Well Hello There! Tank + Skirt = Dress Combo

Let me get this out of the way:  It's been a while.

Clearly, I have not been blogging, but I'm trying not to let that bug me.  So what if I only blog every once in a while now?  Just because I have ignored the blog for the last 5 months or so doesn't mean that I'm not allowed to post when I DO feel like it, right?

It's just that I've been using Instagram (I'm bkcav, if you want to follow me there) to share my sewing lately, which has been more satisfying and engaging--I can immediately see what others are sewing, and there's such a huge active sewing community there.

But THIS project requires a few more words than what fits on an instagram photo, so I thought I'd accompany my instagram pic with an actual blog post to show off what I did here. I'm pretty pleased with myself!

First of all, I ordered a yard of this great rayon challis print with the intention of making a loose tank top (I've been perfecting my pattern for a while now--I started with the free Sorbetto Tank from Colette Patterns, and have tweaked and shifted and adjusted so many times that I'm not sure you can even count it any more!).

I was pleasantly surprised to get a bonus in the mail--I got the end of the bolt, so I got almost 2 yards of it instead of just one, but that meant I was faced with a dilemma--use the extra fabric to make a dress instead of a tank, or make the tank I originally had in mind and see what was left over?  I couldn't really let go of the tank, since that was what I pictured when I saw the fabric and I was anxious to use the tank pattern now that it was just how I wanted it, but I hated to waste the rest!

I have been doing a curved hemline on this tank pattern, but this time I wanted to try a vented side with straight hems on the front and back.  It was a nice break from the curves--I have been using bias tape to get curved hemlines to lay flat, and this time I could just fold, press, and hem the old-fashioned way!

Well, it turned out there was JUST enough to eke out a simple gathered skirt.  I did a rolled hem on my serger to avoid using fabric in the hem, and gave it an elastic waistband, both for ease and again to save fabric.  I was able to make pockets (OF COURSE) from the scraps around the tank top pieces.

I was ALWAYS going to give it pockets.

And now for the cool part--when I put the two together, it totally looks like a dress!

The skirt's elastic waistband gives it a belted-dress look.

And not only that, I have dress OPTIONS!  Depending on where I put the waistband, I can also get a dropped-waist more slouchy style:

Honestly, this is less my style, but it's still nice to play around with it!

And I could wear the top out over the skirt as well, giving it a layered look, although one that I probably won't wear.  Maybe with a belt--a sort of peplum idea?

Who can resist this kind of variety?  And I love the way it plays with my Totinette necklace too :)

Anyway, I have been sewing with rayon challis a LOT this summer--it's so nice and soft and drapey, and easy to sew with!  But it definitely wrinkles, which means a lot more ironing that I am used to.  But I think it's worth it, so far!

Everyday Elsa

I have a confession to make--I am linking this dress up to this month's Project Run and Play, but I didn't make it specifically for that. Edited--I planned to link it up, but I was too late!  Just missed the collection. Boo.

As a matter of fact, I had been checking frequently to find out what June's pattern would be, and when I saw the Elsa pattern chosen by this month's host, Kiki from Kiki and Company, I laughed, because I had just finished an Elsa dress for Little Sister literally the day before.  I figured it was meant to be, even if I didn't use the actual pattern, so I'm linking up anyway! (uh...not so much meant to be after all.)

It still took me 3 weeks to get photos taken of it though, so I'm finally getting the blog post up.  And another confession--I started getting worried that I wouldn't get photos done at all, so when Little Sister chose this dress to wear on her first day of summer camp today, I told her we were going to take a few pics before school.

Luckily she was mostly game, and as a matter of fact she was inspired--she pulled the curtains back and told me we should use the white sheers and pretend it was snow!  We gave it a try, so these photos are her own idea.

The fabrics are knits from Girl Charlee that I brought with me when we moved to Japan.  The print on the white fabric has a slightly Scandinavian feel to me, so I thought it would be fun to make a casual dress that was inspired by Elsa.

The free Peep-Hem Dress pattern from Rock the Stitch was perfect for it--I just color-blocked the bodice (and did a lettuce hem on the top layer--something I've never tried before!)

I've had my eye on this free pattern for a long time, but it's finally a perfect fit for my 5-year-old, so the time was right!

I can see making this dress in lots of other fun fabric combinations--with the color blocked bodice, I could even see using wovens and keeping the top of the bodice in a knit.

The back--I just cut straight across to match up with the curved color blocking I did on the front of the bodice.

These particular knits from Girl Charlee are really light and soft, so even the two-layer skirt will be great for the hot summer weather.

