A change will do you good

Today's make fits in the "ugly duckling" category of this blog since never in a million years would I have thought I'd be attracted to a fabric which is black and white -boring!- AND graphic to the point that the print looks like a myriad of tiny soccer balls -ewwwww sports themed clothes:

And yet I LOVE my top, I know I'll wear it all the time, that it will look cool with a big flashy necklace and jeans or tucked in one of my 70's style skirts but I think that this is thanks to the pattern I chose for it. It's the G top from the Sweet Dress Book and it's basically a tee-shirt for woven fabrics so it will give a modern, effortless vibe to the cheesiest prints^^ I like the high neckline, narrow shoulders and perfect little sleeves, the only changes I made from the original pattern were to cut the back on the fold and shorten the length.

So it can be fun to try something a little different, I have so many kitty and flower printed tops that this one is a like a breath of fresh air in my wardrobe!

First ugly duckling of the year

For a reminder on what ugly ducklings are please click here :) Today's garment actually fits twice in the UD category: first I can't believe I was attracted to that highly synthetic fabric in harsh electric blue -I LOVE blue but my palette for this colour's usually navy and pastel- and second its the first dropped waist dress I've ever owned. As is often the case I don't know why I woke up one morning with the strong desire to make such a garment but I followed my fancy and I'm very happy with the result!

I used a Japanese top pattern with bust darts for the dress, I lengthened it, changed the sleeves that I finished with elastic and added three rows of shirring on the hips.

 

Also here are the last three days of MMM13:
- on 29th I wore my nautical dress from an altered Burda pattern:

- on 30th my chambray V top from the first Stylish Dress book:

- and on 31st my self-drafted fruity cotton skirt:

Lots of thank you to the awesome Zoe for hosting MMM again this year, it was a pleasure to show my me-mades and above all I was amazed at how talented and stylish all the participants were!

Another ugly duckling

My latest dress was made using my basic bodice pattern and some excellent paisley fabric stolen from my mama's stash. I'm normally allergic to this print -go figure- but I fell in love with this one and since it will probably be the only paisley thing I'll ever own it fits quite well in the "ugly duckling" category :)
The design is super classic with a sleeveless, very fitted bodice and a gathered skirt but I added a few details such as a velvet mock tab on the front with tiny pearl buttons and a slit at the back that closes with a pearl button too.

I've noticed it's the second Thursday I've been able to post about a new dress, how cool would it be if I could make a new one every week?! Sigh, one can dream^^

My unusual top

If you follow this blog regularly you have probably noticed that I love the navy colour and fabrics with kittens, stripes and flowers. I raaaaarely sew anything else but once in a while I'm attracted to a different print, usually something strange and in the home department of the store. I always call the garments I make from these unusual fabrics my ugly ducklings because even though they started differently in the end they fit well with the rest of my wardrobe :)
Today's top is the perfect illustration of this theory:




The fabric's from Ikea's children home section with black and pastel geometric patterns, writings and numbers on an off-white background. I fell in love with it the second I saw it even though I have no idea why since it's so far from what I normally like^^. Then there's the design, I used New Look 6808 which is a favourite but I changed the collar to a peter pan one and the thing is I don't usually like this type of collar on me yet I think it works quite well here!
BTW I can't remember if I wrote this before but I removed 1" horizontally on the front and back upper bodice above the bust to get rid of some fabric sagging and I lowered the armhole bottom edge to make up for the lost inches in case you'd have the same fit problem.
To sum up I ended adoring this top and I wear it at least once a week so it will certainly show up a lot for MMM 2012! See ya!