Buttons & Bows and PB&J’s for Me-Made May

Hello, friends!

It’s been a bit longer than I planned since my last post.  I’ve been sewing quite a bit, I just haven’t had any photos taken to share with you. Now I have plenty, so there are some upcoming posts in the works that I’m looking forward to sharing with you.

This project is a fun one as I had the opportunity to work with Stonemountain and Daughter for Me-Made May.  I don’t participate in MMM as I wear my me-mades everyday, and a pledge for me needs to be something that I would have to work at to fulfill.  Wearing my me-mades isn’t difficult as I have a closet full of them.  I’m not saying that I don’t advocate MMM as wearing handmade garments is definitely something I believe in.  MMM pushes you to wear what you sew and helps you see what’s missing in your closet.  I’ve worked hard to ensure that my wardrobe is about 95% made by me, and I’m certainly happy that I’ve reached my goal of having something handmade to wear everyday. 🙂

Liz, Natalie, me (and Rollie), and Lauren at Stonemountain

I know I don’t look overly elated in the above photo taken at Stonemountain and Daughter in Berkeley, but I was.  This introvert feels like she’s smiling when she might not appear so on the outside….. It was a very fun afternoon with these ladies.  Rollie came with me as he loves the store and all of the attention he gets.  Stonemountain is a very welcoming fabric store that’s fun to shop in on every other day I’ve visited, but even more so on that day as I had three personal shoppers helping me!  They set out a selection of fabrics for the blouse and skirt for me to choose from.  I wasn’t limited to those, but the kelly green silk cotton caught my eye and I chose the black/white linen Mochi dot to go with it.  We had a fun time choosing the buttons and piecing together this outfit.  Super fun times!  You can read more about the visit and myself on the Stonemountain blog.

It wasn’t until I got home that I realized that this is the third black and white polka dot skirt that I’ve made…. One was made with a quilting cotton that I didn’t like much after a couple of washings and the other has an elastic waist which I have worn a lot, but elastic waist skirts aren’t my favorite.  I’ve also done the green and black thing a few times, but I’m apparently drawn to it, so I can’t help myself.  Also, when I first saw this green silk cotton, I fell in love with it.

My blouse is the Decades Everyday Buttons & Bows Blouse.  I’ve had this pattern since it was released with one cut out, but I hadn’t got around to sewing it up yet.  This outfit project pushed me to sew it up and a much needed blouse option to my closet.

Source: Decades of Style Patterns

The skirt is the Decades of Style 1950’s PB&J Skirt.  I’ve been looking at this skirt for a while, but wasn’t sure that I needed another skirt pattern. I’m really glad that I made this, as this skirt is my favorite that I’ve ever made and hands down my favorite skirt pattern.

Source: Decades of Style Patterns

Admittedly I’m not a huge fan of bow blouses, but I wanted to try this pattern out and see how it looked on me as I’ve never worn one before.  I chose to make View B with the shorter bow as I shortened the sleeves and thought it would look better.  When I tried this blouse on, I found how much I really like this style on me.  I love how the tie has a sailor vibe and it’s just a really sweet retro blouse.  After the blouse is constructed the ties are sewn on the shoulders, held on by three buttons.  I’ve noticed that I need to adjust the right tie as it doesn’t hang quite the same as it’s designed, so I’ll be fixing that.

I made a wearable muslin of this blouse before I cut into the green silk cotton.  This blouse is meant to be fitted, so I needed to ensure that it fit right.  My muslin was a little too fitted for my taste, so I went up a half size in the bust and up a size in the hips.  I did a full bicep adjustment to the sleeves and shortened them.  I might add just a little more room the next time.  In my muslin, the sleeves fit a little looser, so I might have sewn a wider sleeve allowance when I was sewing my French seams.

