This was one skirt a looong time in the making...Simplicity 2451.  It's funny, sometimes scary at what you might find while giving your sewing room a deep cleaning.  This pattern was found, fully cut, pattern pieces still attached at the bottom of a basket hidden underneath my cutting table.  I somewhat remember starting this when I first starting sewing...oooh in the fall of 2011.  Along with it were some other half finished/half started (however you choose to look at it) items.

These pictures were taken at the end of the day so excuse the wrinkles.

I can't even tell you what size I cut.  It looks like I couldn't decide between a 10 and 12 so I just thought I'd cut in between the two sizes.  Whatever it was I made it work.  I like the tulip shape design of this skirt.  It has front tab details with buttons and a laped zipper.  Because this was started in the Fall I used a heavier weight suiting material with intentions of pairing it with tights and boots.  I believe it looks suitable for Spring but might be a little too heavy for the Summer months. 

Instead of the lapped zipper I used an invisible zipper.  Most of my time was spent slip stitching the yoke facings and the hem.  I used some pink lace from my stash for the hem.  I have the hardest time hemming skirts like this.  The ease always throws me for a loop.  Any helpful tips would be appreciated.

 

Well I fell off the MMM wagon this week.  I only wore one me made item this week and my goal was at least two items a week.  I guess I could count my handmade towel turbie wrap thingy but that would only add to the lameness and you seen it last week. 

Friday was tough for me as I got ready that morning and I had two me made skirt options.  The first try on was my polka dot Simplicity skirt.     I got a ton of wear out of this last year.  I was unaware that I had shrunk any since then because it's now too big around the waist and needs taken in..

Shannon: 0, WIP pile: + 1

My next go to option was another skirt, one of my first mades, the Lisette Continental skirt seen here in a crappy mirror shot (and unblogged).  Again too big around the waist and the hem was coming undone...

Shannon: 0, WIP pile: +2.

So feeling defeated (not helping was the fact I woke up on the wrong side of the bed) I just threw on some RTW items.  If you follow me on Instagram you can see my lunch hour was spent making my day better.

Here is the one item I did manage to wear on Monday...

New Look 6110 blogged here

I love this top so much and if I could find more of this exact fabric I'd buy it and make me another.  Hard to tell in the picture but this is definitely showing some wear.  

One last bit of lameness. I've had this beauty sitting on my counter since Friday.

Yes it still sits there unopened. I know, wtf!?  This box holds all the fabric I picked out using my $200 gift card I won by displaying the "I Sew Mood" badge on my blog.  I thought it would be fun to do an unboxing video.  Would you like to see what I got and what I plan to do with it?  I've got a couple days off the end of the week and it would be the perfect time for me to film a video without fear of my husband walking in and making fun of me every 5 minutes.

I spent my weekend doing some unselfish sewing.  I altered some shirts for my Daddy-O.  They were his work shirts and he accidentally ordered long sleeve.  Since they are embroidered with his name he couldn't send them back so I made them into short sleeve shirts.  It was a fairly easy project and I was happy I could do it for him.

How was your weekend? Any selfish or unselfish sewing??

Hellloooo and Happy Mother's Day to all you mommies out there and that goes for pet mom's too!  Just a quick post to show you a free pattern for an easy peasy summer knit cardigan and a recap of Me Made May week 2!!  

My photographer was being quite the comedian

 

Quick and dirty details:

                         Pattern:  Free tutorial here, comes in small & medium

                         Fabric: Interlock knit - remnant bin @ Joann's $2.00

                         Notions: Trim given to me by Granny

                         Alterations:  I made the small and had to widen the sleeves by 5/8 inch

                         Likes: Quick, easy.  Can be made in a couple hours all on your serger 

                         Dislikes: What's not to like???

                         Wear/Make again: Most def

                         Time to make: Took me about 4 hours but I don't have a serger and I slipstitched my hem

                         Total cost: $2.00 Hellz yeah!

