#MakingMaisel Pattern Ideas

Happy Monday, all! My gift to you is some pattern inspiration to help you figure out how to make that Maisel costume into the outfit of your dreams. I still haven’t decided what I’M doing yet, although I do know that I’m going to make SOMETHING in a wool, potentially a raspberry or a grey, classic Midge power colors. Know what I mean?

Now, of course there is the option for this one to go vintage pattern, and I may well be taking it, honestly, but thank goodness we live in a world that also gives us the opportunity to buy vintage reproductions, in a multi-size pattern, that we don’t have to worry about scaling or changing or damaging throughout the sewing process, am I right?

So here are some of my thoughts, although I welcome your ideas too!

Obviously, the outerwear is amazing. I don’t know if I can justify this to myself because…when would I wear it, but gosh, I’m tempted, aren’t you? All those gorgeous coats, so impractical with no closures, so amazing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luckily, there are some options for you if this is your deal.

 

 

 

The obvious contender, and it’s already in raspberry! IT’S A SIGN.

Also an option.

Sometimes these dress patterns sneak in a coat pattern. LUCKY FOR US!

The Colette Patterns Lady Grey would also work as a tribute piece!

I feel like if you made that up in a wool it would totally echo that tan coat Midge is sporting above, no?

This is technically not a coat but, I just, I die:

Separates:

The men of Maisel rock a separate, and Susie is all about a jeans and knit top combo, with her leather jacket, natch, but more often than not, Midge and Imogene are in dresses. Rose is all about a suit, very appropriate for her age in that period, and Rose is all ABOUT appropriate, as we know. This would totally be the time to make a suit, if anyone is itching to do that, but for now, I’m going to focus on the more unconventional separates the show gives us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love Midge in pants, so beatnik chic! There are some great options for that flat-front 1950’s look that was so popular, apparently people felt that the zipper front on women was vulgar.

I have been searching for a cute 1950’s blouse pattern for YEARS, any leads? But for the turtleneck, look no further than Seamwork!

Shorten Neelah into a shirt and there you go!

This outfit is a popular one on the internets, maybe because it’s so contemporary looking? I like the color combo, though, so bold! For this one, you might like the combo of Colette patterns Selene with a knit tee in a merino wool. Oooohhh, that would be cute…

 

And of course, who doesn’t love Midge’s work out gear?

 

For the shorts, I think the Weston shorts are a solid option:

 

You could also lengthen these to make Susie’s high waisted pants!

And the Astoria sweater would be too cute for Midge OR Susie! Material is everything.

And for the leotard, I mean, look no further than the Closet Case Nettie…

 

 

Okay, okay, fine, let’s get to the dresses!

I love literally everything each of these women is currently wearing.

 

This simplicity number feels right on the money! Add a bow, it’s there!

 

The top is a little off, but I think you could alter this one to make it work, and I love that back detail! It also reminds me of this number:

And then we have this one:

This one is a little intense, but also excellent. And look at that, a near-perfect pattern match!

Oh, love it all. LOVE IT ALL! Nothing exact here, but some options for an approximation:

 

Colette Patterns Claudette Dress, a classic!

Love those design lines.

And then of course, the party wear:

Now, Gertie said she might be developing something similar in an instagram post, so, ya know, maybe? But this is also not terrible:

And of course, the dress that requires pearls:

Oh, hello, lover. I mean, look, I have no idea if anything will ever be this good in terms of FIT, but in terms of LOOK, I humbly offer a few options:

Siiiigh. I had nothing for the men, honestly, although I’m happy to source that if anything is going there….

What do you guys think? Any other ideas of great patterns to use? Any real vintage favorites?

The Indian Soccer Mom Outfit

Guys, sometimes you make an outfit that you think is going to be super awesome and cute and vintage and fun and it ends up being….different. Special. Hell, awkward. And that, my friends, is what has happened here.

In the spirit of not ablogogizing, (god bless this concept, I learned it from Did You Make That, anyone else?) I’m just going to say that I have many undocumented makes and I’m trying to document them and someday that will happen and there that is. Did you know, for example, that I have three, count them, THREE sets of Carolyn Pajamas I have yet to blog? Not to mention the two sets I made for my mother, which takes me to five, oh hell. What can I say, I love a Carolyn Pajama, although I have yet to get the pants to fit EXACTLY right, sigh, they always end up a little too snug and a little too low in the crotch, but I’m working on it! I have a bunch of seamwork patterns, like a Mojave maxi-dress, and the akita top I’m currently wearing and a pair of moji pants which I will never blog about because the fabric I made them in bled like a body in a Quentin Tarantino movie so I wore them and the matching shirt I made using the grainline tiny pocket t to my haldi because you are supposed to give the clothing you wear to that ceremony away because it gets smeared with turmeric and is therefore lucky and if you want to know why THAT is the answer, as told to me, was because Hinduism. Here, see for yourself:

