Today’s #memademay look is a bit of #covidcouture: I haven’t had tons of time to see since starting a company back in October, so during shelter in place I’ve been trying to spend a few minutes here and there finishing (or re-exploring) projects and also trying to sew my stash.

This shirt falls into the latter: a 2yd remnant I found at Cliffs Hardware in San Francisco over a year ago that I knew should be another Collette (ahem, @seamwork) #negronishirt. Working with a small amount of fabric forced me to be clever with the cutting layout (sorry grainlines!), but overall I couldn’t be happier.

I’m not sure I’d use this sort of fabric again: the pieces nature made things like felled seams impossible (who needs em!), and I broke more than one needle 😳, but it was worth it.

Today’s post for Me Made May is a me made flub. I was — am! — super excited when @fridaypatterncompany released the #ilfordjacket: ever since I was in Amsterdam last year I’ve been dreaming of a chore/work jacket. So it was a bummer when I first finished it and realized it was too short in the body and sleeves.

The body was an easy fix: add a waistband! And I like how that turned out.

The cuffs were trickier, and here’s where things fell apart: I made a double length cuff, ripped off the original ones, and managed to get them attached. Only to get clever with my button holes and put them too far in, so I. CANT. BUTTON. THEM. 🤬🤯😭

Maybe someday I’ll have the patience to replace the cuffs AGAIN, but for now I’m filing this under “learning experience”. And if past experience is Ang guide, I’ll come back to this in the fall, fix the cuffs, and love it. Regardless I’ll be making an #ilfordjacket that works.

Fabric from @discountfabricsf, buttons from @moodfabrics and my Paris trip last year (green ones).

My Me Made May outfit today is a short sleeve Negroni, from @seamwork, in lightweight cotton plaid from @stonemountainfabric (from the half price floor!).

Fun fact: this is the first pattern I bought, years before I owned a sewing machine (and when the pattern was still a “Colette”). A friend was helping me sew it on her sewing machine, and like many of my projects, my first attempt (in a terrible yellow cotton) lay half completed in a drawer for years before I picked it up again.

This has become a tried and true pattern for me once I got the length adjustment right and figured out I’m an “extra-ish large” (large in the shoulders, xl on the torso).

Today for Me Made May I’m wearing an Elbe Sage tee. I made this back in July, and like my linen pants, this tee never got much wear. This was my first attempt at mixing knits, and at the time I was happy with the color blocking but not the fit. Trying it on this morning, I’m less critical; maybe it’s that I have my quarantine bod back, maybe it’s time. Sewing wise, I think part of my disatisfaction comes from the weight of the striped fabric: it’s super light weight. The sleeves are a light-weight fleece, but the combination is just… off.

I made these @threadtheorydesigns Jedediah pants almost a year ago, but today was the first time I wore them out. Why? They were too long when I finished them so I decided to shorten them. And when I finished with the scissors, they were shorter than I intended. So they hung over the back of my sewing chair until this morning. When I decided to just lean into the mistake. And I think I like them! #memademay #memademay2020 #sewqueer #menwhosew #sewcialists