Me-Made-May 2019 Week Two

A Bank Holiday Monday in the UK always cheers you up! What a great way to start the week not having to go to work (unless you work in retail or hospitality of course).  My boyfriend and I visited the Grand Design Live show at the Excel Centre in London to get some inspiration for house related DIY stuff which was great fun. You can see me here looking very happy at the thought of bumping into Kevin McCloud. We did, but only in cardboard form!

Monday 6th May

Top: Superlover sweatshirt

Top: Camber Set top. Made: 2018

Jacket: Belstaff Roadmaster 2012

Jeans: Diesel

It wasn't warm enough to remove my sweatshirt for the photo, you are just going to have to trust me there is a black Merchant and Mills Camber Set top on underneath the layers!

Tuesday 7th May
Top: Grainline Scout tee. Made: 2016
Trousers: Sew Over It Cigarette Pants. Made: September 2018
Socks: Gap
Shoes: Paul Smith loafers
Cardigan: Abercrombie and Fitch sale
Watch: Red G Shock

A combination of me-made trousers AND top today. Both well used and worn. The Scout tee in this version is made in double gauze and it needed pulling down before taking a photo - but hey - I'm not bothered!

Wednesday 8th May
Top: Simplicity 1364. Liberty print. Made: 2015
Trousers: Sew Over It Cigarette Pants. Made: September 2018
Socks: Gap
Shoes: Paul Smith blue suede Miller brogues
Watch: White G Shock

Every time I wear this top I wonder why I haven't made any more of them. It is a flattering silhouette and a fairly straight forward make. I would change the inner facings to a sewn-in version as they always flap about!

Thursday 9th May

Top: Uniqlo merino wool polo neck sweater

Skirt: Simplicity 2154. Made: 2016

Shoes: Paul Smith burgundy loafers

Watch: Clear G Shock

The inclement weather had me wearing a warm merino sweater and a smart navy pencil skirt which was re-made from a previous skirt (read about it here).

Friday 10th May
Dress: Sew Over It Ultimate Shift Dress. Made: 2017
Jacket: Benneton sale
Shoes: Paul Smith purple Miller brogues

I love this dress but the fabric has really faded over the two years I have made it (you can see it in its original glory here). The silk lining has also shrunk so that it doesn't really serve the purpose of stopping my tights from sticking to my dress as it now only covers about an inch below my butt! I may just cut out the lining altogether or re-line it? Is that too much effort?

Saturday 11th May

Jacket: Belstaff

Top: Grainline Linden sweatshirt. Liberty jersey. Made: 2016

Trousers: Lululemon 'On the Fly' pants

Trainers: Nike

Me and Kurt Cobain in East London conversing about the crazy UK weather. One minute it is hot and sunny, the next minute, HAIL!

How has your week been?

Me Made May 2018 Week Three

Me-Made-May week three was a rather hectic affair after a phone call from Ofsted (UK school inspectors). On Monday I didn't leave work until after 9pm hence a rather blurry dark photo at the bus stop. Needless to say, I felt exhausted for the rest of the week but my me-made clothing game was still strong!

Day 14

Top: Old Navy hot-dog print shirt (from the boy's section)

Skirt: Simplicity 2154 Fabric: poly-cotton twill, Samuel Taylors. Made: 2013.

Jacket: Levis denim 

Necklace: Tatty Devine hot dog

Watch: Red G Shock 

Trainers: Nike

Five years later and my red Simplicity 2154 pencil skirt is working hard. It is an easy skirt to make and has a spilt at the back to make it very comfy too. Welcome to my slightly deranged face after working for 16 hours straight in preparation for the Ofsted visit.

