Me-Made-May-2016

I miss my little sewing blog! I didn't write here for one year. I sewed all this time, I updated my me-made list but didn't write proper posts.


I participated in Me-Made-May last year (all my outfits are in flickr album). I only finished one garment%(

I hesitated to participated this year or not because I knew that I could wear me-made garment every day, I knew that I need to make more separate tops, some shorts for summer and maybe some active clothes for hiking and cycling. But Me-Made-May is soo much fun! So I couldn't miss it!

'I, Sewing Sveta (sewingsveta.blogspot.com), sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '16. I endeavour to wear me-made or me-refashioned garment each day for the duration of May 2015. Also I will finish 2 new garments and I want to make a proper list of stuff that I need to sew to fill gaps in my wardrobe.'


First day, Drape-Drape t-shirt

March Burda Challenge. Simple cowl knit top.

My Burda Challenge is not going very well. I still have some issues in my January garment. February I missed because of my trip but I made March one. This is pretty simple knit top from Burda 03/2013 128.

I didn't read a description careful before cutting so the loose fit was big surprise for me. I imagined fitted top so I took almost 6cm from both sides. Next time I will cut it narrower and also will make narrower back. But this top could be pretty nice in its original version from some drape fabric, even not knit one, maybe only you need to make armholes higher. It could be nice idea for summer.

I made top pretty long and like how I can drape it on the waistline. The top is pretty cute so I think I would make more in different colors. I cut it from remnant bought in Dressew store, they often have nice knit pieces so now I know how to use them.

Facts:

• Fabric: 0.9m of cotton knit fabric
• Pattern: Burda 03/2013 128
• Fabric was bought without any ideas.
  
• Notions: thread, twin needle 
• Time to complete: 3.7 hours. The bias bindings took too long.
• First worn: one week ago.
• Wear again: yesterday.
• Total cost:2C$ per fabric, 1C$ per tread, 2C$ per magazine = 5C$.

Beige sweatshirt

I like to buy remnants at fabric stores, especially when you need to search in big boxes%) This is like hunting for me. So I made my new sweatshirt from such remnants which I bought in Dressew shop last year. I was looking for some pattern with raglan sleeves and found one in La Mia Boutique magazine, 01/2009 (Russian version Шитье и крой, 12/2009)

I saw my sweatshirt with wide hem band and long sleeve bands and with pretty loose fit. Finally I got little bit different sweatshirt. I think I had to cut one size up for more loose look and make bands not so wide, also I like my sweatshirt this way too. It is pretty comfy and goes well with a lot of my wardrobe.

Back view

I used a friend's serger for sewing and this was first time I use this kind of machine. But I like outcome, now I want my own serger too.

Maybe I should make narrow hem band

The neckline was made not perfect, with some puckering on the back because I cut too short stripe for finishing neckline. Hope next one will be much better.  

Not perfect neckline

Facts:

• Fabric: 0.5m of rib knit, 0.8m of terry cloth
• Pattern: la mia boutique 01/2009
• Fabric was bought first because of good price and knit cotton can be used always%)
  
• Notions: thread
• Time to complete: 4
• First worn: last week
• Wear again: this week
• Total cost:  2C$ for fabrics, 2C$ for magazine = 4C$

Bamboo orange skirt

Let me continue my skirtlog. Yes, I should admit that I like to sew and to wear skirts a lot! So this post is about pretty simple skirt which I made in October, just before the flight to China, I was sure that this would be pretty warm there and I could walk in my new skirt.

I have home yoga skirt(from recycle.org) and I found that it was very comfortable to wear so I decided to make my version of yoga skirt. It was very easy to make pattern for it - just two trapezia and two rectangles for waistband(the height of rectangle was two times more then height of waistband). Waistband should be pretty wide so the skirt would stay at place.



Sewing was very simple - side seams on the skirt, side seams on the waistband, then fold one in two and attached to the skirt. But even with such simple skirt I made a lot of problem for myself. First mistake was adding pockets. The second one was cutting one pocket from the waistband's detail! So I made one more trip to a fabric store which doubled the price of my skirt. Also this accident postponed my sewing for long time because I started the skirt in August but finished in October.

Finally I made the pockets and they looked pretty bad on such knit skirt. It was not good idea from the beginning but now I learned the lesson. The skirt is pretty comfy and the bamboo fabric is so smooth and soft, I don't mind to have more garments from bamboo.