I always love linking up to Project Run and Play, especially to see the other interpretations of the theme!  Take a look at this month's contributors here.

Also, take a look at this dress in action--perfect for our final visit to Tokyo Disneyland!  We made it there twice in our year in Tokyo, and really had great visits both times.

Me-Made May 2015 Wrap Up

I finished the rest of Me Made May without repeating my handmade clothes!  Before going into this I hadn't realized how much of my wardrobe is actually made by me.  And actually now that May is over I still have a few more things that I never wore during the month, but that I have worn since.  Not even including things that are for colder weather!

Here are the outfits I wore in the second half of the month (most pics from Instagram although some are pre-square-cropping so I can show you more of the proportions!)

May 17th:  I wore this dress out to tea at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Shinjuku (where Lost in Translation was filmed, although we were on a different floor) with some lady friends of mine.  I haven't worn this dress much, because I struggled a lot with the fit when making it.  Let's just say this is the dress that taught me the importance of making a muslin, especially when the project has multiple darts, piping, a full lining, invisible zip, and fitted waistband--pretty much impossible to alter without taking the whole thing apart!  I blogged about it when I first made it, and I don't know if I'll ever wear it again.

May 18:  Foldover waist yoga skirt.  I made this one out of a thrifted t-shirt and I thought I was pretty ingenious to use the square neckline to make the topstitched pockets.

 May 19th:  Railroad-Stripe Milkmaid Skirt (from this Crafterhours tutorial) and a cardigan I made out of a hand-me-down wrap dress, with a RTW tank and scarf

May 20th:  This is a Sorbetto Top but with a reverse pleat (blogged here) and a Boyfriend Cardi in some fun 100 yen per meter double-sided knit, from the free iCandy Handmade pattern.  I wore it to the Dirty Dish Shop in Tokyo (pictured), an awesome ceramics warehouse where everything is 40% off of retail price!

May 21st:  This was the first new item I made for Me Made May--a sleeveless Washi dress with some bodice alterations that I blogged about here.  It's also my favorite item of the month, and the one I was most excited to wear again when the month was over.

I had to show you a better close-up of the fabric too, because I love it--it's a little crinkly so it has some stretch, and it's nice and airy for hot weather.  Plus it was only 100 yen per meter--can't beat that!  This dress cost me about $2 to make! 

I wore it for our trip to a Sumo match, one of our bucket list items before we move away from Japan! Near the stadium we happened across this giant yarn ball and I couldn't resist the photo op.

May 22nd:  This dress was my Easter dress a few years ago.  It was one of my first splurge fabrics--a silky feeling cotton that was an end-of-bolt cut from Mood.  I think it also marks the first time I actually paid money for a women's pattern!  It's the Gathered Sundress from Pattern Runway.  I didn't make a muslin for this dress so the fit isn't great, but it still gets a lot of wear due to the beautiful print and the roomy pockets!  I think it's about time to give this pattern another try, now that my technique has improved quite a bit.

May 23rd:  Another Washi Dress :)  I LOVE this one in the Melody Miller border print arrow fabric, but being my first Washi Dress I wasn't sure how long to make it, and because of the border print I couldn't shorten it as much as I wanted to when hemming.  Still a winner though!

May 24th:  This skirt is another Milkmaid Skirt, this time made from a thrifted nightgown.  I rarely wear it since it's white, but I did manage to get through the whole day without spilling on it so maybe I'm getting less clumsy!  Or maybe my kids are older now and don't wipe their hands and faces on me as much anymore.  In any case, I think I can bring this skirt into more regular rotation now.  In other news, I loved this t-shirt Merchant and Mills made for Uniqlo--it has a faux measuring tape draped around it!  Of course, it's in centimeters...

May 25th:  Another take on the Scoop Top from Skirt as Top's free pattern.   Hmm, I guess I never blogged about this one.  It uses some sheer woven fabric from a blouse I ordered online that was a terrible fit.  This month made me realize how often I like to make the same pattern over and over--I have three milkmaid skirts, three (at least!) scoop tops, several Washi's, plenty of Plantains, and so on.

May 26th:  The 2nd NEW item of the month!  I found this fun strawberry print jersey for 200 yen per meter, and it made a great sundress for Little Sister but I was a little afraid of it for myself.  But I liked it so much I had to give it a try!  I think the black and white stripe mellows it out enough to be at least somewhat appropriate for a grown-up--but it's still a little crazy!  The pattern is the free Fun Summer tee from iCandy Handmade, and I haven't had a chance to blog about it yet.