Day 15

Top: Simplicity 1634 Fabric: Liberty Tana Lawn. Made: 2015

Trousers: Gap 

Necklace: Tatty Devine me-designed 'Untitled'

Watch: Black G Shock

Shoes: Paul Smith blue suede Miller brogues

The Simplicity 1634 pattern has a vintage vibe with the slash neckline and 3/4 length sleeves and I think it works really well with the colouring of the Liberty Tana Lawn print. The facings have a tendency to flip about so I have sewn some very tiny stitches at the shoulder seams to hold it in position.

Top: Merchant and Mills Camber Set Top. Fabric: John Lewis Viscose. Made: 2016 

Trousers: Gap

Watch: Black G Shock

Necklace: Tatty Devine sewing machine A/W 2017

Socks: Gap

Shoes: Paul Smith red Miller brogues

I wore pretty much the exact same outfit last May. On the left, we have 2018 and on the right 2017. The viscose top has slightly shrunk and my trusty Gap chinos have faded a little, but if it ain't broke.....

Day 17

Top: Sew Over It Ultimate shirt. Fabric: Liberty Plastic Fantastic. Made: 2015

Trousers: Gap

Watch: Black G Shock

Necklace: Tatty Devine stars A/W 2017

Shoes: Paul Smith purple Miller brogues

This was the first shirt I ever made and it is still going strong. I really should make another version in a plain viscose or cotton because the fit is good and it has classic styling.

Day 18

Top: Tilly and the Buttons hacked Bettine top. Fabric: Gingham, Samuel Taylors. Hacked: 2017  

Skirt: Sew Over It Tulip Skirt. Made: 2014

Necklace: Tatty Devine scissors

Watch: Black G Shock

Trainers: Nike

My tiredness and general mental state at the end of the week can be summed up by the twisted skirt and fixed grin in this photo. As a post-Ofsted treat, I called into Ray Stitch in Islington to pick up a zip and some bias binding for a work in progress item which I will hopefully be blogging about soon! The blue Sew Over It Tulip skirt gets lots of wear and my hacked Bettine top is also much more wearable since chopping it into a top.

Day 19 & Day 20

The weekend was spent doing some DIY, hence the fetching attire above. The t-shirts are about 15 years old and are now customised with a variety of household paints. As for the green trousers, I inherited them from my Dad. They used to be his gardening pants and they fit me amazingly well. I keep thinking I should trace the pattern. They are a high-waisted original 1970's trousers with deep pockets and a pin-tucked crease down the front. They would make the perfect work trousers in a smart suiting fabric. 

Are you stuck in a me-made rut with your outfit selections?

Have you noticed any repeat combinations you like to wear again and again?

Me-Made-May 2017 Week Four

Yahoo. The week the weather got it's act together and it felt like summer! As you can see three days of skirts with bare legs and a general sense of not-caring if my pasty white legs may blind somebody as it is too warm to be bothered!

I wore my new BHL Charlotte pencil skirt on Tuesday and loved the fit of it but it is a tighter silhouette than the red Simplicity 2154 I wore on Friday. Overall a really enjoyable week because it felt like summer had arrived.

Day Twenty Two

Top: Grainline Scout Tee in John Lewis Viscose. Made 2014

Trousers: Gap

Necklace: Tatty Devine Brushstroke S/S 2015

Watch: Red G Shock

Shoes: Red Paul Smith Miller Brogues

Day Twenty Three

Skirt: By Hand London Charlotte Pencil Skirt in fabric gifted to me by my friend Sophie. Made 2017

T-Shirt: American Apparel

Necklace: Tatty Devine Watermelon necklace. S/S 2012

Watch: White G Shock

Shoes: Blue suede Paul Smith Miller Brogues

Day Twenty Four

Top: Grainline Scout Tee 100% cotton from Sophie, Hong Kong (underlined with cotton batiste). Made 2016

Trousers: Gap

Jacket: Levi's denim

Watch: White G Shock

Trainers: Blue Nike Air Pegasus

Day Twenty Five

Top: Merchant and Mills Camber Set Top in viscose from John Lewis sale, London. Made 2017. 

