By Hand London Polly Top #2

Right after I made my first Polly top, I picked up a four-yard piece of rayon challis for free from my sewing classroom's giveaway pile. I figured that was pretty much a direct order to make another one, especially since I wore the first one so much! I didn't want to make an insert for this one, though, since the print was already so busy, and it would be way too hard (and against the stashbusting rules, which I had already broken in picking up the original fabric) to find a coordinating fabric.

I made it a lot longer, too. 

I opted to just "fill in" the empty area where the insert would be by extending the center front line down and continuing as normal. This meant that there wasn't any bust shaping, and of course the whole top got a lot swingier at the bottom. The former didn't work quite so well with my expanding bust, but the bottom will accommodate quite a bit more bump!

By Hand London Polly Top #1

When the ladies at By Hand London put out the free Polly top sewing pattern, I was vaguely intrigued. Maybe it would be the perfect shell pattern that I was looking for, since the Colette Sorbetto didn't really work out for me. I downloaded it and promptly forgot about it until Jungle January rolled around. I had a scrap leftover from my previous Jungle January make, and it was just big enough for the front insert and a few scraps of bias tape. Is it a sewcialist faux pas to make two Jungle January garments from the same fabric? Oh well.

I used a random black knit remnant from my stash for the rest of the top (I know it's supposed to be a woven top, but I figured this is a very stable knit), and aside from some tricky pattern laying out to make everything fit, things went very quickly. The only modification I made was to shorten the straps considerably. It's such a flattering, easy to wear top, and I wear it every almost every laundry cycle, but somehow I never got around to taking proper pictures and blogging it until now, four months later! Oops.

Confession: I wore it a few times with the armholes still unbound, since it was January and it would be under a cardigan anyway. It took me a good month to get around to binding them!

Summary:
Fabric: 2/3 yard piece of mystery-content black knit with excellent recovery, so I'm guessing it has a lot of lycra. The insert and bias bindings were made from a scrap of rayon challis.
Notions: None
Hours: Three? It was a while ago.
Will you make it again? Already did, and already planning another one!
Total cost: Free, since it was all from scraps/leftovers!
Final thoughts: I like how it's fitted on top, but widens and skims the belly at the bottom...perfect for covering the bump! This was crucial during that first trimester when I had crazy bloating, but wasn't ready to announce yet. And of course, the insert adds a little bit of fun to an otherwise normal shell.

See, you can't really tell there's a bump, right? 

Me Made Travels

So far, Me Made May has been pretty easy. I've got enough tops and knit dresses that getting dressed most days isn't a challenge per se, but that's about to change. You see, this year, I got picked/voluntold (lucky me!) to be a chaperone on the sophomore class' end of the year nine-day East Coast trip. We're leaving on a red eye flight tomorrow night for a whirlwind tour of historical sites and museums in Washington DC, Philadelphia, and NYC. It's free for chaperones, but the downside of course is constant supervising of teenagers who think they're old enough to just go wandering off in Times Square without informing anyone...

Days 15-18: Unblogged BHL Polly top, Olive dress, Not-a-Renfrew tee, raglan sleeve swing top.

Given that 1) the weather is predicted to be drastically different in these three cities (any advice for packing for thunderstorms? we don't get them here in CA!), 2) I only get one small luggage, 3) we're going to be doing tons of walking, so I have to wear appropriate shoes and not just my standard ballet flats, and 4) I have no idea how my bump will change in the next ten days, packing a more or less coordinated me-made travel wardrobe is going to be a challenge. I'm going to be a little more lax about allowing RTW clothes days and I will definitely be repeating several tops from earlier in the month. I've got a couple of posts scheduled for this next week, though, so be on the lookout for several incarnations of By Hand London Polly tops!

Days 19-23: floral top, faux-80s tunic, another unblogged BHL Polly, Japanese sewing book top, and my Jungle January dress. I think this was the celebration of rayon challis week...   

I really wish I had time to take off to meet up with all you East Coast sewists and do a little bit of fabric shopping (doesn't it seem like such a tease to be so close to the garment district but not get to take home any fabric souvenirs?), but in order to get a free trip, I have to give up any actual free time. However, if you happen to see me wandering around important tourist spots with fifty Asian high school students...say hi!