The point is, I have a lot of back log, but I’m not going to ablogogize, because I feel like for me, the whole impetus behind that is hey, no, really, I’ve been making stuff, I promise! And why do I have to do that? I make things for myself, and I shouldn’t worry that you are all out there judging me, assuming that I’m not being productive enough because I haven’t posted a new thing. I shouldn’t assume you are thinking about me at all. I’m sure you have much more to do with your time. See, at its heart, I think ablogogizing is a sort of self-centered thing to do, so I’m not going to do it. I am, however, going to tell you about this outfit which I’m just going to own, regardless of how completely, well, let’s say not-my-normal-look it turned out. Basically, this outfit makes me look like a soccer mom. And not a great one, not one with an awesome SUV (I threw up in my mouth typing awesome to describe SUV, fyi) and a perfect plan for the kids and all their activities, not one who posts her OWN projects for cute snacks and fun 30 minute dinners on pinterest and gets repinned a thousand times, no, more like that soccer mom who really wants her kids to become readers and hopes they will get into drama and shows up with a package of Oreos to the school bake sale and is, in fact, a pinterest fail. The kind who calls wine mommy juice and drops out of every spin class about halfway through. Man, I can’t WAIT to be that soccer mom, actually, come to think of it….I don’t even need kids for that. I wonder if Cadfael would want to try soccer out.

It’s not looking likely.

Anyway, with no further ado, I present you THIS:

This is one of those outfits that has two individual positive pieces that together somehow make up Julie Bowen on crack. Sigh.

The shirt is a Grainline Archer, (ps have you seen the new popover variation? I want to go to there.) This shirt is actually pretty cute, I promise. I made view B, with the little flare at the back, and I’ve worn it countless times, I kind of adore it. I stitched up a size 12, french seamed it all and the only adjustment was to lengthen it a bit, three inches this time, which is standard for my archers.

I got the fabric at Mangaldas Market in South Bombay. I was going for more Kate Spade than stuck in Suburbia, frankly, and I don’t know where in that spectrum it falls on a normal day but with these pants? It’s the beginning of the Feminist Mystique up in here.

The pants are Butterick 5895, a Gertie pattern. I used a very stretchy cotton bottom-weight fabric which I got here at Sew in Style, an expensive but lovely fabric shop in North Bombay. This fabric is so stretchy that after a day in these pants they have bagged out like none other, sigh. It’s okay, they are extremely comfortable, and I like the pockets and the waistband. They were easy enough to sew, and I french seamed the majority of it, and omitted the overlap waistband for a longer zipper and a hook and eye. I do think some element of stretch is good for these pants, but maybe not quite…this much. I have a stretchy black twill and I’m thinking of mixing this with a pair of Clovers and seeing what happens.

See? They are so extremely bagged out, it’s like a super market grocery line here. Ba-dum-ching!

Nevertheless, there are worse things to look like than a soccer mom, and hey, at least here in India it’s not such a prevailing stereotype that I feel like people judged me for it. People called me ma’am, but then, this is India, they would have done that anyway.

Okay. There you go. Soccer mom meets India. Now, time for some Mommy juice.

The Ants in my Pants Pants

I would not say I am one for crazy pants. We live these days in a crazy pants world, and I think that’s wonderful, but crazy printed pants have never drawn me into their brightly becoming arms (legs?), probably because I’m already a prints person with closet full of printed tops and despite what the runways and Pretty Little Liars seem to want me to believe, pattern mixing is not my thing. So I need SOMETHING to be plain, or at least, matchable, and that is usually the job of pants, to my mind. Not that I wear pants much, to be fair, but when I do I tend to want something basic. Pants are sort of like giving up for me, if I’m being honest. Pants are something I wear when I can’t figure out something cute, and I just throw up my hands and think well, I guess it’s PANTS today, way to let yourself DOWN, Leah, way to let the TEAM down. I don’t know what team this is supposed to be, but in my head those sad mornings it’s quite clear.

