T-Shirt Factory

The extra room in our apartment is probably the best room in our entire house.  Although small, it simultaneously serves as a home office, guest room, construction zone, sewing nook, bar, and boat-watching perch.  Last night, it was also a screenprinting studio.





What could all these t-shirts possibly be for?  I'll let you know.  Next Thursday.

Still haven't read Hunger Games? You have 351 days.

My love for the Hunger Games trilogy runs far and wide.  I've hosted a book club meeting with an entire Hunger Games-themed meal, for crying out loud.  I will recommend these three YA books to anyone I come in contact with, and I will mercilessly annoy you about it until you break down and read it.  And then you will thank me.  Trust me, even if you're an adult...our entire book club made up of educated women in their mid-20s still OBSESSED over it.

My sister introduced me to Suzanne Collins' incredible (would I be going too far to call it life-defining?) trilogy almost a year ago, when the third installment had yet to be published.  I unfortunately finished the first book, Hunger Games, and the second book, Catching Fire, too quickly and still had a good three months to go before the final book was published.  I didn't know how I could possibly survive that long.  I reread the first two books more than once in an effort to curb my enthusiasm, if you will.  I counted down until release day.  I started discussions with anyone and everyone I knew who had read the books as well - even strangers on blogs.  The day Mockingjay finally came out, I literally could not function at work, I was so anxious to get home and read.

And now, as with every great book (and YA books especially), we anxiously await the release of the movie version.  Thus far, all we know is it will be in theatres March 23, 2012, Suzanne Collins herself adapted the script (so it's sure to stay true to our beloved books!), and we've got this trio to portray our main characters and love triangle victims on screen:

That's an Oscar-nominated actress, the precious kid from Little Manhattan all grown up, and an Australian.  I seriously don't see any way this movie could go wrong.  Real or not real?

351 days to go.

Spring Urban Trekking

Not nearly as long or as far as Winter Urban Trekking, but still fun!

55 degrees.  3.6 miles.  1.5 hours. 

 Fort Tryon Park

 The Cloisters and George Washington Bridge

Neighborhood art, 190th-185th & Ft. Washington

The Wrap-Up

Before beginning Me-Made-March, I made a list of everything I had handmade or altered that I was still willing to wear (remember my Retirement Party?  Some things are put up on the shelf for good!), and was pretty shocked to find that the list was 56 items long.  As I've mixed and matched all month long, I did my best to wear as many things on that 56-item list as I could, and here's what I came up with:

Almost all my outfits!  30 of them anyway :) 
It's hard for me to believe that I made or altered everything I'm looking at in this entire collage.

(And even though I never actually put them in a post, I also wore my Long December Coat on an almost daily basis, did a lot of lounging in my Bats & Elephants Sweatshirt, and slept a couple of times in my Old Fashioned Bloomers.)

Of everything I wore this month, I still had 9 Me-Mades that went unworn, which is a little shocking to me!  That means I can easily get dressed for 31 days a in row with only things I've made myself, with plenty to spare.

Let me end with a few things I learned this month:

1.  I don't always feel fashion-forward in the clothes that I make, but I do always feel good.  This month I realized that I feel great knowing I made what I'm wearing even if I'm not wearing the latest trend, and that's okay with me (if you knew me four or five years ago, you would know that I used to shop, a LOT, and loved buying trendy things, and would plan entire trips around locations that had an H&M).  However, if I happen to find that something I make is also fashionable at the time, more power to me!

2.  I'm going to start putting elastic waists in every garment I possibly can.  It is literally the most comfortable thing in the world.

3.  I now have a closet filled with me-made things and a closet filled with store-bought things.  The me-made closet is getting bigger and the store-bought closet is getting smaller.  By next year at this same time, I don't really care which closet is bigger, but I do hope they are both completely filled with classic, well-made pieces that fit me perfectly that I can, and will, wear for years to come.

4.  I have somehow almost completely removed the thought, "I want that," from my mind.  Now when I see things online, in a catalog, or on the street that I like, I find that my first thought is, "How can I make that?"  If I'm going to keep thinking like that, I need to step up my sewing game!

5.  Sewing game stepped up = more pants, a pair of jeans, more dresses, more casual clothes that aren't for work, things with more color, more creative uses of fabric and trims, the list goes on!

Thanks for sticking around the whole month!  No more talk of clothes around here for the next couple of weeks or until I make something new - whichever comes first.

MMM - Day 30 & 31, AKA THE END!!!

(Saturday)

The outfit:  Polka Dot Top + Scott Sweatshirt + Chambray Shorts

The occasion:  housework, watching Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist 

The result:

The reflection:  Was it warm enough outside for shorts today?  Absolutely not!  But had I gone outside, I would have thrown some leggings on underneath.  As it turns out, we did nothing but hang out at home and with our neighbors a little, so this comfy ensemble did the job just fine.

(Sunday)

The outfit:  Southwest Dress

The occasion:  church, weekly Skype date with the parents

The result:

The reflection:  THE LAST DAAAAAAAAAAAAY!  Made it!  And it's this dress's first time appearance for Me-Made-March as well.  Spring weather still isn't here quite yet, but it's knocking on the door and I can feel it on the horizon, so I let my arms go bare today in celebration!  

Stay tuned tomorrow for a Me-Made-March wrap-up, and stay tuned after that for me NOT talking about clothes for a long, long, long time!

Merchandise of the Month - March

Thank you, Mallori, for reminding me I hadn't put this up yet!

I got these shoes a few weeks ago and probably just got so depressed with the cold weather and the realization that it would still be a long time before I wore these that I didn't post them.  However, here, in all their yellow glory, are my March Merchandise of the Month!

Want your own?  They're right here!

MMM - Day 29

The outfit:  Black Ponte Knit Dress + Beetlejuice Skirt

The occasion:  F-R-I-D-A-Y, virtually no one being in the office all day

The result:

The reflection:  I wore this skirt on the last day of my last sewing related challenge, Self-Stiched September, and since I'm nearing the end with this one, I though it would be only appropriate to don it today as well.  Earlier in March I wore a dress as a skirt, and today I'm wearing a dress as a top!  It's my dress from Monday - told you it would be seen again!

Only one weekend of Me-Made-March-plus-three-days-in-April to go!