The 80s Called, and They're Back

Every time I look back at my old elementary school photos, I swear I'll never wear 80s styles again. After all, if you were old enough the first time (I was, just barely), then you shouldn't the second time, right? And everyone is pretty unanimous about how awful 80s styles were. Those huge, oversized tunic tops with leggings, all the drop waists and linebacker shoulders, the crazy big hair...I'd find a picture of young me to show you, except that I'd really rather not.

I found Simplicity 7822 in my recently inherited seven box stash addition.
I swear I had a top that looked exactly like that purple one on the right when I was eight or so.

I was going through my closet, trying to put away all the clothes that don't fit anymore, and I came across this top from very early on in my sewing journey. I haven't worn it in at least two years; I didn't like how boxy it was in the torso, and since I made it from less than a yard of fabric, it was way too short to wear untucked. Even tucked in, it was always working itself loose. Of course, now that I'm in a family way, the loose fit is perfect! It was still too short, though, so I had to figure out how to lengthen it when I didn't have any of the fabric left. Well, it's a good thing the 80s are back, because looking through the Anthropologie website revealed a quick and easy fix: just add a ruffled peplum in a different fabric! Those last two were the most inspirational; I combined the idea of lace + gray + peplum to come up with this combination:

It took less than half an hour to gather a 10" strip of light grey rayon knit at a 1:1.5 ratio and attach it to the bottom of this shirt. 

I was so pleased with myself for saving an unwearable top and even making it maternity-appropriate. And then when I really looked at myself in the mirror, I realized that I had just put on the exact outfit from Simplicity 7822, complete with the leggings. I even wore it with ballet flats today. Oh well, at least my hair is a normal size?

Next thing you know, I'll be succumbing to overalls. (Actually, I really hope not. If I do, you have permission to stage an intervention.)

How Long Can I Get Away With This?

I'm still spending some of my time in that major Egyptian river regarding my slowly changing body, but it's been really helpful reading all of your encouraging comments about viewing such changes positively. I'll be honest, I'm scared of never being able to wear my geeky dresses or fun costumes again, especially after spending hours of my life getting them to fit right. Is that superficial or what? Then again, my style has really become part of my identity, and even more so as a science teacher. Have you seen this article about gaining status by wearing non-conformist clothing? I feel like that's what I do in my Ms. Frizzle-esque teacher persona, enough so that students actually mentioned it in their year-end evaluations. A loss of that part of me (even if it's just an outward part! inwardly I'm still just as much of a dork as ever), coupled with trying to decide if I should return to school after the standard three months of maternity leave (lose my career identity to motherhood too??), and I've had lots of thinking and processing to do lately.

In the midst of all of that, I've still had to get dressed every day. I quickly discovered that the downside to having sewn tops that perfectly fit my small bust meant that about half of my me-made tops immediately became unwearable (unless I was purposely going for the bursting-out-of-my-blouse look). I had to have an emergency sewing weekend where I just churned out several quick tops that worked, and would continue to work as my body changes. Thankfully, loose, slouchy, or swingy tops are in right now, and of course I've no shortage of stash fabric!

Day 9 of Me Made May.

Anyway, almost exactly two years ago I made a version of Simplicity 8986; that top ended up being donated even after fixing the facing issue, just because the boxiness + polyester wasn't worth dealing with. I pulled it out again to make View D, which despite its very 90s envelope art is perfect for a no-fuss, kimono sleeve, trendily shapeless top. I wanted to add some visual interest, though, so I modified the pattern to include a contrast panel in front. Joining the bias-cut woven rayon to the stretchy knit rayon resulted in some weird drapiness at the seams, and the knit neckband got wonky at the join, but frankly I've seen a lot worse in RTW tops and I'm just glad to have a wearable top. It got a lot of positive comments when I wore it to school, and as we all know, teenagers have no qualms about telling you exactly what they think, so I think I'm good. Also, I discovered after having made it that it's pretty much just like this top-rated Modcloth tee, so that's nice.

It's really just a giant tee shirt with a trapezoid in the middle!

Summary:
Fabric: 2/3 yard of white mystery knit (feels like rayon with a healthy amount of lycra, since it's got decent recovery) and a remnant from this dress, both from the stash.
Notions: Just thread.
Hours: Less than two, from cut to finish. I love how knits require no seam finishing (I did pink and topstitch the rayon portions to control fraying), and kimono sleeves require no setting in, and I can do knit neckbands in my sleep now. How's that for instant gratification?

