Me-Made-May 2014

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I started sewing clothes for myself on a fairly regular basis last May. It’s been almost a full year, and I’ve made loads of clothes. Back then, I held a secret aspiration to participate in Me-Made-May in a year’s time, and now that event is starting tomorrow! I think I’m ready, and I just signed up. So excited. I’ve been wanting to participate for years.

I’ve noticed that on many sewing blogs, folks often talk about how they constantly make these beautiful clothes that just never get worn because they’re just not everyday appropriate or don’t actually mesh with their style or they don’t work with other items in the closet. When I first dabbled in stitching my own clothes back in 2008 or so, I found myself making fancy dress after fancy dress even though I hated wearing dresses (I now love them, but you know what I mean). I stopped sewing for myself when I went back to work shortly before 2009 and didn’t pick it up again until last year. This time around, I was determined to sew practical clothes. Funnily enough, even though I think I’ve been pretty good about staying true to my own personal style and focusing on “wearable” items, I still bypass a vast majority of the clothes that I make when morning rolls around. It’s perplexing.

When I posted the jacket that I adore so much earlier this week, I realized that I don’t feel that deep love for too many of the clothes I make. And because I can just power up my sewing machine and make something shiny and new and crow about the skills I’ve developed or the stash-busing I’m accomplishing, I haven’t been really thinking too deeply about how best to build a collection of clothing that truly works for my body, my lifestyle, and my aesthetics. Addressing these types of issues that often crop up with creating your own clothes, the always instructional and insightful Coletterie put forth the Wardrobe Architect series.

I have a feeling that the Wardrobe Architect brilliance combined with the practice of wearing my handmade clothes daily through Me-Made-May will help me focus and allow me to better navigate the still foggy terrain of creating a wardrobe that I love.  To get a better sense of all the clothes I’ve slaved over in the last year, I painted each item, and whoa, I made 46 in total (not counting the infinity scarf). I obviously can’t seem to stay away from the colors blue and grey, which isn’t really a problem for me, but seeing them all together like this makes me want to explore a broader range of colors…

I have more thoughts on this as I’ve been mulling over this for a while, but for now I promise not to bombard you with photos of myself in my handmade wardrobe day in and day out this upcoming month.

10 Minute Jam

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No joke, this jam took less than 10 minutes to make. I do have to mention that a microwave played a major role, and I’m usually not one to rally behind nuked foods. But when a recipe claims to take a mere ten minutes, well, I’m a sucker for that kind of thing.

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When it first came out of the microwave, the mixture had ballooned considerably and then slowly deflated, leaving a soupy mixture. As it cooled, the jam thickened, and I have to say, it’s scrumptious. K, of course, thought it was a fabulous science/cooking experiment, which I guess it kind of is, and she loves the jam.

I’m always happy to try out new things, but it does make me a little uncomfortable to consume microwaved food. Every time I heat up leftovers, I feel a pang of guilt. But oh, the convenience! At any rate, this jam was definitely worth the try, and now that my curiosity is sated, I’m back to healthy cooking!

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Here’s a behind the scenes look-see of K styling the jam and taking test shots with her little camera, setting it all up for me to shoot. I think she might have a real future in this line of business…

 

Sewing for Me: Moss Green Linen Jacket

 

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Good morning! I’m starting the week off a little differently with something sewn for me. As I mentioned last week, Tuttle Publishing sent me some books to review and this one is another goodie which I’m excited to talk about.

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This is the popular Happy Homemade Sew Chic book in English. I don’t have the Japanese version of this book, so it was a fresh experience to sew from this collection of lovely patterns. As you can see, there are 20 patterns and if you click on the link above, you’ll be able to see the contents of the book.

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I chose pattern J, which is a simple jacket with no closures and front flaps that create a cascading effect. I don’t wear a lot of blazers or jackets, but I do have an affinity for cardigans and this felt like a cross between a casual blazer and cardigan. With the flowy silhouette, patch pockets and 3/4-length sleeves, it’s a bit playful, and the ends of the ties in the back are intentionally left raw, giving it a smidgen of edginess.

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I love it!! I used some of the dark mossy green linen blend from my stash (I made K a pair of pants from this fabric ages ago), and it has that perfect relaxed fit that doesn’t feel too dowdy. Mine isn’t quite as slouchy as the one modeled in the book, and that may be due to the thicker fabric I used since the beautiful navy linen in the book looks quite thin.

