Why I'm not doing Me Made May '14

Because I don't wanna, that's why?

Okay, so that's not true. I would love to do MMM. But when I thought about my wardrobe I realized, meh, there's not a whole lot in there I want to wear every day. I have quite a few things I like to wear to church but generally, I wear it already. Sot it's not really a challenge to continue on business as usual.

Instead, I've decided to give myself a companion challenge. Instead of making an "I shall endeavor to wear" challenge, I will make myself a "prepare for Self Stitched September" challenge.

I, Hot Mess, shall endeavor to make an unspecified amount of casual wear between now and the end of summer in hopes of having enough handmade creations to spend a month wearing at least three handmade garments a week for all of September.

How does that sound?

Btw, please ignore my rather prominent behind and focus on that gorgeously albeit wrinkly blouse. Yes, yes, I made that. Turns out I blogged about how I was going to make it but not that I actually succeeded. So now is as good a time as any.

Pattern Description: Simplicity 2147 is a tunic/dress pattern with sleeves and yoke in one.

Pattern Sizing: Size 12 US/34 Bust

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes

Were the instructions easy to follow? As far as I remember

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I liked that the sleeves and yoke were all in one pattern piece. Not only does it make it a quick sew, but it's a rather convenient feature if you want to add some heirloom sewing techniques.

Fabric Used: A touch of Swiss dot from Hancock's and a  pima cotton batiste that I'm sure I bought at my local quilt shop but may have bought from Farmhouse. You can find a similar one here. The laces are a mix, some from Farmhouse, some from Martha Pullen Company.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I opted to go with lace insertion to somewhat mimic the style of Pinky's Easter dress last year. This involves piecing strips of lace together until you have a length that fits the pattern piece you'd like to use. You cut your pattern piece out and then you carry on.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Oh yes. I lost the pattern pieces to an entirely too inquisitive dog so I bought a new one. I think my next one shall be worked into my personal challenge. It did come out short though. I really wish I could remember if that was my fault. I'll be sure to let you guys know when I make it again. I planned to wear it as a dress that Easter morning but I ended up tucking it into a pair of pants as seen above. Speaking of tucks, it's too long for a tunic as well so I plan to put a few tucks into the hem so I can wear it with jeans.

Conclusion: A ridiculously easy pattern with simple shapes, very few pieces and a ton of opportunities for customization. Maybe one day I'll make an embroidered version with bright flowers across the yoke. For now, a plaid version beckons. Are you scared?

So any Me Made Mayers out there? Are you tsking your head in shame?

Look at all of the pretty green!

The warm weather is still taking it's sweet time but I'm not complaining. For starters, our AC unit needs a tune up, and secondly, the peas and the lettuce like it a bit cooler. We've also had quite a bit of raining which has resulted in all of this gorgeousness cropping up every where.

All of my tomato plants have blossoms. As does one of my squash plants and my tomatillo. The peppers like hale and hearty, the lettuce is growing more quickly than I imagined.

My only loss was that of two broccoli plants. They were wee little things without even enough for one serving so I let them go thinking they would grow bigger. Instead, they became spindly, woody, and eventually, blew up into a bush of pale yellow flowers. I'm sure I'm not the only one who referred to them as trees as a kid. Well guess what? Those aren't baby leaves. They are little flower buds. I was committing floricide in my mouth.

The horror!!

Anyway, we've pulled it. Nothing to see or eat there but hopefully, space for a watermelon plant.

In the meantime, let us remember poor broccoli, who did such a wonderful job growing nice and strong but unfortunately, suffered at the hands of a gardening newbie who let him go past his prime.

I'm sorry, mr Broccoli. I'm sure you'd have been tasty had I picked you when I supposed to. Instead, you've shrank away into a woody stem.

RIP, my brassica friend

The Audrey Dress

Every year on Palm Sunday, our church does an Easter egg hunt. Since we weren't going to be in town for Easter this year, I decided this would be the perfect occasion to make Pinky a dress for spring. Unfortunately, you won't be getting an Easter egg hunt shots as it's difficult to coordinate an event and take pictures at the same time. It's one of the drawbacks of being so involved with a church ministry.

