A Dress

I think I may have done it - made myself the perfect dress.  If there's one thing I don't like about nursing, it's that I can't wear dresses (and if I'm honest, as much as I love it, there are really several things I don't like about nursing but this one sticks out).  I love wearing dresses in the summer.  And of course it's really no big deal to not be able to wear dresses but it can sometimes feel like a big deal, just a nasty restriction, just not being able to do it makes me want to do it so badly.

So my perfect dress has buttons of course.  Yes I sewed all those buttons and buttonholes!  I learned how to use my machine's automatic buttonhole maker of course.  Undoing buttons is still more annoying than lifting a top but she's nursing less and less often so I am happy to undo a few buttons each time.

It's got lots of gathering around the shoulders/arms so lots of freedom of movement.  And with the belt I don't feel too frumpy (a little frumpy is ok in my books).

I had to change the sleeves because they were much too poofy at first which of course pushed the frumpiness past my limit and also meant I couldn't roll them up.  

I added some patch pockets because I hate not having pockets and I think it adds to the casual look as well.

And I used some fabric I got a while ago from the fabric store that has a nice drape - so hard to find fabric with a nice drape and I am learning more and more how important it is! 

It took me about 6 weeks on and off to make it (yes I think I am a slow sewer).  It was nice to work on something slowly for a change, not expecting to get it done by the end of the day leant a different atmosphere to my sewing.  

I have only worn it once but I really think it is a keeper.  And really even when I say that on the blog I often end up not wearing it.  But I think this time it's true.  

Sewing clothes is really a bit insane, at least in this day and age.  Not only are you putting money and time and effort into a garment without trying it on first but without even seeing it!!  So really I shouldn't be surprised that I so often end up not liking what I sew.  I guess the only surprise is that I keep doing it.    But for now I do, it's still fun.  I definitely still love the anticipation of seeing how it ends up.  And I love the 'coming up with ideas' part, can't give that up.  And sitting down at the sewing machine or crouching on the floor with the scissors with Coronation Street on the computer is just nice, I just like it for some reason.  

Maternity Dress

I made myself a maternity dress. I didn't use a pattern but just kept it super simple - just 2 pieces really, not even separate sleeves. And I added a bit of elastic to make it empire waist so it's less like a giant T-shirt. I turned out pretty well, the first time I've done a knit neckline without it getting stretched out. But I didn't really enjoy working with knits, I just had to be so careful and the bottom hem did end up a bit stretched out.

Here I am in the dress with my 27 week belly.

Top

I made myself another top last week. This one is from the translated Japanese sewing book Simple Modern Sewing. I think it is a good book so far, I want to make a bunch more of the things in there but I think they will wait for post pregnancy.

I bought the material for this top new. I was looking for something solid but instead found this navy and white check which is still pretty plain I think. And it is a nice loose weave so drapes nicely.

I do really like this top even though it is not very flattering and makes me look humongous. It looked much nicer on the very thin and small busted Japanese woman in the pattern book. I will definitely wear it while I'm pregnant at least as it's long and comfy. Here's my 25 week belly. This pregnancy is coming along nicely and my back is no longer bothering me now that I am being more careful about carrying Henry too much.

And in Henry news, here he is out at a restaurant in Elora for breakfast yesterday. I thought this would be a really fun treat since Henry loves pancakes so much these days. And he was excited about pancakes as soon as he heard us order it from the waitress but he lost interest after a few bites and went to play on the floor of the restaurant with his toys. Oh well it was still a nice outing.

A Maternity Top

I got back into some sewing last week and made myself this maternity top. I used this awesome vintage pattern.

If it wasn't so fiddly I'd want to make another one, well maybe in another month or so I'll try a sleeveless version. But I am definitely in the mood for something simple for my next sewing project. And I think I also want to go buy some plain fabric. I have a closet full of these loud prints (that is what ends up in thrift stores for some reason...) and always feel that I should use them up but I know I will get more wear out of something more plain.

And here's a 24 week belly shot. This baby is coming along nicely. I have been having some back troubles but I think I just have to be more firm about not carrying Henry.

