Me-Made May

I'm taking the plunge and participating in Me-Made May '13! I don't have nearly enough handmade clothes to wear something every day, but I didn't want to miss out on the fun.

'I, Emily of Emily Ventures, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '13. I endeavour to wear all six of my handmade garments during May 2013'

I'm already cringing a little bit to wear two of my earliest handmade items, but I figure at best I can come to a new appreciation of them, and at worst I can have a good laugh. I'll be photographing my outfits as I go along, since most of my handmade clothes are pre-blog. This ought to be fun!

A Tale of Two T-Shirts

Hello again! Yesterday I finished my first Renfrew, just in time for spring.

I know a million other bloggers have already covered how completely awesome this pattern is, but let me show you why am so in love with it personally. I present Exhibit A, since we are all friends here:

This was my first attempt at a t-shirt last fall, and quite possibly the worst t-shirt ever made. Completely, utterly, hilariously bad. I used one of my 25¢ remnants from Fabric World and the pattern from my Sew U Home Stretch book. While that book contains lots of great information and tips for sewing with knits, the patterns are pretty boxy and not as idiot-proof as the Renfrew. I mean, look at this collar band!

This is actually an improvement over the original. It was twice as wide and looked like a weird mock cowl, and I tried to save it by folding it over and stitching it down. Um, no. It was doomed.

The sleeves are probably the best/worst part because the hem won't stay down: 

One good thing to come out of this project is I learned I have a bad habit of holding the fabric taut as I feed it into the machine. Not such a big deal with wovens, but a terrible habit for knits. I definitely stretched out the sleeves as I was hemming them.

Fast forward six months, a better machine, and a fabulous pattern:

I got this tissue knit (how else?) on clearance at Joann's, completely forgetting that the pattern calls for a stable knit. However, in the Sewaholic blog entry on choosing fabric, one of the commenters helpfully recommended doubling up thin knits to make them work better for this pattern. It worked like a dream. It's a little too heavy for summer, but it'll be a nice transition piece for spring and fall.

I did have some trouble with the collar band, but I think that was just inexperience. In my first attempt I tried to use a single layer, but the fabric was so stretchy it grew four inches as I sewed it in. The third time was a charm, and the twin needle was totally worth the wait.
 

I cut a straight size six and am pretty happy with the fit. Next time I might go up a size in the shoulders, but it was really nice to work with a size chart specifically geared towards my pear-shaped figure. I also loved that the pattern had 5/8" seam allowances. The first shirt had 3/8" and every time I went to finish a seam, I felt like I was walking along a narrow cliff and I worried I would accidentally serge over the seam. I will definitely be making up several more Renfrews!

Sewing, Interrupted

Hello again! I finally crawled out from under my rock a couple of weeks ago and bought the Sewaholic Renfrew top. With all the rave reviews, I figure I can't go too far wrong even if I am a newb when it comes to knits. I cut everything out last Saturday, and was planning to sew it up this weekend after I picked up a ballpoint twin needle. I know Tasia recommends securing the collar band with a zigzag stitch, but I've seen such fabulous, professional results around the blogosphere with a twin needle, I'd like to try it out.

Two fabric stores later, I couldn't find one and ended up ordering it on Ebay. It's frustrating because I live in a major city - Atlanta can host the Olympics but doesn't have a store with a decent selection of notions?!

So, instead of sewing this weekend like I planned, I've been working on other crafty projects. First up, Brian and I are going to attempt to make a headboard. I like this one from West Elm a lot, but I also like saving money and tackling a challenge (in this case, power tools). So I'm adapting this tutorial by Little Green Notebook, and one of the steps is making fabric covered buttons:

It turns out making buttons is a lot more physically demanding than you would think. I made about two dozen last weekend and by the time I finished I had tired arms and blistered fingers! I'm getting much better at it as I go along, so when this is all over I think I'll experiment with making earrings out of my stash of fabric scraps.

The other project I've been working on is my Ms. Barbie Goes to Washington outfit, and it has been an uphill battle. And, as usual, it's my own doing! :) I fell in love with this ridiculous sparkly yarn, but it is sport weight and the pattern calls for fingering. I figured I could make it work. Well, what I've ended up with is a oversized jacked and a very tight skirt:

I'm not sure how I'm going to fix this one yet. The sad part is that these two pieces aren't even my first attempt. This suit is going into hibernation for at least a couple of days because I'm starting to get frustrated. Who knew fitting Barbie would be as hard as a real woman?

This weekend I also took the sewing delay and the warmer weather (it hit 65 today!) as I sign I should get some spring cleaning over and done with. But not without rewards! I just whipped up these no flour, no butter, peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies by Ambtious Kitchen. Delicious and healthy-ish.

Dino hat

Hello again! Today I bring you the world's coolest baby accessory: the dinosaur hat. My dear friend Kristen of Glitter, Gloss and Glaze and Lip Gloss and Sippy Cups is expecting her first child in March. I couldn't make her baby shower in Tampa but I wanted to send a gift anyway. Plus, I finally had an excuse to make one of these adorable dinosaur hats: 

Dino Cap by Kris Hanson

Unfortunately, my first attempt was a bit of disaster. It was all going well until it dawned on me (much later than it should have) that I put the ear flaps on backwards so they curved away from the face. One of my knit night friends very sweetly tried to convince me it was better that way because babies don't like things in their faces. I was already contemplating starting over, and this just sealed the deal. I wanted Baby D to have awesome baby adventures in this hat (a la Rugrats), not be upset by ear flaps in his face!!