The bottom hem

Lisette 2059 blogged here

Another MMM item I've been wearing all week just not out of the house is this towel wrap for my wet hair.  You can buy these in the store, I believe they are called Towel Turbies or something like that. I decided to make my own.  A lot better than wearing a big ass heavy towel on your head that never stays on anyway.  If you'd like a tutorial on this please let me know. I'd be happy to do one.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!  Now off to enjoy the fruit/chocolate chip ice cream smoothie my husband is making...This should be interesting because the blender just sounded like it kicked the bucket and I heard my husband say, "What a disaster."

'I, Shannon of Shanni Loves..., sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '13. I endeavor to wear one handmade or refashioned garment at least twice a week for the duration of May 2013'

Time for the first weekly rundown of the me made items I wore for the week.  It was a short week so I managed to surpass my goal of two items a week and wore a handmade item every day of the week! Ok one was a repeat, shoot me.  This full week ahead is gonna be tricky. I will manage to get my two but I really really wanna wear more. 

Day 1:

  

Simplicity 1696 HotPants blogged here.

 Thank you for all your wonderful comments on my new red pants!  I'm sure you'll probably see these again in another MMM weekly rundown.  Sorry but I can't get enough of these pants!!

Day 2..& 3:

 

Butterick 5432 (and a little cat tail) never blogged

Just some boring old lounge pants.  These are one of the first things I ever made.  When I get home form work it's a sprint to my bedroom to shed the work clothes and throw on some lounge clothes.  These were a repeat for day 3.

Day 4:

  

Sewaholic Thurlows blogged here.

Love these pants and I'm way due for another pair.  I've had a khaki pair floating around in my brain for some time now..just gotta make it happen!

As you can see in the last pic it was a rainy weekend here. Spent a lot of time sewing and watching movies.  I did clean up my sewing room and was embarrassed to look under my cutting table and find a WIP pile I had accumulating.  Well this pile was half WIPs I forgot about and half shit (fails) I wanted to forget about.  I found a skirt I started two years ago and haven't a clue as to why I never finished it.  So anyhoo some new items coming along to add to the Me Made May madness.

In other exciting news I won a $200 gift certificate from Mood Fabrics!!  What a way to top off my birthday!   Mood has quickly become one of my favorites places to buy fabric.  The selection and quality has never been disappointing.  If you have a sewing or other crafty blog you too could be a winner.  Get the details here.

So who else is participating or just enjoying in Me Made May???



Ah yes first off it's my birthday and every time I think about my birthday I think of this scene in one of my favorite movies, Sixteen Candles.  Some days I would give anything to pinch myself and be transported back to my former 16 year old self but then again I think 36 isn't so bad...(ask me at the end of the day how I feel about that).

To celebrate my birthday I took a couple days off work.  (Really I just needed to sew my Me Made May garments)  I finished up Simplicity 1696 Amazing Fit pants.  I'm not really sure how I feel about the word amazing.  Amazing to me would of been a great fit right out of the envelope, without the half day spent fussing over a saggy crotch.  It's sort of irritating to me that I matched my measurements up exactly to the pattern sizing and I still had to adjust for fit...not quite amazing.  First you choose your pattern size based on your waist and hip, pretty straight forward. You then measure your back crotch length to determine your figure type, slim, average, curvy.  Based on my measurements I'm a 12 average (story of my life).  

I have to say after getting the saggy crotch ordeal out of the way I am rather pleased with the fit. The pattern does allow for 1 inch seam allowances in key fitting areas.  Because of this I think I can get away with going down to at least a size 10.  I am wondering if I also go to a slim size if it will help alleviate the crotchiness??

I had no problems with the instructions on this pattern.  It was all very easy to follow and even easier to put together.  The one thing I did not care for is the faux welt pockets.  They seem pretty cheap and lazy.  I considered using the welt pockets off of the Sewaholic Thurlow pattern but in the end I'm am lazy.  I don't really care for back pockets anyway on my work trousers.  It seems like they are always bunching up and causing lumpy butt.