The Fabric Alchemist

When the birds started chirping Monday morning, one of my first thoughts was: “oh no, I am running out of me-made clothes.” When I think about my clothing collection, it is true that I have not bought many new RTW clothes in ages, but I have bought a lot of used RTW clothing. And while I have been sewing a lot, most of my projects were costumes for myself and others. I truly thought I owned more me-made clothes than this…

Monday, May 6

Me-Made: Floral sleeveless blouse (Simplicity 2262).
Worn with: Linen pants (RTW, Old Navy), denim jacket (RTW, Old Navy), and brown leather beth (thrifted).

Boy, this shirt is so much more enjoyable with a belt. I made this blouse before I really understood fabric choices. The fabric was an impulse buy; baby-bolt of quilting cotton on sale. Previously I always wore this blouse with slim jeans in order to counteract the flare of the shirt. Every time I put it on, I longed for a belt that could be worn at my natural waist and force some shape onto the blouse (and me). The belt shown below was a lucky Goodwill find a month ago. I wear it with an outfit at least once a week. You’ll notice I wore it 3 times this week.

Tuesday, May 7

Me-Made: Peasant dress (1960s pattern than belonged to my mom), scarf (no pattern)
Worn with: leggings (RTW, gift) and the Old Navy denim jacket.

I slept in a bit past my alarm and rushed through dressing myself. I wanted a me-made garment I had not worn yet this month and was easy to wear. I only seem to wear this dress during Me-Made May. I don’t like the shape of the bodice and sleeves, which I concealed under the RTW denim jacket almost all day. The scarf in the photograph is a me-made item from at least 2007. I felt like I threw in the towel today.

Wednesday, May 8

Me-Made: Jersey wrap dress (blogged about here, pattern from Burdastyle community)
Worn with: jersey knit camisole (RTW, Loft), black slip (unseen), a necklace my aunt made for me in her glass/jewelry class.

After making the dress using a pattern that is too small for me, I have been apprehensive about introducing this dress to the outdoors, specifically wind gusts. For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to wear this dress on a day that I had to bus to our second office location and give a tour to a group visiting the museum. On the way to work I was carrying two bags, which held the skirt down so I did not experience an unexpected-wind-exposure. When I tried to power walk to the bus at 5pm, with only one bag, the wrap skirt began to flap in the wind. I am considering ways to sew the skirt in place and create a fake-wrap dress.

Thursday, May 9

Me Made: denim chambray skirt (refashioned thrift skirt using self-drafted skirt sloper, blogged about here), black fitted knit under shirt (self-drafted pattern).
Worn With: Olive camp shirt (RTW, Old Navy), thrifted Belt, boots.

I am calling this my Girl Scout outfit. You saw this skirt last Monday. I only wore the olive shirt because the black lycra top is a bit snug and I felt a tiny bit exposed.

Friday, May 10

Me Made: Dress (adjusted shift dress pattern belonging to my mom)
Worn with: thrifted belt (!!) and black drape cardigan (modified hand-me-down)

When most of what you have sewn for yourself is costumes, wear a costume during MMM. 🙂 I have mentioned the Egyptian costume that planted the seed for future sewing, but I don’t think I have every shown you pictures of it. I was a Classics major with an archaeology focus. I wanted to be an Egyptian, and by golly I was going to make it historically approximate.

I used a poly-blend linen-looking rust colored fabric to emulate some of the dresses depicted in Egyptian art. The dress itself is a simple column, enhanced by accessories. Without the gold, the [Greek] sandals, and the heavy eye makeup, the dress is pretty basic. And apparently wearable in the real world. 🙂

My boyfriend kindly pointed out that this is only week two, and I panicked. I have to remind myself that the purpose of this challenge is not to have a new item for 30 days. (Though, kudos to you amazing sewists out there who do have 30+ self-made items!) The purpose (or my purpose) is to incorporate the me-made items I do have into my wardrobe. So I need to challenge myself to try a different outfit combo.