Fall 2014 Selfish Sewing Round 2

This is the first time that I've participated in Selfish Sewing Week, and I'm not entirely sure how it's supposed to work--do I sew this week, then share what I've been making at a later date?  I've been trying to sew AND document/share, but I tell you--I'd be able to sew a lot more if I wasn't trying to get photos and blog posts done as well!

That said, I do feel like I accomplished quite a bit in the name of selfish sewing.  In the past week, I've sewn two t-shirts, a cardigan, a dress, and a blouse for myself.  And I have one more top that I count for Selfish Sewing even though I finished it about a week beforehand, because it wasn't until SSW that I found time to blog about it.  My previous post shows off those first tops, and today's post is for the pieces that I was so excited to sew this week--I bought the fabric a while back and made myself wait to make this dress and top during Selfish Sewing Week, so that I could sew kid things for Project Run and Play while waiting for SSW to begin!

First off is my very first Washi Dress.  The top I made last week was a practice run for this dress--I did end up going up a size in the dress since the fabric I was using is a bit thicker and I am glad I did. I couldn't be happier with the dress's fit.

Instead of doing the cute U cutout, I cut the neckline out a little lower than the pattern (I used the bottom of the cutout as my guide--I felt like the fabric was busy enough without the extra detail), and I added a couple of inches to the length of the bodice just like I did in my wearable muslin, to get the fit just the way I like it.  And I lined the bodice instead of using the facing, again like I practiced before.

Love that my gold sandals match the dots on the fabric :)

I was so excited to find this Melody Miller Ruby Star Polka Dot fabric in Tokyo's fabric town!  It's soooooo pretty--I actually bought it in two different colors because I couldn't decide, and it was less than $4 a yard!  I bought 3 meters of each color, so you may be seeing another version of this in the aqua soon.  You can't really tell in the photos, but the little rows of dots between the arrows are actually a metallic antique gold color.   SO PRETTY!

I have to give credit--I was looking at images of this fabric online, and found this blog post documenting this exact dress.  When I saw her pics, I knew that's what I wanted to make out of mine too, and that's when I bought the Washi pattern!  Hope she doesn't mind ;)  I loved that she cut the sleeves from the scalloped border!

Back view

I wish I had cut the skirt a smidge shorter, because I envisioned this dress going year-round with tights, boots, and a cardi, but I was afraid of cutting it too short, and then because I didn't want to lose the border print I couldn't hem it any more, so it came out a little longer than I wanted.    But as you can see, I still totally love it!

Goofing around for my photographers--I let the kiddos run the remote.

But what do I get for being silly on camera?  I get photobombed, that's what.

Anyhoo, I did manage to make one more top before Selfish Sewing Week ends, but I wasn't able to get out again for photos.  So here's the shirt:

It's a modified Ruby Tunic, another pattern from Made by Rae.

And here's my iPhone selfies modeling the finished product:

As good as the photo session gets this time around!

On this one, I again cut the neckline lower (what can I say, I like an open neck!) and added sleeves.  I started with the free Washi sleeve pattern, but added a few inches to get a 3/4 sleeve.  I also had to cut the sleeve a little narrower to fit on my remaining Kokka owl print double-gauze, and I am happy with the way they came out!  You will not be surprised to hear that this was another Tokyo fabric find, at less than $6 a yard, and it's soooo soft and warm.  This is the first item I've sewn for myself out of this kind of fabric, and it was kind of surprising to me how snuggly it feels.  Kind of like wearing a more breathable flannel.  That's why I wanted the longer sleeves--it seemed like a great fall tunic to wear with jeans.  The print is a little more childish youthful than I usually go for, but after eyeballing it on my first trip to Nippori and not being able to get it out of my head, I bought a meter and a half on my second trip (and I have just enough left over to make a little Milkmaid Skirt for Little Sister.  Although she told me she wouldn't wear it unless I put purple stripes on it.)

And I couldn't resist using this cute gingham bias tape I found at the 100 Yen store for the neckline!

I finished it in time to wear it on my visit to Fukuro no Mise, or Tokyo's Owl Cafe--I wrote about that experience on our family's blog.

One final little selfish project--although you can't really call it "sewing"--

I cut a little scrap of my Melody Miller Ruby Star Spring 2012 to slip under my new clear phone case.  I love this idea--I can change out the fabric whenever I get antsy for a new design!

This fabric--another find at less than $4 per yard. Don't know yet what I'll do with the rest of it!