A Bit of Cake

A few weeks ago Tasia had a great post on sewing "frosting" (fun, often patterned, not necessarily everyday items) versus sewing "cake" (basics, everyday wear). Like most sewists, I definitely fall on the side of being drawn to frosting projects over cake projects - personally, I would be happy sewing nothing but pretty dresses, even if I wear a dress maybe once a week. But recently I've been finding a bit more balance between projects like my houndstooth dress, which I enjoyed sewing, think is awesome, but only wear occasionally:

and my slew of School House Tunics that I wear practically every time they're clean enough to wear.

This weekend, I focused on some serious cake.

But that isn't to say cake can't be fun too.

Sure it's a basic black skirt, but have you seen the inside??

In typical Leah fashion, I took a simple project (Colette Patterns Ginger, a total of four pieces), and made it 100% more complicated by adding pockets and finishing all the seams with home-made bias binding.

That said, I'm pretty pleased with the finished product, even if the fabric seems to spontaneously generate lint. If I had to make any changes I would have 1) used a stiffer interfacing in the waistband 2) gone a size down in the waist and 3) done the recommended hem length (I did a bit deeper hem).

(Might still do that last one).

I'm fairly certain this basic will get heaps of wear, especially since it looks so fantastic with my saddle shoes. :)

Oh and I should say that I'm not abandoning the pursuit of frosting, because my next project may very well prove to be the most fantastic, least practical thing I've sewn since my Halloween costume. (Still wondering where I can wear that).

A Simple Neutral Skirt

So it's a few days late for Lent, but I finally have that simple neutral skirt I needed for my wardrobe and it only took two days start to finish. So maybe I'm not the slowest seamstress ever.

Of course it helps when you have company for one of those days (though a second ironing board would have been helpful).

The pattern is Burda(style?) 7437 view B, which was the only pattern I could find that had the styling I wanted - specifically having the fly closure. The fly was a first for me - my tip: baste the zipper first - it took a couple of tries to get everything lined up, but was otherwise simpler than I thought it'd be.

I made a few minor mods - namely skipping the pleat in the back and taking in the back waist band/center seam. It wasn't clear if the skirt was designed to sit at the waist or not, but mine does, which may be why the skirt ended up a teeny-tiny bit shorter than I expected (which I honestly didn't notice until I looked at these photos). If I sewed it again, I'd probably add an inch to the hem (and not over-trim the button underlap), but overall I'm very happy with the way this one turned out.

I did flat-felled seams on all the piece to piece joins and top-stitching on the pockets and waistband. I hammered in a jean button for the closure.  All told - I think it turned out very professional-looking, like if I didn't tell you, you wouldn't know I made it.

My next sewing project will be a Sunni-inspired sleeveless bow blouse. I feel like I'm on a sewing roll right now, so I'd love to keep the good mojo going!

Lent 2011 - Wrap Up and Reflections

The number one question I was asked about this Lent challenge was whether I was wearing a different skirt or dress every day - to which I answered a resounding "no"! I have a lot of skirts and dresses, but not 46!! I'll even admit to wearing the same outfit more than once, but the official breakdown of skirted items worn (a total of 19)  is as follows:

Skirts (11)

Me-Made (7):

Store-Bought(4):

Obviously, when it came to skirts, I wore my store-bought skirts more than me-made ones, which I figure was due to two reasons:

1. They're generally more casual
2. they're more neutral.

So the lesson here is to make more casual/neutral skirts, or get used to fancy pattern mixing. And hey!! My next sewing project is a grey twill skirt - sounds casual/neutral to me!

Dresses (8)

Me-Made (5):

Vintage(2):

Store Bought(1):

I have a handful of other items, but they're more definitely summer-wear.

The other thing about the specific outfits was that my level of comfort with an outfit was inversely proportional to the amount out compliments I got on it. That is: the less sure I was about an outfit, the more likely it was that everyone else would.

Best compliment I got: (on Day 36) 'It's like Ugly Betty, but not ugly!"

The hardest part of the challenge: Staying warm in the cold Maine spring (and my subsequent annoyance with tights) and figuring out to what to wear on the weekends.

What Your Clothes Say About You

This Lent challenge also been an interesting experiment in how other people "read" my dress.

For example, on Flickr, I've been asked to include some of the above photos in groups like "Offbeat Modest Dress" and "Way Too Pretty To Wear Pants." The latter whose group goals include the following:

" I would really love it if some of the women who post their pictures to the group would consider undertaking a pledge to stop wearing pants (that's 'trousers' for anyone in the UK...) for a month, or a year - or ideally forever :-). That way, the group can help to promote feminine beauty by setting inspirational examples." (The group of course was founded by a man).

This doesn't count the numerous"favorites" from Flickr "creepers" who favorites are filled with pictures of women in tights, or turtleneck sweaters, or some other clothing-based fetish. All of which were quickly blocked.

Carrying It On

All in all, I call this Lenten challenge a success. Some mornings I would have rather not done it, but I'm glad that I did and had a lot fun looking at my wardrobe in a different way and trying new combos with my existing piece.

While I did wear pants to work yesterday, it felt kinda weird and I was less excited about it as an outfit, so super-cold or wet days aside, I think I'll be wearing a lot more skirted items day to day.

Now the next challenge is to come up with the next challenge!! (Suggestions, as always, are welcome!!)

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter!!

I know that technically I don't have to wear a skirt today, but it's Easter and I finished it last night, so I figured I would wear my sparkly new Beignet skirt.

It took me about a month from muslin to finished project, but I think the time was well worth it.

The shell fabric is a lovely blue twill from my stash and the lining is a super soft polka dotted poly-charmeuse from JoAnn's. The lining fabric was a bit of pain to work with (it frayed terribly until I finished the seams), but it feels fantastic.

The buttons are pale blue slimlines. I considered doing a more contrasting button, but decided I wanted this skirt to be a versatile as possible, so I kept it tone-on-tone.

The sewing was not difficult, although attaching the curved parts of the lining to the facing can be fussy. The reason it took me  so long was purely due to the large number of seams -meaning a large number of seams to finish.

That said, if I came across a good fabric, I'd make it again and I think this iteration will get lots of wear especially since the twill can be dressier (like today) or more casual.

Top: Ann Taylor Loft - from Material Objects (consignment)

Coral Necklace: American Girl Co. (to go with my Felicity doll, when I was ten or so)

Skirt: Beignet, made by me

Shoes: Bass Outlet

Chocolate Bunny: from Mom

Jelly Beans: on loan from Mr. Cleaver

In the next few days, I'll do a post-Lent round-up/wrap up. Hope you've enjoyed this challenge as much as I have!

PS - Don't forget  today is the last day to get $1.00 off the Domenic Pattern in my Ravelry shop!