And here's Henry still getting lots of wear out of the sweater I sewed for him a year ago (and it's held up really well even though it was made pre-serger). And a shot of him in it in November 2010 for comparison, I remember that baby.

2 New Skirts

I am very much into elastic waist skirts nowadays and think I will be through the rest of my childbearing years - I am sick of changing sizes and not fitting into my clothes. And they are comfy and warm with some soft leggings underneath. I made these 2 a couple of weeks ago.

This first one was actually already a skirt but it was full length and super high skinny waisted - not very comfortable or wearable. But I loved the pattern on it and it is a nice knit material so could be very comfortable. I've had it forever, I remember wearing it for 7th grade picture day and before that I think it was my mum's. And now after hanging in my closet for years and years I am actually getting wear out of it and I love it.

This one was made from some thrift store fabric. I just traced the approximate shape of another skirt and added a circular patch pocket.

We cleared some leaves on Saturday. Here's Henry helping. Putting leaves in the wheelbarrow one small handful at a time and then helping me push the wheelbarrow to the road.

Another Shirt

I made myself another shirt. I'm not pretending that I need more shirts but I had an idea of something that I wanted to sew and I like to think that's more important than fitting all my clothes into my half of our small closet. This is made from a pair of pure wool pants that I had that were too small for me in several dimensions so I didn't hesitate to cut them up and use the beautiful fabric. I had actually planned to make a different, more complicated shirt but soon discovered that I had grossly overestimated the amount of fabric that comes from one pair of pants, even one with lots of pleats. So instead I made this simple shirt. Each sleeve had to be made from 3 scrap pieces and I think the shirt is just screaming for patch pockets but I don't have a scrap left to make them from.

For a base pattern, I used a couple patterns from the Japanese sewing book Happy Homemade Vol. 1. I am really liking this shortsleeved top over a long sleeved top since I saw it in my Japanese pattern books. No, it's not super practical but it looks cool. Actually when I wore this outfit yesterday I was the perfect temperature and I think the tightly woven wool T-shirt helped keep out the wind to keep me just a smidge warmer.

And what's Henry been up to? He really likes this toy broom that I bought him on the weekend (from our local broom maker of course). Here he is helping me clean up some rice that he spilled at dinner. It's nice because I have been teaching him to help clean up when he makes a mess but often that means I see him picking up many many teeny tiny pieces of puffed wheat off the floor and putting them back in the bowl. Now he can "help" with the broom (he's still a little too uncoordinated to help without quotation marks).

2 Skirts

I have been doing some sewing recently, just haven't been getting around to the photographing. Am I getting over the need to photograph everything I sew? No I think I should keep doing it - it's so important for us stay-at-home moms to feel we accomplish "stuff" and I like it to be on record too.

This first skirt I made a couple months ago but then forgot about and wore for the first time on our day trip to Stratford. It was made from a dress that I made that didn't turn out. And it wasn't made well. The seams are all skewif, I used just the serger (and with white thread), and didn't redo the hem after taking in the sides. And all those things make it look terrible when you've just sewn it and are very aware of them. But a few months later they're not noticeable. And it turns out a skirt in a knit material is super comfy. I would like to make another one that I am more proud of one of these days. I used the waist band from a pair of shorts that I began taking apart for material about a year ago (I think only the pockets are left from them). I love this solution for waistbands, especially when it's with this awesome print.

And I just finished this denim skirt a week or so ago. I had wanted a denim skirt for a while but I wanted it to be a bit flowy (that's how I like my skirts). So to fit this requirement I had to make it myself. And I finally did it after finding a denim table cloth in a thrift store (a denim tablecloth!). I based the pattern off another skirt that I've had for years and love (the one I am wearing in this post). It has 4 panels and I cut it on the bias hoping to add to the flowiness. Of course I added pockets and did an elastic waist (one of these days I will graduate from the elastic waist but not yet). It turned out pretty perfect I think.

2 New Tops

I made myself 2 new tops recently. The first one came from this vintage pattern and I'm pretty pleased with it, not sure it will get much wear though as it doesn't fit in with my everyday clothes all that well. I love the little attached sleeves though. And they are super practical - cover my shoulders from the sun but are nice and open so I feel as if I am wearing a sleeveless top.
Also note my cute new hairstyle that I cut myself yesterday.