I know that this isn’t everyone’s philosophy. In fact, I think most people I know prefer pants to anything else. Especially jeans. I own two pairs of jeans. I rarely wear either. It’s a good thing I’m moving from the States because I believe this is grounds for treason here, not wearing jeans much. At the least, it’s deeply unpatriotic. Although since denim became popular in India it might even rival our own devotion, check out these sad 90’s monstrosities:

 

Or this more modern negative situation: This actress’ name is Kangana Ranuat and she is very talented and she is better than this.

Yeah. So maybe I will be even stranger to the general public once I’m there, but I have to be what I am and live my life, and that’s a life with minimal pants. That all being said, I did recently make a pair of pants that I could not be more into, and not only are they not plain, they are insanely printed. And yet? I love them. I love them so much that they give me ants in my pants and I need to dance.

Yes! See? CAN’T STOP THE DANCING. Could barely stop to take these photos! These began as a love affair with fabric. I saw this fabric on  GirlCharlee.com (yes they have wovens now I don’t know what to do with myself).

See? Look at that face. That is the face of someone dancing on the inside.

The pattern is the Colette Patterns Clover. I gotta made a different pants pattern, guys. I’ve made this so many times. I need something new. I HAVE many other patterns. I should made some of them! I’m going to make these next. Maybe this is why I’m not as into pants? No. Probably not. ANYway. The Clover pattern ain’t broke so yeah….

This fabric is just, I can’t stop loving it. It reverses everything I’ve ever felt about printed pants, on myself, and on others.

The Clover is something I can kind of make in my sleep at this point, and I always make a size 6, and that’s what this is. I did, as I always do, flat felled seams on the inner thighs and crotch, and french seams on wide side-seam.

A little rear view for those on the internet who would like to see that. YOU’RE WELCOME, creepy guys googling 90’s Bollywood images! Take that!

I also made the shirt! It’s a plantain. Boy, this outfit is like a double tried and true combo.

And because it’s a typical outfit, I have to do a typical jump shot!

BOOM. Pants I love and don’t even feel bad when I’ve chosen to wear them. Pants that don’t make me feel like I’m giving up! Boom.

Do check out my Etsy Shop for new (old) vintage pattern listings! I gotta unload these before I move, people, I can’t take ever pattern I own to India, I think the Indian Government will suspect a new and entirely inefficient form of colonization.

The You Oughta Be Ottoman Shirt

I can’t think of much I hate more than arguing, so it always strikes me as strange that in many places shopping is tantamount to arguing, if you think about it. The culture of bargaining has long been abandoned by many parts of the West, and I can see why, as arguing with someone over the price of things makes me feel like I’m basically telling them their stuff is worth less than they think it is. Which, in a way, I suppose, is the point, that they price it too high and you come in too low and together you presumably reach a reasonable price but I don’t know why I have to be a part of that process, you know? I don’t feel like I’m qualified to be a part of the pricing process, I’m not a pricing professional, you know! There are people out there who say they like bargaining, and I’m sure that is true, but I am not among them.

This is why a family trip to Istanbul a few years ago, while delightful, was also exhausting. The Turks expect you to bargain, they seem to like it, God knows why, and there is this whole ceremony of buying things that confuses all but the most savvy world traveler. That’s another thing, I hate the idea that buying things has to be a whole THING, I want to feel like a ninja, or a tomb raider, I get in there, I get my stuff, I get out. I don’t want to have tea. I don’t want to see ALL of your carpets. I know you have a lot of carpets. Oh, you have another room of carpets back there? That’s fascinating but that’s infinitely more carpets than I want to see because I literally want zero carpets so…nope, yes, looking at the carpets. Sure, more tea, why not.

And then suddenly you’re paying all the Turkish lira in the world for a carpet you don’t want and can’t fit in your suitcase. And you KNOW you didn’t bargain well because they start throwing in free gifts. When they give you gifts, that’s it, you’ve lost, they are literally giving things away because they pity you, they pity how much they are charging you for what you are buying, and their pity translates to small Evil Eye icons and lamps that look like pomegranates (these are both real things we received with goods we were actually buying).

That being said, I never actually felt CHEATED by anyone in Istanbul, which is not the case with an Ebay purchase I bought several years ago which told me I was buying Liberty of London but instead sent me….not that. Only, I honestly wasn’t sure, because I bought it so early in my sewing adventures that I had never actually seen a Liberty of London print, and once I realized my mistake and that creepy jerk of an Ebay salesman had already made off with me money (not THAT much, it was priced at 20 a yard which really should have been an indicator, looking back….) the fabric languished in my stash, as the proof of my folly and terrible buying abilities. The thing is, I like the print, it actually really reminded me of Turkish Iznik tile, which I had adored on that same trip to Istanbul where I realized that bargaining is the worst. I took many photos of this tile, as you can see:

 

 

Iznik tile and ceramic is very beautiful, at least, to my mind, and it has a long history as an art form and ceramic process. You can read more about that here, and here, if you want to do so.