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The pattern construction is easy-peasy since I didn’t have to fiddle with zippers or buttons or snaps. Tracing and cutting took the bulk of time since the patterns pieces are quite large and on different sides of the pattern sheets like the kids’ book I reviewed last week, but once I got into the sewing phase, it came together in less than 90 minutes. As for sizing, although my measurements corresponded closer to size 12 on the chart in the book, I eyeballed the pattern pieces and decided to make the size 10. It fits great, so I’ll keep in mind that these patterns seem to run large.

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The instructions were straightforward, though again, I found a minor error (the right side of the fabric was labeled wrong side in one of the illustrated instructions sections), so I’m starting to get the sense that you may encounter some misinformation here and there.

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Overall, I’m extremely happy with my jacket and wore it to a friend’s birthday party yesterday. Comfy and stylish! Alas, as much as I’m tempted to offer up this book as I love to do giveaways, there are too many patterns I want to try out so this one will remain on my bookshelf. I highly, highly recommend it so far!

Happy Friday + Randomness

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One of my big goals for the past couple of years has been to practice photography and get to a point where I could blow up at least one of my images to hang on our walls. My skills haven’t improved much, but I’m understanding my camera better and better every day. I started a “To Print” folder on my desktop for the images that might have potential. These are a few of the ones I’ve been gathering, and I thought I’d share. Due to my privacy policy, I had to cut off this photo above, but it’s the sweetest shot of M kissing K’s forehead and I love that they’re both wearing the exact same shade of orange.

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There’s also something about this image that tugs at me — the delicate shadows of the trees and K’s crazy tiered tights from Target with her white skirt and humongo tennis shoes make me smile. I took this last week during one of our outings, and we found this delightful staircase leading down to a cobbled street.

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We were on the deck of the ferry headed out to Bainbridge island when I snapped this shot of a seagull. It’s blurry and the background is completely blown out, but it reminds me of the cold winds snapping my hair every which way as I craned my neck to capture the bird in the frame. It felt, momentarily, like I was flying with it.

The practicing continues. I’m reminded of this Ira Glass quote — I’m somehow convinced that I have much better taste than my results indicate so I keep at it.

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Last week, when I picked up K and her friend A after school, I overheard this conversation:

K: Hey A, when do you think you’ll start dating?

A: Hmm. When I’m ninety-nine.

K: Oh, that’s a good age.

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Have a wonderful weekend, my friends! I’m off to spend mine sewing up a storm. Lots and lots of projects in the works!

Next week will differ
from regular programming
only a little*

*I’m switching the Monday Outfit post to Thursday since I’ll be part of Heidi’s blog tour! Must get cracking…

Fashion Revolution

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There’s a movement brewing. Laura, Celina and Abby have adopted this movement and reached out to those of us that create our own clothing, a call to action for solidarity to question current garment industry standards and to recognize the global and environmental impacts of fast fashion. In their words:

The goal is for all of us to stand together for a united cause and help to show sewing (in all its forms) as an ethical and sustainable alternative to fast fashion and mass consumerism.  It’s one piece in a very large puzzle but by showcasing home sewn items we will help spread the word that in some cases the answer to ‘Who Made Your Clothes?’ can proudly be answered, “ME!”

 

Fashion Revolution Day Handmade

 

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Until I started to sew clothes for K and myself, I never thought much about origins of the tops and jeans and jackets and dresses and undergarments that clothed my body, shielding me from the elements. I would be lying to say that I started to sew for ethical reasons, but now that I’ve gone nearly two years without buying any mass-produced clothing, I’ve had enormous shifts in my mentality toward the rows and rows of ready-to-wear items I see lined up in shops. Who, indeed, made them?

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I’m proud to be able to say I make my own clothes. I’ve talked about it before, and I know that there are important and disturbing issues to consider for the fabrics that I use for my handmade creations as well, but it feels like a step toward the right direction. A small revolution.

I have many more thoughts on this. But the words are not yet fully formed and they can wait. For now, I am joining in with my inside-out dress from last week. Are you in? Click on the graphic below to find out more…

Fashion Revolution Day Handmade