September 2015 Style

Fall? Is it really you!? I am so happy to see the beautiful golden leaves falling from their exhausted, overheated branches. The entire earth sighs a great sigh of relief at the first taste of that crisp fall air. As a native Californian, seasons continue to surprise and delight me even after 3 years in gorgeous Nashville. The transitional seasons are my absolute favorite and not just for the relief from the heat and cold. But for the attention to detail. September is really exciting and I'll be planning some handmade garments for an amazing gathering I'm attending (in October), some every-day play clothes (a shirt made of 1 cut??), and a wrap dress to accentuate my very favorite curves in a flattering way.

When I was very, very little (in the 90's), for some reason the childcare place I was at brought in a colors expert. How cool is that? She gave us a series of random questions and would determine whether or not we were a Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter & those would be our colors. So, I learned that day, and it still stands to be true, that I am an Autumn (Fall) and that my colors are dramatic tones of olive, burgundy, navy and so forth. So, of course I find myself falling in love with burgundy ikat fabric, olive gold silks, rich plum knit and grey/blue linens with bows? What? I'm an autumn lol.

Seamwork Magazine- Akita Top & Moji Pants

If I haven't said enough about indie darling Colette Pattern's online magazine, Seamwork, let me say it again. For $6 a month, you get at least two patterns, you get some fantastic editorials including DIY beauty and insightful, meaningful content. I love that Sarai seems to dislike small talk as much as I do. This month boasts a really simple pair of (3 hour) pants with a drawstring and some serious comfort.

This is #1 at the top of my list! Why? Well, because I seriously loved last month's pattern, Mojave, a dress/coverup that was the most instant of instant gratification. In less than an hour I had a fantastic, flowy garment that is simply swoon-worthy. People seriously freaked out when I told them I made it myself.

Anyways, Akita & Moji are a top and bottom that will be the first on the production schedule for fall. I haven't quite decided on a lightweight fabric for the Akita top yet but I think I have a good idea up my sleeve. The Moji drawstring pants will likely be made with a woven, wool ikat fabric I've been hoarding.

McCall's M6713 Wrap Dress

I'll say it, I'm am not crazy about wrap dresses. Why? Because every single sales associate that ever tried to guide me into what's best for me told me that a wrap dress would be much more flattering on my figure. Were they attempting to tell me that my weird body shape was flawed? No, well, maybe. But that's what the wrap dress led me to believe about myself.

Poor, unassuming wrap dress meant me no harm but got a really bad wrap (get it?). I know now that it was all my own insecurities and that no one can make me feel inferior without my permission. I'm slowly moving back to the "flattering" items list that I subconsciously stored away to disregard without another thought. 

The McCall's M6713 is actually a faux wrap dress which is nice in my opinion because wrapping a dress can get weird and is kind of a waste of fabric? Kinda. I really like the review over at Dress Up Party and I can already tell by the pattern that I'm going have to make some adjustments. If I'm making a faux wrap dress I really don't need a sash on the side. I really want to use a floppy, buttery, soft violet purple knit fabric. This might change though since I always end up with navy blue when purple is on my radar. Any suggestions?

McCall's M7086 Dress

Full skirts do it for me. The vintage lover in me thinks that I should wear these dresses with a little cocktail hat every single day. Real me knows better, but special occasions seem to always call for this.

So, I go into JoAnn Fabric with my mom to buy some fabric for her pajama pants and I come out with 4 yards (40% off) of Gertie's Collection Fabrics- Chambray Bows Cotton Fabric, and 3 McCall's patterns for $1.99 each. I've been such a fan girl of Gertie for as long as I can remember and this was just too good to pass up. The cotton chambray feels so wonderfully soft. 

I admit that when I first looked at this pattern my mind went to a more formal sateen but cotton chambray's and linen are really more my speed. I feel like i'm happiest when I can combine casual fabrics and a fancy silhouettes like this.

Chambray Bow Print

Autumn is all about warm ciders, pumpkin-based soups and snuggling up with your sweetheart. I cannot believe that Halloween is just around the corner and it'll be Christmas before you know it! But I absolutely love the calm before the storm.

What are you cooking up this fall? What are your colors? Lol

The Woman Who Couldn't Move

Happy Monday Wednesday! Alright, so I spent 5 days in bed. What? It was the full moon- and I'm exhausted. Like, the kind of exhaustion paired with no other symptoms (except nausea...). Yeah, I know. My body simply said to be still and so... I listened. Now I've got a lot of dishes to do and my sewing room is still in shambles from my father's visit last week.

No sewing Michelle is not a happy Michelle.

On the bright side I organized my entire fabric/yarn stash before he arrived. Did some serious disgarding that sounded something like this in my head:

"look, that olive green knit you made that mini skirt with... there's a whole 1/2 yard left! You can totally do a lot with that"
"no, not really"
"yes, you can make a headband, a little coin purse.. how badly do you need an iphone sleeve?"
"not that badly"
"don't throw this away... you MIGHT need it in the next hundred years"
"ugh, fine... wait!"
*dramatically throws into white trash bag*
"tsk, tsk... the headband that never was..."
"shutup"

After about 3 hours of this... I've whittled my fabric down to

• scraps I absolutely love (no more than 3 pieces)
• fabric I absolutely love that's at least 1 yard
• notions in colors that I'd actually use
• thread in colors that I'd actually like

Then I put everything under my beautiful, custom made, sewing table and pushed the table back into the corner so I could fit the air mattress in the room. The sewing machines were covered and put away so my Dad could use the desk for his things... yeah, he left last Friday. And since then.. nothing has been touched. 

Tonight, all of that changes!! *evil laugh* After my burlesque class of course! Okay, so after my two day's of soreness after my burlesque class. Chair dancing is not for wusses guys! You know how everyone talks about your core and you're like, yeah my core, totally, but you have no idea what that means? Chair dancing guarantees that you know what that means, where it is and how it feels when it's throbbing. Yay, new body parts!

Anyhoo, the steps are like this: 

1. Don't be tired **
2. Clean your sewing room up from guest
3. Post 3 Project Watercolor Designs
4. Create Production Schedule
5. Adjust
6. Cut 
7. Sew
8. Love

**Reasonably. Also, coffee.

Maiedae Mixer

So yeah, all of this feels totally doable and I seriously cannot wait to show you my next three (actually 4) design sketches!  One of them is going to be what I wear to the Maiedae Mixer I'm going to in October! I'm really excited to rub elbows with other creative ladies in the area. I get to drive to Atlanta, check into a fancy hotel, get dressed, apply lipstick and who knows, there might even be some sparkly flats involved! Getting crazy, I know. 

After that I'm sure I'll take a hot bath and watch Adult Swim Downton Abbey. Okay, it'll probably be Adult Swim. All by myself. I act all cool but I'll be calling home all night to talk to my little love and Daddy. Sigh. I love them.

So yeah, announcements! Sketches on the way! Going to grownup mixer with alcohol and soft bed. Seriously, how fabulous is my life!