Wearing my Pink Silk top

This past Saturday while running errands (that includes a trip to the local Licensing office to get us WA'ized) I finally wore my silk charmeuse Vogue 1170 top. If you follow my blog you will realize that while I sew my own clothes quite a bit, and wear a me-made everyday, I very rarely am photographed in them. 

 Finally pictured here in my me-made blouse, with a h&m pink cotton tank top.

 I wore them over my newly thrifted blue jeans, carried my black leather jacket (soft, purchased ages ago at a consignment shop in IA). Errmm, yeah and I wore my black Crocs purchased when nothing else fit at the peak of my pregnancy! It's a tad too roomy now, but so comfy :( Kept rescuing it from the thrash...

I don't think I have many photos of me that I like - I know I am not photogenic. Many of my photos have weird facial expressions (coz I am very expressive, hehe, accentuated with maniacal hand-waving and so on). In high school, some people called me "queen of facial expressions", but let me tell you that in Malay it's not posh sounding: ratu memek! Ugghh... :) Lucky for me that I love my wedding photos taken by a very very talented friend who happened to be into photography (of the artistic kind) among other stuff. Thanks to her I have a collection of lovely wedding photos, mostly captured candidly with very few pose-y ones. :) I'd like to share some of that to show what a Malay wedding looks like (what I wore), but that will be in a different post some other day.

My lifelong problem with having my photos taken worsened of course post-baby. Instead of shrinking like most people do, I not only retained but also gained over the 2 years of motherhood. The first to show is around my face, which is how it has always been since my youth. But now unfortunately, I also carry my weight as you can see in my tummy.

There was the longest of time when doctors and myself were concerned with hernia, so scans were done earlier this year/late last year (i think?) and at that time it's determined that I don't (have hernia, so I don't require a surgery) but I do have a very very thinned out abdominal muscle, and my inner bits are mainly being held together by padding of fat. Thick ones of course, or else in my mind (can't shake off the visual impact of seeing the scan) everything in my tummy that the doctors shoved around when I had my C-sect with the Bean, will pour out! Drama drama, I know.

Maybe there is hope yet with sit ups to strengthen the muscle? I tried to do some but only managed to get my neck hurt so far :) The last doctor I saw said that maybe losing weight will help, but just a bit. So I might have to live with it and adjust accordingly.

Anyways, when I look back at the photo (I actually warmify the photo), the color and the shine is not that bad on my skin as I initially complained. And since the photo was taken outside our door at the start of our errand-running day, my face was still matte and not shiny ;) I still stand by my earlier opinion that this silk charmeuse at this light color being unkind to my extra bits, tho. Upon further scrutiny of the above photo, I feel that the extra inches that I added to the middle seam of my bias cut top causes the fabric pooling on the mid-section unflatteringly. Talk about inviting people's eyes to the spot I wanted to conceal! I should eliminate that addition if making another one. Plus, the length of the front is fine, but the back is too short somehow... 

It is also evident in the photo that the cut of my jeans is not suitable for me. Say muffin top in the worse way... Maybe a thicker waist band will smooth things better? Now this is the tricky part. While my mid section carries my weight, my hips and legs don't. So what am I? An apple? A diamond? Not sure there. So what will be the best way to dress? I am not even sure where my actual waist is now. What's most comfortable from the sides (and I imagine where my waist used to be) is also where my tummy is the biggest. But RTW jeans/pants are lower than that. (And I am also short waisted). If I use my smallest circumference as my waist, it will sit over my tummy 3 inches under my bust... Don't our waist stay the same place despite body shape changes? I'm confused.

SO there. These are the things I must consider when sewing (and dressing). Don't mind you I still love my roomy tunics and tops (and will sew more of them), but as I delve into more sewing I want to also be better at understanding what is flattering proportions and what is not.

One thing that is better is the finishing on the CB seam:

Before: Ugly HK seam finishing

After: neat turn over and stitch

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Other than refinish the inside of the blouse above, this past week I've been re-hemming the hubby's work pants, altered a thrifted merino wool men's sweater to fit me (I have 2 more waiting in the queue), and a Vogue 1247 top inspired by Carolyn's Clementine. It's almost done... Initially planned to be the top to wear with my very first skirt to go to Faye's Carnival, however that is not to be the case...

