Magenta & Silver

I spent all day Monday sewing.  Come to think of it, I spent the better part of Sunday sewing too!  I seem to have a lot of projects on the go at the moment, but I'm just going to show you one today, as it's the only one that's finished!

This is my second Burda 7866, which appears to be out of print now.  This one is made from a magenta wool jersey - one of the fabrics that both Andrea and I bought at Fabrications in Michigan.

This top is just slightly different front to back.  I've found when putting on my leopard one that it takes me a bit of time to figure out which is the front.

The neckline on the front is a teensy bit lower.

BTW - this is closer to the true color

I was tired of having to spread the top out on the bed to figure out which was the front, so this time I added a little tiny tag at the back - made of some of my leftover selvedge from the binding of the quilt!

I like having a little bit of hidden leopard :-)

For such a simple design, for me this is surprisingly tedious to make, because I use all three of my machines.  The neck facing is sewn to the neck opening using the sewing machine; the seams are done on the serger and the hems on the coverstitch machine.  It's a lot of getting out and setting up, then putting away.

I like this one, but I don't like it as much as my leopard print one.  The fabric is less drapey, and since it's wool it's a tiny bit scratchy against my bare skin.   Also, I find that I have to ruche it around my tummy just so, in order not to draw attention to the little bulges there - both from my body and from the jeans button.

Still, the solid color makes it a great backdrop for some nice accessories.  I decided to dig out a couple of my old hand-made pieces that I thought went nicely with this top.  First is this drusy necklace:

Years ago when I was working in the studio, a friend purchased a bunch of drusy cabochons.  She offered to give me one in exchange for setting one in a bezel for her, so I chose this one and made this necklace for myself.  I also created the "chain" from sheet metal, giving a rough finish to the links, and formed the clasp.

I love this necklace, but don't have a whole lot of things to wear it with, so my new top fills that hole.  I layered it with another simple necklace I made - a super long chain interspersed with highly polished silver bars (again, cut from sheet) that I can wear doubled or tripled.  Here I wore it tripled.

And you may have noticed that I wore the top with my Jamie Jeans - I am loving these, and plan to make at least a couple more.  AND this top takes care of another piece of fabric from my stash!

Two for One

Two more FOs today, one of which you've never even seen!

First off, here's the "real" maxi dress:

I've mentioned that this fabric is pretty thin; if you look, you can see that I'm wearing a full slip underneath for modesty's sake.  I'm still not sure what to do about the bra strap situation with this dress.  When I wore my blue one, I did wear a racer-back bra which didn't show in the back, but was visible at the front neck.  Here I'm wearing a plain old bra, which isn't visible at the front but can be seen, along with the slip's straps, at the back.  I know people do this all the time and it's not too shocking, but it kind of bugs me!

Interestingly, I had a hard time figuring out how to accessorize this dress.  In the end, I went with bronze metallic sandals, gold earrings and necklace, a bronze beaded bracelet I made years ago, and this olive green shrug I knit years ago.  I really like this shrug:  I made this pattern 3 times!  This one is pre-Ravelry, but here's a link for a brown one I made.  And here's a picture of my bracelet, which I don't wear nearly enough:

And here's FO #2:  I finished my Adrift cardigan a couple weeks ago.  Since I've made this one before, and since this is supposed to be my "winter" version, it felt kind of anti-climatic.  I just took one picture of it yesterday, so you can see how gorgeous the color is, but if you want to see many different ways in which it can be worn, see this post.

And last but not least, today is the last day of my Seamless Pledge.  I haven't written about it since I made the commitment on Jan. 1 to refrain for 6 months from buying any new clothing or shoes, because it's pretty much been a non-event!  I wasn't sure I could do it, clothes horse that I am, but I was able to complete the six months relatively painlessly!  So as of today, I'm committing to another 6 months of Seamlessness, to make it a full year!

Saturday Brunch

Yesterday we went out with some friends for brunch, and I wore the new Museum Tunic (number 2) that I had made on Friday afternoon:

Remember when I made the first one, and said that the "dusky lavender" colorway of the fabric had been my first choice, but it was sold out?  Well, the very next day I got an email from Hawthorne Threads that it was back in stock, so I quickly ordered enough to make a second dress.

When I received it though, I was awfully disappointed.  First off, as I'm sure you've noticed by now, it's not lavender at all!  It's more of a deep taupe.  But the  most disappointing thing was that this one is not printed on Swiss dot like the yellow version.  I was complaining about it to Andrea after I got it, and she told me she'd heard that only the first run of this fabric (way back in 2009) got printed on Swiss dot, and after that ran out, reprints were done on voile.