The fun part of these patterns is the opportunity for unique buttons.  I actually had to use two different kinds on my blouse as I had planned to make View A when I was at the store, but decided to sew up View B later on, which takes more buttons.  Stonemountain has A LOT of buttons to choose from (we’re standing in front of the button wall in the second photo), so I took some time perusing their selection before I happened upon the black floral buttons that I used on the shoulders.  I paired those with the simple black ones on the back that I had in my stash.  I’m not sure I would have chosen the big bold green buttons for the skirt if the gals at Stonemountain hadn’t pointed them out.  They’re a bit larger than the recommended button size on the patterns, but I think they work quite well and match the blouse fabric perfectly.

I really can’t tell you how much I love this skirt.  It really is my favorite skirt of all time. I just love wearing it and how it looks on me and above all, how it makes me feel.  I cut the skirt pieces out as directed and made only a couple of slight alterations.  I generally add length to skirts to both accommodate my height, but also for my preference. I didn’t need to with this one.  I didn’t fully follow the instructions, and thought the zip went on the side as it has one pocket, so I assumed the other side was the opening.  In fact, the zip is meant to go on the center back.  Does it matter?  Yes, as the pleats need the structure from the side seam.  I was able to get the closure to work right with some strategic tacking and the large buttons and hook and eye closure also help hold it all together.  Next time, I’m planning on putting in two side pockets and a back zip.

The silk cotton is almost a voile weight, so I wanted to make sure that the insides didn’t show through on the outside.  I sewed narrow French seams on the blouse, pinked the armholes and used lightweight knit interfacing.  For the skirt, I serged the seam edges and pressed them open.  I added horsehair braid to the hem, which gives this skirt the flare that it has.  I’ve had horsehair braid in my stash for a while in different sizes, but this is the first time that I’ve used it.  I followed the directions on a vintage package where the braid is sewn on the front of the skirt and then the hem is pulled under and sewn again.  I’ve seen people put the horsehair inside the hem, sewn on the wrong side and then hidden, but I opted to go with the first method, using a zig zag stitch on one edge and rayon seam binding as hem tape affixed the skirt with a catch stitch.  I really didn’t want the edges of the horsehair bothering my skin.  Next time, I think I’d go with the second method, where the horsehair is completely hidden inside the hem.

I have a black 50’s petticoat and thought about wearing it with this skirt, but opted to wear it like this, which is how I’ll be wearing this skirt.  To me, black/white polkadots are like a neutral, and I’ll be wearing this mostly with tees.

This silk cotton blend fabric is a really beautiful one to sew with.  It’s lightweight and perfect for warm weather.  I don’t see this kelly green fabric on the site (I think I had the end of the bolt), but it comes in other colors and they have some on their website.  It would make such a lovely dress, too, wouldn’t it? I’m all about the dresses though….

The linen mochi dot is perfect for skirts and is really nice to sew with.  It also comes in other colors, with some on the Stonemountain website.  I don’t see the black/white polkadot, but they might still have some in store.  I have some left over, so I plan to make a purse with it.

I really do love how this outfit turned out.  It’s nice to have more separates to pair with other garments in my closet.  I like trying out different styles and have found that I do like the bow blouse on me and I definitely plan on making another one.  This skirt is going to be worn quite often.  I initially thought that I might change up the buttons occasionally, but as I love to wear green, I have a lot of tops that will go with this, so I don’t feel the need to change anything.  The contrast is a bit unexpected and I like that as I sometimes don’t think much out of the box when I’m pairing fabrics and buttons.  Thanks so much to Stonemountain for the fun day and the beautiful fabrics.  Thanks also to Decades of Style for the patterns — definitely my favorite pattern line! 🙂

Note:  I received the fabric and notions to make this outfit at no charge from Stonemountain and Daughter in return for a review.  I received the two patterns as gifts from Decades of Style.

Happy Sewing!

• Blouse:  Decades Everyday Buttons & Bows Blouse in silk cotton, made by me
• Skirt:  Decades of Style PB&J Skirt in Mochi dot cotton linen, made by me
• Shoes:  Swedish Hasbeens Debutant
• Earrings:  ModCloth (affiliate link)