For take two, I used a basic beanie pattern (Be Loving by Melissa Simpson) and added the spikes from the Dino Cap pattern. I was worried the spikes wouldn't fit right, but happily they fit perfectly! I made the hat kind of big, in the hopes that Baby D can wear it through his first winter.

I used Knit Picks Brava, their new acrylic, so it would be machine washable. I am not a huge fan of acrylics because they tend to split and pill, but practicality was really important in this case. I mean, it would be ludicrous to ask a sleep-deprived new mom to hand wash a baby hat, when I can't even be bothered to hand wash my tights, you know? Also, I think I may be becoming a bit of a yarn snob, you guys. Anyway, I have to say this was by far the nicest acrylic I've ever used. I would recommend it for projects that need to be kid-friendly or easy care.

So, Baby D, I hope you feel awesome in this hat and have many play adventures with Reptar or Little Foot or whoever is popular with the baby crowd these days. You are going to be one cool little dude and I can't wait to meet you.

Hats and Scarves

Hello again! The past couple of weekends have been very full (in a good way!) so I haven't started any major projects. I did finish a couple of small ones though, just in time for the end of winter.

First up, the Indian Summer Hat. I got this pattern in a 2012 page-a-day calendar two Christmases ago and just now got around to making it.

Indian Summer Hat by Kalurah

It's supposed to be a slouchy beret, but unfortunately mine didn't turn out slouchy at all, even after I added an extra inch to the eyelets before decreasing to lengthen it. I hate to admit this, but I think I need to come to terms with something: I have a big head. There, I said it. I like to think I have a dainty head, but let's face it, I got my dad's big noggin.

I used double-stranded Knit Picks Shadow. It was my first time using lace, and it was so delicate I could just break the strands with my fingers if I was feeling too lazy to dig out my scissors. Funnily enough the hardest part of this project was picking out the button. Nothing seemed quite right, but is what I ended up with:

Even thought it didn't come out slouchy, the hat is big enough to cover my ears, and loose enough that it won't give me hat hair. I'm putting it in the win column! More project notes are here on Ravelry if you're curious.

The other project is an infinity scarf made from a 25 cent remnant from my trip to Fabric World. It was maybe 1/3 of a yard at best, so I cut it into two long strips, and joined them to make one very long skinny scarf.

I looped it around three times. It goes almost down to my feet without looping, and was about 10 ft long before I joined the ends. This should give you an indication of scale:

The fabric was slightly sheer, so I decided to give french seams a try. Very easy to do, but pretty boring to sew two 10 ft seams! The french seams blend right in: 

I wore this outfit to brunch yesterday with a friend and as we were settling in at our table she looked at me and said "Did you make that scarf? That seems like the kind of fabric you would pick out." Busted! I like to think my me-made items blend in well with my ready-to-wear items, but maybe not. That's okay though. I'm okay with being a little eccentric.

Hope you all are having a lovely President's Day. I have the day off (one of the perks of working for the government!) and am hitting up the Joann's sale this afternoon.

Lisette Market Top

Hello again! I recently decided that I needed to get over my fear of sleeves, unless I wanted to make nothing but sundresses forever more. My first attempt at setting in sleeves was disastrous, and I was reluctant to give it another go. That is, until I stumbled upon this "cheater's guide" to setting in sleeves flat by A Fashionable Stitch. Trying to fit a tube into a slightly smaller tube is just crazymaking, but this, this I could get behind.

I love, love, love the Lisette pattern line, so I picked the market top (Simplicity 2211) as my test case. It's view E, the one the model is wearing on the pattern envelope. I loved the puffy sleeves, and this type of casual top is a big hole in my closet right now. I have t-shirts and work clothes, but not a lot in between.

I have to say, I'm thrilled with how it came out!

I'm still learning fabrics, so I'm not exactly sure what this is. It's some kind of midweight cotton I got on clearance at Joann's, but it's not quilting cotton, promise!

I did break down and make a muslin on this. I'm not a huge fan of muslins (the extra fabric seems wasteful and it adds a lot of time to the process), but I originally I cut out a straight 12 an it was HUGE. Like muumuu territory. I ended up with a 10 in the shoulders and sleeves, and a 6 in the sides. The only alteration was adding 3 inches in length because the pattern is quite short.

 It's still a little wider than I would like it to be, but I couldn't take it in any more and still get it over my head and shoulders (no stretch or side zipper). If I made this again, I might go up to a 12 in the shoulders because it's a little tight when I cross my arms.

Look at those sleeves! Setting them in flat worked like a charm.

One sleeve cap came out puffier than the other and I had to redistribute the ease to match, but that was a pretty easy fix. As other reviewers have noted, the sleeve bands are on the small side.

Also, can we talk about this edge stitching? My new Viking came with a special edge stitching foot, and it has really helped take this from homemade to handmade.

It's a little boxy, so you may need to take in the side seams if you're like me and like your clothing more on the fitted side. The instructions are crystal clear and the collar is constructed so that you don't have any annoying facings.

I definitely recommend this pattern, especially for fellow beginners.

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