Rescuing an orphan

My Rambo skirt is one of my favorite makes. It's fun. It fits well. It's easy to wear. It should be a favorite in my closet, but unfortunately it isn't. The body suit I made to wear with it is lovely and comfortable, but suffers from requiring specialty underwear, due to the low back. The color scheme of the skirt is unusual in my wardrobe, and I just didn't have another top that looks good with the skirt.

Fortunately, I did have a remnant of the ITY I used to make the original bodysuit. It was a smallish piece - long but skinny. And I didn't have enough for mess ups.

I decided to use Ottobre 02/2009-5, which I have made before here. I knew this pattern was a winner, and even if it wasn't perfect with the skirt, I would still wear it a lot.

Fortunately, it turned out to work well with the skirt, so it's a win all around!

I'm particularly pleased with the sleeve this time! The rayon jersey I used to make this top last time was quite limp, so while the sleeves are attractive, they don't really flutter. In this ITY, the sleeves are much more full and graceful. It's a winner!

Comino Cap with a Sewcialist twist

Well, May was awesome productivity-wise and my mojo returned to me, but then school let out for the summer. Finding time to sew has been challenging, but I managed to distract Myra with my Barbies long enough to crank out this Comino Cap top.

I love this pattern. It's a super quick sew, fit's well and looks great on. Perfect for a precious fabric that I only had a yard of.

Here's a back view, for a better look at the print, which is Sew in Love by Lillestoff. It is vintage sewing machines!!! Surrounding the machine motifs are tiny curliques, topped with scissors and surrounded by red hearts. I love this fabric. As of this moment, there is still some in stock here at Kitschy Coo's fabric shop.

Since the print features little red hearts throughout, I decided to match them with red neck and sleeve bands. To make the red pop a bit more, I made my bands 1/8 wider than the pattern calls for, simply by sewing the neckline and sleeves at 1/4 inch SA rather than 3/8. Wider bands say more casual to me, and I wanted this to be a wear every day sort of top. Because SEWING MACHINES! I will wear it every day...

Taking pics in the summer is tricky too. I have helpers.... Good thing they are cute!

Me Made May 2015

I  mentioned at the beginning of May that I had decided to participate in Me Made May this year. Since wearing handmade clothing isn't much of a challenge for me, I decided to go a step further. I pledged to wear only me made clothing (other than bras) and to not repeat an outfit for the entire month. I am happy to say that I managed the feat with a few favorites to spare!

I posted an outfit photo on Instagram every day (I'm sure my followers are tired of that!), and collected them all in this flipagram. If you'd rather not watch the video, I also made a collage.

My biggest reason for participating in Me Made May this year was in hopes of boosting my sadly flagging mojo, and I'm happy to say it worked! If you've been hanging around here much lately you've probably noticed that I have blogged more than twice as much this month as I have been doing all year. I've been really enjoying sewing new things and am feeling  much more inspired, so yay for Me Made May!!