The commitment was made.
I, Denise Dooley of sewingforward.com sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ’15. I endeavour to wear one me-made garment each day for the duration of May 2015.
In previous years, seeing others Me Made May projects was inspiring, and I was always impressed with so many makes. This is my first year as a participant, finally having enough Me Made clothes.
Focusing lately on making more casual wear, I just made the easiest skirt ever!The Easy Knit Pencil Skirt from the Gertie Sews Vintage Casual book. No darts, no zipper. It’s 2 seams, elastic and a hem, but it can show off the right fabric.
Gretchen was wearing this skirt when she signed my book at the http://www.americansewingexpo.com/ last year. The fabric was gorgeous and it looked great on her.
Based on the measurements, I traced off an 8. The first attempt was wearable muslin, with a little twist. The fabric for the muslin was a power mesh meant to be used in shapewear. If I was going to wear this body hugging skirt, a little support was in order.
Laying out the pattern on the center fold to remove about 1 1/2 inches, I was hoping for a body firming fit. With the side seams basted, I found the pattern had just a little more curve at the upper thigh than I do. The waist and hips were a good fit, I just graded the seam in 1/4 inch along the thigh.
After sewing the side seams with a stretch stitch, I pressed the seams to one side and zigzagged the seam allowance down. The waist and hem were just folded over and zigzagged. Since the fabric was already all stretch, with a snug fit, I did not add elastic at the waist.
With the support wear done, I moved onto the skirt.
The fabric is a could not resist it, digital print neoprene from Haberman Fabrics. It has a nice stretch, no raveling and is easy an easy sew. It only took 3/4 of a yard to make the fastest skirt ever.
I cut the skirt with the size eight, just grading out the 1/4 inch at the thigh. Then sewed the side seams with a stretch stitch, pressing the seams open. To finish the waist, elastic zigzagged to the inside folded over, then tacked down by stitching in the ditch of the side seams. Add the hem and the skirt is done.
This was my day 1 outfit for Me Made May.
The top was a wearable muslin of the Boatneck Top, also from the same book and almost as fast to make. I used the size 8, but my second version I cut with 1/2 inch removed from the center fold line for a better fit.
The hardest part of Me Made May has been getting photos each day, I’m getting pretty tired of myself. 30 days of this, really? 10 days down, 20 more to go.
Day 1 – Skirt- Gertie’s Quick Knit Pencil Skirt in digital printed neoprene from Haberman Fabrics, Top – Gertie’s Boatneck Top in cotton knit from Fabric.com
Day 2 – Skirt- refashioned wedding dress, Top – vintage 1964 McCalls 7584 in stretch satin from Haberman Fabrics, Royal Oak, MI.
Day 3 – Combined Vogue 8766 and 5982 in cotton from Satin Moon, San Francisco.
Day 4 – McCalls 5927 in Liberty print lawn from L.A.Fabrics in Toronto, Canada
Day 5 – Pattern Review Winter Street Dress in poly knit from Haberman Fabrics.
Day 6 – Self drafted skirt in poly-cotton from JoAnn.
Day 7 – Vogue 8993 in embroidered eyelet from Mood Fabrics.
Day 8 – Shirtwaist dress from Gertie’s New Book for Better Sewing in black chambray from Fabric.com Changed the collar to a ruffle.
Day 9 – Simplicity Threads 2592 in cotton from L.A. Fabrics, Toronto.
Day 10 – Vogue 8998 in poly blend from Haberman Fabrics.
I’ve been posting on daily on Pinterest
and Instagram https://instagram.com/sewdooley
The best part of Me Made May has been seeing so many great makes on blogs, Pinterest and Instagram. Leave me a link if you’ve been posting.
Looking good! Which pattern is the grey dress with the red belt?
It’s the shirtwaist dress from Gertie’s New Book for Better Sewing. Instead of the collar, I made a ruffle for the neckline. I really should have put the pattern info in there.
That’s ok! I have it now! Thanks.
A great looking week and I’m very impressed with the shapewear for the skirt, great idea.
Thanks. I can wear it under a number of other skirts and dresses too. With the skirt style it’s a little cooler that Spanx, a plus in the summer.
I absolutely love your first outfit. The skirt is beautiful! All your other outfits (how many dresses?!) are gorgeous. I couldn’t choose a favourite!
Thank you. It’s the first time I’ve sewed on Neoprene. I really like the richness of the colors achieved with the digital printing.
You’ve had a gorgeous looking time in May so far! 😀
That is a beautiful skirt, and it looks wonderful on you!!
http://www.freckledfashionista.wordpress.com
Thank you. We finally have some nice weather, just in time to bring out the bright, pretty fabrics. Spring/Summer clothes are much more simple to make. I still can believe how quickly you made that blazer.
5 hours… But it was an easy sew as the instructions were good and my fabric behaved 😀
I’m having visions of fabric misbehaving, becoming little gremlins running around causing havoc in the sewing room.
Haha…. I’ve been making the Oslo cardigan tonight and my fabric’s been just like that tonight! 😳
You’re on a roll so far for MMMay! And thank you for sharing your underskirt idea–I plan to immediately copy off of you because it’s brilliant and so useful. And your scuba skirt turned out beautifully and looks just lovely on you!
Thanks, that power mesh was much easier to sew than I expected and definitely firms things up. Seeing your skirt encouraged me to get mine made.
Such pretty outfits and love your new, floral skirt. The photos are definitely the hardest part of MMMay…
Thanks, I love looking at all the photos posted by other people, but my own are getting a little monotonous.
I like all your dresses and skirts! I have both of Gerties’s books and I’ve just started on the Shirtwaist Dress; hopefully I’ll get it done in time to wear this May!
Thank you. It’s a great dress, the shirring in the back works out very well and helps show off the waistline.