Me-Made-May 2020: The First Week

Day 1

Friday, May 1, 2020

List of me-made items I wore and used today:  For the grocery run!  Denim (cotton) facemask circa 2020 (Craft Passion free PDF pattern), cotton sateen shirtdress circa 2016 (OPP Butterick 5760), cotton knit knickers circa 2020 (Simplicity 8229), cotton reusable grocery bags circa 2020 (OOP McCall's 4851).  Showered after grocery shopping and changed  into a pullover cotton knit dress circa 2017 / alteration circa 2019 (Vogue 9268).  Sleeping attire consisted of cotton pajama bottoms circa 2020 (OOP Vogue 9217) and cotton pajama top circa 2020 (Butterick 6296). 

Day 2

Saturday, May 2, 2020

Stayed home and stayed safe while doing housework in my modified cotton shirtdress circa 2019 (OOP McCall's 7546, OOP Vogue 1503 and OOP Vogue 8934).  Slept in cotton pajama bottoms circa 2020 (OOP Vogue 9217) and cotton pajama top circa 2020 (Butterick 6296).  

Day 3
Sunday, May 3, 2020

These are the me-made items that I wore today:  Turtleneck dress circa 2019 (OOP Vogue 8939), cotton knit knickers circa 2017 (Simplicity 8229).  Slept in cotton flannel pajama top circa 2019 (Butterick 6296) and cotton flannel pajama bottoms circa 2018 (OOP Vogue 9217).  

Day 4
Monday, May 4, 2020

Today the provincial government is easing the state of emergency restrictions despite warnings from medical profession that we're in the beginning of the pandemic.  Since I have no trust what-so-ever in provincial politicians in regards to pandemic updates, the fact that many businesses and the general public can not easily access personal protective equipment (PPE), and the rush to re-start the economy, I am listening to the chief health officials and staying home while rationing my small supply of hard-to-find disposable gloves. 

These are the me-made items that I wore, used and ate today:  Reversible apron circa 2011 (OOP Butterick 5263), tea towel circa 2017 (no pattern used), black cotton knit knickers circa 2018 (Simplicity 8229), black sateen skirt circa 2019 (OOP Vogue 1247), homemade gluten free carrot cake, grid and dots shirt circa 2020 (Vogue 1678).  Sleepwear:  white cotton pajama bottoms circa 2020 (Butterick 6296) and white cotton pajama top circa 2020 (OOP Vogue 9217).

Day 5

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

These are the me-made items that I wore today:  Pull-on wool pants circa 2019 (Vogue 1642), front button shirt circa 2017 (Vogue 1503), flannel pajama bottoms circa 2018 (OOP Vogue 9217) and flannel pajama top circa 2019 (Butterick 6296).

Day 6

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

These are today's me-made items that made it out of the closet and onto my body:  Pull-over dress circa 2016 (Vogue 1410), cotton knit nightgown circa 2020 (OOP and vintage Butterick 5517).

Day 7

Thursday, May 7, 2020

Today's me-made items:  cotton knit knickers circa 2019 (Simplicity 8229), cotton pajama top circa 2017 (Butterick 6296) and cotton pajama bottoms circa 2017 (OOP Vogue 9217).

Update on my Me-Made-May challenge:

1. I did manage to get out of my pajamas.  
2. No completed Simplicity 8510 yet to share, although I did manage to trace out the pattern.   

Stay Safe and Happy Sewing!

I Can't Help Myself!

Sometimes you just need to be a little bit silly to get through all this pandemic stuff. I made another matching Dhurata Davies face mask.  Since I knew I like the fit, I went ahead and sewed a cotton knit interlining to this mask. It gave it more bulk and fogs up the glasses more than the two layer linen version previously made.   

The Stats

Fabric:  0.40 metres

Pattern:  Free downloadable Dhurata Davies Face Mask

Additional Tools & Supplies:  Cutting table, scissors, pins, pin cushion, tailor's chalk, washable marking pen, thread clippers, sewing machine, walking foot, measuring gauge, iron and ironing board.  

Stay Safe & Happy Sewing!

Oh, Yes I Did!

Oh, yes I did match a face mask to one of my dresses.  

This is the Dhurata Davies face mask pattern. I discovered this pattern through Peter's blog post where he compared two face mask patterns. I'm in agreement with Peter, I do like the fit in the chin area and even though I haven't taken it out for a test run yet, it seems to fit over all better. I really like that it has greater overall coverage than the Craft Passion face mask. The Craft Passion face mask has a nicer finish on the casing and I did borrow the technique for this one.  

Oh and the dress...

A bit matchy-matchy? I made the dress about two years ago and I still have quite a bit of the fabric left over. It's a 100% linen and I used the same fabric for the lining. This face mask doesn't have an underlining as I just wanted to test out the fit. 