Facts:

• Fabric:  0.6m (width 1.55m) of bamboo knit. And additional 0.4m because of my bad cutting.
• Pattern: self drafted
• Fabric was bought specially for this skirt
• Notions: thread, twin needle 
• Time to complete: 3.5 hours(1 hour for removing pockets)
• First worn: October 2014 for walking in Suzhou, China.
• Wear again: waiting for warm weather or Me-Made-May.
• Total cost:  15C$, 5.5$ I paid for additional fabric%(

Turtleneck, KwikSew 2403

I am not very good blogger this year. Also I am not very productive seamstress this year too. But this post is not about 2014 summary%) This one is about recent me-made.

I made stripe turtleneck from KwikSew 2403 pattern. I bought it in thrift store. This was first time I used this pattern company. I cut XS but for my opinion this size was too big for me so I took a lot in side seams and underarm too. Also I narrowed the sleeves a lot! I will transfer these changes to my copy and will have nice turtleneck pattern for next garment.

Kwik Sew 2403

For stabilizing shoulder seams I used stay-tape by Collins instead of piece of fabric but I think now this was waste of money because it was itchy. Good lesson for me. Maybe I will find use for it but I am not sure.

Front view%)

This garment is my first fully Canadian as the fabric and the pattern was bought in Vancouver%) Even with itchy shoulders I like my "memade" especially neck and long sleeves, I am big fan of long sleeves, next time I will make cuffs with holes for thumbs.

Awful winter light%(

Facts:

• Fabric:  remnant of cotton rib knit, 1.4 m, I still have pretty big piece of it.
• Pattern: KwikSew 2403
• I bought the fabric and the pattern without any specific plans.
  
• Notions: thread, twin needle, stay-tape 
• Time to complete:  5.8 hours (too much because of alterations)
• First worn: November 2014.
• Wear again:  already.
• Total cost:  2 Canadian $ for fabric + 0.5 for pattern (was $1, but I used it twice)  = C$2.5

Butterflies T-shirt

This is long time since my last post about finished project. I have checked right now - it was one year ago!! Oh no! I made a lot of garments but didn't blog them, I should improve this situation.

I finished a t-shirt in this June. It was half done so I didn't spend a lot of time with it.

Summer Butterflies Top

The pattern and fabric were bought in Tampere, Finland during short trip with my aunt. She attended the conference and I visited the city and fabric shop%)) Also I visited some fabric shops in Helsinki and bought this butterflies knit print there.

Finish shopping made last year

I bought Ottobre magazine, issue 02/2013. I like their designs, the patterns are pretty basic but with nice details and interesting cut. So I choose the pattern number 2 - Summer Basic Top. This is loose knit top with short kimono sleeves and additional draping in the bottom.

Ottobre 02-2013-02

It looks the same as tech drawing

It seems to me that I cut size 36 but I am not sure%)) Because the instructions were in Finnish I cannot say anything about them but for this simple design you don't need instructions. The sewing process was very easy,maybe the only problem for me was to bind the neckline and not to stretch it.

I like how this top looks, it was very comfy to wear during hot days. I like the neckline, pretty feminine. I think I make more such tops, maybe one version with more draping on the bottom and one just straight.

Facts:

• Fabric:  1m (width 1.55m) of rayon knit from Finland. I have pretty big piece after cutting. maybe for cami.
• Pattern: Ottobre 02/2013 02
• Fabric was bought first because of nice print.
  
• Notions: thread, twin needle 
• Time to complete: 3 hours
• First worn: June 2014 for walking.
• Wear again:  Yes! Already.
• Total cost:  6 euro for fabric + 1.8 euro for thread + 9 euro for magazine  = 16.8 euro. This is pretty much for t-shirt but I plan to make more from this magazine so this increase the cost%)

Also you can see my pattern review.

PS. The skirt I worn was refashioned by me, it was too long and looked boring so I cut it and worn a lot this summer.

Refashioned skirt with me-made t-shirt

Maxi knit skirt

It is so difficult to post something during a nice summer time! But I should keep tracking my sewing projects!%))

I have finished a maxi skirt in June. I saw the prototype in Jcrew shop in March in Toronto and decided that I should make such skirt!%)) I used a fabric which I bought at a market in Berlin. This was some cheap knit rayon (not very high quality btw).

Jcrew skirt

While I was googling how to make the belt on such skirt, I found the photos of another skirt where the front was made from pieces and made up my mind%)

The sewing process was not difficult but I made a mistake when cut the biggest front piece inside out. So my front piece became from 4 pieces%) I tried to stabilized seams with fusible stay tape but even this way sewing of knit pieces cut in different directions was not easy because the top fabric stretched during sewing. But I like final result!

My skirt!

I added the lining which I made from old t-shirt%)

Lining!%)

The back part is simple.

