Lace Print Tunic and Leggings for a Gorgeous May Day

What a lovely day we had today!  Rem and I toured a few embassies with friends, as today was the EU Open House.  I was super excited to wear the tunic and leggings I just finished making.  I picked up the cotton jersey for the leggings at Paron in NYC, and the modal print jersey is from an awesome shop I found on ebay that sells roll ends from LA designers like Rachel Pally.  Look for more details via my BurdaStyle page very soon! 

Me in front of the Hungarian Embassy:

Here are two more pictures, to show the full effect.  My stomach was not hurting in the last one-- I was trying to show how the tunic looks cinched in :)

Lace Print Tunic by me
Cardigan - TJ Maxx
Leggings by me (pattern is BurdaStyle's Carol)
Necklace - Tord Boontje's Charming
Oxford sneakers - Vaneli 

A Bit of Contrast for the Seventh Day of Me-Made May

After coming to the realization that my new outfit was a tad bit NSFW, it was tough figuring out what to wear today.  And so I picked out one of my recent favorites, a Burda tunic I made for Spring 09.  Originally paired with black leggings, the dark printed tunic seemed a bit casual, but then I pushed myself to come up with something new...and it worked!  

Jersey Tunic by me

White Trousers - The Limited

Cincher Belt - thrifted

Ballet Flats - Filene's

With the work week over, I'm hoping to put together some more playful outfits for the next couple days.  I'm especially excited to wear my new outfit for EU Open House tomorrow.  If all goes as planned, I will also be working in some sewing time, as I am this close to having a couple more dresses to wear.

Goodnight, and happy weekend!

What I Wore Yesterday

I know, I know, I'm late again with my post... I was up late sewing again last night.  Happily, I have a new top and leggings to show for my efforts!  My initial plan was to unveil the new outfit today, but after trying on this morning, it proved to be just barely inappropriate for work.  That just means there's something to look forward to tomorrow :)  And now, for yesterday's me-made outfit:

Top - Tulle

Skirt by me, from a vintage Vogue pattern

Necklace by Rachel

The lovely necklace I am wearing was made by my very talented friend Rachel.  I was so surprised when I opened the package she sent and found so many lovely things, including some vintage spools of thread and delicious salted caramels!

Yesterday's clothes

Top - Filene's Basement worn over...

Camisole - Kohl's

Necklace - Macy's

Belt - thrifted

Trousers by me

Ballet Flats - Filene's

(Photos courtesy of Iliana)

I stayed up too late last night, so I'm just posting May 5's outfit this morning.  Thanks for looking, and have a great me-made day!  I'm looking forward to the potential unveiling of new wardrobe pieces tomorrow :)

On the fourth day of May I wore...

A pink dress!

Pink dress by me

Black cardigan - Vertigo Paris

Belt - Stein Mart

Boots - André

Knee Highs - Hue

My favorite part of the dress? The pockets.  This was a Burda shift dress pattern that I drafted pockets for.  I really think they add to the silhouette, although I would like to try the pattern again with stiffer fabric.  A little more oompf here wouldn't be a bad thing.  Oh, and I guess I should mention that the inspiration for the dress came from one of Carrie's dresses from the SATC movie.  Here it is: 

Is it summer already?

White (no-iron!) dress shirt - Eddie Bauer

Cotton sateen floral skirt by me

Black pumps - Bandolino

Today was warm and humid from the very first.  I wore cotton to keep cool and put my hair up as soon as I got to the office.  What a day to be without air conditioning.  Oh D.C., some days I would do anything to put distance between us!

Day Two

Deco tankdress by me

Grey cardigan - TJ Maxx

Woven leather belt - Stein Mart

I started off day two of Me-Made-May by waking up slowly with homemade bread, a full french press of coffee, and the New York Times.  After finishing my coffee and flipping through some old Burdas, I donned my favorite hot-weather dress (it was predicted to reach 90 F in D.C. today), and headed out to GStreet fabrics.  During the time it took me to metro and walk to the store, I somehow rationalized spending all of my clothing budget this month on fabric and notions.  It should come as no surprise that I came out of the store with 8 spools of thread, 3 zippers, one piece of madras shirting and countless other notions.  

