Me Made May Week 2 (for me)

I continued (as best I could!) with documenting the handmade garments I wore each day this week.  I have a couple of days that just didn't work out but here are the ones that did!

 Sunday:
This is a dress that I LOVE, its Butterick 6446 made in a cotton/linen gauze from Fabric Mart.  I wore it to church and its a great pattern, highly recommend.  Of course I changed into something more comfortable and casual after church but can't remember what that was.  My girlies (below) were also in Me Made dresses.  These were their Easter dresses (unblogged) and they look sooooo cute, I'm not biased! Promise!

Monday:
Now this picture was taken for my May Fabric Mart post, not on Monday but since I wore this Monday and knew I already had a photo of it, I DID NOT bother to re-take a picture of the outfit. The top is a modified McCalls OOP pattern and the shorts are Megan Nielsen's Flint shorts which I pattern tested in the fall.  This was the first time I wore the shorts all day and they were sooo comfy.  I will definitely need another pair of these, so breezy in our Georgia heat.

Tuesday:
Its obvious that I love these Grainline Maritime shorts (fabric from Hancocks).  They work so well for me.  The perfect length, great pockets, sit closely to the small of back- which is a minor miracle. The only thing that I will adjust next time is the back crotch curve.  I just need a little more of a scooped out curve back there.
This was a Grainline day because the top in an unblogged Lark tee in a Fabric Mart Precut knit.  So soft!

Wednesday:
This is a Grainline Alder made some time back in a quilting cotton.  Its a cheery dress and good for casual days.

Thursday:
No picture on Thursday because I was elbows deep in scrubbing bathroom floors, walls and toilets, changing soiled bedsheets, cleaning carpets, washing a child twice, changing garbage can liners, fetching apple juice, changing DVDs etc, can any of you Moms out there guess what was going on?!! My child had an upper and lower GI virus, ugh, not pretty that day.  I almost didn't get out of my pajamas on Thursday.

Friday:
A little fancier today since I went into work for a short time, so in contrast to Thursday I got to feel like a human being and get dressed!  This is the infamous McCalls 6886 and it really is a great little pattern.  I get compliments on this dress often and its such an easy make.

Saturday:
I can't report on my outfit for Saturday since it is for an upcoming post for Fabric Mart for their Skirt Sew along month!  I am very excited to share it though, and if you are so inclined Fabric Mart has some fantastic 50.00 gift certificates they are giving away each Monday this month during the sew along.  All you have to do is post a picture of a you-made skirt and include their hashtag and your name goes into the drawing!  Go on over to their blog HERE to see all the details.  I would totally enter every day if I were you! :)

So that's my summary of the second week of Me Made May.  

I hope you are having a great week,

and Happy Sewing!

Elizabeth

J. Crew Knock Off Easter Dress

Pattern Review has a great contest running right now called Barganista Fashionista.  Its a knock off contest where you are required to make your own bargain based version of a pricier garment.  Now I realize that there are far more expensive dresses I could have attempted to knock off and that you could probably buy something cheaper than my version at a big mall sale but for me, sewing is that opportunity to craft something with your own two hands using higher quality fabric than can be bought at the mall and most importantly it is the embodiment of creative expression that comes as a result of planning, cutting, stitching, imagining.

The inspiration for this dress came when I saw this J. Crew dress in a magazine last summer I loved the design, it had several elements I love in a dress.  The mock wrap front, pleated skirt, pockets, and waist tie.  I have learned that although I could probably have bought this dress at some point online and on sale, I could guarantee that the store bought version would never fit me like my me-made version.  Sooo when Butterick released pattern 6446 I knew it would be a great Easter dress!!  Yippee!

The printed fabric is from Fabric Mart last spring.  It was deeply discounted if I remember correctly.  Its a cotton/linen gauze and is super sheer.  Its also so well behaved, it pressed beautifully and was not slippery or unruly when handling like a silk or chiffon, so it was a pleasure to work with as far as sheer fabrics go. I underlined the entire garment with cotton poplin from Hobby Lobby.  I don't often, if hardly ever, buy apparel fabrics from Hobby Lobby but this poplin worked beautifully.  It gives the skirt an element of fullness that it needs and the structure necessary to support the gauze.

A few notes on the pattern.  I had to fiddle with the armscye a bit and used the tissue fitting method to get a good idea of the changes necessary for a good fit.  Now normally I don't have to fiddle with the armscye drafting in big four patterns but I don't know, this one needed to be lowered a bit and shaved off a bit more than my normal for narrow shoulders.  Looking at the back picture I think that back arm area could use some more shaving off and shaping too, just looks too wide back there for my taste.  

Other minor pattern changes included a small dart at the back neckline, sway back dart, grading that I always have to do for my sizing, 8 shoulders (smaller in this case), 10 bust, 12 waist, 14 hips.   

I am soooo glad I finished this in time to coordinate with the girlies this Easter!  I finished their dresses earlier and was really hoping to finish mine so we can be all matchy matchy :)  Can't wait to take pictures with them in their dresses too especially since the 4 year old LOVES her dress soooo much and asks to wear it every day :) makes my Momma heart smile.

Ok well that sums it all up for me time to go enjoy some sunshine!

Happy sewing!

And thanks for reading!

Elizabeth