Skirt: Liesl & Co Everyday Skirt in viscose from John Lewis sale, London. Made 2016.

Watch: White G Shock

Bird Brooch: Hand-made 

Shoes: Paul Smith black patent loafers

Day Twenty Six

Top: Zara bought from Traid charity shop in Camden for £4!
Skirt: Simplicity 2154 in poly-cotton twill from Samuel Taylors, Leeds. Made 2013.

Brooch: Tatty Devine

Watch: Red G Shock 

Trainers: Nike blue Pegasus

This year's Me-Made-May is drawing to a close and I have enjoyed it as much as I have for the past three years. It is more fun now that I have a wider range of me-made garments to choose from and interesting to which ones get selected to wear again and again. I will be doing a bit of analysis about my most popular and / or comfortable items next week.

In the meantime enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend as it's supposed to be scorchio!

Check out lots of other cool crafty blogs at #handmademonday organised by Julia of Sum of their Stories.

Me-Made-May 2017 Week Two

Week two of Me-Made-May flew by. I started at the weekend wearing a very short shift dress Simplicity 9620 that I don't wear for work anymore since it shrunk in the wash. In my MMM2016 review I identified this dress as something I should modify by lengthening it with a section of fabric but I haven't got around to it yet. I think I should definitely do it so I can wear it more often!

The first half of the week was cold and I still needed layers of clothing (including my well-worn black Gap cardigan) but luckily it warmed up towards Thursday and Friday and you could feel spring was in the air!

Day Seven

Dress: Simplicity 9620 black and white plaid shift dress. Made 2014

Top: Gap

Tights: M&S

Necklace: Tatty Devine me-made at Brick lane workshop. Made 2017

Watch: Red G Shock

Bag: Pink Top Shop

Trainers: Liberty print Vans

Day Eight

Top: Grainline Scout Tee 100% cotton from Sophie, Hong Kong (underlined with cotton batiste). Made 2016

Trousers: Gap

Cardigan: Gap

Watch: Black G Shock

Trainers: Blue Nike Air Pegasus

Day Nine

Top: Merchant & Mills Camber Set top. Cotton seersucker. Made 2017
Skirt: Simplicity 2154 in poly-cotton twill from Samuel Taylors, Leeds. Made 2013.

Cardigan: Gap

Necklace: Tatty Devine A/W 2016

Watch: Red G Shock 

Shoes: Paul Smith black patent loafers

Day Ten

Top: Grainline Scout Tee 100% cotton from Sophie, Hong Kong (underlined with cotton batiste). Made 2016

Trousers: Gap

Cardigan: Gap

Necklace: Tatty Devine Bubbles S/S 2017

Watch: White G Shock

Shoes: Blue suede Paul Smith Miller Brogues

Day Eleven

Top: Colette Laurel Top. Made 2015
Trousers: Paul Smith
Necklace: Tatty Devine Haberdashery Floral A/W 2016
Watch: Olive G Shock
Shoes: Purple Paul Smith Dante Brogues

The length of my spotty Laurel top works really well with most of my skirts because they tend to sit at my natural waistline but with my Paul Smith trousers which fit at the hipline it meant if I tucked it in to look a little neater it soon wiggled out and bunched around. Maybe I should lengthen the body of the Laurel slightly on my next version?

Day Twelve

Top: Gap

Skirt: Sew Over It Tulip Skirt. Made 2014

Necklace: Tatty Devine Brushstrokes

Watch: White G Shock

Shoes: Red Paul Smith Miller Brogues

Another fun week of Me-Made-May. I am hoping the warmer weather is here for a little longer so I can wear more skirts and maybe some of the dresses I have made this year.

Has the weather affected your Me-Made wardrobe this week?

