Me Made 2014 is in full swing, and I am learning lots of things about my wardrobe:
- I don't have nearly enough separates.
- It's cold. I need more trousers.
- This whole project is forcing me to be creative with how I dress. I don't want to wear the same thing every day.
- I have many
Renfrews, and I want to make many more.
January 13
Back to work! I wore a sweater of Mama Grand's that I had altered and an altered hand-me-down skirt from my oldest sister. The sweater has the most amazing beading, and the skirt is a lovely black and white check. This is the first time I have ever paired them together, and I think this will definitely happen more often.
January 14
Knitting with Liz and Michelle at our favorite hang out. I wore my sparkly white Renfrew (unblogged), my
pinstripe pencil skirt, wine colored tights, and snow boots. Snow boots are ESSENTIAL to my happiness in Chicago at this point in time.
January 15
A new Jasmine blouse! I actually tackled this and the
January 3rd Jasmine at the same time. I like making two blouses at once, so I get two finished objects for slightly more effort. I paired this Jasmine with my grey Simplicity 3688 trousers (my favorite trousers ever).
A close up of the fabric and bow. I love the light blue background with delicate flowers sprinkled here and there. I'm working on bringing more floral patterns into my wardrobe, and I think this was a good place to start.
January 16
Laundry day!! The dryers really don't work in my building, so it's necessary to hang almost everything up to dry. This is how I do it. It turns my apartment into a magical fairyland, really.
January 17
I failed in getting a picture of myself, but I wore my favorite Lisette/Simplicity blouse and jeans. I love jeans day at work. I'm comfortable and productive. What could be better?
January 18
The What Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up? Party! For my friend's birthday, she hosted a themed party, and we were asked to dress as what we wanted to be when we grew up. As I wanted to be a dancer, I knew I needed to make leg warmers, a leotard, a Flashdance sweatshirt, and a tutu.
I also decided to use all of the weirdest, unloved fabrics in my stash.
To start, I used a tutu I already had. I added all the random magenta tulle in my stash to make it fluffier, which worked wonders.
For the leotard, I used a bodysuit pattern in my stash. I didn't want to make a raglan bodysuit like the pattern called for, so I hacked the Renfrew pattern to make something a bit more my style.
I overlapped the pieces, pinning down the bodysuit pattern to adjust for the Renfrew neckline. I cut along the Renfrew lines for side and waist (as the bodysuit pattern was considerably larger), and then used the bottom portion of the bodysuit piece to complete the leotard.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Repeat for the back, continue sewing as for the Renfrew for neck, shoulder, sleeves, and side seams. Then move onto the directions for the bodysuit to complete the bottom of your leotard. I followed the directions to add a zipper in the back and snaps in the crotch area, but I would have been fine with just the snaps. The swimsuit material from my stash has enough give that a zipper isn't necessary as well.
My outfit was already very pink thanks to my fluffy tutu and hot pink legwarmers, but the lighting at the party helped :)
For the final piece, my Flashdance sweatshirt, I used some material a friend had given me. It's furry/fuzzy/a texture I have never known in my whole life.
When all worn together, I call it 'The Outfit of Misfit Fabrics' because I would not have had another occasion to use the pink furry stuff, the pale green swimsuit material (not a good color on me, I think), magenta tulle, and hot pink acrylic yarn.
It's so obnoxious, there are no words for it.
January 19
Golden Globes! Hanging out with my bestie, wearing my knit Sorbetto tank, an altered sweater (had to chop off the sleeves due to a bleach accident - sad), and jeans.
January 20
Work! Wearing an altered white top (made from my sister's graduation dress - the stained skirt became sleeves) and my grey Simplicity 3688 trousers.
January 21
At first glance, this outfit doesn't look like anything special. It's just a crimson knit top and my black Simplicity 3688 trousers.
And when I say crimson, I mean crimson.
The back story here is that I decided I wanted to dye a handful of things that I've been putting aside for years. With $50 to JoAnn's, a coupon for free shipping, and nothing to stop me, I ordered fabric paint and dye.
Recognize the top? It used to be white. Well...grey. It had gotten grey. Following the package instructions to use two packets when the fabric was a blend, I threw this favorite shirt into a boiling pot of angry red liquid.
After I pulled the shirt out and began washing it out, I made the horrible mistake of dumping my leftover liquid into my bathtub.
Thanks to the power of Facebook and Comet powder, I went from the above...
...to this. I am satisfied, and have learned a very important lesson: dump all leftover dye liquid into the stainless steel sink.
January 22
Another Renfrew! This is my favorite pattern, and I have so many versions ready to be sewn for future wear. In the meantime, here is an unblogged sweater version.
Actually, I did blog about this fabric once. It used to be
a BurdaStyle Batwing Top, which I never wore after blogging about it. I reworked the fabric into a Renfrew, and consider it a huge part of my winter wardrobe at this point.
A random picture of loungewear: my plaid pants and orange knit tee. I need more loungewear - those plaid pants have about had it.
January 23
Can you tell I love my black Simplicity 3688 trousers? (I NEED MORE TROUSERS).
These trousers + my Ingenue sweater = warmth.
January 24
The Catherine Jacket is (hands down) the warmest thing in my wardrobe. I paired it with jeans,
my knit bow blouse, and some sweater tights to head into the office.
January 25
My apartment tends to be pretty warm when the temperature drops below freezing. The radiators are running at full blast, so I usually lounge around the house in mini bloomers and thigh highs. Since the plaid pants need mending, this works just as well. I'm wearing my long sleeve Renfrew, grey mini bloomers made from sheets, and my thigh highs from Sock Dreams.
January 26
A lazy Sunday with no engagements on my calendar. I'm wearing my
Lisette flannel top, blue mini bloomers, and purple wool thigh highs (also from Sock Dreams).
January 27
I got to work from home since the temperatures are dropping quickly here. I got the plaid pants out of the mending pile to pair with my bubble gum pink Renfrew, and threw on the Catherine Jacket for good measure.
The Catherine Jacket will finally get a breather once I get this green and white monster off the machine...
Friends, stay warm where you are! We're bundled up here in Chicago, hoping this Polar Vortex business will soon be over :)
XOXO,
Meg