blues and greys

Finished! The skirt doesn't really fit that well but I totally love the top. I made the skirt out of an old pair of men's slacks, and I made the top from some cheap jersey knit I got on clearance. I guess I don't have much else to say about it except that I'm glad I got it finished. Thanks everybody who encouraged me!

So, I'm thinking for October I might try making some pants, seeing as the weather's been in the 40's and 50's all week and they still haven't turned on the heat in my dorm. I'm wearing gloves and a jacket as I type this, shivering. So yeah, skirts and dresses don't sound all that appealing right now. I've never made pants before. I'm kinda scared but kinda excited. It might be a little too ambitious of me, but I guess the whole point of this blog is to challenge myself to try new things, especially if I'm scared of screwing up.

Wow, that picture looks really bad on my blog. Yuck. The colors and the lighting and the angle just look so amateur and out of place. I need to start taking better photos for this thing. Ew it just hurts my eyes with the tan against the grey background. So sorry about that. ick.

almost done!

I'm almost done with my september outfit! I had to change my plans because I screwed up the scallops and didn't have enough fabric left to finish the dress. So my back up plan was a navy blue shirt and a grey skirt. I just finished the shirt today! It's adorable, with a big bow on the front. The skirt is about halfway done. I'm a little worried about how to put in the zipper, but it's looking good. Even though I changed my design, it's still kinda inspired by the 500 Days of Summer wardrobe too, though not based on any specific outfit. Just the neutral color palette, retro silhouettes, menswear fabrics and cute feminine details that I've been so crazy about lately. Now, if only I could afford to buy a bunch of cute shoes and purses to complete the look... sigh.

intimidation

I haven't made much progress on my dress. I feel kind of intimidated by it, I guess. Why do I always get so intimidated when I have a good design or idea? If I screw it up, whatever, right? I'll get it right eventually, as long as I try, right? Especially if I'm off to a great start. It's the same thing with the play I'm writing for my senior comp. I've got about ten pages of notes on characters and scenes and plot and everything, but so far I've only been able to crank out about four pages of legit play. I need 3-5 more by noon tomorrow. I love my plot and characters, and I know this play could kick ass, I just get nervous whenever I write it. What is that? fear of not being good enough? even though I'm the one who came up with the idea? who could write this play better than me? Same with the dress. I designed it. Who could sew it better than me? So why hesitate?

updating

I've designed my next outfit, and I'm quite excited about it. It's partially inspired by Summer Finn's blue shirtdress in the film 500 days of Summer. I really wanna try making the scalloped hem and the scalloped button front. I've never done anything like that before, but I want to try new techniques and this is a perfect way to start. My design is a little different from the dress in the movie. It's going to be ivory instead of blue, and it's going to have black lace detail instead of embroidery. The skirt will probably be shorter and fuller, and hopefully there won't be as much pleating on the bodice. And mine will have pockets. I LOVE pockets. Especially on dresses.

Yesterday I went to Chicago sort of on a whim for this family picnic croquet tournament thing. It was a lot of fun. My aunt and uncle made some amazing food, and it was a really great time. It was pretty cold, so they set up a fire pit, which made the whole thing very cozy. And for the championship game, the kids made a playlist of inspirational music like the Rocky song and the Final Countdown so everybody was cheering and really getting into it. I love doing stuff like that. I love my family. I have this little fear in the back of my thoughts that I won't get to do stuff like this as much once I leave college. All the grad schools I'm looking at are in California, New York and Florida, all far away from here. And my parents are moving to Michigan next winter. That's going to be weird, but at least they'll be close by for the rest of my senior year. And my little brother is moving to Indianapolis, so that's just weird as hell. Now I've got this bizarre feeling that pretty soon we're all going to be disconnected and scattered across the country. And I'm probably going to be the farthest away of all after I graduate. Am I just scared to be going off on my own, without my parents to support me, emotionally and financially? I guess I'm just sad to be losing this closeness where we're all still involved in each others lives. Wellll, it's time for me to get some sleep.

back to school

I wore the dress I made in June (black with pink flowers) to a party last night and I got so much positive feedback on it. Everyone loved it and couldn't believe that I made it. So I guess I'm kind of an attention whore about it, but who could blame me? I'm really proud of that dress. I designed it myself, made it for cheap, and I even invented my own method of attaching the jersey knit top to the cotton weave skirt with elastic in back so that it can stretch without bunching. So yeah, I get to be proud of myself. I was so thrilled that a lot of people liked it. A couple girls even said they'd pay me to sew some for them too. How awesome is that? I could definitely do it too because this kind of dress looks great on all figures and it doesn't require too much fitting since the top part stretches and the back has elastic. So yeah, I'm feeling really great about this.

