very weary. Maybe it should be held in February our shortest month.I do admire your persistance, I would have given up by the 15th.
Great outfit. I dont think I have seen you in the chanel styled jacket before.
louise – it is fun, but daily photos get a bit of a trial by the end. i am in awe of your handmade wardrobe carolyn – it's amazing!
Although I have been meeting my MMM commitment of 3 me-mades/week, I gave up chronicling it after about 3 days :S And clearly great minds thinks alike, I made a boring black t-shirt yesterday too… mine has a slight twist too, quite different from yours which I like very much! Well done on making all those little bits come together so well.
OK, you turned it from awkward weird to elegant.
This is my first MMM year and I have really enjoyed it and learned a lot. But I will admit that I found myself staring in my closet last night wondering what repeat to wear.
Carolyn, it is much nicer after your tweaking.
I do so love that pieced t-shirt. 'Just' a tee, but with so much more interest. Given that I don't always trust my ability to discern the difference between weird and weird, I tend to weasel out and call something 'interesting'. Great outfit in the first pic, too, even before the t-shirt re-work.
your tweaked shirt looks lovely now, however I am still tempted to have a go at a pattern magic top. I am glad I didn't even try and think about joining in the MMM, it would have definitely pushed me over the top.
What is the body of water where you take your beautiful pictures?
Mostly the Swan River, Perth, although sometimes I take my photos an the beach, then it is the Indian Ocean
I can totally relate to your "weird" and "weird":-) I don´t think the new shirt is boring – the out of necessity seams give it a special twist and make it interesting. Thanks for sharing your outfits during MMM! Marlise
Boring! I don't think so, it's got some interesting details in those seam lines. Great refashion and terrific outfit 🙂
I love your tweaked tee. It is a perfect foil for the glorious jacket.
Your outfit is to die for! Just awesome!
I like all the seaming of your shirt, too.
Congrats on finishing Me-Made May! That went by fast! Of course I wasn't participating so I just got to enjoy others doing it, hehe. You and Merche are inspiring me so much with your Pattern Magic tops. They're so fun!
I applaud you for taking a piece that wasn't quite wearable, and making it completely wearable!
it was fun to see all your MMM outfits! you have such great style in your sewing, and it's fun to get a peek into how you wear it in your daily routine. and there's nothing boring about a black tee, at least not to me! and it was such a good idea to piece it all together. gives "boring" a little extra interest!
Loving the way the sleeves are pieced on that T!
You made a very nice top out of the 'weird' top, and I love your jacket.
Great outfit – love that jacket. Interesting top.
Fantastic outfit with your sorta new black t-shirt and understand fully the weird differences.
Wonderful results on the t-shirt! Nothing you sew is ever boring!
I think my mmm approach, i.e., wear something me-made all the time, but don't fret about pics, and do a weekly post, not daily, worked well for me. I'm definitely ready to be done, but I've really loved the whole experience! Maybe it helps that it's so fresh, since this is my first time?
I just love your whole outfit!.
But then, I nearly always do, so nothing new there lol
Hello Carolyn: I have been following your blog and look forward to getting a notice that you posted something. I have bought Shape Shape and Drape Drape based on your opinions plus many many patterns that you have made. Some of them are so much nicer on person than their pictures, especially the Vogue patterns. I am writing since I could not find on your blog anything about StyleArc patterns. At a site called Gorgeous Fabrics they recommend using their patterns quite often and thought maybe you would have a comment about them. Have you written about them? Could you send me the link so I can read your opinion? If you haven't tried them, why have you not chosen to? For me, it will cost quite a bit to have the pattern shipped, but if it is a great pattern, the cost is worth it.
Keep up the blog. I am sure I can't be the only one who looks forward to reading it almost every day even though I tend to hide in the background and don't comment often. It would be fun to be able to exchange fabric with you or a lot of your fans. I inherited three truck loads of fabric from a lady who liked my sewing. I had never met her so needless to say I was surprised. I now have two large rooms full of fabric and have no idea how I could ever use it all. I had a lot of fabric to begin with. It seems I can't go anywhere without spotting some fabric, trim or buttons that I think I need. I wonder if there is an exchange program somewhere on the net? he he
s dh; thank you for those kind words 🙂
I've never used a StyleArc pattern, for no other reason than I haven't come across them in real life. I keep thinking I should get around to checking out their website or something, because you do hear a lot of good things about them. I've read a lot of positive reviews of their patterns by shams (Communing with Fabric) and Jilly (Jilly Be Joyful) so they would be able to tell you a lot more about their experiences with the pattern company, ordering patterns, and fit and so on…
Thank you for reply. I will check with them about the patterns. On pattern review, the few that commented were positive. It sounds like you should be more than a beginner to sew them because the instructions are not detailed. That is not a problem for me. Have you ever tried Marfy? Again, what was your opinion (link) if you did try them.
Thanks again for the reply.
Sharon
Like all the other commenters, I like the lines of your 'new' T very much. I am always surprised how much you seem to get out of not very much fabric!!