Will you make it again? I don't have anymore rayon scraps large enough to do this exact look, but I do like the idea of mixing prints with solids in simple tops!
Total cost: Less than a dollar, since the knit was original purchased in bulk from Michael Levine Loft, and the rayon was a remnant.
Final thoughts: I'm pleasantly surprised that mint is still in two years later because I love this top, despite its being not at all quirky. I think it's because I like to be able to prove that despite wearing odd-ish me-made clothing most of the time, I am still capable of identifying what's in fashion. It has no mental baggage attached since it was so easy to make, and it's gratifyingly attractive to wear while being loose enough to accommodate quite a bit more potential belly.

Seriously, how is this fabric still trendy even though I bought it two years ago specifically because it was trendy then?
And yet it is. Not that I'm complaining. 

I'm going to try to hold out as long as I can before conceding to actual, "official" maternity tops. I've got at least a few more non-maternity garments that I've made recently and been wearing...I hope they'll last for at least another couple of months!

Me Made (Maternity) May: Halfway Roundup

You guys, thank you so much for the outpouring of congratulations and excitement on my behalf regarding my coming SHB! Walnut is less sure than you all, though, about his feelings on the matter...

Me Made May, days 1, 2, 4-6: black chiffon top, Come to Feather dress, A New Hope dress (for May the Fourth!), Ariadne tunic, and casual Gatsby dress.

It's been interesting seeing how pregnancy has been affecting my body, and therefore my sewing and wearing of me-made clothing. I think those of us who sew are probably more aware of our bodies than the average shopper; after all, we're trying to make garments that perfectly fit our bodies. This is good, because we end up with items that are tailored to our specific measurements, but the flip side is that when those measurements change, those perfectly fitted items really don't fit!

This was exactly the case with basically half my closet -- all those very fitted top, flared skirt dresses? Unwearable, and almost immediately*! While I pretty much expected that to be the case, what surprised me was the reason why they didn't fit. I thought my expanding waistline would be the problem, but instead, it was my expanding bust. Somehow, I missed the memo about growing almost two cup sizes while pregnant. It's been really weird for me; I always thought I'd be thrilled to have a larger bust, but now that it's happened, I feel almost as if I don't know myself anymore. Okay, maybe that's a little melodramatic, but stay with me here: all my life I've identified as a small-busted lady, and I've made the best of that by making a lot of dartless bodices that really only work if one is fairly small. Throw in society's messed-up evaluation of a woman based on her chest size, and even if I don't subscribe to it, it still gets in your head, you know? And now that I suddenly have cleavage, I'm all mixed up about my style because my signature items don't fit anymore. I was going to wear my beaded Gatsby dress (the quintessential gamine, flat-chested look!) to a fancy dinner two months ago and I couldn't get the slip on! Can I have a fashion-based nervous breakdown without sounding totally shallow?

*My Star Wars dress was the last fitted dress I was able to wear, and only because it had originally been quite loose. Even then, it was a tight squeeze. I'm pretty sure May 4th was literally the last day I could have zipped it up and still been able to sit down and breathe!

Days 7, 8, 10, and 11: Golden Oatmeal dress, It's Hip to Be a Square maxi dress, unblogged tee refashion, and Japanese dress. Notice how these are all knit garments. 

My fabulous Ursula bustier that I spent so long working on? A week after I took the photos, it didn't fit anymore...at the bust. I could still fasten the waist stay, but it wouldn't zip all the way up. I wanted to cry because it just seemed so unfair. Of course, once I hit month four, my waist did start slowly growing, so the bustier really didn't fit at all. I had to pack it away inside my costume trunk and hope that one day I'll be able to wear it again. Man, it's a good thing I have so many elastic-waisted, knit garments in my closet. The SHB is now the size of a pomegranate, so you can definitely tell from the side now. From the front, things still look fairly normal, or so I tell myself. My waist has always been my favorite feature, so I find myself alternating between denial and mourning as it slowly disappears...

Days 12-14: Travel to Work dress, granny dress to maxi skirt refashion, Dulcie dress. Hurrah for elastic waists and belts! 

