Self-Stitched September Week Three-ish

If you can count, you will notice there were 9 days since my last SSS post, and only 5 photos here. That is because sometimes life sucks....not in a "I hate my life" way, more in a "How do all these crazy things happen in one week?!?!" kind of way. This to me is just as comical as it is upsetting. It's just reality and there are a few days this last week where I simply didn't want to photograph my look. I have still been wearing handmade, everyday, just not documenting every look. Also, in regards to the life sucking part, notice I might not look as happy in these photos....ignore pitiful looks lol.

My Anthro-inspired tee over a fave dress:

My tie-neck blouse with my Missoni cardi & skinny pants....I look like a grandpa and actually it cheered me up:

Right after this photo was taken, I was standing in our dining room waiting for Matt, and a raindrop hit my head...yup. Our skylight was leaking. One of the funny things this week. I'm wearing my eyelet tank with a Cardigan:

Going on 3-ish hours of sleep in this next one. My corset look top with a skirt:

And, the DKNY dress:

We also found out our rental house's heater will have to be fixed for quite a pretty penny, and I locked myself out of my gym locker one day. Sometimes when it rains, it pours, and this last week has been stormy....luckily I take the perspective that it is funny or I would be a mess. Here's hoping I document the rest of the month better!

To see all Self-Stitched September, click HERE.

Self-Stitched Sunday Week 2

I am declaring this past week my lazy week of Self-Stitched September. A couple of good reasons: a) lots of lounging barely worth photographing b) outfits worth photographing and too lazy to do it.

So here we go!

Day 5: Labor day, cuddling Chanel my cat (she looks happy...)

Wearing: Stripe tank & I don't remember what bottoms. Yes, there were bottoms.
Thoughts: This top is perfect for lounging and even as a sleep shirt. I might need to whip up some more.

Day 6:

Wearing: Cut-out shoulder top- by me, ponte knit pants-VS, Shoes-Shoedazzle
Thoughts: I like this top and usually think it's more of a going out top, but here it worked for work, too.

Days 7 & 8: No photos, so Polyvore it is :)

SSS 2011 Day 7&8 by sashadanae featuring a cashmere cardigan

Wearing Day 7: Fourth of July Dress- I tried to make this dress not scream "Fourth of July" so loud by toning it down with a cardigan, and a multicolor belt.
Thoughts: I think it worked and this dress might not be limited to only holidays celebrating Red White and Blue.

Wearing Day 8: Pendrell Blouse
Thoughts: Not how I thought I'd debut this one, but I was feeling lazy (remember, theme?) and threw it on with Jeans and some sandals. Surprisingly, it worked and turned out cute.

Day 9:

Wearing: My pleated neck shirt layered over a maxi dress.
Thoughts: I loved this combo and got lots of compliments. Once I figure out how to wash this shirt without destroying it, I think it will be a favorite.

Days 10 & 11: (Wait, what? You're wearing the same shirt both days...yes, yes I am)

Wearing: Stripe Tee.
Thoughts: So this is a nice simple comfy shirt. I ended up wearing it only part of Saturday, so I threw it on today. Yep, because I'm just lounging around home being LAZY. I did switch to RTW for a date night Saturday, so a little bit of a cheat, but I did have this on part of each day.

To see more Self-Stitched September, click HERE

Self-Stitched Sunday

Sooooooo....Here is my re-cap of the first 4 days of Self-Stitched September. So far, I have thoroughly enjoyed it :)

Day 1:

Wearing-
Coffee Date Dress: Made by Me
Belt: Borrowed (Stolen) from Brother
Shoes: Fossil (back to school gift from mom, and LOVE them!)

Thoughts-
I do like this dress, but it sometimes can feel a bit formal for day-to-day. I've not worn it very many times because my husband will say "Are you going to prom today?" Ok, so it's not that formal, but his comments throw me off. I styled it with a rustic leather belt and some slingback clog-like shoes to try to casual it up a bit. Probably will wear more for special occasions in the future.

Day 2:

Wearing-
Scarf/Wrap: Made by Me
Jeans: Big Star skinnies
Tee: Victoria Secret Tee dress worn as top
Shoes: Colin Stuart fringe sandals

Thoughts-
This wrap is fun, and seems to stump people when they see it. They want to know how it works, and it's fun to show it off. I don't find it the most flattering in the above pic, but I was just wearing it for a casual comfy Friday.

