indigo days

Hey guys! It's been a hot minute. Or maybe more than a hot minute? Lately I've definitely fallen prey to the instant gratification of Instagram over the longer format of a blog post, but I'm trying to make myself sit down and actually blog, because, quite honestly, I've got a lot to say, and there's only so much one can put into an Instagram caption!

I took a break from blogging for the Mood Sewing Network for a couple of months this past spring to get my "life" into some semblance of "order"... whatever that means.  And if I'm being completely honest, to find my way back to enjoying fashion again.  My love for sewing and creating hadn't really waned, but my interest in clothes was just... not there. I've felt a bit off in my personal style, and really meh about current trends.  I feel like my body has changed, and keeps changing, and day in and day out it was just so much easier to wear gym clothes than try to come to terms with what looked the best, and (more importantly) felt the best on my body.

Honestly, I feel like what's finally kicked my butt back into gear has been participating in Me Made May! There's been a lot of Me Made May action happening over on Instagram, and I've felt very inspired by what many of my online girl crushes have been putting together for their daily outfits. In particular, I've been getting major wardrobe envy from Ebony H and Sophie of Adaspragg.  If you don't already follow those two, go and follow and let me know if you similarly want to wear everything in their closet!

The other really great benefit of Me Made May has been documenting my own outfits.  It's no challenge for me to wear handmade everyday, at this point, and so the past few years my participation in Me Made May has been very half-hearted, at best.  But this year -- perhaps because it hit during a time that I was feeling some major wardrobe doldrums -- seeing my own outfits has really helped me to get a handle on what I like wearing, and where my personal style might be going. In my mind, this is really the benefit of doing these online challenges.

And so, as we're rounding out May, I'd like to introduce you to one of the things I've made recently that just felt so so right for me at the moment.  This is the Kalle shirtdress from Closet Case Patterns, sewn up in a tencel denim from Mood Fabrics.

Many many many moons ago, when I still used Pinterest, I pinned an image of a woman wearing an oversized denim shirtdress.  Apparently it was in another lifetime, because for the life of me I can't find that image anymore, or login to Pinterest, but that's another issue! But trust me - this woman was the definition of chic. It's funny the things that stick with us. I hadn't thought about that image for years, but when Heather released her Kalle pattern, and I started nosing around in my stash looking for a fabric to make it out of, that image came back to me and I knew that this pattern, and this tencel denim that I had bought for an entirely different project, had to come together to make my very own oversized denim shirtdress.

It's not exactly a novel idea.  Denim shirtdresses are classics, and can be found, in varying silhouettes, pretty much every season in RTW.  Still, it felt like a total eureka moment to this humble sewist, alone in her sewing room, in her crappy apartment, in her broken down beach town, on a spit of land in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. I'll take my props where I can, okay?

The tencel denim was perfect for this pattern.  A pure denim, or even chambray, wouldn't have had the drape that the tencel provides, which I think is key in making this oversized silhouette feel effortless. Sewing it was pretty drama-free.  I enjoyed the fact that it was basically just a large shirt, with many of the fun shirtmaking techniques - like button plackets, collars, pockets, topstitching, burrito-method back yokes... you know the ones. But the drop-shoulder, kimono sleeve meant that fitting was basically a non-issue, and the construction stopped just short of that point in making a shirt (sleeve cuffs and tower plackets...) where I start to feel like it's getting a bit tedious.

The only time I started cursing was while doing the bias binding on the hem.  This mostly had to do with my blood sugar being low (you can ask my husband, my boss, my mom... strangers on the street... I turn into a monster when I'm hungry) sewing non-stop for too many hours on end, the fact that this fabric didn't like to hold a crisp press on the bias (has anyone else ever experienced this? It pressed fine on the straight grain, but on the bias it just kind of wanted to bounce back...) and just my ongoing feud with bias binding (curse you bias binding... curse you!). However, it really provided a nice finish for the hem in the end, so it was worth it. 

Some of my favorite features of this dress are the dropped shoulder, the topstitched sleeve cuff, and that deep box-pleat at the back, which billows out when the wind catches it. I also love the exaggerated curve of the hem (even if I am still a bit sore about that bias binding...) 