All this to say, MMM14 has been a bit of an adventure, and I've had a couple of weekends of emergency sewing (I know, exactly what we're not supposed to do!) as I try to make more maternity-suitable clothing. I don't think I'm mentally adjusted to my changing body yet, though, so most of those makes have just been loose, swingy tops that aren't actual maternity tops. More on those to come!

Other sewing moms, how did you make the mental and emotional adjustment to your changing pregnant body? I'd appreciate any tips you have to share!

Mother Gothel Cosplay for Mother's Day

I don't know why I love Disney villains so much...they just seem so much more interesting than the princesses, although I do still have a soft spot in my heart for Belle (because she reads!). I love it when people try to come up with backstories that explain their motivation (e.g. Ursula was actually King Triton's older sister who was denied the throne simply because she was a female, hence her desire to become Queen of Atlantica). We don't get much from Disney's Tangled's Mother Gothel, other than her vain desire to stay young and beautiful, but one of my favorite fairy tale novel adaptations is Donna Jo Napoli's Zel. In this version, the evil witch is just an infertile woman who longs for a daughter, so much so that she goes to unspeakable lengths to keep her adopted daughter with her. That doesn't excuse her actions by any means, but it does make her a much more nuanced character.

Why are villain costumes always so much better, too? I'm way more into jewel tones than pastels. 

Anyway, I had some nine+ yards of this stretch panne velvet in burgundy (picked up for free from someone else's stash at school!), plus leftover gold trim from my shieldmaiden costume, so like with Ursula, I decided on a whim that the stash practically demanded another random costume. I also wanted to see if I could redeem this most abhorred of fabrics (polyester! stretch! not really velvet! so very costumey! and not in a good way!).

I had just enough trim leftover to encircle the neckline. I ended up having a 1.5" scrap left at the end. *whew* That was close!

I found this website very helpful in planning my costume; even though I wasn't interested in screen accuracy, I did still want it to be recognizable as Mother Gothel. It was pretty easy to sew up the body of the dress from my knit block (I just extended the side seams down and out to make a full skirt), but figuring out the sleeves took some doing. The problem with making costumes based on animated designs is that animators don't always consider things like, oh, seams have to go somewhere, and fabric needs to be cut on some kind of grain to get a certain drape. Mother Gothel's sleeves are very fitted at the top, then they suddenly bell out around the elbow to make that trumpet shape. There's just the one underarm seam and that's it! It took me about eight tries to get the sleeve shape more or less right (a lot of other costumes I've seen have the fullest part of the sleeve hanging from the wrong place, or the sleeves are full all the way through), but thank goodness I had plenty of (free) fabric! I think I might have used about 1.5 yards of fabric just making trial sleeves. In the end, the sleeve shape was not anything I would ever have predicted.

Wtf, amirite?

I lined the inside of the sleeve with some random black scraps I had, added the gold bias binding, and called it a day. No hemming or seam finishes -- it's a costume, after all, and I don't even have anywhere to wear it to! I just wanted to sew it up for the sake of using up as much of this fabric as possible. I finished it in time for April's Vibrant Color Stashbusting challenge, but since I didn't blog it until now, I suppose it also counts as May's Knit Stashbusting? I mean, it's stretchy, even if it's not what one typically considers a knit.

Now, my wig wardrobe is not particularly deep. I've got the short white one (mad scientist and Ursula) and then I've got my old Bellatrix one. Neither is an exact match for Mother Gothel, but obviously the Bellatrix one works better. So excuse the not-quite-right black curls, but here goes!

The lighting in my apartment also makes the fabric look more red and less burgundy.

I didn't think to look at what exactly her pose was before taking these pictures. Oops. 

I'm really in love with these sleeves. 

This is what the back looks like. You can kind of see where my underarm seam ended up. 

I'm sorry I don't have any full length pictures showing the full sweep of the gown's skirt. 

That's because once we start getting zooming out too much, inappropriate things start showing up in the frame, like this ridiculously cute (and decidedly non-villainous) elephant humidifier. 