Navy Simplicity 2154 Pencil Skirt

I have been very proud of my stash-busting antics this year. In the spirit of the Re-Fashioners 2016 this skirt is even better than a regular stash-bust but a re-fashion from a bustle skirt I made over ten years ago. I bought the fabric from Fabworks in Dewsbury when I lived in West Yorkshire and it began its life as this rather fancy skirt which I wore with pride quite a lot when I first made it. I held onto it for years but it was rarely worn.

Luckily due to the simple construction method for the bustle skirt (esssentially a zip holding the folded fabric together at the back) after the hefty task of un-picking the triple-stitched zip it was back to a single piece of fabric again.

It was only at this point I was able to see what amount of fabric there was to play with and what pattern would work best. I had in my mind a pattern I have used before, the Simplicity Vintage 2154 Pencil Skirt. After MMM2016 I noticed my red pencil skirt gets worn a lot for work so the more sensible navy blue fabric would seem like the perfect pairing.  This pattern popped up on the Great British Sewing Bee episode this week as Tracy used the pattern for her 1960's style jacket inspired by the memories of her mum!

Onto the construction. I gave my past self a pat on the back as I had added quite a few notes to the pattern instructions which certainly helped. In my red version I had used an invisible zip but this time I used the suggested regular zip and sort of hashed up a lapped zip insertion.

It is not my best work but as they say practise, practise, practise. The fabric doesn't press particularly well so I suspect it is a wool and synthetic blend of unknown sources. 

The waistband and hem are all hand-stitched which I think has a better finish for a skirt like this. I chose a 2" hem to give it a little weight at the bottom. A simple vent pleat at the back makes this pencil skirt very wearable as there is no restriction for things like running for the bus / climbing on chairs to put up classroom displays etc...

I extended the waistband overlap a bit more as I noticed on my red version I felt it was a little short and added several press-studs to keep it in place. The bright blue bias-binding you can see at the edge of the side zip is a Hong Kong finished seam which I have added to the internal seams as the fabric was fraying and the zig-zag stitch I had originally planned to use looked a bit messy.

If I make this skirt again I may move the zip to the centre back seam as I find it tricky to fit the waist and hip curves and add the zip in position in the right spot. On the red version I had to sew the zip in three times due to bad fit! I managed a 'reasonable' effort this time around. It is not perfect but it doesn't offend me enough to change it!

Overall, I think this will be a good addition to my working wardrobe.

Pattern: Simplicity 2154 Vintage style 1960's Pattern = Free (from stash)

Fabric: 1 1/2 metres of wool synthetic blend twill from Fabworks = Free (from stash)

Zip: 12" navy zip = Free (from stash)

Bias-Binding: Blue Bias-binding from Ray Stitch = Free (from stash)

Interfacing: Free (from stash)

Press Studs: Inherited from my Gran's stash! = Free

Gutterman Thread: Navy from stash

Total: Free!

Have you got any Go-To patterns? 

Me Made May 2016 Review

First of all, thanks to Zoe at So-Zo for organising this fabulous event. After taking part in Me-Made-May for the the third year in a row I wanted to do some analysis of the clothes I have enjoyed wearing, the patterns I am attracted to and the quality of the fabric. My pledge was to wear one or more me-made or me-mended garments during week days which I managed to achieve without too much of a stretch.

In completing this analysis I want to identify how I could streamline my wardrobe and identify what clothes should be my next challenge / project to make.

Me-Made Wardrobe Colour Palette:

Creating a visual representation of all the me-made garment fabrics I have worn this month really helped me identify my preferences.

This is what was revealed......

a) I am partial to an abstract print

b) I love monochrome

c) I also like bold blues, pinks, reds and greens!

Types of Clothing worn during May:

Further analysis highlighted I chose to wear more me-made tops than any other garment with skirts a close second during the month of May.

Pattern Companies worn in May:

I already knew I was a major Grainline Studio fan-girl when it comes to pattern companies. The results speak for themselves. I am definitely drawn to independent pattern companies much more than the big 4 (Simplicity / McCalls / Butterick / Vogue).