So as I said, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with this fabric for a long time. I liked it, but I also felt that it was evidence of my foolishness, my bad buying skills, and the fact that I had been taken in and sold a fake Liberty print, like a manufactured artifact in the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul, which I had skillfully avoided buying, only to be cheated now. But eventually I got over that, because you can only hate yourself for a fabric purchase for so long, I mean, how much time is there in a day, really. So finally I decided to embrace my faux-Liberty (which I now would NEVER mistake for a Liberty print) and enjoy my Ottoman Empire inspired cloth. And this is what I made:

Yay! Another Grainline Archer! I lengthened it a few inches, which no one else seems to have to do, but I feel like it has to be long to compensate for the journey the fabric takes over my chest region, and I like my shirts to hit below my hip if possible.

I am making a weird face here, like I’m not sure why this Turkish man is trying to get me to buy a carpet so badly, like, do I look like someone who NEEDS a carpet in their lives? I must do.

I also made the pants, which I never blogged, because if I wrote about every pair of Colette Patterns Clover Pants I made this blog would be called The Colette Patterns Clover Pants Blog. And no one would read that except weird internet guys. So there you go.

For some reason my machine was acting cruel and insane when I made the buttonholes on this, so they are AWFUL, and you can’t see them. I don’t get it, they made the ones for Mr. Struggle’s shirt JUST fine. Sidenote, I do make things for Mr. Struggle but he wont let me photograph him ever so you will never see those, take it up with him if you are mad.

The archer often pulls a little to the left on me, does anyone else have that experience? Nevertheless I adore it, I’ve made several and have no plans to stop, in fact, I recently cut an Archer dress so that’s on the menu coming up. I do want to try Deer and Doe’s new Bruyere shirt, soon, so that might hop the cue too.

This shirt was fine apart from the button-hole debacle, I like the construction a lot and don’t have any trouble with it anymore, honestly, I think it’s well drafted and I love how impressive it feels to make a collared shirt!

Here is a rather wrinkled shot of the back, but I thought it might make the bright print even clearer for you. Even though this fabric was an imposter, I have to say, I’ve kind of come to love it, having started associating it with Istanbul instead of with my being gullible. After all, even when you get cheated in Turkey, it comes with a little gift and a cup of tea, so really, how bad can it be?

There you go! Istanbul-inspired in more ways than one. I should go back there, I can blend in with the landscape now…

The Texas Two Step Outfit

Guys, I did something that many people truly refuse to do. I went back to Texas. I know! Who does that? But honestly, I went back to AUSTIN, so does that even count? It’s like, the anti-Texas, it’s got all the wonder and beauty of Texas without any of the crazy or conservative. It’s got smoked briskets at ever corner, cool cocktail bars with dumpling trucks attached, lovely scenery and actually deeply nice people. Unlike the saccharine strangeness that can sometimes pervade the South East coast, the South West is just some nice people with a lot of sand and sun and meats to cook. And many other things, obviously. But this trip to Texas was as lovely as my last, with the one exception of my friend Lisa not being there, which was a bummer, sigh. I had to have SO many glasses of wine in her honor, it was SO hard but totally essential, duh. Mr. Struggle, having never been there before, was excited about the food and, well, mostly just the food, but I managed to drag him to an art museum in between BBQ joints and beer. (He drank the beer. I don’t do such things. Obviously.)

It was really a lovely trip, and I must say, Austin is just an awesome city. Mr. Struggle was rather enchanted and I got to feel that smug superiority of someone who has already discovered and enjoyed something and gets to be all “I told you so” to their significant other. I’m sure there is a word in German for that. German. A language of feelings and throat clearings. And despite the general craziness of my post-graduate school post-getting-married life, I managed to make a few things for the trip! Two of which I will show you in just a moment.

Side note, I totally use traveling as an excuse to sew. I think I have the mentality of one of these Victorian ladies who took Grand European tours, that is, that journeys in fact require new themed clothing so that the peoples of Italy, or in this case, Texas, would think me chic but also adaptable. I don’t know why I assume that when I travel people I have never met before will need to see something new, because, well, wouldn’t everything I ever wear be new to them? but I do. I really do. There is probably a word for that kind of insane in German as well!

