Isla Wrap dress

School's out, and I'm suddenly swamped with things that didn't get done this spring, or that I planned to get to before the kids were home, or that I hope to get to this summer.  (Massive clean outs/deep cleaning for a start).  

The garden is in and looking good, and we harvested our first raspberries today!  The birds got the first strawberry that was ripe, but there are more on the vines to ripen.  

The birds have been a real scourge this year.  I have one in particular that is quite aggressive and doesn't seem bothered by my attempts to foil him.  Bird netting is my friend this year.

Last month, I made an Isla wrap dress, a new pattern from JLH patterns. (Incidentally, I found a new place to print pdf patterns that is cheaper and fast!  They ship flat, which I greatly appreciate).  But back to the dress.  I usually don't go for wrap dresses because I end up feeling like I'm always two seconds away from a major wardrobe malfunction, but this dress has a generous back wrap and I wanted to try new things, so there you go.  I had a long circle-type wrap skirt years ago that had a similarly big overlap and enjoyed wearing that skirt, so I did have some reason to think this one would be okay.

The pattern is a dead ringer for the popular Swirl dress of the 1940s-1960s.  A long time ago, I bought a traced-off and graded version of an original Swirl pattern, but I couldn't get the bodice fit right and so gave up on it.  

The JLH pattern is very straightforward, and I really appreciate the bodice fit on Jen's patterns.  I went with a B cup, size 16 overall.  I could have gotten into a 14 (it's what I use for a bodice block on a lot of my tops) but I was struggling with overfitting things and didn't want it to be too tight.  So it feels slightly too big.  The seams are French throughout, so it's not a big deal to take in, but I might just leave it.

The fabric is an Indian block print cotton voile that I bought last fall when I thought it was going to be hot forever.  I was a little short on yardage and ordered a bit more from the same etsy seller, but the extra yard was quite different in hand and print from the first, so I had to cut the dress carefully out of the 3 yards I had.  I used the extra for the pockets and facings where it wouldn't show.  I did have to piece the back bodice pieces a little bit, but that's okay.  The waist length ended up being slightly too long so I ran another line of stitching around the middle at the 5/8" mark to bring it up slightly and it fits better now.

My main oops is that I cut the skirt pieces flat, and ended up cutting both back pieces the same way.  Any other fabric I would have been in a pickle, but because this is block printed, the back side is pretty similar to the front, so I put that one on the bottom side of the wrap.

The button is non-functional because I was feeling lazy and the instructions said it could be pulled over the head, so that's what I did.  

I wouldn't say I love the dress enough to make another one, but this is fine for church. The cotton voile is very cool and breezy without being sheer.  

Embroidered Remy

In the fall, when I was batch sewing 3/4 linen tops, I made a Remy from some pale sage Brussels linen that I hated immediately.  The linen/rayon substrate in a top made me feel hot and cranky until the humidity and heat broke sometime in October, and then the color made me feel very washed out and dull.  It didn't seem to go with much in my closet.  I put it and the skirt I made with the rest of the 2 yards into my bin to evaluate later.  

The skirt turned out to be a good summer make, and I've worn it several times already this spring.

The shirt continued to languish, however, and I wondered if I could perk it up and make myself like it better with embroidery.  I realize it is a lot of work to undertake to rescue a garment that might not be salvageable, but it was worth the experiment. 

I've been wanting to embroider some of my clothes for a while, but have chickened out because I didn't want to wreck something I already liked a lot.  It was a low-investment way to try out whether I'd like the finished look.  

I started with the front of the shirt, doing two lines down the center seam of the top using an iron-on transfer I had in my bins. I liked that well enough, and decided to repeat it on the sleeves as well. I added some whip stitching to the collar, cuffs, and hem, and it is...fine.

I like the look of it, as it is somewhat evocative of peasant-style rubashkas of Eastern Europe, although a white top with red stitching would be just about perfect.  I think the main problem is that I don't love the fit on it, and it doesn't go with much in my closet.  It matches the skirt in these photos, but that skirt really doesn't fit me.  Maybe the dark denim skirt I thrifted and altered?  I dunno.  

