Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Wearability

My sister is gone now but we had a great visit, after she finally arrived. Her plane was 5 freakin' hours late. I ended up going home to wait Friday night, and finally picked her up after midnight. We stayed up until about 4 AM gabbing and catching up. She did get a free round-trip ticket out of the ordeal so she'll be back soon.

Since there hasn't been any new sewing, I thought I would go through some past makes and report on the wearability factor. I always enjoy when other bloggers do this, so now it's my turn.

This recent make is definitely a regular in the rotation. In fact, I wore it Friday to work and to pick up my sister cuz I thought we were going out. It's pretty, comfortable, and flattering and I nearly always get a compliment when I wear it. The bra keepers I added saved it from hoochie status. Grade A+.


Since I altered this one smaller, it's also a regular both for the office with heels and dressed down with flats/flip-flops on the weekend. Another A+, especially since it now has a second life.


I wear this one regularly, just not as often as the previous two. I want to make it again but this time I will add a smidge more length above the waist because it feels like it rides a little too high front and back. Grade B+, which should turn into an A+ with a re-do.


Skirt remake and RTW top. I've worn this once and received a compliment. I do like it, but I hadn't liked my shoe choices for the outfit. But I've got some neutrals now so I should pull it out more. Maybe tomorrow? Grade B+.


I've worn this top exactly once, on my birthday in March - the day for which I made it. I probably will end up tossing the top as it's just too low and weird in the front. I like the idea of the style a lot though, so it might get a re-do in different fabric and with some pattern alterations. Grade D-. The skirt is OK. I haven't worn it only because it doesn't say summer to me. I'll see how it goes in the fall. Grade C for now.


I thought this was a D- or F when I made it because of the wonky pattern, but I wear the darn thing now almost every weekend because it's so easy to throw on, look decent, and be comfortable. It's bigger on me  since this was made last summer so I have to tie the ties tighter. I should make this again in a smaller size. New grade B+.


I have never worn this. In fact, I never even hemmed it. It's much too big for me now, but I gave it to my sister while she was here and she'll wear it, raw hems and all. It looks good on her. I wish I had snapped a pic. Grade F for me. But A+ for being gone from the WTF pile.



16 comments:

  1. Love the second from last ( the other ones are beautiful as well!). Which pattern is that?

    /Maria

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  2. Love this post, I love to see what others are wearing! Ingrid

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  3. You look great! That first one, is my FAVE.

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  4. I also want to know the pattern for the second to last dress. Great job!

    Rose in SV

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  5. Nice outfits, Debbie. It's funny how we rate the things we make.

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  6. Thanks for the wearability report. I'm glad that you've got some go to dresses that work for all occasions!

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  7. Ooo, I love all those dresses! The second last one is funky and cool looking. I like how the pattern twists like that on the top and waist!

    I was baffled for some reason with the first dress. I love it, I think it's my favourite of the bunch, but something seemed off. And then I realized that you're wearing black! I thought you never voluntarily did that! It looks great on you though. :D

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  8. I do like how you've applied prints to various styles. Wearability is definitely important for work/weekend wear. Thanks for the ratings.

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  9. What pattern is the second from the last? I love it. From the photo, I'd say A+

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  10. Thanks for sharing the ones you don't wear as well as the A+ projects. It's encouraging. Spending hours getting something just right only to discover it's not actually as just right as you thought can be discouraging.

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  11. I loved that second from the last dress so much, I searched your blog for it. And found it is M6363, which you blogged about in June of 2011 & HATED. I'm not as skilled as you, so probably couldn't make it work like you did. Oh well. Bummer.
    judy
    novicesewist on patternreview

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  12. The WTF pile. LOL

    Enjoyed the re-visit very much!

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  13. I LOVED this post of wearability. Isn't that what it is really all about?? Too bad the brown print bow blouse gets a bad rating cause it sure looks good in the pic. BUT how it wears is what is most important in my book. I do have a personal question (LOL..this is the internet!) I know you mostly work with ITY with these dresses, and I know you live in sunny (HOT) FL. Do you wear a slip with these and if so, what fabric is the slip? No slip = peek/see through factor and with slip seems it would be hotter. Please don't think me a pervert wanting to know about your undergarments, it is purely personal on MY part as I live in GA...HOT in temps and in personal heat waves (that age) and havn't worked this problem out yet so I don't wear dresses yet. I am tempted to just make some nude color cotton/lycra bike shorts to handle the chub chafe situation and see how that goes.
    Sorry, I just wrote a book!

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  14. For what it's worth I think you look stunning in the brown skirt and top you wore on your Birthday. Since you've only worn it once, that's probably not what you want to hear but the colours are really flattering IMO. This is a brilliant idea and very inspirational. Since I don't have anything to list I should get sewing. :)

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  15. garnet128, I use these: http://www.luvees.com/Store/LuveesStore/home.aspx They have given me a whole new wardrobe, I hadn't been willing to wear dresses for years until I bought them! Much lighter and more comfortable than bike shorts. Even my 28yo daughter swears by them!

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  16. oops, to clarify on the Luvees: I use the coverall panty, not the thigh coverall. I had read that the thigh one didn't stay up that well. And I would consider trying a size smaller than you usually wear, I find they run a bit large, but I guess that depends where in the size range you fall...

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Thank you for each and every comment. I appreciate them all, but I have to be honest and let you know that I'm usually bad about answering questions. I hope you understand that there just isn't enough time in the day to do everything I want to do.

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