It took me about a week to get over my disappointment and make the dress.  And it's OK.  I don't like it as much as the yellow version, but I don't hate it either.  And you have have noticed that there's plenty of room to expand in the tummy region of this dress, so it was a good one to wear to brunch!

I also wore a whole lot of other stuff I'd made.  I carried my phone and cash in my Vanilla Clutch (which gets a lot of use), and wore several pieces of jewelry I've made over the years.  I decided to share those too.

These are my Droplet Rings.  They're a set of three stacking rings with formed discs soldered on.  I really love these because they can be worn in many different combinations.  And you can't tell here because the light was dim when I took these pictures, but they're quite bright and shiny.

And from left to right are some simple earrings made from chain and blue chalcedony; a set of simple bangles made from silver wire formed into a circle and soldered closed - one of which has a couple of charms dangling off; and finally, one of my all-time favorite me-made pieces of jewelry, a PMC and CZ pendant.  I love this one because it has a very nice heft and is feminine and vintage looking.  I made it by making a mold from a vintage button, and then using that mold to form the clay.

I've said before that my day-to-day dress is pretty plain and unadorned, so it was nice to put on a bunch of pretty things and go out with friends, and even nicer knowing that I made most of them!

Grey Wall, part 3

I'm showing these FOs in reverse order - this is actually the oldest!  I finished it almost a month ago, although I didn't keep track of the date.  This is a bonus project - I squeezed it out of the last bit of coral silk left over from my Kimono Dress.  I believe this is Sorbetto #8 for me:

Outfit details:
Vintage multi-strand necklace
Coral silk Sorbetto
embroidered skirt, Anthropologie circa 2008?
Coral sandals, Ann Taylor circa 2005

After I made this top, I decided I simply must have a vintage multi-strand necklace to go along with it.  Of course, Etsy is the best place to pick up things like that! Check out this beauty:

I just love it.  Although the beads are plastic, they don't
feel cheap.

Bust darts are a teeeeensy bit high.   Don't care.

I had just spotted an enormous
butterfly on my balcony!

I learned something very important with this project.  Or I should say - a realization finally dawned on me:  I have a broad back!  Like I said, I've made this pattern at least seven times before, but when I finished this one and put it on, it felt tight across the back.  I really wasn't sure why, but after thinking about it I decided that it was because this fabric is twill, and thus doesn't have the crosswise stretch that plain weave fabrics have.

But I've also been reading fit books lately (as I know I've mentioned) and one thing I read in Fit for Real People had been simmering in my brain:  the authors said that if you find you have tightness in the upper sleeves when you reach your arms forward; or if you find that your blouses are always riding up your front neck toward the back, then you likely have a broad back.

I've been trying to observe the fit of my clothes - both RTW and self-made - and I've realized that both these things happen to me with most tops.  Aha!  So I think it's going to be time to try out the broad back adjustment on the next thing I make. Which is a little scary for me!

(Primarily) Self-Made Woman

I took some time to do a little photoshoot this morning before I headed out to run errands.  I've got a backlog of finished pieces I've been too lazy to model and photograph, and I managed to snap pix of all but one of them today.  I'll spread them out over a couple of posts though.

So let's start out with this week's finished pieces, the Ginger skirt and the Butterick blouse.  You all know how a Ginger looks by now, and having now made this pattern five times, I really don't have anything to say about it other than, look how great it goes with my new blouse!

I put on my most padded bra, and now the blouse is starting to grow on me.  I think in a size 8 it will be just right.  Hmmm . . . decisions!

I'm not sure I mentioned it yet, but when I got started on the blouse I was surprised to discover that there are no horizontal bust darts.  There are, however, two vertical double-ended darts in the back and the sides are quite shaped, so the finished product actually does have more shape than I'd thought it would.

Putting this together reconfirmed my need to hand-baste in sleeves - always.  I didn't do it on the first sleeve, and ended up having to pick out and re-sew a couple sections.  I did baste the second sleeve, and it came together so much easier - and it hangs better than the one I didn't baste.

This shot is here mostly so you can see
my shoes better.

I love this outfit for a spring day - red, yellow and blue!  When I went out, I wore a yellow sweater I made years ago.  Also note that I've coordinated my nail polish and even added a bezel-set murrini glass ring I made a few years ago:

China Glaze Happy Go Lucky

I know.

Last but not least, here are today's silly shots:

Oh Sergio, I love you so much!

You do things for me that Ken doesn't do.
Sigh.

Check me out!

I got dressed today!  Woo hoo!!

I had a lot of running around to do again, so not only did I put on some clothes, but also some jewelry and a swipe or two of make-up!  Here's the picture Hubby took:

"I feel so awkward."