I do, however, have pictures from Sunday when Pinky decided to wear the dress for her first youth class appearance since her confirmation. (More on that to come, btw. I outdid the hell out of myself and I'm pleased as punch. As a bonus, it fits in with the Historic Sewing Fortnightly. Score!)

So let's talk about the details, shall we? To start, it's the Audrey pattern from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop, a company that makes PDF patterns for children. Now I won't lie. I have beef with the majority of PDF pattern companies. We'll just say I'm generally not a fan. However, the offering for patterns in pinky's size are rather slim from the Big 4 and can be rather expensive from other companies. I also didn't relish the idea of tracing out an Ottobre pattern given the time constraints I gave myself so the pdf would have to do. They are quick to download, easy to print out, and since the pattern that caught my eye had limited pieces it went together nicely.

So without further ado, here's my review of The Audrey Dress by Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop.

Pattern Description: Audrey is a faux crossover bodice pattern with a full skirt and bias tape binding.

Pattern Sizing: It comes in sizes 3 months - 12 years and I cut the 10 for Pinky.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Pretty much

Were the instructions easy to follow? They would have been if I used them. But I really wasn't thrilled with the way the dress was meant to be worn and changed it.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I didn't like the lack of real closures. This is considered one of the bonuses of these types of patterns, that you can assemble them with no zippers, no buttonholes to make, no plackets to fuss with. It has a small opening in the back that closes with one button But quite frankly, I don't think that suits a dress that's meant to have a defined waist and a full skirt.

Fabric Used: aqua batiste from a local quilting shop and white eyelet from Joann's. The ribbon at the waist is also from Joanns. I believe it's made by Offray.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I omitted the bias binding. The ready made stuff sold in the big box stores is stiff and the color selection is limited. I decided instead to treat the batiste as a lining and used traditional methods to attach it. I also turned it into a real wrap dress and I added snaps to fasten it at the waist. I messed up my snap placement which has turned it into an adjustable waist should my child decide to grow out instead of her usual out.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?: I'm not sure I'd sewing again and I'd only recommend it to a newbie sewist I couldn't convince to give Oliver and S a try.

Conclusion: This dress was a sweet project that sewed up quickly. But I found myself wishing I'd stop being such a wuss about pattern drafting. A couple lines with a ruler and I could have taken the pattern for one of the traditional bodice dress patterns I own and come up with the same result.

Suffice to say, this pattern hasn't converted me to the world of pdfs. I'll use them because they're convenient but there are easily obtained and explained patterns that result in a much better fit.

Would you like to see a bonus shot of the baby?

He's not much of a baby anymore, is he?

The Burdens of My Heart

It's the season of Lent, a time to let go of our frustrations and focus on the good things God has done for us. Focus on your children, your health, the roof over your head and not the one and only corner of the online sewing community that has really worked to piss you off royally in this last three months.

Where do begin, where to begin? You see, I don't enjoy ranting and raving on my blog. I admit that it's one of my favorite pastimes and I excel in it, no really I do, but the internet is a cautionary tale in online rantings. You never know what will go viral. One day you're posting about organza vs organdy, and the next . . .

However, going on my third busted attempt to buy some damned fabric on FB and I'm really failing at my Lenten promise to give up yelling. This is actually my third blog post on the subject. The other two were just rambly as hell and made me look every bit as looney tunes as the people I'm dealing with.

What I'm struggling with here is how to explain the process of buying custom printed fabric via Facebook and you know what? I give up. I really, truly do because the hard truth here is despite the fact that these fabrics would make baby Jesus in the actual manger want to trade his swaddling clothes for brightly printed hipster foxes and mustaches, it should not take lines of text to explain how to order. If it does, you're doing it wrong.

And I was doing it wrong.

I'm still mad though. We'll talk about it later.

When you find something perfect

Spring, Spring, Spring!

The garden has been planted. Light and airy fabrics in all sorts of pastel shades have been floating through my doors. The windows are open. The days are warmer. And now, there's a beautiful spring wreath on my door.

And a pretty floral arrangement on my bathroom sink.

I'm just going to pretend that spring isn't the time of year that ruins my sense of smell and causes my eyes to leak death and destruction.

Instead, we'll focus on the positive.

GAME OF THRONES RETURNS TONIGHT!

Joffrey better bite it.