Newly inspired by freshly cut fabric, I returned to my sewing studio-cum-apartment, ready to put my rotary cutter to fabric and my foot to the pedal.  While I can't say that I completed a new project, I have nearly completed a dress and a skirt that had been been neglected for the past year or so.  Hopefully in a couple days I will have finished projects to show you!  

Welcome to Megan's Me-Made-May

I'm doing it rite!

Layered jersey ensemble - my own design

Cargo trousers - GAP

What is Me-Made-May?  Thank you for asking!  It's a fun little experiment into wearing hand made clothing every day for one month.  Check out Zoe's fabulous blog for more details.


This month I will endeavor to chronicle my progress with M-M-M, in addition to my usual project posts.  This should have the added benefit of more frequent blog posts.  

Have you ever seen a skirt with such a jaunty bow?

Remember the skirt I was working on from this April's Burda?  It's finished!

I'm also much happier with the color than I expected to be-- I didn't use this poplin for so long because the rust color reminded me of place mats from c. 1974.  As it turns out, it's a nice color when styled properly!

This was such a quick and satisfying sew.  I highly recommend the pattern.  If you like the pattern but are concerned about the different sizing (Burda calls this a "tall" pattern), read the tall size chart and then go ahead and make a muslin.  It was hard for me to tell what makes this pattern different from the standard sized ones-- I should think that subtracting 1-2 inches from the hem would make all the difference.

The only glitch that delayed the arrival of my rusty skirt was a tension issue with my machine (see photo below).  I am the proud owner of a Pfaff 1475cd, and though I love it dearly, sometimes I just can't figure out why it throws these temper tantrums.  This particular issue was fixed after several test swatches, readjusting the bobbin tension, changing needles, and finally upping the tension to 6.0 (In the past, I've never had it set above 3-4).

[loops of pain]

I should also mention that I made the top I'm wearing too!  It's from Burda 2/2009, one of my favorite issues.

Navy Blue Dress

It's been a very relaxing weekend, though I must say I have not completed as many projects as I had hoped.  All that remains to be done on my navy chiffon dress is a hand-finished neckline and hem.   I have snapped some photos to show my progress on the dress, but will take proper ones once it is finished. 

One other tiny detail is that I don't have a proper slip to go with this dress.  That is why I bought this lovely slip pattern: 

This plus 2.5 yards of nude colored silk satin from Gstreet Fabrics, and I should have a practical silk slip to go with my (growing collection) of unlined dresses.  While the idea of making a practical foundation garment like this one may not seem strange at all, I should mention that the original idea was born when I decided that I could afford to make more dresses if I didn't put a separate lining into each one.  I would be interested to know what you think-- is making one multi-use slip a practical idea, or will this just enable me to buy fabric for three more dresses instead of one?

I have been slowly chipping away at the other projects mentioned last time, and should be able to show my finished skirt later this week.  In addition, I have been gathering inspiration for a new jersey tunic, and was rather taken with this Vivienne Westwood number found at netaporter.com:

From what I can tell, it looks like an asymmetrical dolman top, with ruching on one side.  It also looks like the front and back are cut from the same pattern piece.  I'm still working out the details in my head and on paper, and hope to have more direction for a project by the end of the week.  I really can't wait to work with the violet-hued jersey I have in mind for this tunic, though.  I finally broke down and purchased 4 yards of jersey from highendfabrics on ebay.  The name and storefront of this seller are not terribly impressive, but they sell some leftovers from LA designers like Rachel Pally, for a mere $5.90/yard.  Priority shipping was really fast too, even though I live on the opposite coast from LA.  If you're looking for some basic modal jersey in nice solid colors, I recommend checking this seller out.  Just leave some for me, please!

Also, in the spirit of crafting, check out this WSJ article about truckers who are taking up knitting and quilting.  I always like to see more men taking up knitting!