I will probably enjoy wearing it during Bright Week next year, as I was wanting something like this during Bright Week this year, but I was still working on the embroidery that week.  I enjoy the process of embroidery and find it somewhat meditative, so this project was worth it from that perspective anyway, and it gave me the confidence to undertake another embroidery project on a new top for summer.  I'm nearly done with it, and am looking forward to wearing it.  (Also: print and stick embroidery stabilizer is magic!)

In the meantime, enjoy some garden spam!  I've been working hard to get the kitchen garden into shape for the season, and I'm pretty happy with it now.  

A neighbor friend dug up her blueberry bush for me and left it on my doorstep early yesterday morning; I have good friends like that.  :)  It is loaded with tiny berries, and is definitely a different variety from the one I was gifted last summer from a different friend, so I'm curious to see how the two bushes do together.  I pruned the original one a bit this weekend, hoping to encourage more berry production, as there are only a handful right now, whereas last year this time, it was loaded.  I probably should have pruned it earlier, but maybe it will still fruit well.

I also hit the mother lode at the hardware store over the weekend as they had mature strawberry plants, some with already-ripening berries!  I bought three and put two in big pots and one in the middle box planter with the other bare roots I've started.  The ones in that planter seem to be doing okay, whereas I've lost almost all the ones I put in the boxes in the corner--probably not enough sunlight or something.  

My sun situation back there is tricky because half the patio is partially shaded in the morning and afternoon, but not the same half!  So the sun lovers get the prime spot along the brick wall where it is sunny most of the day, and the others have to make do.  Although I have to be careful that the brick wall doesn't scorch the plants.  It's a balancing act.  I also found a good looking watermelon vine with a bunch of flowers on it, and some purple cauliflower, a couple of bell peppers, an additional cucumber, and some herbs.  (To be clear, this is a 16'x8' space, with walls on all sides, and a large grill on one end of the patio).

The cucumber plants I put in a few weeks ago from an online order look pretty decent too, so perhaps we'll get produce this year?  I found a little wood trellis for them, since only two will be able to trellis on the mesh wall put in for that purpose in 2020, although the watermelon may be able to trellis there, so not a total loss.  

The raspberry plant is loaded with berries (and still sending out more flowers!) so we should get a decent yield if they ripen well.  I had a list of things I wanted to do today, but after a busy gardening weekend and a speed walk of nearly a mile to the bus stop with the kids this morning because I forgot my house keys and had to double back, I'm too tired to think straight.  I think I'll just take up my stitching and call it good.

Me Made May Weeks 4-5

Greetings from the swamp!  If you need me between now and October, you can find me in a heap of perspiration in any dark corner of my house.  (Just kidding.  Kind of).

The temps the last week have been ridiculous after a fairly pleasant week last week.  We had a weekend of gross upper 90s/high humidity, which was followed by a week of being able to leave the windows open all day, followed by another gross weekend that has morphed into a gross week.  It's the kind of humidity and heat where you start sweating the instant you step outside.  My favorite!  

I've been sewing like mad, since a lot of my summer clothes from last year don't fit well, so there's not been time to post.  I've got a backlog of projects to show, but I figured I should at least wrap up Me Made May before it gets ridiculous.

May 22-28~ 

Top row from left: 

Isla wrap dress (new, unblogged) 

Unblogged embroidered Remy (2021/22), rhubarb Elemental skirt (2021, but doesn't really fit me) 

Marlin linen Remy with gathered sleeve (new, unblogged), beet linen skirt (2021)

Bottom row from left: 

Abyss linen tshirt (new, unblogged), Agave linen skirt (new, unblogged)

Beet linen drop shoulder shirt (2021), agave skirt

Viking linen tshirt (new, unblogged), altered RTW denim skirt

May 29-31~

Top left: Indian block print voile Hinterland dress (new, unblogged)

