Proof of Concept; MMM-L 23-30

Proof of concept.

Otherwise known as prototyping.

Otherwise known as wearable muslim.

Otherwise known as stash busting.

After making the dress, I knew I couldn't stop there. One, my brain was whirling with about five thousand different fabric combinations, most of which necessitated buying more fabric and that is something that I should not do. Two, I've been wanting to make some blouses, and it seemed like I could just hack the pattern off at the upper hip to double the pattern value, no?


[Of course, Melissa totally beat me to the punch on this one. Darn her!!! Also darn her for making that Liberty look so good. Resolution above about avoiding buying new fabric has since sailed out the window.]

I've had this seersucker in my stash for 16 months now. Yeesh. It was the middle of January 2009 and I was in Columbus, OH for a class project. That day it was about 5F outside and no less than 15 inches of snow had been dumped on the city since early morning. After making site visits for an entire day, I decided to lug out the snow boots and carefully make my way through the snowdrifts towards the Joann's in the shopping mall across from our hotel, where I proceeded to pick out two seersuckers and some persimmon linen. I think I was subconsciously protesting the weather.

When you make this into a blouse, you only need about a yard of the bottom fabric and could get away with a fat quarter of the contrast yoke, although if you use the back facings to make a yoke in back [again, copying Melissa] then you might not have enough to get the print to match up in the back, if you are nit picky about that kind of stuff. Rita kindly gave me about a large scrap of the HR mermaids the last time I saw her in CA, and I've been saving it for something special.


OK, even more copying of the Melissa. Like her, I left out the zipper and did a buttonhole loopy closure instead. I also decided to cut it one size smaller than the dress for a more fitted look, and I will only say that it takes a fair amount of yanking/wiggling to get this on and off, but nothing more dire than the shenanigans RTW sometimes puts you through. Also, I very stupidly accidentally cut this much shorter than I'd intended, and thus had to add the vertical strip at the bottom to squeeze out a little extra length. Happily, I think I like it even better that way.

So ... wearable muslim/proof of concept -- success! I am slightly tempted to do this with the other seersucker that I bought, but they're pretty similar so I might have to resist my batty ways. I have to say, I really like this pattern for showcasing a favorite [or expensive] fabric, especially if it is a quilting cotton that may not drape too well, because then you can use apparel fabric on the bottom and still come out ahead. Or who knows, maybe it works up well in a quilting cotton too, I just haven't tried it yet.


Day 23.

This is a pretty typical outfit for me. One of my also-favorite skirts of all time. It's a Lecien print that I adore.

Day 24.

Handmade blouse, thrifted skirt. I have to admit that after bragging to Ali that I only buy/make/thrift clothing if I can mentally construct at least 5 outfits with that item of clothing so as to avoid closet orphans, I flagrantly flouted my own rules when making this blouse. It really only goes with this skirt. Sigh. But ... but the mermaids! I guess if I ever got into wearing jeans or shorts again, that number could go up. Sigh.

Day 25: hot as heck, repeated Day 2.
Day 26: hot as heck, repeated Day 17 [minus scarf].
Day 27: graduation! Didn't wind up wearing the RTW dress I thought I would, but wore a different China one instead.
Day 28: hot as heck, repeated Day 24 [I know, I'm so creative].
Day 29: oops, no photo, but I did wear that ubiquitous AMH voile scarf and a thrifted skirt.

Day 30.

Handmade/refashioned shirt dress, belt, and scarf.

May has just flown right by! Although I didn't make everything that I wanted to make this month, I'm super happy with what did come off the knitting needles and out of the sewing machine, and also happy to have participated in such a cool challenge and met so many new bloggers! Thanks Zoe for hosting this :-)!