Day 3:

Wearing-
Romper: Made By Me
Shoes: Fossil again (see I really love these)
Cami: ?? VS maybe

Thoughts-
I wore this out to dinner with my husband, and my brother & his girlfriend. Then some mini-golf. It fit the bill for the occasion as it was comfy, but looked a little cuter than a tee and jeans. Also, I got rid of the snap at the front center and just opted to wear a cami. This made me much less worried about showing too much with a wrong move, which is good. I'm not sure how many more wears it will get before it is out of style :)

Day 4:

Wearing-
Tee: Made By Me
Jeans: VS
Flippy Floppys

Thoughts-
Today, I just wanted to be comfy. And this works perfect. The tee is probably one of the softest and fuss-free things I own, because I left the hems raw so there is no extra friction anywhere, and the more I wash it, the softer it gets. I might need to make more of these to get through the month!

So far, so good. I'm looking forward to the next week!

Self-Stitched Inventory

The Self-Stitched September Challenge starts tomorrow, so I thought I'd do a little recap of what I have to work with. Wow! Seeing it all at once reminds me it has been a busy sewing year. I really just picked the hobby back up last July, so I'm really impressed with what I've cranked out in that time frame. Here is the breakdown:

5 knit tops or tees. This will be interesting, because I tend to live in t-shirts on the weekend. We'll see how many repeats I end up with from this category.

13 Woven tops....wow! This is one area of my wardrobe I recently vowed to beef up, and I think I have been successful. I guess you could say this was the summer of the tops. I'm really pleased with this because this is the area I seem to have the most trouble shopping for in RTW because everything seems so boring or ill-fitting.

6 skirts, and 1 pair of shorts. No pants. I have made pants before, but not recently. I do have several pairs of RTW that will be mixed in with the tops. Not really an area that I felt like I needed to add to, because I already had plenty of pants. The skirts are an improvement, though, as I really like wearing them, but found out last fall that I had very few in my wardrobe.

3 woven dresses, and 6 knit dresses. A good mix I think.

And the oddballs: 1 scarf/wrap/vest thing, 1 sad looking linen jacket, 1 sweater, and 1 romper. Not sure that jacket will get worn without some major work. It was made in my college sewing course, and looked lovely...until I washed it. My bad. Should have pre-washed the fabric, or dry-cleaned the final product. At that time I didn't know any better.

So the total count is.....37 handmade garments!!! That means I have made 32 garments since this time last year. Holy Cow! I really think this blog has encouraged me to keep up with a hobby I love so much, and document my progress. I think this will be a great Self-Stitched September with plenty of variety, and even some fully handmade outfits. The other thing I'm really excited about is that most of these clothes feel more "me" than anything else has in a long time. Now let's hope I can keep up with the daily photos! I think I'll just post those once or twice a week so it doesn't dominate this space too much.

Who else is participating in Self-Stitched September???

Back to school, back to school...

So today was the first day back to school. I intended to show my outfit on my body, but the picture didn't get taken before work, and after, I was too worn out, and my hair looked like a frizz-ball from the swampy conditions in my building. So I will spare you...haha. Here is the dress I wore:

It's Anthropologie, and was a birthday gift from my mom at the beginning of the summer. Thanks mom! It's nice and comfy, but looks nice, so it's great for work.

So what does back to school mean for around here? Well, fewer posts. My goal is to still post 3 times a week, including the Flashback Friday posts. We'll see how that goes. Right now, I really just blog for me, so if you're sticking around reading, I do appreciate you but you might expect a little less frequent posting. I'm not going to stress myself out about it, but I do enjoy it, so I'm going to try to keep it going somewhat.

It also means content might change a touch. Maybe more style-centered posts, definitely come September. I know I'll have less time to sew, so we'll see what is blog-worthy since there will be fewer projects. I hope you will stay tuned to see! I also hope things are going smooth if you are also transitioning back to school as a student, teacher, or mom sending kids off. Happy Back to School Season!

Self-Stitched September 2011

So it's almost here! Self-stitched September 2011. I have participated in these handmade challenges before, SSS2010, and MMM2011. My first two attempts weren't quite as successful as I'd hoped, because I really just got back into sewing my own clothes about a year ago. They did make me more aware of ways to work my handmade clothes in with my ready-to-wear garments to make more interesting combos. This time, I feel much more prepared, since I've been sewing all summer, and I have lots more garments to work for different parts of my life...work, casual, dates, etc. So here's the pledge:

'I, Sasha, of sashamakes.blogspot.com, sign up as a participant of Self-Stitched-Sept '11. I endeavour to wear at least one handmade clothing item each day for the duration of September 2011'

This time I'm not including accessories or re-fashions, because I want to literally wear handmade each day. I will be including sewn, and knitted garments, the latter of which I really don't have any finished, but am working on a cardigan. It will be more challenging, but certainly fun to mix and match everything! Will anyone out there be joining me? If you want to learn more, go here, or click on the logo on my sidebar!