An Eye-Searing Top + Me Made May 2015 pledge

This top ticks all my sewing form and function happiness boxes. It's loud, colorful and super close-fitting. It's also soft, stretchy, comfortable and stain-camouflaging: I DARE you to find any spit-up in this wild print. (OK, there isn't any — yet — but it is a daily hazard in my life as the mother of a 3-month-old baby).

And of course it's great for discreet(ish) breastfeeding!

Yes, I made the Jalie 2921 scarf-collar jersey top for the fourth time, my second time making it in a nursing version using the 'So, Zo...' breastfeeding top tutorial. This is my fifth and almost-final piece for the Small Human Being Sew-Along I did in April with Cindy and Clio (reminder: submit your sew-along projects here by May 7 to be part of the giveaways and roundup!).

See my wearable muslin version post for all the basic details.

So what's different in Version 4.0?

Well, the fabric, of course — this is a really lovely, soft, but sturdy and substantial rayon lycra knit from Mood with excellent recovery. Rayon lycra jersey ranges so widely in quality, and I've been disappointed many times before (curse you, Fabric.com!), but this is the good stuff. I've been wearing my first nursing version of this top constantly but I am always worried it is about to tear apart it is so thin.

I also changed up the elastic — I found the clear elastic recommended in the tutorial felt too flimsy to me for an opening that needed to be tugged at again and again. So I used a soft black ruffle-edged lingerie elastic from the stash, bought at Daytona Trimming some time back... you can see it here on the underlayer:

And I made the sleeveless version this time, though I ended up with the Dreaded Armhole Gape (I have the same problem with ready-to-wear sleeveless tops) and ended up sewing some random tucks to tighten the armholes and keep my bra covered. I know there is a way to fix this at the pattern stage, but I didn't bother.

Back view, sort of:

And yes, I used a zig-zag for topstitching, as I've been having some technical problems with twin needling. I'm going to make the attempt again, but I figured zig zags went with the zig-zag print. Right?

This top makes me really happy! I want to wear it EVERY day, but it's so distinctive I think people might notice? Maybe?

Though I gotta say having two kids makes even my cluttery sewing corner photo shoots night impossible... I was trying to get some photos of the top tucked in, but baby woke from his post-nursing nap and started to fuss, so I asked big girl to entertain her brother...

Which she happily did...

... Until he accidentally scratched her in the face with his baby Wolverine claws (we DID almost name him Logan, so maybe this is our fault) and I had to separate them.

Don't worry, they were best buddies again a few minutes later:

And here we are in me-made sweaters and hoodies in our official Me Made May 2 picture, on our way to get comics for Free Comic Book Day (husband took photo, as he had no me-mades on):

Oh, yes: Me Made May! Here's what I wrote in my signup:

I always love Me Made May! But I just had a baby and almost none of my me-mades fit, so I'm going to have to go easy on myself for this one: 'I, Mikhaela Reid of Polka Dot Overload, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '15. I endeavour to wear a me-made item at least three days per week for the duration of May 2015 (well, at least until I have to return to work at the end of the month)'

I'm not even sure if I'm going to recap my outfits here each week, but you can catch them all on my Instagram and I will do a big photo collage at the end.

But the embarrassment of wearing old maternity tops on Instagram has already inspired some frantic sewing and identification of wardrobe gaps (or chasms, really). I have an almost-complete gored denim skirt on the sewing table and a striped ruched-bust top copied from ready-to-wear in progress.

What are your criteria for a really happy make?