Facts:

• Fabric:  1.2m (width 1.5m) of rayon knit + old t-shirt.
• Pattern: me-made
• The idea came first then I found a fabric in my stash.
• Notions: thread, twin needle, fusible stay tape
• Time to complete: 7.40 hours. Too much time for a knit skirt but I spent a lot making front piece.
• First worn: 22 June for walking.
• Wear again:  Yes.
• Total cost:  3.6 euro for fabric + 0.5 euro for thread + 1 euro for elastic   = 5.1 euro

Burda Sew-along - Raglan shirt 02/2013 127

In the end of April I decided to participate in Burda sew-along. Almost all my garments were made from Burda patterns so I couldn't miss this sew-along%)

I made a raglan shirt from Burda 02/2013. I liked this pattern from the first moment. I used a fabric from my stash but now I think that this was not the best choice. The fabric is too thin and sheer, I prefer more thick tees. Also I had problems with a neckline and ripping (small holes formed on the fabric, rrrrrrrrrr).

So, my pattern review:
Pattern Sizing: 34, 38, 40, 42, 42. I cut 36.
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, the look is pretty the same.
Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes. But I did a neckline a little bit different. I made the shorter stripe for the neckline and sewn stretching the stripe. Also I topstitched neckline with twin needle. But this is not saved me from stretching neckline a little bit%(
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I like raglan and the gathers on the shoulders, they look nice, and don't like the low armhole.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I didn't add 7cm at sleeves for hemming. Also I made the tee a little bit shorter. My shoulder seams are 1cm lower because I made mistake and when ripping I made holes on the fabric, so I had to sew with bigger seam allowance to hide the holes. This was not bad because the tee was little bit to big in the shoulders.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I will try to make it with more thick fabric. Also I will cut 34 size next time.
Conclusion: Nice raglan tee with interesting details.

Facts:

• Fabric:  1.1m (width 1.5m) of rayon knit, very thin.
• Pattern: Burda magazine 02/2013 127
• Fabric was bought first, to companion to my blue dress.
• Notions: thread, twin needle, fusible stay tape
• Time to complete: 7.20 hours. I spent a lot of time for the neckline and fixing my mistakes on the shoulder seams.
• First worn: 26 April for walking.
• Wear again:  Yes! Yesterday%))
• Total cost:  8.8 euro for fabric + 0.9 euro for thread + 2 euro for magazine  = 11.7 euro

New sewing list for me!

Only one unsewn item remains in "current sewing list" so I will write the next one! These lists motivate me pretty well!
Really my backlog of ideas, wishing and sewing plans is huuuuuuuuge! Also I have a huge box of different UFOs so I decided to include them too in my current list so not only new projects will be realized.

New projects (from scratch)

• Maxi-skirt from knit - done (22/06)
  
  
  
• Muslin for leather jacket
• Scarf from silk 
  
• Green trousers from last summer - done (27/07)
• Burda sew-along - Raglan Shirt Burda 02/2013 - done! (26/05)
• Knit skirt for my friend - done (28/06)
• Simple bag from linen - need to buy ribbon for handle
• Simple jumper for cold summer nights form finish green fabric 
 

Refashion, changing, repair etc

• To finish summer brown skirt
• Winter dress - need new long zipper
• To fix some technical issues in orange bag
• To finish changing of red Simplicity dress - decided to keep it like this, it is ok!
• To remove pockets on new red skirt (I don't like how they came out) - done (26/06)
• To change Asos dress to skirt - done (05/06)
• To look on the waist of new red dress (belt or alteration?)
• Repair a pocket of the bag - done! (28/06)
• Repair a lining of Semeon's jacket

I have to finish this list quickly because I want to make the next one and sew my coll ideas!%))

Turtleneck for dress and quick hat

Print jumper

I bought this knit fabric specially to make a jumper for my blue dress. It was not cheap but I liked a print so much! Also it was wool so I took it.

I was thinking to use this pattern but as usually I hadn't enough fabric%) So I chose a turtleneck from Burda 09/2010.

I cut size 36 without seam allowances because my fabric was pretty stretchy and I wanted fitted garment. I didn't follow Burda instructions - I cut a ease from sleeve's caps and sewed sleeves flat (as I understood it was common for knits to put sleeves flat). For neck I found great post in pictures. I used only overstitching stitch at my machine (I haven't serger), so I will test how this stitch will behave in wearing.

Back view

I didn't manage very well with print matching on sleeves and a body because I didn't pay attention that the print had 3 different lines not two%)) But I am Ok with this! I should be more careful with prints in future%)

I like the long sleeves of this turtleneck and pretty loose neck.
Also I made fast hat from remnants%) I draw pattern myself. 