I kept all my topstitching subtle by using a navy thread.  It's a touch darker than the beautiful indigo blue of the fabric, so it gives a hint of definition, but still keeps everything in the blue family so there isn't much contrast going on.  

I'm pretty obsessed with this dress right now. I actually sent Heather a text after wearing it for a day that went something like "DUDETHEKALLEDRESSOMG" (I may or may not have been drinking, and Heather may or may not be my friend that I drunk-text.  Mind your own beeswax, people. Sheesh). It's so incredibly wearable, and it makes me feel put together, yet relaxed. Perfect for my very casual lifestyle. Also, it's a godsend to have dresses like this when, for whatever reason (you've lost weight, you've gained weight, you're on your period, you're sick, you've put on muscle, you've aged, you're hormones are shifting... the list goes on and on...) you're body is changing and you can't quite get a handle on how to dress it.  This dress just works, and yet I don't feel like I'm wearing a sack. 

I feel fairly refreshed from my sewing and blogging break, and I'm hoping that some of my renewed enthusiasm for clothing will stick with me through the summer.  Summer is always the most difficult month for me to get excited about clothes in because wearing clothes is, basically, disgusting. Ha! But I'm feeling optimistic! I got big plans, people! Big plans! 

...

Okay. Medium sized plans.

...

Small plans? Look, we're just gonna try to keep trucking!  Thanks, as always, for following along. Love you guys!

xx

january blues

Wow you guys! It feels like it has been FOR. EV. ER. since my last post! Happy Holidays! Happy New Year! So much belated happiness! My holidays were lovely, with a nice long visit with family on the East coast. Since coming back to Texas (and real life) I've been a bit slow to find my groove. If you follow me on instagram I've been trying to give little peeks at what I've been up to, but honestly my life feels pretty boring right now! I started a new knitting project (the Riptide pullover from Brooklyn Tweed's new Winter 16 collection - and I'm in luuuuurve with it). And I also joined a local gym which feels like a big step since my last post on my fitness journey. I decided I really wanted to lift heavier weights, which just isn't feasible in my apartment.  So far it's been good! I've never been so sore, or hungry! Seriously, I'm like an eating machine... I also got a new lens for my camera (Christmas present from Nick, he's good to me) - a Nikkor 35mm. I love having my camera back in action, but I'm still getting used to the new lens, so forgive me if some of my pictures are a little out of focus. But when the focus is right - oh it's good!

And now we're all caught up! You will note that I didn't mention too much about my sewing plans in the above paragraph. That's because my sewing room has felt a bit stagnant as of late. Perhaps it's the winter blahs and the fact that they really promote couch time and knitting, or that I feel like I'm constantly schlepping from home to gym to work (a choice I willingly made) but I've been feeling a bit uninspired in that department.  It's happened before and I know I just need to ride it out and it'll pass, but it's always disconcerting when the sewjo plummets, ya know?

However I did manage to pull these two pieces out for my latest Mood Sewing Network make (I can always count on those MSN posts to get me into my sewing room!). They're not going to set the world on fire or anything, but they are comfy, cozy, adaptable to my wardrobe, and together look quite chic. 

The sweater jacket uses Mood's Italian Black and White Double Cloth Blended Wool Slubbed Knit (phew! that's a mouthful...). I bought a yard and a half of this stuff back in the fall with the intention of making just such a garment. It's really lovely and thick and because of the wool content it's very warm, however since it's a blend it's not scratchy at all. Basically an ideal snuggly layer. After seeing Sarai's Oslo cardigan hack over on the Coletterie I knew that I wanted to use this fabric to make my own.  However for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to cut the pattern pieces out of my yard and half! I'm actually still scratching my head about how Lauren managed to do it. Granted she did not do the kimono sleeve variation but still... clearly she's a wizard. Anywho. Long story short I had to order another yard. It was worth it. Even if it did mean that this garment got pushed back into the new year.