So for this trip, I made a little bit of a casual outfit because Texas is a rather relaxed place, a place where cowboy boots and dresses are an appropriate combination, a place where all denim outfits are not mocked, a place where large buckles are more important than large watches and hats are still a thing. So I figured, when in Rome…

This is a little bit of a Colette Patterns binge here. The pants are Clovers, like I do. I love the Clover. You can pull that pattern out of my cold, dead hands. I have made so many damn versions of this pattern, I have almost nothing to say about it. You know the drill, flat felled seams, invisible zipper, blah blah blah. These are denim. Very 1950’s style ladies jeans. And the back view!

Annnnnd more photos of my posterior on the internets. Why do I do this, again?

And the shirt! Is ALSO a Colette Patterns selection, the ever popular Jasmine. I have some issues with this pattern. Mr. Struggle, for the record, loved it.

I don’t know. I really wanted to love this shirt. I thought a lot about it. I don’t know, it’s just always a little off no matter what I try. It’s too short, for one thing, and I don’t know if I over-compensated with the full-bust adjustment I did. I just don’t know. It’s a quandary.

I used a material I got on fabric.com for 1.99 a yard. So, you know, whatever, I will wear this and it wasn’t hard to make. But I’m not quite sure about this fit, honestly.

The back is okay, though!

Whatever, I felt cute enough, I guess that’s fine. I can only really say that I think it looks better in real life, honestly. It just fits better than it looks like it does in photos. The fabric is pretty cute, though!

And it went from a Pitch Perfect Sing along, like you do, to more barbeque in the Texas sun before we headed home. We got there at 10:30am to enjoy it before our flight, and I must say, that truly is the breakfast of champions.

This is a smoker that assures us that heaven considers Texas strongly:

And there is what you can order from this particular dining establishment:

And here is how this meal made me feel!

I wonder if there is a word in German for the bliss of a full stomach cradled under a completely homemade outfit? If not, there should be.

Me Made May Days 8 through 11 including the Swing Swish Dance Outfit

Ah, life, how it goes. And yet we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. I did not write that. It’s from The Great Gatsby, which is a fun book, and, in my personal opinion, a fairly meh movie. And I’m not the only one…read this, if you don’t believe me. I just feel like this is not a book that lends itself well to drama, which is interesting, because there have been SIX movie adaptations of this! Also, real talk, I’m not a romantic, and Baz Lurhmann is not my best friend forever (ahem, Moulin-Rouge-is-a-trainwreck, ahem…)  The costumes are pretty wonderful, though, if almost unbearably anachronistic…

But that’s not what this is about! I’m not here to tell you that I saw The Great Gatsby, I’m here to tell you about the clothing I made that I wore! And so I shall…

Day 8, in which I emerge from the sickroom and back into the world

These are new pants and a new t-shirt, but though my wonderful friend Allie (hey, Allie!) snapped some good shots of me, I realized afterwards that I really needed more detail shots to do a true outfit post, so I’m just giving you this, more explanation on the pants to follow, and expect a post about the shirt soon. Oh, and I made that jacket.

And Cadfael:

Yep. Seems about right.

Day 9, or, The Swing Swish Dance Outfit:

Okay, so, the pants! These are Clovers, of course, as always, I need to send Sarai a fruit basket or some wine, seriously. I shortened them about 2 inches, but altered them not at all otherwise. I’ve worn them probably 5 times since I made them. I LOVE THEM. Perfect spring pants…

See? See how happy they make me?

A bit more of a close up. I took these photos with a tripod and kept cutting off my feet, sigh. Just accept that I have feet, okay? They exist. I promise.

A little rear view for you. I did flat felled seams for most of the seams on these. and the inner waistband is a quilters cotton. it’s the little details that make things fun to wear…I gotta say, the curved waistband on this thing is excellent for girls with, um, curves…

And the shirt, I love the shirt! Oh, I love this outfit, is that weird to declare? But hey, I flipping DO, what’s wrong with loving what you’ve made? It’s better than hating it….

The shirt is Dixie DIY’s swing shirt, which I’ve made seriously 7 times now…I lengthened it by 4 inches, always having wanted it to be longer, and I gotta say, I don’t hate it…

The fabric is from Paron’s, and I’ve made a dress about it that I still need to blog, sigh, But I still have some left, even from these two projects! I think another dress, something sleeveless, thoughts? I love this fabric, the drape is great and the graphic pattern is really fun.

Did I mention the drape? Because it’s swishy and swingy and I love it…

I love this photo. Look at my hair! It’s almost perpendicular to my head! What the what!

And there we have Cadfael.

