Back and better than ever!

I've taken a bit of a hiatus from blogging this fall, more or less unintentionally.  What have I been up to?  Well, the Mr. and I completed our first marathon in October, which was quite an accomplishment for both of us.

 I'm also working hard to finish my degree, and I'm on the academic job market as we speak.  I won't bore you with the details, but being on the market is an incredibly time consuming and fairly stressful process.  (If you're curious, you can read more about it here.  And if you want to get a sense of who I am in my professional life, you can check out joannelipsonfreed.com.)

Despite all this, I'm glad to say that my sew-jo has returned with a vengeance, and I've got several projects lined up that I'm really excited about.

First of all, I'm working on a version of Burda 1-2010 #125, the low-back sheath dress with the interesting darts.  I've made my first muslin, and need to make a few fitting adjustments, but I'm really pleased with how it's shaping up so far.  The line drawing of this dress looks a little boxy and ho-hum, but in real life the darts are super-flattering.  I'm making it in purple poly satin, to wear to a wedding later this month.

I've also gotten totally inspired by Gertie's Lady Grey Sew-Along, and I'm in the planning stages of my own version of the Colette Patterns Lady Grey coat, which will fill a gaping hole in my current winter wardrobe.  I realize I'm a bit of a late-comer to the sew-along, but I'm totally geeked about the project.  If you haven't checked it out, Gertie's tutorials on how to construct the coat using traditional tailoring techniques are amazing.  All platitudes about the internet age aside, I'm overwhelmed by the generosity of people like Gertie, who share so much time and knowledge with anyone who wants to learn, and with the inclusiveness of the online sewing community in general.  Even if you don't plan to participate in the sew-along, I encourage you to check it out.  Like I said, I'm super excited and inspired about this project, and I'm looking forward to taking my technique to the next level.

I've also got a couple of other projects in the queue, including the trench-coat from the famous September 2010 Burda magazine, and my second version of McCall 6163, which I contend is actually a great pattern if you leave off the collar and silly sleeves, and resist the urge to add tassels to the sash.

I'll write more about these projects soon, but for now I just wanted to say: it's great to be back!

A Much-Needed Face-Lift

Hope you all like the new look of Made By J!  This blog has been in serious need of a style overhaul for some time: I just picked some random colors when I created it, and I never intended them to be permanent.  I love the new background and template--it's much fresher and more fun.

But enough fiddling on the computer--it's time to get back to the sewing machine...

Post-script: Even less original than I thought!

Ok, so I knew it was unlikely that I'd actually had an original design idea, but here's proof that I'm a shameless (if unknowning) rip-off artist!

Not only is my Mad Men dress very similar to a dress featured on the show, but it's also shockingly similar to this dress.

And the lovely lady wearing it? The Selfish Seamstress, of course!

And my post about drafting the collar? Again, I thought, very original, right? Would you believe that the Selfish Seamstress has shared her collar design too, in the form of a super-slick free pdf download?

Would you believe that I've certainly seen this dress on her blog, and her design must have seeped into my unconscious? That I had forgotten ever seeing it before? And that I randomly stumbled across it again immediately after publishing my now super-lame rip-off post?

So, to my (likely non-existant) blog readers, I'm sorry for being so lame. And Elaine, please believe that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

wedding-guest dress

I promise I'll post pictures of completed projects soon--the green dress is done, and I love it, but what with the holidays and the cold weather, I haven't had the opportunity or the fortitude to take pictures outside that will do it justice. And although the pleat-front dress just needs some quick finishing, I doubt I'll get to it before we leave town in a few days.

In the meantime, my mother-in-law (a.k.a my "Other-Mother") has got me scheming about a new project: a dress for a spring wedding.

The Mr. and I will be guests at his cousin's wedding in North Carolina this spring. The wedding ceremony will be in a neat "country gothic" church, and the reception at a historic manor house with beautiful grounds. As my Other-Mother points out, this occasion will of course require a new dress! Here's what I'm thinking:

BWOF 5/2008, dress 127


And here's the fabric I have in mind, a sheer silk chiffon from Gorgeous Fabrics. I've had my eye on it for weeks, and now it's even on sale, marked down from $18/yd. to $12.80.


I'm also inspired to see that the slapdash sewist has made this dress with such lovely results. We're shaped pretty differently, but it's still encouraging to know that the dress looks good on a real person, and not just on the model in the magazine photo.

In the spirit of financial responsibility, I can't buy the materials for this project until after the first of the month. But now that the seed has been planted, I can't stop thinking about it.