There are five amazing finalists for Spring Top Week over on Rae’s blog.  Go vote!  The polls are closed tonight at midnight.

I finally got inspired to make a top of my own on Friday night, and here’s what I cranked out:

I made this shirt from pattern A in The Stylish Dress Book.  That would have happened more efficiently if I understood Japanese.  Alas.  When I finally figured out that the back pattern piece was not the front, I was good to go.

The pattern is really quite simple.

And it looks a lot better on me than the original, ill-fitting thrifted sundress ($1!!!), which looked a lot like a maternity dress on me:

Although I still have to be careful how I wear it, or I’m certain I will look pregnant. ;)  (Which I’m all for when I actually am pregnant.  But I am decidedly not.)

It’s much better tucked-in.

I love the neckline on this and might have to make a dress from the pattern.

Thanks, Rae, for hosting a great week of inspiration!  You (& all the super-talented ladies who submitted tops) certainly got me inspired. :)

Get out there and vote for your favorite handmade top on Made by Rae!

Here are today’s tops:

Lots of inspiration and talent on display this week, so don’t miss it!  :)

To go make something outta nothing.  Or make something outta something else. :)  Here are some ideas from the Thimbly Things archives:

1. Romantic Blouse from frumpy nightshirt

2. Girl’s Easter Dress from Mommy’s old shirt

3. Fashionable Skirt from incredibly frumpy thrifted dress (And here’s another one.)

4. Chic Dress from perhaps even more incredibly frumpy thrifted dress

Happy Earth Day!  Go redeem something old and ugly!!!

My first original pattern drafted using knowledge gained from Cal Patch: a tank top.  I plan to make a few adjustments and grade the pattern.

Maybe I’ll even sell a few in a lovely Japanese print.  Maybe.

Makes you want to lay out a picnic blanket, no?  Too bad it’s 48 degrees out.

But it won’t be forever.  And I’m going to be prepared this year. :)

For Rae and Dana’s Celebrate the Boy Month, I made a soft book for Jacob.  He loves so many simple things that I thought I’d just compile them into one toy.  Using old jeans, Heat ‘n’ Bond, and a variety of fabric scraps, I appliqued pictures and constructed a little book for him.  Which he seems to love.

Wanna see how?

Tutorial after the jump. :) (more…)

I have Cal Patch to thank (again) for this little Basic Tee.  I drafted a pattern for this using my measurements, her instructions, and a healthy dose of trial-and-error to get the right fit.  I know I’ve said this already, but I highly recommend her book.

My biggest (and really the only) mistake was measuring too far across my shoulders.  I have broad shoulders for my small frame, but my shirts do not need to be as broad as I measured.  So the first pattern draft looked bizarre.  Can you tell?  That shoulder is ridiculous.  But I had no idea.

I even compared it to a shirt that fits me (from GAP), but didn’t get the hint that I was way off.  Until I sewed the entire shirt together…

And the tops of my shoulders were drooping down to my biceps.  I did not take pictures. :)

Then came the seam ripper.

I took 2 inches off the width of my shoulders.   Thankfully, the sleeves didn’t need to be changed, and since I had too much fabric, I just cut off the excess and reinserted the sleeves.

And Voila!

I added sleevebands to the ends of the sleeves instead of finishing them with a double-turned hem.  I simply measured the width of the ends of my sleeves and made a rectangle that width (plus seam allowances) and the height I wanted the bands (x 2).  Then I sewed the bands up their sides, folded them wrong sides facing, and then attached them to the raw edges of the sleeves.

Now that I’ve taken pictures of myself in the shirt, I can see that the shoulder angle is a bit off.  Since I changed the armholes, the shoulder angle needed to be adjusted too.  But I had already sewn reinforcement and was too lazy to pick out all those stitches.  Thus, I think that ever-so-slight angle problem is causing the slight bunching near my underarms.  At least, I think that’s the problem.

Cal?

P.S. You can see what others are making from Design-it-Yourself in the Flickr Group. :)

This is not high fashion.  But I’m still gonna make it work if I can. :)

Paule suggested yesterday that I add some embroidery as a point of interest and just go with it.  Which was a BRILLIANT idea!  I actually went with applique for that instant-ish gratification that I love.  I think I’ll add several more of these little flowers and just go crazy, but here’s the beginning.

I need to stitch around all the tiny triangles; and the waistline, hem, and closure need to be finished.  But this might be salvaged…  We’ll see!

And Cheryl suggested that I add a flap.  Well, why didn’t I think of that?  I might do that too…

This year, I want to work my way through Cal Patch’s book, Design-it-Yourself Clothes.  I got it for Christmas, and it is everything I hoped it would be!  Seriously.  If you want to learn how to draft your own patterns for your own designs, she breaks it all down for you.

So far, I’ve taken all my measurements, traced the design template, drawn some designs using said template, and drafted a skirt pattern based on my measurements.

I feel so empowered!

First off, Cal teaches us how to construct a skirt based on our very own measurements.

Now.  I cannot lie here.  I had to pull out quite a few stitches on this to get it right.  But I learned how important darts are and how they absolutely must be right.  Every 1/8″ matters, my friends!!!

I also learned that I need to school myself in hidden zipper insertion.  I thought I had that skill, but I apparently do not.  More ripped seams ensued, and I opted for the button flap instead.

And am so glad I did.

The result is a pretty cute lightweight denim skirt with five buttons up the left side.  It sits lower on my waist than I happen to like.  Cal tells us that the lower waist measurement is all the rage these days, but I found (through trial and error!) that I prefer the almost-natural waist.

So I redrafted my pattern…

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

It was a good year, I do believe!

I just finished Erin’s outfit (since it’s not technically a dress).  I modeled it for you, although I must warn you that it was made to her measurements and not mine.  One thing Erin and I do have in common: we’re both redheads.  Her hair color is more intense than mine (and it’s curly too!), so I think this will be incredibly striking on her.

I also made her a tulle flower for her hair using Martha’s Peony template and tutorial…

For added flair.