May 27th:  Another dress I never blogged about!  I made this one here in Tokyo out of thrifted fabric that I brought with me from home.  The bodice is based on the Sorbetto Tank pattern again, but I'm pretty sure I used the Milkmaid skirt dimensions to figure out the skirt.  It has an elastic waist with bias casing.  And pockets, because duh.

This is another fabric that deserves a closer look, because it's printed on top of thin stripes.  Pretty cool!

May 28th:  A basic RTW black tee with a simple elastic waist a-line skirt (with pockets, of course!).  I  like the ribbon detail on the hem--you can get a closer look on my blog post about this skirt.

May 29th:  What's that, another Washi?  This time with long sleeves!  I made the elastic slightly too tight in the ends of the sleeves on this dress, so I ripped them out in the morning before putting this dress on--now they might be a bit TOO loose?  Maybe I'll put in a bit more elastic and try again.  This was my 2nd Washi dress and since I made the first one too long I overcompensated on this one and made it too short--and of course, I did a visible hem facing so no easy way to lengthen it either.  Grr!  It seems I never blogged about this one, either!

Cool double-sided 100-yen-per-meter fabric!

May 30th:   I based this top off of iCandy Handmade's free cap-sleeve tee pattern.  At first I just cut the yoke straight across, but it felt like it needed more so I re-did it with the sweetheart shape and was so happy with how it came out.  The knit has a subtle stripe that coordinated really well with the slate-gray cotton lace.  And what do you know--this is another project I never blogged about!

Sorry about the blurry pic of the back--it's hard to know when you're in focus using a phone self-timer!

May 31st:  My final outfit of the month was my 100-yen-per-meter Bess Top from Imagine Gnats in this weird map print!  I was pretty surprised to find that I had enough items to get me through an entire month without repeats (and then some!)

And that's it!  You can see my outfits from the first half of Me Made May here.  This was my first year participating in earnest, and I'm pretty happy with the results--the most major of which is realizing that a lot of my favorite things to wear are actually things that I made myself.

I have a few more projects on my to-do list now, some inspired by the great looks I saw from other sewists on Instagram, and some coming from the realization that I have a few dresses in my closet that I wanted to wear all the time, and I only avoided since I was trying not to repeat myself.  That tells me I need to make those patterns a few more times!

Sleeveless Washi Dress with simple mods

I made another Washi Dress from Made by Rae's great pattern!  When I posted it on instagram for Me Made May, I got a few comments about the proportions so I thought I'd share the modifications I made to the pattern to get this shape.

The original Washi pattern has an empire waistline.  I like it sometimes, but depending on the fabric that I'm using that cut can have a maternity look on me, especially since I have a long torso.  So the main modification I made to the pattern was to add a little length to the bottom of the front bodice.  I also tinkered with the neckline a bit, which I will show you below.

By extending the bodice just a little bit, the seam hits in a very flattering place--just above my natural waistline.  At the fold, your bodice should be 1.5" longer than the pattern.  Since the pattern curves a bit, the outer edge (side seam) of the bodice will be 1.25" longer than the pattern--just follow the curve of the original pattern.  What I actually did was cut a size small, but with a size XL length, which adds the amount of length above.

Forgot to get any pictures of the back though!

You have to remember to add those inches to the back panel of the dress as well, and move your shirring on the back down slightly.  I started my shirring about 1/2 inch lower than in the original pattern, and added one extra line of shirring at the bottom so that the shirring ends at the same spot as the bodice seam in front.

You don't have to adjust the bust darts--it really is just a simple matter of adding that little bit of length to the bodice.  The shirring in the back gives it a lovely fit.  If you go much longer than I did though, the torso portion of the bodice will start to pull and wrinkle.  I tried with a less forgiving fabric--I got a wrinkled bodice whenever I sat down.  If you want an even lower waistline you will probably have to make additional adjustments to the pattern.

This particular fabric that I used is slightly crinkly, so it has a little bit of stretch.  I usually make a medium in the Washi dress, using the same bodice adjustments described above, but this time I made a small to allow for the stretch.  I find it really comfortable and flattering--if you can find a woven with a bit of stretch, it works well to size down for a more fitted look!

A closer look at the fabric--another one of my 100-yen-per meter finds in Tokyo,
meaning this dress cost me about $2 to make.

For the neckline on this dress, I used the pattern neckline as a guide but cut it a bit lower and wider.  The depth of my neckline went right to the line of the signature "U" cutout in the Washi neckline, and then I curved it out beyond the pattern neckline but made sure the shoulder straps stayed the same width.  Here's a picture of how my adjusted neckline (the blue line) looks compared to the original pattern:

There you have it!  Hopefully these adjustments will give you some more options with the Washi!