Middle left: Meadow linen tshirt (2021), black pepper Free Range skirt hack (2021)

Bottom left: Indian block print voile top (new, unblogged); beet linen skirt (2021)

Right: Abyss linen tshirt, sage simple skirt (2021)

If you can't tell from the photos, I think my uniform this summer is going to be a linen or cotton voile tshirt and linen or voile Free Range skirt hack.  It feels good, looks decent, and doesn't make me want to claw my eyes out with heat.  (Always a bonus).  I'm going to remake the Hinterland into something that doesn't make me feel like 1995 is calling and wants its dress back.  Still, it was a worthwhile experiment.  I'll blog the individual new makes later this month, hopefully.

This week, I made a Driftwood dress (above) to wear for the Ascension liturgy/feast today, and it came out fairly well (will blog it properly soon). It's not my usual style, but it is surprisingly flattering and feels nice to wear. I'll probably make another from my remaining block print voile, with a few fit tweaks. A couple more linen tshirts and I'll be set for the season. I'm working on embroidering a white one I made three weeks ago and haven't worn yet.

I'd best get on with things before my day gets away from me too much.  Stay cool, friends!

Me-Made May Week 3

We are having a small run of mid-summer weather at the moment, so I'm in linen, linen, and more linen right now.   Supposedly it is going to rain later today and tomorrow and bring the temps back into a more normal range for May.  I just hope my fledgling strawberries don't cook!  

I'll list what I wore, starting upper left corner, going clockwise.

Sunday (upper left): Bluebird dress (made in 2016, altered 2020.  Probably oldest make still in my closet!)

Wednesday: lilac linen Remy raglan (just finished!), beet linen Free Range Skirt hack (2021).

Tuesday (upper right): dawn linen self-drafted drop shoulder shirt (2021), linen noil spruce Free Range skirt hack (2021)

Thursday (lower right): thrifted tank and jacket, linen/rayon black pepper Free Range skirt hack (2021)

Friday: Altered white linen Remy raglan (2021), sage linen/rayon M7353 skirt (unblogged)

Saturday: Meadow linen Sorrel shirt hack (2021), Purple Violet Squish skirt hack (originally made in 2019, hacked 2021)

Monday: altered thrifted tshirt, thrifted skirt.  This outfit was very meh.

My Thursday outfit was for a meeting I had to run at school and I felt totally awesome in it.  I thrifted that jacket months ago but have struggled to find a way to wear it.  I'll keep this outfit in my back pocket!

I think I like the Purple Violet Squish skirt enough to keep it in regular rotation.  It goes very nicely with the sage linen top, and probably will go with some other linen tops I've yet to make.  I made the lilac linen Remy early this week (I think!) to get my feet into sewing garments again, since it's been a minute.   I had just enough left over from a sewing student's project to squeak out the Remy.  I had to piece a tiny bit of one sleeve, but it ended up inside the French seams, so it's all good.   The color can wash me out a bit, so I made sure to have interesting colorful jewelry on near my face and that did the trick.

The sage linen skirt that I squeaked out of the leftovers from a Remy last fall turned out to be a good skirt!  I was skeptical when I first made it and didn't even bother to blog, but I think it will be a lovely summer piece.  My only regret is that I didn't have enough fabric for pockets, but since I got a skirt and 3/4 sleeve shirt out of less than 2 yards, I can't complain.  The white linen top will be much more useful with short sleeves, I think.  I want to do some tone-on-tone embroidery on it, but I keep waffling about the design.  That said, I did really like it with the sage skirt, although I did risk blinding passersby with my burns in the moonlight skin and light colored clothes.  Ha!

I finished the embroidery on my sage Remy raglan and will try to get a proper post about it soon.  Since almost none of my summer clothes fit right now, I'm on a mission to make stuff and try new things.  Yesterday, I made an Isla wrap dress out of some Indian block print cotton and cut out a cap sleeve Hinterland this morning, plus a simple linen top, so I should have new some things to post soon! 

