Me Made June Day 2

This year, Me Made Month is June instead of May...thank goodness, or else I wouldn't have had time to churn out a bunch of stuff after AP Exams. Once again, I endeavor to wear at least one me-made, modified, or refashioned article of clothing, piece of jewelry, or accessory every day in the month of June. And I'm going to add on that I'm also trying to wear thrifted/secondhand clothing as much as possible, in an effort to reduce waste and be green and all that.

Well, guess what. MMJ started as a fail already since yesterday, June 1, totally snuck up on me. I was cleaning out my classroom and I knew it would be a dirty, sweaty job (even if I had Emily and some students do a lot of the work). I'm really protective of my me-made stuff since I put so much time and effort into making them, so I decided to start a day late. Also, I figure I earned a day of respite considering my crazy sewing weekend (read about it here!).

So here is Day 2!

The Facts

I didn't make this dress. It's just a swimsuit cover-up that I bought last year at Target, but it was such a lovely mustard color that I thought would go well with lace. I wanted to make it more Anthropologie-esque and whimsical, so I cut out these lace flowers from a scrap of fabric I had leftover from when I was thinking of making a wedding dress. I used iron-on adhesive to secure them to the jersey, and they've mostly held up through several washings, although some of the tiny corners are starting to fray .

Cost: Considering I only cut out what, ten flowers? Maybe fifteen cents? Oh wait, add in the adhesive...so probably a dollar. Plus the cost of the original dress.

Time to complete: Probably about an hour, but most of that was cutting the weird flower shapes with a tiny pair of embroidery scissors so I could get all the details.

First worn: August 2010? I don't remember.

Where'd you go today in this outfit? Drove all the way out to El Cajon just to turn in my keys and laptop, then went shopping with Emily and joined Eric for tapas in PB.

Good things about this outfit: I love the mustard color, the comfiness of knit jersey, and the lace embellishments, of course. It's also fairly versatile, season-wise, since it's actually not overtly summery; with gray tights and boots and a cardigan it's still passable for winter.

Things that weren't so good: Since this wasn't meant to be a real dress, I feel like it's a bit short. I don't usually like hemlines above the knee unless I'm wearing tights or tall boots. Also, as I mentioned, the corners of the flowers are starting to come off, so I think I need to stitch them down before it goes into the laundry again.

Would you wear this outfit again? Definitely! This is one of my favorite dresses since it's so bright and cheerful. Plus, I know it's good since my girl students always comment on it favorably (I wear it with leggings to work, of course!).

I'm really excited about MMJ since I feel like my sewing has gotten a lot less craft-y and more real clothes-esque. Last year during MMMay, most of my clothes were jersey or quilting cotton or just embellishments, really easy to sew stuff. In the last year, I've learned to fit bodices (this means I can make dresses, not just skirts!), insert invisible zippers (honestly, I don't know why I was so afraid of them), and use commercial patterns. I've figured out how to use bias tape, do lining in dresses, and the importance of ironing while sewing. Also, since it's June, I am off from school and can spend all day sewing up a storm! That is, as long as Walnut doesn't distract me.

The best thing about this dress is that it matches perfectly with the chair's at Eric's new workplace. Emily was so impressed she made me take a picture.