This second is a pattern I drafted using that pattern as a base. I knew I definitely wanted another top with those perfect sleeves. I kept the basic shape but simplified everything else - no collar, no slit in the front, just two pieces. I used a vintage sheet as my material. I was a bit worried about the clown effect wearing pink and orange and fluorescent green but I've worn it a few times now and no one has mistaken me for a clown. Actually I felt quite comfortable and confident in it. So I love my new top and it feels good to have mostly drafted the pattern myself. If I make it again though I will make the neckline much lower. It will look better and I won't feel like I have my top on backwards all day.Both these projects were from a week or so ago. I haven't been sewing much the past week as I have just been too busy with this little guy - just so much fun stuff to do with an almost 18 month old in the summer! Doesn't he look so big and grown up all of a sudden!?!

Bottoms

image from Pomadour 24 on ebay

After making myself so many tops a few weeks ago, it was time to make a few more bottoms. These are both from the pattern 'T' seen above in Happy Homemade Volume 1, a Japanese pattern book that I love. I had actually made a variation of this pattern a few weeks ago and found that the fit was just so perfect - just enough room to be comfy but not look too sloppy. And I am enjoying the comfort of an elasticated waist.

These shorts are made with no variation to the pattern. Except for adding the pockets and making them flat front (elastic only in the back) but the length is from pattern. They are made from a navy blue twill that I bought new because I really wanted some plain shorts.And these pants are the same pattern but lengthened. New fabric is very expensive and I had lots of stuff I wanted to sew so when I found that Ikea had unbleached cotton at $2/metre and it actually felt quite nice I snapped up 10 m thinking I could spend a bit of money on dye and make it different colours for various projects. And this fabric resulted from my trying to dye 3 m grey for a dress I wanted to make. I obviously grossly underestimated the amount of liquid needed to evenly dye 3 m and ended up with this blotchy mess. Well I decided the mess was quite cool actually, but I didn't want to use it for a dress so I made these pants. I think I love them but I haven't worn them yet so we'll see how comfortable I am in them in public. I am loving sewing right now but of course I don't want to sew anything that is the same as what I could just buy in the store... so my clothes are naturally going to get more and more unconventional.And speaking of unconventional, here is Henry's 'screw you' to convention. Holding his spoon in one hand while using his other hand to shovel apple sauce into his mouth, what a sweetie.

Clothes for Amy

Ever since I got my Japanese pattern books in the mail I can't stop sewing. All of these clothes are from thrift store materials. Most of the patterns are from Happy Homemade Volume 1. This book is full of very simple clothes with small details like gathers and pleats that make them interesting. And the clothes are just my style - loose tops made of woven materials. Not flattering or fashionable but still make me feel cool. I still have more things that I want to sew from these books and a few winter versions in mind.

This is 'D' from Happy Homemade. I have worn it a couple times already. It also looks nice over a long sleeved T so this is the winter version as well.

This one is a bit of a mix of several of the patterns. They all have the same base size/shape so you know the sleeves of one will fit onto the body of another. So I just made a simple T-shirt because that was all the material that I had. I love this striped gauzey material that I found at the thrift store. This one really fits in with my casual wardrobe too. It is a bit restricting in the back so I added about an inch to the width of the back in subsequent tops.
These shorts are from the other book that I think I remember was called in English 'One Day Dresses and Tunics' but I can't seem to find it online right now. This is all I've made from this book so far but there is more on my list to make. These are made from a table cloth. It was fun to decide where to place the pattern on the shorts. And I added seam pockets.
These shorts are T from Happy Homemade, I just made them a bit longer, added the pockets, and made them flat fronted instead of having the elastic all the way around.

This is E from Happy Homemade, the yellow one here. I am learning more and more about fabric choice. This was a really nice fabric so it made a really nice top - lovely and drapey. I wasn't sure about the sleeve ruffles but I am glad I did them. I am finding it difficult to do a nice even hem on these wide tops - must work on that.