Year of Construction:

Another aspect I thought would be interesting to observe was the date I made the clothes I had worn during May. As suspected, I don't have many clothes before 2009 and a lot of garments made between 2010 - 2012 have been re-fashioned or given to charity as the quality of both the construction and fabric were not great.

My best year for making was 2015 and with half a year left of 2016 I think it will be my best year yet!

2009	4%
2013	8%
2014	21%
2015	42%
2016	25%

In conclusion to MMM in 2015, I highlighted a number of garments that were missing from my wardrobe that I wanted to make before MMM 2016. I am happy to report I managed to make a pair of trousers, a shirt (which incidentally I didn't wear this May) and a fully lined jacket (which I also didn't wear).

Plans for 2016 after analysing Me-Made-May.

Re-fashion or donation to charity:

• Bettine dress - Attach a bias section on the skirt to make it longer and therefore more wearable
• Simplicity 9620 dress - not worn this MMM because it's too short. As above.
• Mathilde blouse - Give to charity as I never choose to wear it!
• Grainine Scout in B&W (I didn't wear this version in May) - The cotton is too heavyweight for a top - should I cut up for patchwork?

Future Projects:

• Finish Navy Simplicity 2154 pencil skirt (currently half made)
• Complete black and white By Hand London Flora (currently half made)
• Finish Liberty print Colette Laurel dress (currently 3/4 made)
• Re-work the By Hand London Charlie Dress - the bodice is still not 100% right
• Make another pair of SOI Cigarette Pants - black and white print / Navy / Grey
• Make a Grainline Moss skirt - now I know how to do a fly zip
• Make a pair of Grainline Maritime shorts
• Make more dresses - I have lots of BHL and Christine Haynes patterns in my stash

Overall I have really enjoyed Me-Made-May this year and look forward to seeing how my me-made wardrobe will have evolved by May 2017. Maybe I need to pledge to wear me-made clothes for the full seven days of the week next year?

How did you get on?

Me Made May 2016 Week One

This is my third year taking part in Me-Made-May the brainchild of the lovely Zoe of SoZo Blog.
I pledged to wear something me-made or me-mended / up-cycled every weekday.

I also mentioned I would blog a weekly progress report and share my outfits on Instagram (I have subsequently quit IG due to the overwhelming desire to update my own IG or check other peoples updates in an alarmingly addictive manner). I have scrapped the IG bit of my pledge and will stick to my blog!

My first foray into MMM in 2014 was a rather repetitive and sparse affair.  Since then I have been refining my makes and have taken quite a number of me-makes to the charity shop or am in the process of re-fashioning them. This leaves me with a much more usable wardrobe in 2016 but there is still work to be done....

Day Two

Top: Colette Laurel Top in 100% cotton from Samuel Taylors, Leeds. Made 2015

Jacket: Top Shop 2009

Trousers: Gap

Bangles: Marimekko

Watch: White G Shock 

Shoes: Paul Smith purple Dante Oxfords

Day Three

Shirt: Gap

Skirt: Simplicity 2154 in poly-cotton twill from Samuel Taylors, Leeds. Made 2013.

Cardigan: Gap

Necklace: Marimekko

Watch: Red G Shock 

Shoes: Paul Smith black patent loafers

Day Four

Top: Grainline Scout Tee 100% cotton from Sophie, Hong Kong (underlined with cotton batiste). Made 2016

Trousers: Gap

Cardigan: Gap

Watch: Clear solar G Shock

Shoes: Paul Smith brown loafers

Day Five

Top: Gap

Trousers: Sew Over It Cigarette Pants in linen / cotton blend from SOI Clapham. Made 2016

Cardigan: Gap

Watch: White G Shock

Shoes: Paul Smith brown loafers

Day Six

Dress: Vintage hand-made 1960's dress purchased at Pop Boutique, Leeds. Mended 2015

Watch: Olive green G Shock

Shoes: Paul Smith black patent loafers