Day 10, in which I wear another unblogged dress WHAT IS MY PROBLEM:

Yeah. I went to see this amazing show and the look on my face pretty much communicates how I felt about it. I really need to take more photos of this dress, I adore it…

And Cadfael:

Day 11, in which I don’t leave Brooklyn:

The days I don’t have to leave Brooklyn are the best days…

The my new denim Clovers, LOVE, and a blouse I had made for my Halloween costume this past year. It’s a bit big but I still like it.

And Cadfael:

There we go! All caught up. How is YOUR Me Made May going? And if you saw Gatsby, what did YOU think?

The Thrice as Nice Shirt

Sometimes titles completely elude me. For example, every play I’ve ever written has had its title tacked on at the end as a complete after thought. As a result, the titles are not very good. For the screenplay I wrote this semester, it got to the point where my teacher just looked at me and said, really, Leah? Untitled Screenplay? I tried to pass it off like a Duchamp “Fountain” thing but I don’t think he was buying it…

So sometimes I have a hard time finding names for the pieces I make, and nevertheless I like having names for the pieces I make because I like thinking of my wardrobe as something filled with chatty vibrant personalities to rival my own, so when I get dressed in the morning I can say, hello, such-and-such-blouse, hello, such-and-such-pants, who wants to hang out with who today? Am I anthropomorphizing my closet? Mayhap. You should see the chats I have with my cat. Seriously, you should, my roommates could use more people with whom to watch and judge.

So this blouse is New Look 6808, my third version of this all-too-cute pattern. This time I did the collar, but without the little bow in the middle because I’ve really been working on this “dressing like a grown up” thing. And I did long sleeves, because it’s cold out here for a pimp. And I did stretch poplin because it’s seriously comfortable and I had some in my stash from over a year ago when I got a bunch of stretchy fabric for clover muslins. Ancient history.

I adore this color. One has to admit, though, this poplin is a tad wrinkly…

Eh, what are you gonna do….I also made the pants! My first clovers, in fact, which makes this outfit weirdly perfect and fated, come to think of it…

Side view! I had to add two pleats to force the sleeve to fit into the shoulder. I’ve had to do that every time with this pattern, but instead of altering it I just go with it because I kind of love the pleat!

I also noticed that the sleeve cuff detail is flipped up in all of these photos, sigh…

A little back view for you. You can’t see it in these photos, nor can you really see it much in real life, but there is a seam down the back which I have because I pieced together the back. If I was a super-villan, that would be my trademark, back seams. I just some fabric efficiency!

A little wink, terrifyingly caught on camera. You can see the cuff here, sort of, it’s cute.

Annnnnnnnnd there I am talking to my cat again. Of course. Duh.

We are actually having a tearful goodbye moment. Sniff. I love vacations but I loathe leaving him. It’s a constant dilemma for me, travel or Cadfael? Wow, my twenties are just WILD.

I know this is some rapid fire posting over here, but I wanted to throw this up online before I leave tomorrow morning for San Juan. My internet access is sort of limited there, and I can only use my computer in one of the two Starbucks in town. So my blogging shall be curtailed for a while whilst I swan about the island with my friends and then alone, and then with my family. Of course, that alone time is reserved for writing, writing, and then more writing. Because that’s why people go to tropical paradises, to sit inside and write…

I hope everyone’s New Year is treating them gorgeously! And before you call me out on it, I’m aware this blouse doesn’t fulfill my plans to make new patterns. I’ll get there, okay? At least I tried a variation. Counts, right?

Fall 2012 Sewing Plans

I sorted through all my patterns recently. It was….scary. There are so many of them. SO. MANY. PATTERNS. I don’t even know what to do with all of them. I found about 30 to give away, so, look out for more giveaways, I guess….

And yet, somehow, in all of the many of them (I couldn’t even count, it was too many) there were gaps. For example, I don’t have all that many skirt patterns. Or suit patterns (though god knows when I will ever wear a suit in my chosen profession of playwright, so whatever on that score). There are very few knit patterns, or, for that matter, modern patterns. There are a lot of dresses, mostly of the summer variety. There are some blouses, mostly of the button-up variety. There are a handful of coats and a scant number of jackets, and one swimsuit, that is actually a burdastyle download so that doesn’t even really count (because I couldn’t bear to deal with my downloaded and carefully assembled patterns, they aren’t really a part of this discussion because I don’t want my brain to explode). And there were dresses. Lots of dresses. Did I mention there were dresses?