The Oslo cardigan is from Seamwork magazine.  The variation that I did involved a little bit of pattern manipulation to create the cut-on kimono sleeve, but nothing too difficult. And rather than the buttons in the front I added belt loops and a tie.  The only thing that I'm slightly bummed about is that I forgot to add width to the sleeves to get that cool kimono look that Sarai's has.  I thought the kimono sleeve looked kind of dumb at the regular slim sleeve width so I chopped them off at the elbows.  I say this was a happy accident as the shorter sleeve is kind of cool and makes for an interesting layering option.

Construction wise this was pretty straightforward. I used my serger for all the seams and my sewing machine's 3-step stretch stitch for the hems.  The only place where I got a bit creative was in attaching the collar.  The way the instructions have you do it would have involved me running three layers of fabric through my serger. Since this fabric is quite thick I didn't think that would be the best idea so instead I used my sewing machine to sew the right side down, then attach the underside by stitching in the ditch.  Which was really a breeze on this fabric because the stitches just sank right in! No one can tell how accurate (or, ahem, inaccurate) I was.

The dress I'm wearing is a Closet Case Files Nettie dress made up in Mood's Black Cotton-Viscose Jersey.   I used this same fabric previously to make leggings and I love it. It’s very stretchy and soft. This dress feels a bit revealing when I wear it alone because of the negative ease (I’m not comfortable in skin-tight dresses) but I love it as a layering piece.  I added length to the sleeves to make them nice and long so they bunch up at the wrists.  Construction wise, this was the same as for the sweater jacket – serger for the majority of the seams and a 3-step stretch stitch for the cuffs and hem.  

I love that stitch for stretch fabrics. It's really the only conventional machine stitch I’ve found for knits that doesn’t pop with wear. For some reason my machine’s zig-zag stitch never really seems to have any give, but the 3-step straight stitch does. Plus it looks super clean and professional. I highly recommend you give this stitch a try for knits if your machine has it. I'm sure most do. I have a very rudimentary machine.

As a whole, this outfit works pretty well as secret pajamas. Especially because they're like pajamas and a robe! And when the winter blues come a-knocking it's really all I can do to not wear my bathrobe to work (I wish I had my life together enough to own actual pajamas but...)  This is a decent second best in my opinion.  And both pieces work really well with the rest of my wardrobe. So even if I'm not blowing anyone's mind with these makes, I give them an A+ for wearability and the kind of thing I'll reach for again and again.

And there you have it! My first post of 2016. Feels good to dust off the cobwebs. I missed you guys. Anyone else in the midst of the January blues? Let's all hang out on the couch underneath a heating pad and commiserate...

xx

the dust that pancho bit down south

Hey everyone! Long time no... post? Can you believe that summer is winding down? The mornings and evenings have cooled off slightly around here which has my brain thinking about Fall - even if the weather is, by all accounts, still sweltering! 

I felt like I've been in a bit of a weird place with my making this summer.  Blame it on a lack of sewjo, or what have you, but I've been feeling pretty uninspired. What's worse, is that I wasn't even enjoying wearing my handmade clothes either! Between the heat, and some gritty tasks for me to tackle at work, my uniform became the same old pair of cut off jeans shorts and my grungiest of tees and tanks.  Not only did the people around me notice my lack of usual polish (and by "people" I mean Nick and my boss, because let's be real, that's about the extent of my social circle!) but after a while it started to do a number on my head! I was questioning my identity - was this sun-bleached-frayed-hem-sports-bra-Sallie the new me? While I certainly fit in with my lazy island surroundings, the thought depressed me. So I resolved to try to kick myself out of my rut in the only way I knew how: by making something so darn pretty I couldn't resist wearing it!

This dress came about sort of slowly. I bought 2 yards of this delicious Liberty of London silk-cotton voile using my Mood allowance a few months ago with no plan for it.  I had never touched Liberty of London fabrics before and I feel like it's the stuff of legends among the sewing community, so my interest was certainly piqued when Mood started carrying a selection.  This particular print really stood out to me.  It reminded me vaguely of a certain period of Disney animation - like the Sleeping Beauty era - where everything is highly stylized and you kind of suspect all the animators were experimenting with hallucinogens... I believe I described it in my Mood Sewing Network post as a "fantasy garden on acid" which I still feel is an apt description!