film inspirations

Well, I saw "Julie & Julia" last week. If you've been reading my blog, you might know that it was the trailer for that film which inspired me to do my own blog challenge with sewing. And if you've been reading my blog, then you might know that I've failed at that challenge. It definitely added an extra level of understanding to the film. How the hell did Julie keep that up for a year??? Haha. Then I started thinking about our differences and similarities. The main difference is that I never told anyone I know that I was trying to do this. I just started doing it. Maybe I should have mentioned it to my friends and family or something, so I could have their support and understanding. I guess I thought I could handle it on my own. Plus, I wanted to be able to discuss my personal life without worrying about making myself vulnerable to people who are actually involved in my personal life, if that makes sense. Even though I rarely even discuss my personal life. So I think this fall I will try to let people know what I'm working on.

Also, I know I keep changing the rules, but I want to change my challenge to making one outfit per month instead of an outfit a week or a garment a week. I don't want to stress myself out too much, and I definitely don't want to get discouraged and give up like I did this summer. I also need deadlines. So, I'm going to vow to update every Sunday on my progress, even if I haven't made any progress. And I vow to post pictures of the final outfit by the last day of every month. I also want to start taking better pictures instead of just standing in front of a door and rigging the timer on my cell phone camera. I know it's not as impressive as the Julie & Julia project, but I have no delusions of grandeur, no dreams of a book deal or movie deal. My aspirations for this project are pretty simple. Self-fulfillment. I want to accomplish something personal that I can be proud of. I want to inspire others to make their own clothes and to pursue their hobbies and perfect their craft. And, of course, I want to make a bunch of fabulous outfits for myself.

Changing the subject here, I also saw "500 Days of Summer" last week. I saw the first matinee show on the day it released here. I guess I couldn't wait. It's such a sweet movie. Not only is it a lovely little film, it also had a lot of designing inspiration for me. I especially love the color palette, all neutrals paired with shades of blue. The vintage elements are inspiring too. They give the outfits a quaint, classic feel without seeming old, nostalgic or outdated. Mmmmm. Just give me that blue dress with the scalloped hem and that light brown shoulder bag. I kinda want to emulate that simple, quaint, classic look in my designs and in my style. I have some blue fabrics that I'm going to play around with this week. I also just found two pairs of cute, oxford style shoes. Heels on ebay and flats at goodwill. Both real leather. Score. I don't know why this particular style appeals to me so much. Maybe it's because the look is kinda student-ish and I'm going into my senior year of college. Maybe it's because people keep telling me I look like a blonde Zooey Deschanel. Or maybe it's just because I look fantastic in blue. Regardless, you might be seeing some cardigans, skirts and dresses in neutrals and blues on my site this fall.

hottie in hot pink

Ok, so I'm seriously failing on the weekly update thing. Failing. Why is it so hard for me to deal with deadlines and goals? It's not just with sewing and blogging, it's with everything in my life. I'm so bad at getting things done on time. Why?? Am I lazy? Deluded? What? I missed the deadline for the cover-up competition. I could have won a new sewing machine or a dress form. I would love to win both of those things, and I have the skills too. I just can't get things done and I always end up disappointing myself. I guess I should be fair to myself though, I have been working A LOT. I've been picking up shifts left and right to pay off my speeding ticket and still afford books and food next semester. That does take up a lot of my time. That's not a good excuse though....

Well, here is a cocktail dress I just finished. I reconstructed it from a cheap dress I got at TJmaxx for $8. I adored the embellished neckline, but the rest of the dress was ugly and unflattering, so I cut it up and made it into something new and cute. It was kinda sac-like, with a stretchy band for a hem, and it made my butt, thighs and tummy look huge. Now it makes me look little and pretty, so yay. I can see myself wearing this to club fever with the girls. It's rather short, but not too skanky, you know? And the color looks so good on me. So naturally, I'm psyched. I made the earrings too, but they're hard to see in the photo.

EDIT: I don't like to have too much space between the end of the text and the end of the photo. So I thought I'd share one of my favorite musicians ever. Anya Marina. She is the bridge between badass and adorable. Sweet and sassy sauce. Her cover of Whatever You Like (by TI) has been stuck in my head for a couple weeks now. Some other songs to check out-- Move you, Cowboy, Afterparty at Jimmy's, Clean and Sober, Vertigo, and all of her songs ever. The end. I really hope you like her because I totally LOVE her music.