Me Made May Week 2

Saturday...time for a weekly wrap up.  The weather has been bananas this week, so I was on and off with tights and boots.  Today I'm in linen and sandals, whereas last Sunday I was wearing a wool sweater and boots.  Go figure.  Go home, May, you're drunk.

I realized that I didn't really detail what I was wearing in last week's wrap, so I'll try to do better this week.  My unders are always me-made, but you'll just have to take my word for it.  😉  I'll go clockwise starting in the upper left corner, although the days are slightly out of order.  

Sunday (top left): Poet sweater, thrifted stripey shirt under, me-made jewelry from spring 2021, thrifted denim skirt.

Monday: Sage Toaster sweater, Purple Violet Squish skirt (original dress made 2019, made into a skirt 2021), etsy jewelry

Tuesday: Spruce noil Remy Raglan (2021), Woodrose French terry Elemental skirt (2021), etsy jewelry

Wednesday: I started out in sandals and changed mid-morning because I was so cold, so you get both outfits.  Upper right corner: thrifted Levi's stripey shirt, thrifted denim skirt altered to fit better in the waist, textured scarf (2019); lower right corner: Chili knit Coco shirt (2021), cuffs recently removed for 3/4 sleeves, thrifted/altered denim skirt.

Friday: a bit of a cheat, I admit, as this dress was made by my friend Kate.  She didn't care for it and so passed it to me to salvage the fabric, but I liked how it fit and swished, so have worn it a few times.  It's a little out of my current wheelhouse pattern-wise, but I feel pretty good in it.  I wear it on my "I can't even with a waistband" days.  I made the jewelry last fall.

Saturday: dawn linen drop shoulder shirt (self-drafted, 2021), much altered and embroidered English rose linen Everyday skirt (2020).  I never thought to put these two together and I love the combo.

Thursday (lower left): long sleeve cotton tshirt on clearance from Target, textured scarf (2019), black pepper Free Range Slacks skirt hack (2021).  That shirt was the best $5 I ever spent.  The fit is *mwah*.  

The thrifted denim skirt that I altered probably needs another tweak, since I'm not totally happy with the waistband fit yet, but it's okay to wear now.

I'm still not sure about the Purple Violet Squish skirt.  I mostly made it to salvage the fabric and feel less bad about the waste of it, but it is just okay.  It did look nice with the Toaster, though.

 
The Woodrose Elemental skirt had gone into a dark corner of my closet when it did not fit me at all in March, but it looks okay now with a loose Remy. It would look better with 10 more pounds off, but at least it is somewhat wearable again.

I let out my dawn linen shirt at the side seams after realizing it was just too tight across the middle to be comfortable.  I also noticed the fabric was pulling at the stitches and getting damaged. It is much more comfortable, although French seams are not my favorite thing to unpick.  At least the seams were short.  I may let out my other two drop shoulder linen shirts too, although they fit a bit differently for some reason.  It's those pesky little fixes that take almost no time that I put off forever and then wonder why I didn't do it sooner.  Contradiction, thy name is Juliana.

I've been thinking a lot about ease vs. flattering, and can't really come to a satisfying conclusion.  I like my clothes semi-fitted as a style matter, but sometimes overfit them as a comfort matter.  Or underfit.  Or something.  

My measurements have changed, although I admit I've been too much of a coward to find out how much, because the voice in my head is very mean.  After losing a few pounds over a few days last weekend and feeling like the dietary/activity changes I'd implemented months ago were finally having an effect, I gained it all back and then some.  Blerg.  But I need to take new measurements and move on, because wearing clothing that fits and feels well is more important than clinging to slopers that make me feel like a sausage casing.  I'm also in the middle of going down a big Saxon/Viking rabbit hole and their clothes were comfortable and loose.  And still looked great.   