Summary:
Fabric: 7 yards or so of 54" wide burgundy stretch panne velvet, 1/2 yard of black stretchy mesh (leftover from Ursula's skirt), a strip of burgundy sheet (leftover from Ballister's cape) for the belt.
Notions: Less than 1 yard each of gold braided trim and gold bias tape, both from the stash, and 2 yards of gold trim leftover from my Regency ballgown. That's a lot of stashbusting right there!
Hours: Maybe two for the actual sewing, but another three for the sleeve trials.
Will you make it again? I'm a sucker for vaguely-medieval swooshy maxi dresses, so I'm pretty sure I will at some point.
Total cost: I'm just going to say it was free, since it was all made from stash!
Final thoughts: I feel a little sheepish making a costume for a character from a movie I've only seen once (and don't entirely remember, TBH), but I certainly enjoyed the making and wearing of this one. It's really quite comfortable too (thanks to the stretch factor), albeit warm, but that's panne velvet for you. I just need to find an appropriate convention to swan about at!

I've even got a convenient dagger in my costume trunk. I got it over a decade ago in Taiwan, managed to get it back through customs, never used it for anything, but still somehow managed to save it until now. 

I'm all ready to go after Rapunzel for her hair!

Okay, so maybe I got a little carried away...

Okay, let's get serious about killing our adopted daughter, like in this screenshot. 

Now, I don't know if you noticed this in these pictures, but the last time I made a magenta maxi dress, I was quite a bit leaner. Now, I could say that it's just because the velvet adds a bit of thickness, or that this dress is cut looser, or even that I've been indulging too much in the start of summer berry season...but it's really because my Mother Gothel is, well, going to actually be a mother.

Is this the world's weirdest bump pic or what? Oh well, it's not like I'm exactly conventional in my "normal" clothing either.

Is it wrong to dress up as a notoriously un-maternal character when one is preparing to be a mother? Let's just say I enjoyed the irony of it.

I'm so thrilled to be able to finally share this with you all (and to be able to finally reveal my biggest excuse for the lack of blogging this spring!). Our SHB is due at the end of September, and I'm both excited and petrified that I'm already more than halfway there! And for those of you are thinking it's been a while since we saw Walnut on the blog, this was what we used as our announcement photo:

He's been super affectionate lately, following me around and sitting very close in the evenings, but I can't say he was a fan of taking the announcement photo. He seems to find ultrasound picture paper extremely tasty, so he kept trying the chew on the corner! 

Wanna see a really creepy ultrasound shot? I went in for the 20 week anatomy scan and the tech snapped this picture of SHB's head:

I added a skull diagram in case you're having a hard time identifying the eye socket and jaw. When I showed this picture to my students, one kid asked, "Wait, does your baby have any skin?!?" Yes, it does, child. At least I certainly hope so!

Anyway, happy Mother's Day to all the amazing sewing mamas that I've had the pleasure to "meet" through blogging! You ladies are seriously inspiring to me as I see how you sew with, around, and for your SHBs. Here's to hoping I can do the same!

Experimenting With the Ralph Pink Neck Corset Pattern

In case you thought that the bustier was the end of corsetry projects for the time being, you were wrong.

After finishing my Ursula costume, I still had a little bit of the black silk taffeta left, so I decided to give the mysterious Ralph Pink neck corset pattern a try. I've heard his name tossed around and seen his free downloads for historical corsets, but nobody seems to have actually tried any of his patterns and given them a real review, so I had no idea if they worked or not. To be perfectly honest, I was inclined to be skeptical because his grammar/proofreading on his website is terrible, and I'll be the first to admit that I can be a snob about that (despite not always following the rules myself! but this is my blog and I DO WHAT I WANT, THOR). Also he has no pictures of actual samples of this corset, which also makes me suspicious about how they look/fit on real people.

Anyway, his construction directions were a bit difficult to understand, so I basically ignored them and did what I wanted (Thor), which worked out okay. Instead of making it three layers and using two coutil layers to sandwich the boning, I opted to do a modified version of Lynda's bustier directions (taffeta underlined with flannel for the outer layer, boning channels sewn to a "strength" layer of ticking). After all, a neck corset is really more of a neck bustier (if that makes any sense!) since there is no reduction necessary. Unless, of course, you're looking to self-asphyxiate, in which case we've got bigger problems than incomprehensible sewing instructions...

The edges flip up a little bit, which makes me wish I used a darker lining fabric. 

