Self-Made Dresses Outfit challenge - Day 3

Thsi morning it was 0 Celsius with a freezing rain warning. It's still sweater dress weather I suppose. I put on the easy to wear striped wool blend sweater dress that I made recently (see this post). I also wore my latest self-knitted item: a simple snood/infinity scarf made with thrifted teal yarn. I love this teal colour so I bought this big ball of boucle yarn at the thrift store last month, even though it's 100% acrylic.

I also wore the dress with thrifted brown fleece lined tights and thrifted brown leather boots.

I quite like the pop of teal among the brown/wine of the overall outfit. And the snood was quite warm too!

Self-Made Dresses Outfit Challenge - Day 2

Today is -5 Celsius again and it actually started snowing in the late morning. A long sleeves, warm and toasty sweater dress is in order. So I chose the grey sweater dress that I had chopped off to knee length (see this post). I wore it with a thrifted purple scarf, thrifted fleece lined purple leggings and thrifted polka-dot rainboots.

This is just too easy a challenge! Throwing on a sweater dress is a no-brainer for me. That's why I have so many sweater dresses. It's a easy uniform for me: put on a sweater dress, acolourful scarf, a pair of leggings or tights, and a pair of thrifted boots. What weather will tomorrow bring?

Self-Made dresses outfit challenge - Day 1

Well, it's time for another 7 day challenge. I like doing these 7 day challenges so that I'll remember to wear all my clothes in my closet - not just the clean ones on top of the folded laundry pile!

And it's not really a challenge because I have more than 7 self-made or self-refashioned dresses. The real challenge is how to wear them in this unpredictable spring weather: 10 Celsius one day and then -5 Celsius with snow the next day!

It was -5 C this morning but sunny. So I decided to wear this short sleeves refashioned sweater dress today (see post here). Although it has short sleeves, the whole dress from the collar to the hem is made with 100% wool so it's super warm (or hot). I wore the dress with thrifted leggings and thrifted suede winter boots. As the dress is already colour-blocked, there was no need to accessorize it.

Looking forward to the next 6 days of self-made dresses!

Spring Travel - 1 week packing

It's that time of the year again - March Break. We always travel out of town to visit family and friend this time of the year. Packing for March in this part of the world is always a headache - it can be warm and rainy one day, and snow and blizzard the next! So layering is definitely key. Also, a warm, 100% wool sweater/cardigan is a must.

Since having children, I have been pretty diligent in using a minimalist packing list for the maximum number of outfits. For this 7 day trip, I will be packing the following for myself. These items are all very travel friendly (no ironing!). The outfits will enable me to do outdoor activities with the kids, dinner with friends and even a funeral. Moreover, I will be wearing almost half of it on my body on the way there and back!

The list consists of:
- Red 100% merino wool cardigan (thrifted)
- Refashioned denim jacket (see this post)
- Refashioned black cotton knit dress (see this post)
- jeans
- blue plaid shirt (thrifted)
- black long sleeves t-shirt (thrifted)
- brown fleece lined tights (thrifted)
- silver knit scarf from remnant fabric in my stash (see this post)
- blue silk scarf (x'mas gift some years ago)
- brown skinny belt (thrifted)
- green suede loafers (thrifted)
- black knee high boots

Note: I always pack a somber outfit now since there are a few infirmed and elderly family members. I was caught out one time without a funeral outfit and had to hastily buy some ill-fitting and expensive clothes.

From this list I am able to create the following 7 outfits (or more):

Hopefully these outfits will work for whatever occasion or weather I will be encountering during this trip!

MAGAM March Project - Striped sweater dress - Butterick 5146

I can hardly believe it's already March! We have lots of snow this week so we are still in the deep of winter here. No chance for me to think about sewing Spring clothing yet. And for me, when in doubt (regarding sewing projects), sew a sweater dress!

The March theme for the Make A Garment A Month group is 'Make over March'. I decided to use a stash fabric that I had used before and a stash striped wool blend sweater knit fabric to make a dress. The last time I used this pattern, I did a refashion of a RTW dress into a little red dress for myself:

Refashioned RTW dress based on Butterick 5146

I thought it fit well enough so I wanted to use it again to make a proper dress with long sleeves. I used size 14 again and did the short waist adjustment and changed the split neck into a jewel neckline. I found the sleeve cap and the upper arms to be too voluminous. So the next time I make it I will scale it down properly. It was a very easy to sew pattern for knit dresses or tunics. Highly recommended! I'm sure I will use it again in the future for another knit dress.