Beauty is Pain - Pink Silk Charmeuse V1170 top

When I first started frequenting my local thrift store in Iowa, I came across this Rachel Comey's Vogue 1170 pattern and really like the top's design. The blouse has a keyhole at the front with a knot and I think it's pretty sweet. However, at the time I was just using the sewing machine to make baby carseat cover and cushions, but that didn't stop me from starting my patterns collection!

A year plus (plus) later, as I felt more confident to try different patterns, I opened the said pattern's envelope to check out the pieces, but alas, the instruction portion were missing! Had to put it aside and work on others the way I usually do - very slowly! :) One day I decided that as it might take forever before I can work pattern pieces without instruction, I ordered the pattern online during their monthly sale, chose the fabric from my stash and hunt down buttons at my favorite thrift store..

It could be that while I was waiting for the pattern to arrive that Carolyn shared her Rachel Comey's blouse made in lovely ivory silk charmeuse! I'm super excited by this, because she always share her thoughts on the construction and I've learn A LOT all the time from her blog. THANK YOU, Carolyn! It doesn't hurt that she takes lovely photos that inspire me to sew as well.

Took me a couple of months though before I actually made the pattern adjustments and cut the fabric, and then after starting the project having to pack it for the move here to Seattle.

And I finally completed it the day before yesterday. Hooray!

   

Indeed it's a pain to make. But so lovely to look at. Slippery silk, raveling fabric and the tiny hems for the ties on the sleeves... That ties portion are a nightmare for a novice like me (and those ties were started before packing for the move back in May, finished while in tiny crammed Seattle inn room in late June). I do wish I have an overlocker/serger to make them nicer (rolled hem) like Carolyn's. Definitely on my wishlist!

Since I don't have an overlocker/serger, what I did was just just like how one would sew their hems, though I had to trim the seam allowance smaller, turn and press and then I zig-zagged it down as in the above picture. Not the neatest sewist around, but the zig-zag version I assure you is much neater than the different ways I tried! :)

I also had the chance to practice my French seams again. Much better this time around, although still not as tiny as I would like.

As for the back side, I ended up not making a full back button closing like I intended to. I found the instruction for that part pretty confusing, and I loathe to mess up the look or the fabric, so I sew the back seams up and left the upper part open and make a one button loop like so:

I finished the back with my rendition of Hong Kong seams... *I still need to learn how to make proper and neater HK seams... i might need to unpick my HK seams and do a turn and stitch finish instead. it is kinda bulky looking on this fine fabric.

Now on the the critique of this project: Let me get this straight, I do love the blouse. It's a labor of love I suppose. It's not my first silk charmeuse blouse, I made a caftan top from floral silk charmeuse back in April, so I anticipated the difficulties I might encounter with the fabric. However I do have some negatives that I will try and be more aware of in the future. Firstly this silk has more shine than I normally would like in an outfit, and that's what you get when you buy fabric online and not able to actually see and touch them before making your purchase. :) I usually prefer a more matte finish, and this is because I have a darker Asian complexion with a tendency to be shiny, and wearing shiny light colored clothes near to my face make me uncomfortable. Hehe. And also, because I have (still) a tummy that I think shiny light colored outfit would and could not conceal, I will steer clear of it in the unforeseeable future.

Then, take also into account that I do not know how to properly make pattern adjustments. Many times I just wing it. I might refer online or in a book on what to do, and then the info just get mushed together in my brain and I will make up adjustments that sometimes work and sometimes not. :) While I did with some "success" added what limited fabric it comes with (I might have purchased just 1.5 yard or 2 yards of this fabric, and it has a small 44-45" width only) to my bias top's width, I did not (or was not able to due to the limited fabric width) add to the length of my top. And I do need to add extra length to it since I won't be wearing it or any top tucked in and prefer it to at least hang loose to mid hip or at most cover my bum...

I will have to figure out how to wear the blouse outside the home... When and if I do, I will take a photo ;)

Now, on to the next project please!