The pattern itself has some cool lines (which I emphasized with topstitching) and is fairly quick to put together. It comes with 1/4" seam allowances, which I increased to 5/8" since my fabrics frayed like the dickens. I must admit I wasn't very careful in doing so, which resulted in some of my markings not matching up, but that was probably my fault. I also futzed around with the bone placement. The final corset ended up a bit tall for my neck, but that's easily remedied, should there be a next time. I would also want the neck-to-shoulder junction to be more curved (it's a bit wrinkly right now since the angle isn't quite right for my body), but I have no idea how to begin modifying the pattern for something like that!

Confession: I actually finished this project over a month ago, but the thought of getting all dressed up in the bustier and and neck corset and then doing a photo shoot was just too much. In light of Polka Dot Overload's comments about removing barriers (in this case, barriers to blogging, not sewing), I decided to just throw it on (well, as much as one can throw on something that involves lacing) and take pictures without bothering to find a cool background or what have you. Also I was worried that if I didn't blog it soon, I would forget about everything that went into making it. As it is, I'm already fuzzy on some of the details...

This is the only in-progress photo I thought to take. You can see the striped twill I used for the inside lining and the stitch lines from the channels. I used almost all the pins I have in prepping the bias binding!

Another barrier to taking photos: it's also ridiculously hard to take pictures when you don't have any large mirrors in your house that also have good lighting, and you can't really turn your head or crane your neck or else it'll make things sit lopsided. 

And it really does get lopsided easily! If I cared more, I'd add ribbon ties to secure it under the arm or something, but I don't care enough. 

Summary:
Fabric: about 1/4 yard each of black silk taffeta, cotton flannel, and cotton ticking.
Notions: spiral steel boning with heat-shrink tubing tips, cheap two-piece craft grommets (since again, this wasn't meant for heavy duty wear), 4 yards of ribbon for lacing.

I couldn't see the back to check if my lacing was even or lined up at all...

This was before I tied the ribbon, obviously. 

Hours used: This is where I get fuzzy since it was so long ago...about 15? The pieces are small, but there are a lot of seams and the curves get tricky to put together, and then there was all the time spent cutting and tipping boning and setting grommets.
Will you make it again? Ummm, how many neck corsets does one need? I don't foresee making another one in the near future, but if I do, I'll make it shorter for less of a strangly-feeling. And it will probably be for another costume.
Total cost: Less than $10 for materials, since the taffeta was leftover, the length of boning was so little, and the grommets and ribbon I've had for ages. The pattern cost me about $5 since I bought it on sale. Not super expensive as trials go, but also fairly frivolous considering I don't know that I would ever wear this.
Final thoughts: Like I said above, a fun but useless experiment. And now I have an idea of how I feel about Ralph Pink patterns? There's potential there, but I wouldn't pay full price for his patterns. Also, corsetry is really fun. I like the physicality of cutting and tipping boning and stuffing it into channels, even if it does get tedious and tiring. Every time I finish a corset I want to make another one, even if they're fairly non-useful as garments go!

I have one more impractical, frivolous costume item to blog, and then I promise it'll be back to real clothing sewing for a while! I've built up this ridiculous backlog of finished garments that I've been wearing, but just never got around to taking pictures of or blogging. It's nice to be back, though!

More Excuses and the MBU

Another Sewing Scientist reminded me of Tanit-Isis' term "Minimum Bloggable Unit,"which is a pretty apt description for this mishmash of 1) sad excuses, 2) random crowing and 3) a belated Me-Made-May 2014 commitment.

1) Sad Excuses: I've been such a bad blogger this school year! Once again, I play the "but I'm both teaching and taking classes" card, and on top of that I play two bonus school-related cards: we just finished up accreditation in the beginning of April and then I had mad AP exam prep for the rest of the month. Thankfully, both of my classes' exams were on the first day of AP testing, so now I've finally got room to breathe. And blog. In that order.

2) Random Crowing: Remember Elaine's wedding dress? Well, her wedding was featured in Offbeat Bride's book-themed wedding week! I was glued to that site when I was planning my own science-themed wedding, so to have my work appear there was an honor.

3) MMM14: I didn't officially take part in the last me-made month challenge, but now that I have a smartphone and an Instagram account, I figured I'd join in the fun! I won't be posting roundups here on the blog, but I'll post my daily outfit photos on my IG. I'm going lite this year and only pledging to wear something me-made to work, leaving the weekends optional depending on how I feel.


It seems like there are a handful of people interested in a bustier-along, so once school lets out I'll figure out how that's going to work and let you know how to participate!