The wool blend sweater knit fabric has been in my stash for almost 6 years! I bought it to make stuff for the kids but then realized that kids and wool might not be such a good idea. It has 2 sides: one side is a grey and wine striped and the other side is plain grey. This allowed me to play with both sides and use the plain side as the sleeves as well as the neck binding.

My review of this pattern is at PatternReview.com.

My entry for the Little Red Dress Contest - Butterick 5247 again!

I stared at my stash fabrics and my stash patterns for a long time to figure out what I want to make for the Little Red Dress contest. I have lots and lots of red fabrics and great patterns to make 5 red dresses! I was pondering if I should make something really sophisticated or something very practical. Eventually, practicality won over elegance.

In keeping with the theme of the contest, which is 'empower women to take charge of their heart health', I wanted to make a practical dress that I can use for healthy outdoor winter activities (hiking, playing in the snow, etc), general day to day activities of a mom, and even lounging around the house. Most of the sporty, practical, utility dresses I have seen at the shops are all in muted colours: black, grey, taupe, navy, blue, etc. Why not something in a vibrant colour?

This is a lipstick red Polartec material. I have LOTS of it! I have this material in black, green , brown and red. I love this material. It's warm and moisture wicking and has 2 usable sides: the soft fleece side and the coated firmer side. I took advantage of the 2 different sides to make my dress.

The pattern I chose was the tried and true Butterick 5247 (See previous creations here and here).  As this is a dress I will be layering, I used size 14 (otherwise I would have used size 12). It is super easy to sew. I drafted a kangaroo pocket for practical purpose. I used the firmer coated side for the main body of the dress and the fleecy side for the pocket and the cowl neck. 

I look pregnant with my hands in the pocket!

It's not the most glamourous little red dress but it's definitely something that's very useful for me. I have already worn it out for a day and was very pleased with it. I think it will get a lot of use in the colder months!

You can read my review of this pattern at PatternReview.

I've entered the Little Red Dress Contest!

I was browsing through the PatternReview site and saw that they are having a Little Red Dress contest. I LOVE RED! So I signed up for the contest. However, after reviewing the dresses in my closet, I realized that I have lots of Little Red Dresses already!

Red Ponte Knit dress Refashion

Red stretch lace dress

Red sparkle knit dress

 Nonetheless, I have lots of red fabrics in my stash and I have to use them somehow. I went to Pinterest to look for inspirations. I want to make something that I will actually wear on a day to day basis, not just some special occasion gown that requires lots of work but never get worn. I want it to be useful, versatile and beautiful too.

My first thought was to make yet another sweater dress. I have made lots of sweater dresses and I wear them often in the colder months. I was thinking perhaps I could make one with my stash wine red sweater knit but add a slight twist to it:

Then I thought perhaps I could do a sporty dress with the Polartec Windbloc fabrics in my stash:

And then I looked at the big roll of red boucle fabrics in my stash and thought I should make something that can be worn to the office:

Finally I saw my tomato red ponti fabric and thought, 'why not a wrap dress?':

What do you think? I really don't know what I want to make for this contest! And time is ticking along! I don't have much time left to ponder on what to make that is useful and beautiful for me to wear. Any suggestions?

Self-drafted fitted pants pattern take 2: Another pair of corduroy pants

Whenever I drafted a new pattern or tweaked a commercial pattern to my liking, I always end up making too many garments with different fabrics from them. It's no exception with my recent self-drafted, elastic waist pants pattern. It's still very cold in our part of the world, so I decided to use some stash wine red corduroy (with a little stretch) and make another pair of skinny pants with it.

It all came together very easily. This corduroy has a little more stretch than the winter white corduroy I used that time. So the skinny pants are a little loose. No matter! It's comfy and warm and I love the colour. I hope to wear it often until May!

Front

Add caption

And here is how I'm wearing it in the snow and slush:

For some reason this photo, taken with the timer is super blurry!

Patchwork jacket - Simplicity 3962

My fabric scraps box has been overloading for a while. So I chose some scraps and made a Patchwork jacket! I picked a rainbow brocade, a black brocade, a small houndstooth wool, a red plaid wool, and a black sparkly wool boucle. For the rest of the jacket I used this thrifted grey wool flannel that I had felted last year. I want the jacket to be warm!

I used a stash pattern Simplicity 3962. I have made a tropical wool jacket with this pattern before and I liked it. This is a great pattern as it comes with different cup sizes and the shoulder princess seams make the pattern easy to alter if necessary. The pattern is very straight forward and easy to use. I didn't even look at the instructions.