Well my 2 yards sat while I pondered what to do with them - I thought maybe pajamas, but it's so pretty I wanted the world to see it.  Meanwhile I was trolling some of my less traveled haunts on the internet looking for a pattern or a look that would get me excited about sewing again and I came across this dress on Burdastyle.  I don't know why I always forget about Burdastyle - maybe it's because they release such a deluge of patterns, many of which are just variations of the same rectangle, that it's easy to forget that there are some honest to goodness gems in amongst that deluge! I consider this dress (07/2015 #110) to be among those gems. The only problem was this pattern called for 5 freaking yards of fabric!! So I waited until my next Mood allowance rolled around and picked up the remaining 3 yards.  I have to be honest, this is definitely a project that would not have happened if it wasn't for my partnership with the Mood Sewing Network! No way in hell could I have afforded 5 yards of Liberty on my own dollar! So thank you Mood!



Working with the Liberty silk-cotton voile was at times both heavenly and oh-my-god-gouge-my-eyes-out-with-seam-rippers awful! If you've never crossed paths with these fabrics, let me try to describe it for you. In weight, this is somewhere between a cotton voile and the finest silk habotai. It is silky smooth and fairly sheer with a lovely drape that I would describe more as "floaty" than the fluidity of, say, a silk charmeuse. Basically it was the kind of fabric that if you bat your eyelashes at too hard it might flutter away! It does have the "stickiness" of cotton, so it didn't slip all over the place, but it could get kind of limp and wimpy when you wanted to get a crisp press.  I found that to get any kind of structure, like throughout the bodice, I had to utilize a liberal amount of interfacing, which I did. It also frayed pretty terribly with handling, so serging the raw edges was a necessity.



But oh my goodness if it doesn't make an exquisite finished garment! For eating up 5 yards of fabric this dress is remarkably light weight and easy to wear.  I self-lined the bodice for opacity and left the sleeves and skirt as a single layer.  This means that I have to wear a half-slip with the dress, but I'm okay with that.



There are so many details about this pattern that I absolutely adore: The slightly raised, cut-on collar, the deep, curved v-neck ending in the sweet button placket, the little fabric button loops, the yoked waist, the raglan sleeves, and oh my god that skirt! I had actually debated switching out the skirt for another pattern because I was worried it would be "too much" but I'm so glad I didn't! Yes it ate up yards of fabric with all that gathering, but the effect is a little bit Stevie Nicks, a little bit 70's folk singer, a little bit Little House on the Prairie, and a whole lotta stuff I love.  Let me put it to you this way, after finishing this dress I put it on to get the good ol' nod of approval from Nick and then proceeded to spend an inordinate amount of time swaying around the living room listening to Emmylou Harris sing "Pancho and Lefty".



Working with the pattern was the usual head-scratcher that most Burda patterns are.  I've learned not to trust the Burda sizing, but since the patterns don't come with seam allowances it was very easy to measure the waist and bust (the only measurements I needed for this pattern) and I ended up cutting a size smaller than my measurements on the size chart.  The instructions were... an adventure... In retrospect, there wasn't anything in particular that tripped me up, but I'm grateful that I have a few years of sewing under my belt to help decipher the cryptic descriptions. Par for the course with Burdastyle, really.  But again - the result is utterly lovely so I'm willing to forgive any moments of confusion I might have had! In fact, this pattern is most definitely going into my "to make again" pile.  The pattern came with pieces for a long poet sleeve - you guys! Can't you just picture the ultimate fall boho dress?!? Perhaps not in Liberty... but in a more affordable fabric I might even be tempted to make it maxi length...

You guys. I love this dress. It was just what I needed to fall in love with my sewing room again. Give me a good romantic design and delicious fabric with a complex floral print and I'm happy as a pig in shit!! 

Now excuse me while I go sway around my kitchen barefoot...

xx