I'm wearing a sweater I knit maybe 4 years ago, along with a J.Crew tank and linen J.Crew skirt, and yet another pair of Keen Siennas, this time in wine.

AND two pieces of jewelry made by me.  I know this doesn't make up for lack of SSS '11 pictures for the last two days, but it does fall within my goal for the challenge; I have so much jewelry I've made, and I rarely wear any of it any more.  I wanted to dig out some of those things and let them see the light of day.

I took plenty of detail shots because you can't really see any details in the photo above.  First up are the earrings.  These hoops are one of the project classes I used to teach when I was working in the studio.  Sterling wire is run through a rolling mill, then ear wires are soldered on, holes drilled, and the hoops formed on a mandrel.  Then tiny ruby beads are attached with more soldered wire.  I had wanted the beads to be more offset from one earring to the other, but it didn't work out that way.  I really like how these look on, but I have to admit that they kind of drive me crazy because they always get caught in my hair.

for size reference

the faceted ruby beads

"faux-keh" shot

The necklace is an example of another class I used to teach, PMC.  This is a really interesting product.  It is fine silver (i.e. pure silver) in particulate form, suspended in an organic binder.  It looks and feels like clay, and you work it a lot like clay, but once the piece is finished, you pop it in a kiln, let it cook for a while, and hey presto - you've got a piece of metal!  The pieces for this necklace were made by rolling out the "clay" and pressing in the design using a plain old rubber stamp, along with a few CZ jewels.  After firing and polishing, I refired the piece with some wire loops attached to the back with the same clay, but watered down.  One more firing, and then it was ready to assemble, with some wire, a few seed pearls and some chain.

with the chain

close up of the design

the back

for size reference

And finally, the sweater.  This design is Tulip by Marie Wallin, from Rowan 41.  The magazine was published in 2007, and I think I made it the same year - it was pre-Ravelry, so I'm not really sure.  The yarn, Rowan Damask, is a slubby linen/rayon/acrylic blend, now discontinued.  I don't really remember much about knitting it, i.e. whether the yarn was nice to knit with or not.  I made the smallest size, like I usually do, and got gauge, but it has always been a little big on me.  I would probably wear it more if it was more fitted, but as it is, I'm always feeling like I have to tug it back onto my shoulders and around my body.  The fabric is lovely though:

Fancy Shoe Friday

Since I divulged the other day that I am a shoe lover, I thought I'd bring that into the mix as well.  Actually, I've been thinking about doing this for a while.  I hesitated to do a weekly feature because 1) I get bored easily and doubt my ability to keep it up and 2) I'm a little perverse in that, as soon as I voice an intention to do something, I generally no longer want to do it.  Sigh . . .

There's a back story to this.  When I still lived in St. Louis, my BFF and I instituted a practice we called "Fancy Shoe Knitting."  We'd get together for a knitting night, either at her house or mine, and while we knit, we wore fancy shoes.  Usually the rest of us was not so fancy - sweat pants, leggings, sweatshirts, tee shirts, no makeup.  (Although there was that one time when we put on false eyelashes and huge, gaudy earrings from the dollar store.)  But our feet were pretty, and that made us both happy.

Since I moved to Chicago, my usage of Fancy Shoes has experienced a dramatic decline, for a variety of reasons.  The biggest factor is the difference between the suburban and urban lifestyle.  In St. Louis, I drove everywhere I went, so since I would only be walking a few steps, I could wear 3" heels with no problem.  Here, I do a lot more walking - either all the way to where I want to go (measured in miles rather than steps) or a total of several blocks incorporated with public transportation.  And I'm currently not going to a job, so I don't have to dress up. And my BFF is not here.

So occasionally, I'll do Fancy Shoe Knitting all by myself, in my little knitting corner. And yes, I do feel silly.  But I have a lot of gorgeous shoes that haven't seen the light of day for quite some time.  Here's what I put on today:

Frye Maya Vintage Stud Sling

Aren't they beautiful?  I have a particular weakness for Frye shoes and boots.  And of course, for yellow.

While I wore them, I worked on The Jan Sweater:

I had a couple of problems, of my own making, due to fuzzy thinking in the arithmetics area, but things are sailing along smoothly now.  And speaking of sailing:

China Glaze Sea Spray, Anchors Away collection, spring 2011

I put on Sea Spray this morning for the first time, and I'm completely smitten with it.  I'm declaring it the most beautiful blue polish I own.  And it goes so nicely with my smallthings ring, doesn't it?  This woman's work truly amazes me.  I'd love to get more of her pieces.