Close-up

Facts:

• Fabric:  1.15m (width 1.5m) of wool knit, very thin.
• Pattern: Burda magazine 09/2010 121
• Fabric was bought first, to companion to my blue dress
• Notions: thread, twin needle
• Time to complete: I started it in end of March, have finished 14 April. Sewing time - 5.05 hours. 1.40 for preparation, 3.25 - sewing.
• First worn: 20 April for walking and photoshoot
• Wear again:  Yes!
• Total cost:  16 euro for fabric (it was pretty expansive but I like print so much! And this is wool!!) + 1.5 euro for thread (magazine was present)  = 17.5 euro
 

Current sewing list

I hope this winter is over so I updated my winter sewing list for something little bit more light.

I decided that I had to concentrate on my stashbusting. To be more exact, on not increasing it%) So I will not buy any new fabric before I finish 5 specific garments. If I finish them I can by one or two pieces of fabric during my May trip. 

So this is my list

• Turtleneck 09/2010 - already finished
  
• Raglan Shirt Burda 02/2013 from light green rayon - pattern is traced
• Knit dress Burda 11/2012 from grey knit wool - done
• Skirt from KnippMode from red check wool -  done
• Birthday dress - done

Fabrics for long sleeves

This should be birthday dress

Skirt from KnippMode

Short report about sewing progress

As always I made pretty big plans, my winter sewing is not a exception!%) I am pretty slow in the execution of my plan. Now I am working on my blue dress, I try to make it almost perfect, he-he!%) I use French seams in my lining also I use bias for the dress's seam allowances. Because of all that my sewing is pretty slow!

Blue dress and remaking winter dress

Mess on my table%)

But I cannot do one thing for a long time so I've decided to make some very-very short project and have made a home skirt to brighten a little bit gray December! This was my old long-sleeve! I am so happy with my skirt, which is not perfect of course but very funny! I think I should make something in orange stripes for summer, but little bit more accurate%))

Orange and stripes!!

Green finish finished jumper

I am ready for some shopping!

 I´ve finished this jumper more then 2 weeks ago but post it only now%)
The fabric was bought in summer, this was nice suggestion on one local sewing forum.The fabric was made in Finland (Orneule Oy) for the army clothes. I took a lot of it to practice to sew knits and to make something useful for me and Semeon too:)

When I was looking for the old Burda magazines in the internet (because I want to buy some old nice issues to have in my collection and to sew from them of course), I pretty much like this jumper from Burda 11/2011 but I didn't have this issue. Some weekend my friend Pasha(btw this is male name in Russia) brought me some magazines from his mother and there was this number too!

Burda 11/2011

I traced and cut it pretty fast, I don't have any problem with tracing from Burda because for me this is only one experience of tracing%) So I am ok with tracing the Burda patterns.  

I choose to make 34 size instead of 36 because I want to have not too oversized jumper. Instructions were ok, because there was a master-class with the pictures in the magazine. So I made the jumper pretty fast%)) I don't have a serger so I used zigzag to finish seam allowances. For hemming I used a twin needle. This one was little bit narrow so for the next project I bought another one.

I like long sleeves, loose shoulders and the way how it look from the back and how you can drape it at the front. The jumper is very comfortable and warm! To sew knits was pretty nice and easy, so I will continue.

Front view

Back view

I wanted to make pictures in one cafe near our home but it was full, I was very disappointed so we made them in a supermarket, eh!

Facts:

• Fabric:  about 1.8m of wool-viscose blend(60% wool, 30% viscose(rayon)
• Pattern: Burda magazine 11/2011
• Pattern was first, fabric from stash
• Notions:  twin needle
• Time to complete: 2 or 3 days, for some hours per day
• First worn:  November 5th to the shop
• Wear again:  Definitely, I have already done it again%)
• Total cost:  1.8m * 1.8euro for fabric + 0.4euro for treads, magazine for free, should I count tween needle? = 3.64 euro - good price%))

 If somebody wants  the traced pattern I can send it easily:)

Boring sewing of the bed linen

Sewing home stuff is soooo boring!!! I should make one blanket cover and some pillowcase%( But this is so boring, you need to sew long straight lines only!
I see only one positive thing - that you have the result very fast!

So I am going to finish this boring sewing and start my first project from knit fabric! I´ve shown the picture in my last post.
I cut  11/2011 114 knit wrap top from Burda.
Hope this will be not very long project!%)


PS. Can you believe that I was thinking that 1 yard is about the half of meter?%)) I don't know why!!! But now I know the truth!