Me-Made-May '14: Week One Completed

I've been posting the evidence of my Me-Mades in the MMM '14 Flickr Group. Here's a composite of the first eight days minus one:



The day missing from the composite is Friday, Day 2. Fridays are optionally themed under the very loose MMM '14 rules. The first Friday theme was "Cocktails," so here I am enjoying a lovely cocktail of ice water:



What have I learned so far from participating in this challenge? First, that leggings are the most useful items of clothing since clothing was invented. I must make more. Even when they go out of style (are they in style now? Would I know? Do I care?) I'll continue to wear them under skirts to facilitate bicycling and avoid the dreaded chub rub.

There are a zillion patterns for leggings and tights in addition to McCall's 6360 which I've been using. At first I wondered how they could be different--sure, some had seams here and some had seams there, but so what? But my ignorance derives in part from the fact that all the leggings I've made are of Supplex or Dry-Flex or similar fabric. So they "fit" as long as they are big enough to go around me. A fabric without so much stretch would actually have to be roughly my size and shape. Sewing Cake's pattern for Espresso Leggings seems ideal to address this issue, at least according to Gillian of Crafting a Rainbow, who has made 8 pair and has worn them every day of Week One. In addition, the variety of seams in the different patterns add style to the basic utility of the leggings I've been sporting. Speaking of sport, Melissa of Fehr Trade offers both workout leggings and duathlon shorts with decorative and (I suppose, but I really have no idea) seaming in both. And pockets!

Another thing I'm learning is that I really have to work on figuring out a personal style that works for me--right now I have no idea. Take Vogue 1291, for example, which I wore on Day 5. It is a lovely top and very easy to make. I've made two. This one, which I decided after wearing it once was too big:



and the one pictured in the composite above, made a size smaller. That one was also too big--the top is supposed to be snug around the hips to create a blousy, drapey effect. So I snugged up the bottom and now the top fits properly, I guess. But I still look like a tree stump wearing it with my circle skirt. Light slowly dawns. Maybe tops that drop straight from the shoulders to the hips are not my best look? Hmm. Do I have a best look? It may be a moot question, since my "look" for the foreseeable future has to fit in the panniers on my bicycle, but I guess I'll give it some thought.

More Winning, and Some Thoughts About Underwear

William the cat has completely lost interest in naturally selecting winners for my sewing book giveaway so I've had to devise another method. Tradition has it that law professors grade final exams by throwing them down the stairs, awarding the top grade to the one that travels the farthest, etc. (This belief persists because students are otherwise unable to figure out why they got the grade they got and the exams are seldom returned with useful comments.) Let me make clear that I have never graded exams by this method, but it seemed like it might work for picking giveaway winners so I gave it a try. Here are the 7 remaining entries tossed down my front steps. (It's the San Fernando Valley so there aren't a lot of stairs around.)


And the A+ goes to:


Carole Mellin! Who neither chose a book nor left an email address or link, but wisely and wittily blogs at Mia's Sewing Room.

Meanwhile, Amity and I are going to meet on Tuesday July 31 at Michael Levine's Loft (where, I confess, I have never ventured) so I can deliver her grand prize in person and we can shop and talk and eat. We are meeting at 10:30 a.m. so any reader in Los Angeles is welcome to show up and join us. Let me know you are coming and we'll even wait for you.

Don't get any ideas, Carole. I'm not delivering your prize in person to Atlanta (right?), much as I might like to.

And now for something completely different: underwear. I admit it. I get chub rub when I wear a dress. The solution to chub rub (if you aren't wearing slacks, leggings or tights) is underwear extending down one's thighs. Unless one is willing to lose 50 or 60 pounds which, frankly, I'm not and it's rude of you to even mention it. There are lots of ladies' undergarments for sale that extend down the wearer's thighs, but they are almost all what is euphemistically called "shapewear". As if anyone substantial enough to want a lining between her legs is the wrong shape and wants--or, at least, should want--to be squeezed into a smaller, smoother one. The only alternatives I can find are bicycle shorts and pettipants. Pettipants seem to come in two fabrics: nylon and cotton. If I'm going to wear nylon in hot weather I might as well wrap my legs in plastic and leave puddles of sweat wherever I sit, while many dress fabrics cling to cotton.

I have no problem with anyone who wants to wear shapewear. Barbara of Sewing on the Edge wrote a thoughtful (all Barbara's posts are thoughtful) post on Spanx and I agree with pretty much everything she said. (Barbara is too tasteful to mention chub rub, which she probably doesn't have anyway.) I wear shapewear when I want to (almost never) but I don't want to feel like I owe it to anyone who has to look at me and I resent it being the only option for chub rub. Anyway I'd need shapewear to extend from my neck to below my knees or there would be a roll of fat wherever it ended.

This one might do, but does it come in my size? And can I get it with 3/4 length sleeves?


So when FabricMart offered silk cotton batiste for a good price (you know FabricMart is selling everything on the site for 35% off don't you? That sale might even still be going on if this post ever ends) I made myself some silk/cotton pettipants. Well, pajama bottoms, really.

I started with the Butterick 6837 pajama pattern because they are almost the only pants I've ever made, and reduced the width a lot. Then I cut off the elastic waistband I had just put on badly and tried another, wider one. That had the effect of raising the crotch which had been too low but is now too high, I think. Not comfortable. But the fabric is better than nylon or cotton knit so it's a start. I may try Evange's bloomer tutorial on YouTube next, but I am open to desperate for other suggestions. I just have this possibly small time between Kotex and Depends to wear something comfortable and I'd like to take advantage of it.