Me-Made-May week four

There was slighty schzophrenic weather this week with glorious sunshine and crazy rainstorms this next so it made it difficult to decide what to wear - I plumped for positive weather combinations with a selection of skirts / trousers and tees with a back-up cardigan in the bag just in case!

Day 19

• Colette Ginger skirt in multi-coloured striped cotton
• Black American Apparel tee
• Gold Clarks sandals

It was my first outing in this skirt having finished it the day before. It was lovely and cool to wear which was perfect because the temperatures shot up in London.

Day 20

• Me-modified white American Apparel tee this is what happens when you channel Jackson Pollock with fabric paints onto an un-suspecting t-shirt!
• Gap khakis
• Black Gap cardigan
• Gold Clarks sandals

Super comfy out-fit today and a very fitting t-shirt for an Art teacher!

Day 21

• By Hand London Polly Top in cotton from Samuel Taylors and a section from the Designers Guild Ikat collection
• Burgeundy Gap trousers
• Black Gap cardigan
• Gold Clarks sandals

I wasn't 100% comfortable with the fit of the BHL Polly top becuae it hangs a little low at the front and gapes open a bit so if I make another one will need to think about altering the neckline slightly.

Day 22

• Self-drafted bustle skirt in a blue tweed suiting fabric with red zip and orange ribbon detailing
• Blue and white striped Gap shirt
• Gold Clarks sandals

I don't really wear this skirt anymore - I made a couple of them years ago and I think I've moved on... not sure whether to get rid of them though because lots of people commented on my outfit with positivity. What do you think? Should I re-use the fabric to re-fashion them into something new?

Day 23

• Self-drafted 'Hirst skirt' in multi-colored polka dot Ikea fabric 
• Blue American Apparel tee
• Green Gap cardign
• Gold Clarks sandals

I love this skirt that I drafted from an old 1990's skater skirt. I need to create a pattern for myself so I can make more variations. It works really well because it has pockets (although they could be deeper) and the fabric is one of my all-time favourites.

Overall a great week and NO ME-MADE REPEATS YET!!

Things will change next week - I have only a few more me-made items left that I haven't worn - and there's a good reason because they are either badly made or they are not really my style anymore! I have half-term holiday which means I will be doing a lot of house renovations; so I'm not sure if I will get to wear many me-made outfits next week ; ( I will endevour to do my me-made best!

Total Pollocks tee tutorial

Jackson Pollock - Autumn Rhythmn, 1950

I've always loved the work of Jackson Pollock, so when I saw these rather fab t-shirts in Uniqlo who are doing a Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) NYC collaboration I was inspired.

The Pollock t-shirt design I liked the best was in the men's collection and having tried the smallest size (way too big) figured I would have to make my own version instead.

It's much more fun this way!

Uniqlo MOMA Jackson Pollock Men's t-shirt £12.50

What do you need?

• Cotton / cotton blend t-shirt
• Fabric paint
• Newspaper
• large plastic bag / sheeting
• Paintbrushes / toothbrush
• Iron

I used a range of brushes to create the effects you see on my finished t-shirt. The smaller brushes create a more even splatter; whereas the large brushes can carry a decent amount of paint and you can get the more heavy splash effects with them.

Depending on the consistency of the fabric paint you use, I found the best effect was achieved by making a quite fluid paint by adding water to achieve a 50/50 solution. I used berol fabric paint. 

To vary the types of paint texture I used a small paint brush for the medium splatts, a toothbrush brushed against a scrap of plastic / card to create the very tiny spray and the large paintbrush for the heavy splats. I also used the small paint brush to free-style the larger blocks of paint - which had the added benefit of using up some of the large blobs of fabric paint.

I left the t-shirt out in the sun to dry and then ironed it as per the fabric paint instructions to fix the dye into the t-shirt. So, there you have it - the Pollock tee.

Give it a go - it is liberating!