Dropped waisted dress refashion - a quickie project

For the first time ever, I was able to complete a project in a day. Mind you, it still took me many hours since I don't work straight and got distracted by Hulu, FB, site hoppings and so on, but yet it's done.

Before: A dropped waist long denim dress by Alexander Campbell, thrifted from my favorite local thrift store (can't remember for how much, but most probably on sale for $.25).

I first chopped off the top part from the skirt part, and for this project just used the pleated bottom half.

Took the seam ripper to the sides a bit (about 10 or 11 inches) to make room for the arm. Folded the ripped sides in by 1 inch and basted, and then just like those pillow case type tops, fold what is the top part now about 1.5 inches to make a casing for where I then insert a tie into (the tie is from one of my old maternity dress)

After: A pillow case type dress but for adult :)

This is how I wear everything when I do go out, with my down jacket, all year round, in winter and summer. Yeap. Me-Made-May '12 is gonna be "fun"! Haha :)

Good morning USA

Good morning... Yawnn...

The pyjama party has gone LIVE on Karen's side of the pond, so it's the perfect time for me to jump in :)

This has been a long and crazy week, including a trip to the ER for the Bean on Wednesday (he's fine, but we needed an X-ray to tell us that he is), among other things that added up to making it a crazy week for me. It is a week like this that further drive home the repercussions of my immigration to the US. Okay, maybe repercussion sounds too dramatic a word. But yet it is a fitting one.

But Friday came, and everything seems better on Friday, and exceptionally better when I drink an extra creamy cup of hot chocolate. Haha. And so I sew my pyjama pants with the Bean playing and climbing on my chair as usual. In the evening, we went out to an event organized by Malaysian students for a while and that warmed up the heart a little more - seeing young(er) people having the time of their lives with mostly exams to worry about... and when we get home and had dinner I hemmed and iron the pyjama pants in time for zzz...

Behold my very first pants/bottom ever (that is for me and not the Bean). It is very simple to make, with straight-forward instruction from the Butterick 3314 pattern I used and the visual steps and tips from Karen's Pyjama Party Sewalong. 

I made size XL and I admit that it is very very roomy. Even the L will be roomy too looking at the pattern, but roomy for PJs for me is good. Definitely not when I sew pants to wear with my tops though (some day).

Fabric used: a lovely brown 100% cotton with small cream and orangey colored flowers and greyish green leaves...

Haven't been reading on the bed nowadays. But reading, like sewing, both mainly solitary type hobbies IMO, are my passions. Currently I am rereading Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on my Kindle.

 

When I like something I tend to do it repeatedly. Like ordering the same food when going to that particular eating place, or reading the whole Harry Potter set 7 times...

I do love to hold and touch and smell books. But we're always in the state of moving somewhere, that I've donated most of the physical books I picked up here in US, with some exception that by now I can't remember what that were - they've been in one box since 2 moves ago and will stay that way until we move out of state someday.

Now I'm gonna hop over the party and check out what the others came up with...

 

A Caftan Top

The Vogue 1181 misses' caftan that I converted into a top is completed. Working with silk charmeuse has been super tricky and the thing unraveled on me on quite a few occasion (the bottom part before it finally got hemmed). 

This was a slow project for me because of that (and the fact that the 20 mth-old Bean likes to climb on my chair while I work, or pull things off the table), despite it being an okay  to follow pattern. I think it probably took me a week at least, eversince the conclusion of Faye's Starting at the Top Challenge 2012.

As the pattern sleeve describes, this top have overarm dart, front opening and shaped middle section. I left out sewing hook and eye for the opening closure, hence the gaping at the neck. I am going to test wearing it this way with a tank top underneath of course and see if I am going to need a closure or leave it as it is. Either way is good of course, but with such a print, it is going to closely resembles my Malay traditional dress too much and I want a more casual easy breezy type top in this project.

Front view:

The caftan looks like the pattern sleeve IMO, other than the fact I left out the bottom panel and adjusted the middle panel. It now falls around my upper hips I think.

Back view:

So... :) One more top to wear in May for the Me-Made-May'12 thankfully...
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added:
Verdict is that I will sew the hook and eye at the top of the opening as suggested by pattern. It's such a hassle without :)