And yet, though all this mess of paper and wonderful daydreams (like, I’m going to make all these shift dresses! Tomorrow! It’s going to be great!), I have carved out a Fall 2012 Wardrobe/plan/back-to-school (oh my god, I’m going back to school!) wish-list. Inspired by the wonderful Cindy of Cation designs, I shall now share my plans with you.

1. Another Jiffy 4977 dress.

I know. I KNOW. I was so “whatever” about this one but now it’s one of my favorite dresses and every time I wear it people love it. So I’m going to make another one, with slightly longer sleeves, for fall. Maybe in this cheerful stripe?

2. Sewaholic Thurlow Trousers (one, or maybe even two pairs…)

I bought this pattern the day Tasia released it, even BEFORE she released it, because I’m on her mailing list. I’m not really a pear shape, it’s true, but I do have a sizable bottom half (which, hopefully, is balanced out by my not-unsizable bosom) so I thought these might be a good fit for me. I want to make one straight from the pattern in a blue denim, dark, of course, and then fiddle about with the legs to make a slim-fitting black pair, perhaps a thurlow-clover hybrid? We shall see…

3. A mock wrap dress, Simplicity 4074:

In this lovely knit fabric from GirlCharlee

4. A Cation Designs (FREE PATTERN!) Dolman Top:

I couldn’t tell you what fabric, though. I’ve got some rather plain navy in my stash, and I’m trying not to buy any new fabric, but it seems rather dull for such a lovely pattern…

5. A coat, specifically McCalls 2979 from the 1970’s:

This is going to be a doozy, in fact, I would say this is a fall/winter 2012 project. I’ve never made a coat before, but I pre-ordered Gertie’s New Book for Better Sewing (and I can hardly contain myself waiting for it!) so I hope her padstitching and tailoring advice is helpful (like it would be anything BUT). I have no idea what fabric I’m going to use, I’m sure I will buy something, and, sorry, New York, but I’m equally sure I will be picking it up here in Philadelphia. When it comes to prices for wool, we can’t be beat…

6. A men’s shirt (for mi hermano!) Colette Patterns Negroni, of course:

Tailor-made for the 27 year old hipster in my life. I feel strongly that there will be many muslins because A. Fit is tricky and B. my brother is picky  discerning. He wants a long-sleeved version with both pockets intact, and I will be using the hell out of Peter’s Men’s Shirt Sewalong from all those moons ago, so look out for updates.

7. A Pencil Skirt! What pattern, do you ask? I. DON’T. KNOW. As mentioned above, I don’t have many skirt patterns, and I’ve never made a pencil skirt that I really loved. I’ve made a lot that were just okay, but nothing wonderful.  I would love for it to look just like this, please:

Can anyone find me something that would resemble that? I’ll send you a pattern, if you do!

Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg, as it were. I also plan to make a Peony Dress, a 1970’s pattern with tie-neck (delicious) and all sorts of other things, as they come to my busy mind. I mean, this doesn’t even cover knitting or quilting, which I find myself liking more and more each day. But I like starting with a plan. What are your fall sewing plans? Any perfect pencil skirt patterns you swear by in your own lives?

Me Made May 29, 30 and 31! Final Station Stop!

Wow. After 31 days of me made madness we have finally come to the end of the line! Goodness.

Really quickly, before the pontificating, let’s check in with the outfits:

May 29th!

My nautical bias skirt with a blouse I never bothered to document here, it’s a sorbetto with no pleat, just pintucks. I had some fabric leftover from my Flirting with the Forties blouse (which I made, goodness, how long ago?) so I used that. I love this blouse, I just never got around to photographing and making an homage to it.

Day 30!

My pro-petter pan blouse with a store-bought skirt. This is actually one of my favorite skirts and the waistband NEVER GETS MESSED UP. How does that work? Damn you, H and M!

Day 31!

My final outfit! My Wildcard pants with another sorbetto, also never really documented here. But check out what I managed to do:

Do you know how hard it is to take a photo of yourself in the mirror with a large camera and do a thumbs up ? But I did it. FOR ME MADE MAY!

The scarf is both new and vintage, and extra special. Why?:

Awesome. Got it on le etsy. Thanks, etsy!

It seems like only yesterday I was vowing to only wear stuff I made and look how the time has flown! I have to say, it’s been a challenge in a different way than last year. Last June when I did this challenge for the first time I had far less that I had made, and this year I had lots of options. and the challenge became about how to combine them in new ways. And I must say, I don’t think I repeated any one combination, which is nice! I also made some new stuff, including a baby quilt using old scraps for a co-worker, and I must say, I felt really special wearing all my me made stuff all month.

It also reminded me of a few things.