Project Run and Play May Challenge: The Summer Chevrons Shirt

I got a lot of input from Little Sister for this month's Project Run and Play challenge.  When I saw this month's inspiration pattern, the Summer Chevrons Shirt from Crafty Cupboard, I had a definite idea of what she would want.  So I showed her the pattern and asked her opinion, and she surprised me on almost every turn.

Except fabric choice--we were in total agreement on this awesome be-ribboned octopus print from Cosmo Textile Company Japan.

I found the turquoise bow print as an accent--risky, since it wasn't pink or purple, but she went for it!

First of all, I wrongly assumed she would want me to turn the pattern into a dress.  Nope, just a shirt please!  Secondly, I thought she would want me to leave the sleeves off so it was a tank top.  Wrong again--she requested sleeves, please!  I did change them a little--I attached them backwards (gathering the curved edge instead of the straight edge), making them more of a flutter sleeve instead of a cap.  I mostly did it because I'm lazy--the print went right up to the selvedge on the fabric, so I could avoid hemming the sleeve by using the straight selvedge for the edge!

I love the mustard flat piping made from bias tape!  I used the same bias tape to finish the armholes.

Finally, I thought she would like the elastic waistband in the original pattern, but she wanted me to leave it out.  I was worried that the top would look too boxy without the waistband, but I think she was right--it looks just as cute without it!

We were in agreement on the closure though. I had been saving this lace-edge zipper for a while, and she kept asking me to put it into different garments.  And finally I had one that worked!  She could easily wear this top with the zipper in the back too, but when it's in the front she can easily put the top on (and take it off) by herself, so that's a huge bonus for both of us.

Back or front?  You decide!

I used this method from See Kate Sew to attach the embellished zipper to the top of the garment.  I left a gap front and center when I attached the yoke lining so that I could slip the top of the zipper in-between the two layers after attaching it, which worked out well--I closed it up when I topstitched all the way around the neckline.  I'm not sure how the raw edges on the back of the zipper are going to hold up though--I might tweak a little if I use this method for the zipper again.  I treated them with fray-check, and Little Sister says the zipper is a little itchy, so I might try adding a flap on the inside or something?  Or maybe the fray-check will soften up after washing.

**Update!**
After reading some commenter's suggestions, I covered the itchy raw edges behind the zipper with strips of the soft knit fabric I used for her shorts!  The top is saved!

**Ok, back to the rest of the post.**

I made the skirt with the yoke fabric and mustard bias tape like the top, but added some lavender chambray for the pocket panels.  I was worried that it would be tooooo matchy, and that without the waistband in the top the gathered skirt would be too bulky with the top.  But actually, I think it works just fine together!

But it also is a great piece to mix with other tops, and she loves the big pockets.

A closer look at the skirt

Just in case the top and skirt didn't work together though, I made a quick pair of knit shorts from some soft pink stripe I got for 100 yen a meter (about 82 cents!).  I shortened the Lazy Days Lounge Pants pattern and made the cuffs a little bigger since they'd go around her knees instead of ankles, but simplified it as well--no pockets and just a simple elastic waist.

They're kind of funny, but I based them on a pair of shorts she loves that I made by shortening a pair of hand-me-down leggings that were too big but with a hole in the knee.  And they are a hit!

She didn't want to turn the top around for pictures, but you get the idea--this would be just as cute in the front.

So there you go!  My (well, our) submission for May's Project Run and Play!  I'll let you know if I make the top ten this time (fingers crossed!)

Lucky #7 Pajamas

I haven't been able to get photos of most of my recent sewing projects other than the quick selfies I've been posting to Instagram, so I was looking through my iPhoto albums to see what projects I hadn't managed to blog about yet.

I made this pair of pajamas for The Boy's 7th birthday, which was in January.  Every time I saw him wearing the pajamas I made for him for his 6th birthday, I was cringing at his bare ankles and belly hanging out, promising myself I would get him some new pj's sewn up.  As a matter of fact, I don't think I ever blogged about those old pajamas either!  I just dug around and found some pics of one of the pairs I made but have no photo evidence of the cute moose pj's.  At least I can show you the Rebel Alliance pj's I made from a clearance Target men's t-shirt and scraps of black and neon green tees from my upcycling pile:

So, I may have been cutting it close on size even when they were new...

I'm experimenting with putting in a jump so that more posts appear on my main page--read the rest after you click, and let me know if you love/hate having a jump!