I used size 14. Since the scraps were of different weight, I used a lightweight fusible interfacing for the entire jacket. This turned out to be not such a great idea since the grey felt was already quite thick. The front facings and the collars are way too thick and doesn't lie too flat. Even the sleeves are a bit too stiff. Oh well! I'm wearing it anyway. Perhaps if I wear it more often it will become softer??

What I didn't consider when I was auditioning the scraps together was that the collar would obscure the top front fabric. I will remember that next time. Also, I think the shoulder pads are a tad too big for my already broad shoulders.

I'm looking forward to wearing this tomorrow to see how practical it is!

My Pattern Review for this pattern is here.

Sewing Pattern Destash Sale!

For too many years, I have too much fabric, too many unopened patterns. Although I have stopped buying new patterns for a while, I still have way too many of them! And my hubby has finally given me an ultimatum: Clean out the sewing area so it's not a hazard for adults and children! I have bags and bins of fabric lying on the floor, boxes and bags of unopened sewing patterns everywhere. It's time to clean it all up.

I just have too many patterns and I need to admit to myself that I will never have enough time to sew all these fabulous patterns that I have accumulated. I should let other sewists enjoy them! I started by going through my Vogue patterns - the unopened, factory folded ones. I have put them on the Sewing Pattern Destash Facebook page and my own Facebook page. Check here if you are interested. Next I'm going through the other brand's unopened, factory folded patterns - Simplicity, McCall's, Butterick, Burda, Kwik Sew, etc. I will be adding more unopened, factory folded patterns on my Facebook page every week. So do check it out from time to time if you are interested in getting some cheap unopened patterns! ;-)

MAGAM Feb project - Refashion 2 Brocade cushion covers into a Brocade Jacket

My son is attending a Chinese New Year party tomorrow. A few days ago, he asked me to make him a Chinese Brocade Jacket because all the other kids will be wearing something like that. I thought it wouldn't be a problem since it should be pretty easy to find Chinese Brocade fabrics in fabric stores these days.

So a couple of days ago I went to my usual fabric store but they had only a couple of very feminine Chinese brocade fabric. They said they only stock them for x'mas but not for Chinese New Year (??). I even went to a few Asian malls in my town but they only have Chinese New Year garments for babies.

Just when I was panicking about what to do, I suddenly remembered that a relative gave me a pair of Chinese Brocade cushion covers from their trip to China. I was so happy to have thought about that! They had been sitting in the basement collecting dust for a few years. They were made with a teal, masculine looking brocade:

The cover was wide enough but not long enough. Thank goodness I have 2 of them. I had no pattern so I just decided to wing it. I researched briefly online the design of Chinese traditional jackets. They were all quite boxy. I just drew the design on a piece of paper and started cutting. I was quite fearful when cutting because I knew I have only just enough to make 1 jacket. I did make lots of rooky mistakes because I was rushing through it. I ended up having to do lots of hand sewing to cover up my mistakes. I 'sweatshopped' my way through and here is the result:

I didn't have enough for the facing, the collar and the binding of the sleeves. I used some scrap blue taffeta for that. I wish I could have fully lined the entire jacket but I ran out of time. I was hoping to do proper Chinese knot buttons for it too but the darn brocade just kept fraying when I was doing them. I decided to just add hooks and eyes for the jacket. Perhaps when I have time later I will try to find some satin in similar colour and make the knot buttons.

I'm just happy to have made a jacket for him for the party tomorrow! I hope he enjoys wearing it too!

Winter Whites - non-baggy White pants

Now that I have figured out how to make my pants not baggy at the back, I decided to draft a very fitted, elastic waist pants pattern from my newly tweaked Simplicity 1696 pattern. I took in the back thigh in more drastically and narrowed the pant leg below the knees. To make the muslin, I decided to use this white uncut corduroy fabric that I bought pre-kids. I bought it 8 years ago to make 'winter white' pants but never got around to it. It is a great fabric with about 1-2% stretch. I thought it would be a great weight for the muslin for future chinos or other corduroy pants.

So after a couple of days of sewing, seam ripping, pinning, unpinning, drafting, etc., I came up with this pattern:

I added back pockets to the pants too.

And I got this somewhat wearable muslin. I never tuck in my clothes but here is the unsightly tucked-in version to show the elastic waist area:

I had to make provisions for the lumps and bumps in the hip area.

And here is how I will actually wear them - untucked:

And this is how I will be wearing it tomorrow in an attempt to keep the winter white from the dirty snow and splashes on the streets:

Hopefully it doesn't get dirty the first day I wear this! I can't wait to make more fitted pants like this with other stash fabrics. So happy with my non-baggy pants pattern!