I'm hoping to make some clothes for warmer weather in the coming weeks.  Dresses mostly, in search of that ever-elusive "one."  It will be interesting to see what comes of the experiment, as I'm planning to try a bunch of new-to-me patterns, including the much beloved Hinterland dress.  I'm realizing that I need to wear more woven linen in hot weather.  Knits, even cotton ones, get sweaty almost instantly and then just stay clammy all day, which makes me cross.  And since hot weather makes me cross anyway, I don't need my clothes adding to the fray.  Linen wicks and dries quickly, and if I can get the balance between fit and ease right, I'll be in a better place with my summer wardrobe.  At least that's the hope.

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." (F. Scott Fitzgerald)

Poet

The lace beast is finally finished!  Man, this sweater was a slog.  I started it almost exactly 11 months ago, and nearly frogged it several times, but I'm glad I pushed through to the end.  It is a very pretty sweater, the fit is excellent, but I don't think I'll be revisiting this pattern.

Yarn is Cloudborn sport, part of the yarn I bought a year ago April in a great sale.  I'm finding it to be a pretty good yarn; it pills very little, has a good even ply, and has a nice feel in the hands while knitting.  The pattern is Poet by Sari Nordlund, and it has Issues.  I'm not sure if I received the magazine version that had a ton of errata, but the lace chart was hard to navigate in conjunction with the raglan increases, and I would have done better with it if she had explained it as a graduated raglan increase, the way Kate Davies does in the Doocot pattern.  

The written instructions were VERY difficult to integrate with the chart, and I really had to wing it, which is why I ended up with an extra lace repeat of about 10 rows after I put the sleeves on holders, but I didn't notice until I was very far into the body and I decided it wasn't worth tinking back to fix.   It's not terribly noticeable and looks almost intentional.

As expected, the neckline gaped after blocking, so I used a yarn tail to snug it up like a purse string. The fix is nearly invisible, adjustable because of how I left the ends, and saved me having to redo the neckline umpteen times to get the fit right. I'd already knit it twice and worried about wrecking the lace edge with repeated attempts.

We had a bunch of rainy days that cooled the weather significantly (yay!) so I was able to wear this yesterday for Mother's Day and was quite happy. The skirt is thrifted and I am happy to have a denim skirt that fits again, although this one needs some elastic in the back waist for a perfect fit. It's on my to-do list for this week.

Also on my to-do list: Swatch Moar Sweaters!! (ha!)

Me-Made May 2022 Week 1

 May is one of my busier months, not unlike January.  It is the Paschal season, plus we have two birthdays, an anniversary, and Mother's Day, all in the first half of the month.  By the time we get through all that, it's go-time for capstones x4, theater festival, and the push through to the end of the year.  

I wasn't sure I was going to participate in Me-Made May this year (at least from a photo-taking standpoint), and I'm not sure it will last, but I got photos this week at least.  

About what I wore: I was almost ready to let the red Remy go (lower left corner) because when I tried it on in March, it was uncomfortably tight, but it feels okay now.  I'm glad to have it still.  The sage Remy (upper left corner) that I barely blogged in the fall and wore exactly once because it made me feel dull is in the process of getting a facelift with embroidery.  I wore it last Sunday when the front stitching was complete, and am now working on the sleeves.  I'll do a proper post on it when I'm finished.  I really love the beet linen ensemble (upper right corner) and am glad of the linen tops like this I made in the fall.

The weather is all over the place, as you can see by my clothes.  I was on and off with tights all week although we've had a big rain in the last day that has cooled things down significantly.  Small mercies. 

I am struggling to feel okay in my body most days.  Of the 15 pounds I gained in a week in January, only five or so has come off, and I would need to lose another 10 to get back to where I was maintaining a year ago.  Peri-menopause is a B.  

Part of me thinks I need to accept being in a bigger body, and part of me knows that I feel better psychologically and physically at the lower weight.  I'm a bit angry that I can't eat a stable diet and maintain.  I hate it that I feel more worthy in a smaller body but that I can't seem to maintain one without am even more restricted food life than I already have.  I suppose the best I can do is to accept reality and move on (in bigger clothes).

So it goes, I guess.  Bodies change.