Flowers to the max!

(I am really really sorry about that title. Not sorry enough to change it, but...sorry.) For once I've got a seasonally appropriate garment to share, woohoo!

Although I've had a bit of a love-hate relationship with this pattern lately, my "tried and true" Simplicity 4070 bodice came through on this one! All in all, this dress only took me a couple of hours, and was the perfect palate cleanser after a recent sewing fail.

I picked up this fabric last year after I fell off the wagon with my 2014 stash bust, and before I signed up for this year's try. It's a pretty sheer cotton with swiss dots and, of course, flowers! I think it was only $1.50 a yard at the Vogue Fabrics warehouse sale (minus an extra 15% off coupon!), and I'm glad it hasn't lingered in my stash like some of the other goodies I've picked up there over the years. (The spring sale was this past weekend, and I'm immensely proud of myself that I only picked up 2 new pieces (okay, okay, aside from some Simpson's quilting cotton for my mom (FINE, it's mostly for me))). 

As usual, I had to do my cross-back straps - these things really are a lifesaver that prevent me constantly needing to pull them up. The skirt is basically a big pleated tube, but after wearing it for a day, I realized it was kind of hard to walk quickly or take long strides in it, so I added a slit (which I did completely wrong, honestly, but hey, live and learn).

The top's completely underlined in mystery white fabric from the stash, but the bottom's only underlined to the knee (which didn't show up in any of my pictures, oops). 

 

I love maxi dresses, I really do, but I kept catching glimpses of myself while we were out shopping and was worried I looked frumpy. I think the pictures look fine, but...I don't know. Does anyone else ever get that feeling?

(Also, though I have not managed to take a single picture of it (outside of new posts), Me-Made May is going well! I've got a couple more pieces to throw into rotation before the end of the month, but I'm confident it won't be a problem.)

Me-made May, Week 4

We're nearing the end, guys! As much as I've enjoyed this month, I'm also getting a LITTLE tired of my me-mades and am ready to break out some other wardrobe favorites for June. We'll see what happens this week/weekend, but I just might have one or two more me-mades to add to the rotation for the final week (if I can figure out that silly Cynthia Rowley 2250)!

Day 19: My New Summer Dress
Day 20: Tania culottes part 2, altered RTW shirt, RTW denim jacket
Day 21: More denim jacket love, self-drafted maxi (I cannot get enough of this dress, despite a couple of issues I've realized that I need to fix after so many wears)

Day 22: Tania culottes part 1, RTW jacket and cardigan
Day 23: Self-drafted dress (which I'm still wearing despite the issues because I LOVE it with that mint cardigan). Switched up the belt for a better look, I think.

Day 24: Repeat of day 21, but I forgot to take pictures because I was visiting friends out of town. :)

Day 25: Tania culottes part 2, but shortened! After seeing the pictures from Monday, and realizing that the back wasn't even at all, I decided to chop off quite a bit of this skirt. I just felt that it was looking far too dowdy, and who wants that? Had a moment of panic that I'd cut it too short in some places, but I think I finally got it right, and I like it a lot more now!

Day 26: Did not leave the house nor bother to get dressed, oops. Still way ahead of my 5 days out of 7, though!

What about you guys - if you've been participating this month, are you ready for it to be over?

Me-made May, Week 3

This week was a bit hit-or-miss, honestly, mostly due to the CRAZY weather:

Day 12: Floral Tania culottes

I tried to mix up the styling with these so I wouldn't look like I was wearing the same outfit every week (mayyybe twice/week) - I thought the green tee might give it a more casual vibe, but looking back on this, I definitely can't say I love the outfit. I might just have to stick with my original styling.

Day 13: Self-drafted dress

Wayyyy back in the day when I posted about my maxi skirt refashion, I said that I'd done something else with the top of that dress and that I'd post about it "soon" Well, consider 2 years later "soon" for the purposes of this post, okay? The top is what was left over from the original racerback dress, and the bottom is a 25 cent Goodwill skirt that I took the zipper out of and stitched to the top. I wore this dress a handful of times right after I made it, but for some reason it fell out of rotation. I think I felt that there were some fit issues around the butt, but I didn't notice them this time. This is definitely not the best-made dress in the world, and can certainly not be worn without a cardigan and a belt, but I have to say that I really loved this styling. I felt chic and comfortable all day long (and the girls looked great, which was an instant ego boost!). I think the mint cardigan really helps make this fresher and more spring-appropriate.

Day 14: Refashioned dress from a maxi skirt

After ages of purgatory in my "refashion" pile, this dress finally makes it back into the rotation. When I first refashioned it from a maxi dress a couple summers ago, I liked it and wore it pretty often....and then I lost 20 pounds and it kept falling off of me. I FINALLY got around to taking out some of the extra width the other day, so was happy to put this on. Again, this is not the best-made garment in the world - there's a lot of extra poofiness in the back, and it still falls down a little. Thankfully, one of the many wonderful qualities of jean jackets is that they can be thrown on over almost anything and cover up quite a variety of sins. I love the floatiness and the subtle mullet hem on this (I really never thought those last few words would escape my mouth (or fingers, as the case may be)). I think I'll definitely be wearing this a lot before the weather gets too hot for jean jackets.