1. There are things I made that I don’t like or wear. And hey, that’s okay! Some of them I made when I was less experienced, some of them I thought would work but don’t, and some of them I don’t know what the hell I was doing when I made that crap, but for whatever reason, those items don’t work for me. I will be getting rid of them to make room for new things.

2. I wear separates a lot more than I wear dresses.

3. With that in mind, I need a good serviceable bikeable black skirt. Anyone have any pattern ideas or preferences? Many was the time this month that I saw that as a gap in my closet.

4. There are a lot of things I made that I really like! Including the new items in my Spring/Summer Palette challenge! So that’s nice.

5. I love this challenge. I love celebrating what I’ve made and seeing how other people style what they’ve created. I find it inspirational and excellent. So thank you, everyone who participated, I really loved all the posts I read, and a HUGE thanks to Zoe for organizing this yearly shin-dig! Thank you, Zoe! I salute you!

The Mirror Image Blouse (Me Made May Day 21!)

It should surprise no one to hear that I’m hardly the most exacting or exact sewer in the world. It’s not that details don’t matter to me, it’s just that I’m more of a “just do it” kind of crafter. And besides, making things for yourself as a non-professional is all about deciding what you can and can’t live with, i.e., just how much is that zipper which is SLIGHTLY off going to affect your life/sense of self? Can you deal with a dart that doesn’t QUITE match up to another dart? Can a project be good enough without being perfect? For me, yes, it can, and almost always is. I use my seam ripper as much as the next person, and I do follow instructions and try to do things right the first time, but honestly, I’m not all that interested in perfection, really, just wearability. Maybe it’s because I’m still such a new sewer and I’m still just amazed I can make things that will actually cover my body and not fall apart halfway through my commute, and maybe an obsession with precision will emerge as I sew more, but for now, I’m more about the big picture than anything else.

Additionally, I think marking is the worst. My least favorite part of sewing is, surprise surprise, cutting and marking fabric. I mark the bare minimum, and sometimes not even that. Notches? I don’t even want to talk about notches. And most of the time that’s completely fine, honestly. I mean, I’m sure some advanced sewers are just clutching their pearls but if I hadn’t told you, would you have really known? I mean, really?

Well, with this blouse you would, because I totally put the bow on the opposite side. Yeah. Yeah I did.

But, hey, don’t I look happy? (Sidenote: I have no idea what this blouse is SO. WRINKLED. I look like I slept in it. I did not. Promise.)

The pattern is my new BFF, New Look 6808. This time I did the variation with a collar and bow, but because I don’t mark fabric when I trace it against the pattern piece, I just kind of haphazardly picked a spot on the collar for the bow and followed the instructions using my free-hand placement. I’m 100% happy with it, but I’m also 100% sure the bow is supposed to be on the other side of the collar. Oh, well.

S0ooooo wrinkly. Sigh. The fabric comes as a leftover from my I Don’t Believe in UFOs Blouse. The pants, again, my trusty denim Clovers. I really need to stop wearing these pants…

Ha, photo-self, you can look for the bow over there all you want, it’s never going to happen!

Because this fabric has stretch , like the last time I made this pattern (fun fact, I got 3 yards of 3 types of insanely cheap stretch poplin back in the fall to make clover muslins, and I’m still using them! How neat is that?), I omitted the zipper. I also cut the back in two pieces and sewed them together with a 1/4th inch seam allowance. Fits like a glove.

Well, the BODY fit, and I like the collar, but let’s talk about the sleeves. The last time I made this blouse the sleeve cap was too big for the armsyce, so I pleated it (free form again, I told you, I’m a rebel!) and it worked. THIS time, the sleeve cap fit the armsyce perfectly (…why?) but the sleeves looked like little wings, ready to fly me away to the land of wrinkles and sewing rebels. So I sewed a deep dart into the sleeves, and that sort of solved the problem….which I don’t know why I have. Sigh. Sewing, it’s a crapshoot (it’s really not, just for me, it seems…)

The stern face of a sewing rebel.

I thought you might like to see the bow close up, as it’s the cutest damn thing about this blouse. But as you can see, I take bows very seriously. There is no laughing in bows.

And as a final photo to celebrate this, the 21st day of Me Made May (this was taken yesterday) and this blouse, which is another installment of the Spring/Summer 2012 Palette Challenge, a nice photo of flowers from my parent’s garden!

So, are you a rebel like me, or do you mark the hell out of everything? It should be noted that I’m totally a slave to instructions, which is rather ironic, one might say. Well, we humans are so fickle, aren’t we?