Wearing O'The (Olive) Green

Of course I procrastinated again and have to cram in all of my St Pat's sewing into the next 12 hours. Smart cookie, I am. In my defense, I'm only putting together a simple tee for pinky and a circle skirt for myself. This means the sewing machine will decide it doesn't like me just before I hit the hem of my skirt and my serger will eat up my heart print fabric faster than a true Irisher tucks into a proper shepherd's pie.

Wish me luck!

In the meantime, here's my Sunday green.

The skirt is handmade by moi. The pattern has a rather deceptive name, Skirt with Front Pleats. There are actually no pleats involved, just two ovals cleverly split before attaching it to a yoked waist, giving it these lovely soft folds. I made it from a poly charmeuse acquired from Fabric.com. The waistband is lightly interfaced and the bottom is finished with a simple rolled hem. It floats nicely around your legs as you walk but mind you, you'll want to be careful on breezy days, lest you give the whole world a nice view of your spanx. 

Billowy!

I just realized that even though I've lived in this house more than six months, this is the first OOTD I've taken here. I really have to work on the positioning. Having my son stand on the stoop and take the pic results in me looking shorter and wider than I actually am. But my dog loves me just the way I am.

Actually, she just loves my lip gloss. Every time I wear it, she tries in vain to eat my face.

She's lucky she's cute.

Spring is taking its sweet time springing!

It's cold and wet here. Not cold or wet enough compared to other places. Just cold and wet enough for me to whine. I live in the South, okay? If I'm not going to see snow, then I deserve to be warm.

But enough about what an ungrateful little wretch I am, let's talk about what I've been up to lately.

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah boy! I've been growing stuff. Look at my pretty violas! Rumor has it these bad boys will shrivel up and run away the minute it gets good and warm, all the more reason I should stop pouting. It's going to get hot soon enough and I'll be crying over their demise. But I couldn't help myself. I just love violas, all fluttering in the breeze. Aside from those, the flowers can wait. It's gardening season, my people! Kind of early for my region, yes but look, you have to get out there while the getting is good or you'll be sweating like a pig before you can get a row in.

Some of you may remember that I moved last year, which is why I had a break from gardening. New place, new ground. My backyard is sizable enough that I could do some good but was also nice and grassy. That left me a few options. I could do a straight raised bed, but that's a ton of dirt I would have to buy. I could dig it out myself with shovels and such but you people ought to know by now I'm too lazy for that. Or, I could find a tiller. Lucky for me and everyone else who isn't try to spend that kind of scratch, Home Depot will let you rent one. For a measly $40, I could dig out my garden in less than 24 hours. And dig out I did.

I filled it with a couple tide me over plants. Things like cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli. There is really very little hope I'll be harvesting anything off those plants because they like the cold and this state likes to roast you to death as early as April. But who cares? Plants for everyone!

Brussels Sprouts

Cabbage

So admittedly, I'm feeling a little salty about the broccoli. In this picture right above, you can see one spindly looking broccoli plant at the left rear. The stubby little thing right in front of it? Another broccoli plant. I had nine of them planted in that little space and some creature of some sort ate them to death. It's amazing how gardening can turn you from this animal lover into something that hunts them to the death and ain't even sorry. Just let me find out what kind of furry beast has been eating up on my stuff and see what happens. JUST SEE WHAT HAPPENS!

I also threw out some peas, carrots, and other assorted stuff. My grand plan was to wait until some of them were nice and established, then go out there and mulch. LIKE A BOSS!

Instead, the skies opened up

And so for the last week, I've felt like this

Please, sir, can I have some sunshine? Maybe a little warmth?

I have gladiolus to plant, strawberry columns to make, green things to mulch.

Enough piteous begging. Lord knows I probably can't be heard over the weeping and gnashing of teeth coming out of the rest of the country. 

Somewhere in Pennsylvania

Let's look at the rest of my garden, shall we? Feel free to ignore the neighbor's ugly old shed and the unsightly bag that used to house my gardening soil. Before Noah's Flood hit, I was using that bad boy to rest my lazy bum whilst I mulched. I got really far in my efforts, can't you tell?

Rain, rain, go away. Mama's got some squirrels to slay.