Day 15: The weather was cruelly cold, and I had an event to go to in the evening for which none of my me-mades would have been appropriate. I hate to admit that I didn't even bother to wear handmade jewelry that day, but I did only pledge to do 5 days/week, right?

Day 16: Self-drafted striped tank

Another cold, rainy day, so this was the most I could be bothered with, both outfit-wise and picture-taking wise (it's REALLY a horrible picture, sorry about that).

Day 17: Self-drafted maxi

It was my friend's graduation (congrats, Alisha!), so I needed something a bit more formal, but still comfy and warm. I love that I have a million purple things that go with this - I decided to switch up the cardigan a bit, and also wore a darker purple scarf with it while we were outside. Also, I feel like this is the 14th time I've worn this dress since I made it - maxis for the win!

Day 18: I did not get dressed and therefore have nothing to show, but I DID spend the day in my PJs making the dress I'm wearing today (and one of the things I mentioned in my last post was on my to-do list), so...kudos to me? 

We're now more than halfway done with Me-Made May! How are you doing with your pledges?

Me-made May, week 2 (late!)

Wow, week 2 has already come and gone, and I was much more successful than anticipated!

Day 5:

Bottom: Tania culottes, part 2
Top and sweater: RTW

Monday was a lot colder than it should have been, but since I'd JUST finished up my second pair of Tanias, I was dying to wear them. I was definitely a bit chilly, but it was worth it. :) I made this pair quite a bit longer, as I feel almost indecent in my first pair, but ended up making them TOO long. I chopped a bit off the hem and then sewed up with a generous hem allowance. I still think they're a bit too long, especially in the front - I might need to work on that.

Day 6:

Skirt: Refashioned maxi
Top and sweater: RTW

This simple skirt sure has a saga behind it. I wore it quite a bit during the fall right after I made it (2 years ago), but by the next summer, I'd lost some weight and it kept falling down. I wore it a couple of times but it was driving me nuts. I finally sat down a few months ago to take in the side seams using my serger, but without a proper walking foot, the seams were incredibly wonky. I threw it into a corner and FINALLY picked it back up again after I got my walking foot. Miracle of miracles, it now fits wonderfully! This thing is SO comfortable, and the knit is SO soft, that I never want to take it off.

Day 7: 

Skirt: Tania culottes, part 1
Shirt: altered to fit
Sweater: RTW

Silly me, I only took one picture on Wednesday, and it was blurry, so you get this re-used one. :) It was the exact same outfit, though, minus the shoes, and I love it just as much as ever.

Day 8: 

Maxi: Self-drafted from a remnant

I maybe should have planned my outfits a bit better. Monday-Wednesday were pretty chilly, but I wore bare-legged outfits, and Thursday was HOT (Wednesday: 50 degrees. Thursday: 90 degrees), and my legs were covered. I did get several compliments on this outfit, though. :) Much cooler without the sweater, ha. You'll notice I still haven't added those straps...oops.

Day 9:

Skirt: Refashioned maxi
Tank: Self-drafted (as-yet unblogged)
Jacket: RTW

I like to call this look "garage sale chic." It was quite comfy for helping with my mom's MASSIVE garage sale, although the lack of pockets made getting change for people a bit difficult. The morning started off cold and humid, but by 9:00, the gorgeous weather had come around and was here to stay, so I ditched the jacket.

Day 10:

Shorts: RTW (since my attempts to sew shorts have all been epic failures)
Shirt: Refashioned polo
Jacket: RTW

Garage sale chic, part 2. :) The pockets definitely came in handy, as did the layering.

Day 11:

Bottom: Tania culottes, part 2
Shirt: Altered
Sweater: RTW

My second pair of Tania culottes make a second appearance for the week. I got quite a few compliments on these, and the bigger waistband is a bit more comfortable than the first pair. They sit quite a bit lower, which does change the silhouette, but I think they'll definitely be a summer staple with various bright tops.

I also made much more of an effort to wear me-made jewelry, although my efforts to photograph said jewelry have been severely lacking.

Stay tuned this week for more pictures of my self-drafted racerback tank!

Unseasonable

When I bought this fabric remnant (1.25 yards), I initially intended to make a tank top or maybe a cardigan - florals are all the rage, right? However, after I washed it and saw how much yardage I really had to work with, I knew a maxi dress was in order.

 

[More weirdly pissed-off looks, sorry!]

Never mind that the temperature is stubbornly staying in the 50s, and that it's been drizzling all week - I've already worn it twice! I refuse to accept that it's not summer, even while everyone else is still walking around in winter coats and scarves.

I self-drafted this - it's really just a couple of tubes, since I didn't have enough to make a fuller skirt. I lined the bodice with a super-comfy knit fabric I cut from an old babydoll dress I no longer wear:

 So pretty and comfy, I think I'm in love! 

Although, after wearing it all night, I think I'll go ahead and add the straps I was debating adding to begin with. It fell down quite a bit more than I realized in these pictures - nothing too showy, but I think it's more flattering when it's pulled up higher. It'll also help keep it from getting twisted around.

[Left: Being ridiculous. Right: Laughing at being ridiculous.]

This was project #1 of 3 of my sewing insanity weekend. Stay tuned for the other projects (assuming it actually ever gets warm and sunny enough to photograph them!). Here's hoping the weather where you are is better than here!