Me-Made-May 2018 Week Four

Wow, Me-Made-May week four already. I have been busy with work and had quite a few adventures after work to the Village Haberdashery again for the Social Sewing on Thursday and a meal out in Notting Hill with a friend on Friday. 

Day 21

Top: Merchant and Mills Camber Set Dress.  Fabric: Viscose, Guthrie & Ghani. Made: 2017

Watch: Black G Shock

Necklace: Tatty Devine stars A/W 2017

Belt: Top Shop

Shoes: Paul Smith black patent loafers

I really like this dress and seem to always wear it with a belt. The viscose has a wonderful drape but is very delicate. Some of the seams are beginning to fray at the sides near the in-seam pockets and I had to do a little repair at work in the morning with some hand-stitching. I may need to reinforce the side seams to ensure its longevity.

Day 22

Top: Grainline Scout Tee. Fabric: 100% cotton, Hong Kong. Made: 2016

Trousers: Gap

Watch: Black G Shock

Brooch: Tatty Devine anchor

Shoes: Paul Smith red Miller brogues

The Grainline Scout Tee is a simple and easy to wear top. Any long-term readers of CJ Made will attest to my LOVE for the Scout Tee! It is a perfect silhouette to showcase a pretty print or to use up a metre or less of left-over fabric.

Day 23

Top: Grainline Scout Tee. Fabric: 100% cotton, Hong Kong. Made: 2016

Trousers: Gap

Jacket: Levi's denim

Watch: Black G Shock

Trainers: Nike

Another Scout Tee. Well, I did say I loved them!

Day 24

Top: Oliver Bonas sale

Skirt: By Hand London Charlotte Skirt. Fabric: Plaid twill, Samuel Taylors. Made: 2017

Watch: Black G Shock

Shoes: Paul Smith purple Miller brogues

As the day progressed my very form-fitting Charlotte Skirt seemed to get tighter. Maybe I tweaked my fitting a little too much on this version because after lunch it feels a bit restrictive. I am still super proud of my plaid matching skills though and I love the black and white twill fabric.  

Day 25

Dress: Christine Haynes Emery Dress. Fabric: Viscose, Chapel Street Market. Made: 2017

Watch: White G Shock

Necklace: Tatty Devine brushstrokes

Shoes: Paul Smith red Miller brogues

A relaxed vibe with my Emery dress on Friday. I suspect the looser fit of this dress is mainly down to me cutting out a larger size when I have seen other versions via blogs and IG it looks like a more fitted dress. It also sits higher than my natural waist which makes is so comfy. I would like to make another version and perhaps will experiment with dropping the waist down 3cm and consider nipping in the waist slightly.

Days 26 & 27

Another weekend of house renovations wearing my stylish DIY clothes!

How is your Me-Made-May?

Did you do anything fun over the Bank Holiday if you are in the UK?

Polka Dot Emery Dress

I can't believe it has taken me so long to sew the classic Christine Haynes Emery Dress.

I used two metres of a cheap £2 p/m polka dot viscose that I bought from the Man Outside Iceland at Chapel Street market in Islington. I saw this as a wearable toile if things went well and if it was a disaster it was only £4 and a date with a seam-ripper. 

On a side note I am joining Jo at Stuff Jo Has Made blog who is encouraging us all to Sew Your Stash September! More details here. The three things I have made in September have all been from my stash and I have a pile of garments cut out from stash fabric ready to get sewn up when I get the chance. SYSS is going well so far.

I pretty much followed the instructions to the letter, the only changes I made were how I attached the lining. I used a method I learnt at Sew Over It from the lovely teacher Julie Johnston about hand-stitching the bodice lining to the arm hole for a neater finish. 

Self lined bodice hand-stitched at the armhole and waistline

I had to add a centre seam in the bodice lining due to shortage of fabric

The insides all look nice and neat here

Skirt seams were zig-zagged I haven't worked out how to do French Seams on skirts with internal side-seam pockets yet

Overall I am pretty happy with the dress. The skirt section is a great length for me, but I suspect the bodice is possibly a little big. It is quite loose at the waist. On a positive note it is very comfortable which is important feature if I wear it to work (secondary school art and technology teacher). I may look into slightly adjusting the bodice for version two.