The mask is made in a size medium. I think I could go down to a size small but I'm also comfortable with the fit of this size. I will likely make a couple more for myself with this pattern. I don't know if I match them all with my wardrobe.  

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The Stats

Fabric:  0.20 metres

Cord:  1 metre

Additional Tools & Supplies:  Cutting table, pins, pin cushion, tailor's chalk, scissors, thread clippers, safety pin and tweezers.  

Stay Safe and Happy Sewing!

More Face Masks

Sewing masks is an act of charity for me, it's not something that I'm doing as a side gig. I tell you if there is someone who has access to the supplies and desire to sew this season's hottest fashion accessory they can have a sweet little side gig. The demand is huge.  

All of these were made with denim on the outside and whatever dark lining fabrics I could find. Seven of them are lined with leftover pieces of the beautiful Japanese cotton that were used for the scrub caps.  

There are three lined with The Walking Dead cotton print fabric. I have previously cut squares pieces of this print for microwave cozies. Since these were dark, I asked if it was "too much?" for a face mask during a pandemic.  The response was "no," so onto the cutting table it went.  

And the last request was for two white and one black. Finding white cotton in the stash was easy and the soccer ball print is another dark fabric from the microwave cozy collection of fabrics.  

The Stats

Fabric:  0.6 metres

Seam binding:  11.1 metres (sewn closed and used for ties)

Twill tape:  0.90 metres

Additional Tools & Supplies:  Cutting table, iron, ironing board, tailor's chalk, scissors, pins, pin cushion, thread clippers, and tea.  

Stay Safe and Happy Sewing!

Tres Chic! Scrub Caps

This Parisian landscape print cotton fabric was wide enough that I was able to cut the bands across the width. This made me so happy! The other fabrics used for the scrub caps were of a narrower width and I have to fold over the fabric lengthwise to make it work. Otherwise with the one-way design of this fabric it wouldn't have worked for the project. 

I'm able to make four scrub caps from this yardage of fabric. This has been in the stash for quite some time and originates from Mitchell Fabrics back-in-the-day when they were open. It's a really nice cotton, weight-wise and softness. Gosh, I really miss the quality of fabrics I used to find at Mitchell Fabrics.  

Just a note on the pattern, check the scale. I wasn't able to print it without taking out a pencil and curve ruler to adjust the pattern. On the up side, the pattern is equipped with many arrows documenting the lengths and widths that certain points in the pattern should be making adjustments easy to do.

The Stats

Fabric:  2 metres

Pattern:  Free downloadable PDF

Additional Tools & Supplies:  Cutting table, pins, tailor's chalk, pin cushions, scissors, thread clippers, iron, ironing board, sewing machine, thread, carrot cake and coffee.  

Stay Safe and Happy Sewing!  

Slip: OOP Simplicity 8666

There was a request for another slip from out-of-print (OOP) Simplicity 8666.  

Super easy project that came with some additional requests, extra ease and wider straps from the first version. I actually made another version in a light-weight white cotton fabric that was a favourite and that was the one to be replicated. Sadly, I didn't blog about it and document the changes that were made to the cotton version.

Thankfully, the white cotton version is still in rotation and I was able to copy from that version. The front was lowered one inch.  The side seams were given an additional 1 5/8" from the top grading out to 2 5/8" at the hem.  

Wide bias strips were made using a bias maker. The sides were finished with French seams and the hem was sewn at one inch with a 1/4" fold-over. No need for the serger. The pretreated cotton and silk blend fabric was cut on the bias.  

The Stats

Fabric:  2.5 metres

Pattern:  OOP Simplicity 8666

Additional Tools and Supplies:  Cutting table, pins, pin cushion, scissors, thread clippers, iron, ironing board, tailor's ham, tailor's chalk, measuring tape, measuring gauge, sewing machine, walking foot, bias tape maker and tea.  

Stay Safe and Happy Sewing!  

Me-Made-May 2020

This year's me-made challenge will be interesting. I wonder how many days I'll make it out of my me-made pajamas?  

Maybe that can be this year's challenge?  

Trying to wear at least one me-made item each day is not a challenge at this point in my sewing. Yes, there are still RTW items still lingering in my wardrobe, many if they still fit are decades old. The majority of my wardrobe is me-made. I would like to get around to trying to make a brassiere, the one missing me-made item from my wardrobe.  

Simplicity 8510 calls for batiste, cotton lawn, crepe back satin, crepe de chine, light-weight linen or silky type fabrics. I would really like to make this in a natural fabric and do have some light-weight linen.   

So that's my Me-Made-May 2020 challenge, get out of my pajamas and sew a brassiere before month's end.  

Stay Safe and Happy Sewing!