A little Irish charm

I'm not a good housekeeper. It's 65% of the reason I refer to myself as a hot mess. Oddly enough, what makes me feel better about my domestic ineptitude is holiday themed decor. I have a tiny house so not much room for decoration but I do like to make a little something happen. I've already mentioned my wreath making adventures but I also have a tiny corner of the tiny bathroom sink I like to spruce up a bit. It makes me feel just a teensy bit less like I suck.

I also live in Savannah, Ga, home of the second largest St Patrick's day parade in the nation. Now I have no idea why we love St Pat's so much. Apparently, a ton of Irish settled here back in the day but a ton of Irish settled in other places too. In any case, hotels sell out way in advance, college student break into the green beer right after the last class the weeknight before, and local school kids actually have the day off. So it's kind of a big deal.

I usually sew something for some of the kids and I'll probably continue that tradition this year. I'm actually eyeing some green striped knits over at Girl Charlee as I type. 

But for now, I will content myself with pride over my new wreath. So prideful I'm going to show you this picture even though it was taken in the dark and thus, looks like crap. But for the last few weeks, I've put off blog posts for one reason or another. I figured I'd better post while I'm ahead. 

Hopefully, I'll be back in short order to share some St Pat's picnic planning or maybe even show off something I've sewn. Or maybe Halloween decorations. 

Ha!

Thanks to everyone who still follows. I really do appreciate you all and as always, feel free to comment, even if you just want to talk smack about the photo editing/abusing job I did on that wreath.

Everyone Else is Doing It

But I don't wanna!!

Do what you ask? The end of the year round up/New Year's resolution post of course. But I just don't want to. If you've been following this blog for a while, you may have caught onto my little procrastination problem. It's disheartening to me at least to set up all these expectations for myself, knowing full well I'm going to blow them. On the other hand, one has to start somewhere, do they not?

So where to begin?

I was thinking I'd redo some previous goals, like the Sew Historical Fortnightly which is starting anew for 2014. The first challenge is Make Do and Mend and I think I'm going to find a vintage sheet to turn into a proper, historical One Hour Dress. I just checked and the Davenport House is doing tea in March and May again this year so I better get a move on with those Regency dresses. I only got as far as the bodice on pinky's dress but the child shot up a bunch of inches and gained a more ladylike figure so I'll be starting from scratch with her. If anyone sees a pretty textured yellow lawn, let me know.

Speaking of the girlchild and all of her growing, as mentioned previously, she's growing. I officially have a tween in my house, a tween who fits nothing, including a swath of patterns I've been acquiring throughout the years. My goal regarding this sad fact is two-fold. The first one is the easy one, sell the old patterns I don't use, won't be using. I do, after all, have an etsy shop and many of these patterns are vintage. Time for them to go. The second part is going to take more creativity, something that challenges me. It is with great reluctance that I must resign myself to the fact that my daughter is too old for traditional heirloom sewing. So I'll be using the old noggin to figure out how to incorporate heirloom touches into something that pleases a more grown up style. I've started a Pinterest board if you'd like to follow along with my meandering thoughts. 

But first up, the child needs more school uniforms and I had the crazy idea to sew them. Two skirts and three dresses, both Oliver and S patterns. I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot of time with Oliver and S as pinky transitions from a tween figure to a more adult one. 

Yes, a more adult one. 

Kill me now.

I'm not going to make ridiculous promises about blogging x times a week or sewing up x items a month. As seen previously, it's not my strong point. I am going to make an effort to at least blog more regularly, regularly being left wide open to whatever life might throw my way. To that end, I plan to be more active in the sewing community, perhaps even participating over at Pattern Review. They are a valuable resource to me as I sew and I think giving back is only fair. There are also more than a few challenges running about the internet. I'd like to get involved with Flip This Pattern and try again with Kids Clothes Week even though I failed so miserably the last time.

Wow, those are more goals that I intended, huh? Even so, I think the plan this year is just to take it easy and see what comes along. Give a go or not and try not to put so much pressure on myself. At minimum, I'm going to do more doing and less announcing.

For a sneak peek at the things I have loosely planned this year, check out my 2014 Pinterest boards, one for knitting and one for sewing. 

Well, that's it. Pressure but no pressure. 

Here's to a fabulous 2014! Try not to hurt yourself.