Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Can I make my own wardrobe?

I'm feeling more and more like sewing lately, and the idea of being able to save money AND have awesome perfectly fitting clothes really appeals to me. I recently bought the "Built By Wendy" book which is basically all about using her patterns for a shirt, a pair of pants, and a skirt to customize and make all the stuff of your very own you could ever need.

I'm all over the skirt thing, definitely. I've made several with other patterns, but my problem is that I haven't quite ever figured out the fit. Her book gives lots of tips on that, and I've been looking at websites and books and blogs for more info.

I'm a little more frightened of the shirts and pants. My one attempt at pants was a dismal failure. I had the dreaded big wrinkle in the front, you know, the one that looks either like a big smile or big frown? But I'm willing to try again if it means having some great ass-pants (those would be the kind of pants that make your ass look fabulous, not the kind that exposes your ass, which are much more popular around here during the Folsom Street Fair than at any other time of year) in the colors that I like.

And the shirts, I think I can handle once I get some practice on making buttonholes. I've had experience with taking men's shirts (western ones mostly), cutting them down, sewing in darts, and basically doing a trial and error thing till they fit. So maybe from scratch won't be that much harder.

So, with the stuff from this book I've got just about everything covered, except for dresses, and blazers. I have to have lots of cardigans or blazers or shawls because I live in San Francisco and there's maybe 2 days a year when the temperature doesn't get down to long-sleeve levels. So I just bought patterns that seemed rather versatile for changing up and making dresses and jackets.

So anyhoo let's hope that I actually someday get around to making some of this stuff. I need to get started immediately before I lose momentum. I have some nice turquoise and light brown plaid fabric for a short skirt I plan to wear with cream colored tights and kneehigh suede (ok, fake suede) boots. Maybe tonight?

Also on tap currently: I bought several bolt ends of varying shades of blue quilting fabric for a sort of contemporary style quilt for the bedroom, the design is based on the ocean, how as you look out toward the horizon it looks like bands of steadily darkening blues. Also, I've won an eBay auction for a bunch of solid cotton 4.5" cut blocks in lots of colors for an idea I have for a reverse applique quilt.

And, I finally finished a knit purse. I'll get pics later, but I love it. One problem though... it smells funny! I think when I blocked it it didn't dry fast enough and now has a moldy sort of smell to it. Which sucks because I want to start carrying it NOW! I'm a little scared to wash it, so I'm attacking it with Febreze and airing it out read good in the hopes that it de-funkifies itself soon.

2 comments:

Marji said...

Hi,
I just followed your link here from Sew Retro. Welcome to the world of sewing vintage.
In January I finished 4 dresses from that Butterick pattern, and reviewed them on Patternreview.com It's a great pattern but does require an adjustment for the majority of people I've known to make it - the bust darts come right over the bust point on most people - otherwise it is a GREAT pattern.

Holly said...

You know what Marji, when I looked at your reviews and your blog it looked so familiar that I actually think I originally saw this pattern from one of your posts! I'm not totally sure, because a month or so ago I blew through so many new-to-me blogs and pattern reviews it's all a blur now, but I really think I might have. regardless, thanks for the useful info.