ME MADE MAY '16

So I was totally not going to make any kind of deal about this, but there's something in me that can't keep out of the fun...

Even though I'm pregnant this year (and less and less of my clothes are fitting every day), I wanted to participate this year for a few reasons... One is that I think it'll be a fun way to document what's working for me (and maybe what's not!) when it comes to my maternity wear. Secondly, I just really love seeing what everyone is really wearing everyday, instead of something styled for a blog post or a pretty Instagram pic.

The only real pledge I'm making this year is to just try to wear something me-made every day, but realistically that might only be 5 or 6 times a week, rather than every day. I only have two RTW maternity dresses, but they're both super cute (and made in the USA, which is awesome) - so those will definitely be getting some rotation.

I'll most likely post some kind of rundown at the end of the month here on the blog, but you can follow along every day (if you so desire) with me on Instagram - @keday.

Are you participating in Me-Made May this year? I can't wait to see everyone's posts!

NEW SPRING FABRICS! // THREADBARE FABRICS

Spring has sprung, at least here in Southern California, and I could not be happier to wear dresses and bright colors. I have so many things on my spring to-sew list, ranging from dresses, tanks, skirts and colored jeans! I have plans for all of our new fabrics, and I cannot wait to cut into them.

We have three new fabrics in all, one of which has almost infinite possibilities! You can read more about each fabric below.

10.5oz S-Gene Cone Mills Denim in Natural

I get a lot of questions about colored denim, however, it seems to me that colored denim tends to be lower quality. This fabric is the same Cone Mills S-Gene denim like some of our other denims, but has its natural color and is prepped for dye. While it's beautiful on it's own, you can totally make a pair of jeans (or skirt, dress, etc) in any color you like! You can use natural dye methods (it might be time for me to actually read my copy of The Natural Modern Dyer), or simple store bought dyes - the possibilities are endless.

I made the colors at the top of of this post using RIT dyes, and they even have a cool color library for mixing custom colors (including Pantone seasonal colors!).

Product info >>

12oz S-Gene Cone Mills Denim in Indigo
First up is our newest S-Gene weight: 12oz S-Gene Cone Mills denim in Indigo. Many people have inquired about our sold out 11.5oz weight, however, we are currently unable to restock. This new denim is officially our replacement! The weight difference is unnoticeable in person, and it features the same great quality and spandex content everyone loves in the 11.5oz.

This denim also features a broken twill weave, which helps prevent leg twist in skinny jeans (if you're an avid wearer, you know what I'm talking about!).

Product info >>

4oz Tencel Denim Shirting in Light Blue

We're very pleased to offer a new shirting weight fabric, eco friendly 4oz Tencel Denim Shirting in Light Blue. This tencel is soft, with good drape and would work well for dresses, shirts, pajamas, and even soft woven pants like Luna or modified Hudsons. In fact, I recently made a pair of Carolyn Pajamas from this fabric, and I need to get them posted before I grow out of them!

This fabric is made in the USA from cellulose fibers and is similar to rayon and bamboo fabrics.

Product info >>

As always, please feel free to email us with any questions about these fabrics or our other products!

SURPRISE! // MATERNITY JEANS

So I promise I make more than jeans, despite what my recent blog posts indicate. It just so happens that these jeans were a total necessity. My last pair actually weren't quite fitting all the way because... I'm pregnant! Jeremy and I are so happy to be expecting a baby boy in August!

I'm now half way through my pregnancy, and I'm finally feeling great. When people tell you you'll feel better in the second trimester - they are not kidding! We actually found out about the baby two days before leaving for Germany and Austria - so that was rather exciting. The only downside was that it limited my beer drinking to the non-alcoholic variety (but there's tons of it - at least one kind at every beer hall and restaurant). I felt pretty good for most of the trip, but started to feel sort of nauseous towards the end - which continued for several weeks. For most of January and February I had a serious lack of sewing motivation - partly because I was burnt out on winter makes, and mainly because I was completely exhausted. It was only a few weeks ago that I started to feel up to sewing again, and my sewjo has now returned with a vengeance!

Pattern: Closet Case Patterns Ginger Jeans
Size: 10, View A (low rise)
Modifications: Added an elastic waist band for maternity!
Fabric: Cone Mills S-Gene Denim in 9oz Indigo, from Threadbare Fabrics and navy ponte knit from the garment district
Worn with: Self drafted tank based on my bodice block made at Camp Workroom Social

While most of my clothes still fit okay, about a month ago, my usual jeans became something I couldn't bear to wear anymore. I decided to take a crack at maternity jeans, and now I've been wearing these nonstop.

For this pair of jeans, I used my trusty Ginger Jeans pattern and our nicely stretchy 9oz S-Gene Cone Mills Denim. I've long admired the pretty blue color of this denim, but for some reason I thought I preferred a heavier weight. Therefore, this is my first crack at the 9oz, and I'm completely in love. It's thinner, but still feels sturdy, and the stretch is a godsend right now. Being the S-Gene denim, I can still wear these multiple times without them bagging out (which is awesome when you only have one pair of wearable jeans).

To maternity-ify these, I took inspiration from several sources - namely Gillian and Katie's pull on Ginger Jeans, and Megan Nielsen's tutorial on adding an elastic waistband to RTW jeans. By the way, Megan Nielsen has a super cute maternity blog - DIY Maternity. I guess I never needed to know about it before, but it's full of cute ideas.

I made my standard size 10 in the low-rise View A version of the pattern, and sewed everything as directed until the waistband. For the fly, I just skipped the zipper and fly shield, and sewed it down rather than basting. You'd think that would be faster, but I found it sort of hard to topstitch without the zipper as a guide and I ended up re-doing it 3 times. Oh well!

Before attaching the waistband, I measured down 1" from the center front of the jeans, and graded to nothing at the sides (this is for belly room). Then I cut along the line I drew... which was a little nerve-wracking because I'd just spent hours making really nice looking jeans that I was just chopping into. But it worked fine! :D

For the actual waistband, I used some ponte de roma knit in navy, and 2" wide elastic. I measured the elastic on my body where I estimated I'd be wearing my jeans, pulling a wee bit tight for a snug fit (but not too tight... I am expanding after all). I cut my ponte the same length and double the width, with a 1/2" seam allowance (rather than 5/8" - no reason). I attached the waistband to the jeans, topstitched the seam allowance down using topstitching thread and I was all done!

I've got a load of spring makes coming down the pipe now that my secret is out - so hopefully things will get a bit more exciting around these parts! I'm pretty excited to share my spring and summer wardrobe plan soon - maternity edition!

Have you sewn for maternity? Any favorite patterns? Any advice on what to do with a newborn once they're here?!