In the pink

So this week I gave up on that other dress. I decided I only had green and blue dresses and that I would try something different namely re- making a pattern I have made before.Remaking a pattern was an interesting thing to do. So I decided I would remake two patterns I love and  make them in a different colour. It just so happens that I did both in a lovely shade of pink

.  Most of my dresses were blue so I wanted to make a pink one. This was my offering and it is my favourite pattern. I realised why most of my dresses are blue because they pick out the colour in my eyes.
 This is the Daisy dress pattern and it is my favourite pattern. I loved remaking it and I thought that it turned out well. Second time around is easier because you have already done the adjustments and know you like the style of it. I didn't change anything except topstitching the arm edges.

This cotton fabric is lovely though, beautiful flowers and butterflies. I love it perfect for a summer day.

This is the summer pajama pattern from Issue 9 of Sew Now Magazine. they were easy to make ( about an hour and a half.) and they are super comfy in this hot weather. I love the pattern and remaking them in this pretty flowers made me smile. The first time I made this pattern I made it out of half a single duvet cover but the poly cotton is a great colour and exciting. only one issue - I am not sure which way is the right way around for it... which on the top is fine but the bottoms is perhaps an issue. I probably need to find what I did with the ribbons I use to mark my clothes... 

On Friday I am going on a bra making course so I may well be sharing about that next week!  Happy sewing

Delays and Stubborn patterns

I have been fighting with a pattern and it has been distracting me and things have taken longer to do than I expected. I was so pumped for June then I had one of my weeks in which I get horrible migraines and life just gets the better of me. I have written the first two parts of the sew with me but I didn't want to put them out until I had finished the series so I could say right for the next four weeks bam and schedule them for you guys.
Also I don't just sew I write stories and my stories sometimes over take my mind and eat away my time. Perhaps I had too narrower view of what this blog would be about  if I am intent on sharing my creativity it probably should follow that I don't just share one aspect of my creativity because the reality is that my creativity doesn't always manifest in neat little boxes like just sewing. If I am so from the heart that doesn't always look like making pretty dresses sometimes my heart makes romantic stories and others its drawing or singing things. truth is I don't always get to decide what my brain and hands want to do.

I have this pattern at the moment which I got  because I liked the silhouette, I thought that well  it would suit my hour glass figure it has a 1950s vibe too which I love and I got a cheap duvet to make it out of because I love making things out of other things and as a toile it would be great  if I really liked it I could re make it out of more expensive fabric. I always have issues around my back and my shoulders as they are narrow and I am always having to do a short strap adjustment which I do in my own strange way which involves dropping the armhole and shortening the strap. but this dress has set in sleeves. It also had pattern features I had never done before like a cross over bodice. Its a butterick pattern (B5930) and normally I love butterick patterns as usually I don't have to do any adjustments on them  but this one literally fell off my shoulders  which is never a good look.

on paper it looks great  even on my dress form ( who I call Gemma as in Gemini  my twin...)  it sits well but on me... no. also it makes me look not like me.

This is it on paper from my cashmerette sketch book... I am thinner than their proportions but they are better than the stick thin ones that one usually gets...

so suffice to say I am struggling.  I have flipped the pattern a little but even so it doesn't suit me as I thought it would. if you are a pear shape with a broad back this dress might be the one but for me it doesn't quite look right and it doesn't suit me the three other things I have in mind to make in June do but my brain went for that one.  so here are the other three  in sketch form I usually draw free hand and get stumpy weird arms rather than waste my sketch book but I learned so much with that butterick pattern  I need to record that.  of course the sewing bee projects which I will reveal once they have been judged.

Miette skirt ( Tilly of course!), daisy dress my favourite pattern and a broadrais anglais top from the lauren Guthrie book.

Me Made May round up and ahead to June...

So this year I have been taking part in Me Made may

For those who have been following. these were my last 3 days

   


Monday - Turquoise Mathilde Tilly top
Tuesday - pink Anna tunic - this pattern was free with Sew magazine and is one of this month's downloads too I love it! definitely one of my favourites!
Today: the McCall's ponte roma  blue flowers knit shift dress.

So What have I learned? 

I love to make clothing but I realised doing this month that I didn't plan a wardrobe. - by that I mean most of the things I make are stand alone pieces - I have very little I can wear together. only one day I wore two pieces I had made which were  my Betty top with my 80s wrap skirt.

It is kind of bad that I haven't made wardrobe builders - things I can wear with other things. Most of all it made me realise that if I have the goal of eventually having a completely handmade wardrobe I am going to have to start making utility pieces in plain colours and I am going to have to master trousers My pledge to make at least one bottom half thing happened threefold. I made two skirts both of which turned out great despite my mother not understanding the concept of a high-low hem and constantly commenting  the days I wore the cherry skirt about how uneven the hem was and how I was better than that.

 

I also had a go at trousers and there is a reason I did not wear the trousers I made because they were way too skimpy in back to be decent.  hence showing solely front on pics - they were the sew over it ultimate trousers and I plan to make trousers again in a size bigger and not in light blue polka dots... you can tell I made them at the beginning of the month because I have had my hair cut since.

So it has in all been a great month. I have loved sharing my makes with you guys and wearing them everyday. At first I was  apprehensive about it and the first few days I was looking folornly at my T shirts  but I have loved it, I love sewing. I love wearing what I sew.  I want to get out of my comfort zone. I want to grow as a dressmaker and a sewer. So thanks for sharing this mad journey.

So what is on the horizon for June...

I plan to keep up with this blog. I have a make with me in the pipeline and a review of some description, I shall try to post every Monday and of course I plan to carry on sharing my makes although I have to say that in June I want to make some utility pieces, I have my eye on a Tilly pattern ( I ALWAYS have my eye on a Tilly pattern) called the Miette skirt which looks challenging and I have in my stash a navy cotton in the right kind of weight I would like to make that in June.

Our local sewing shop is holding a sewing bee competition and I have been working hard on my entries  I can't show you what I have made until after the judging takes place at the end of  July, but I have a lot of work to do before then. I also am booked on a Bra making course at the end of June which hopefully they will run as I have a general hatred of bra shopping.

Me Made may Monday week 4

Considering May ends on Wednesday I will do up to the weekend and do the rest on Wednesday with a review of the challenge as a whole and explain what I have in the pipeline.

The final week of this challenge has made me realise more what my handmade wardrobe lacks rather than what is in it.. I made my bottoms too which was the clemence skirt from tilly and the buttons book which was super simple and fun.  I have three skirts, lots of dresses and lots of tops. but nothing goes together not really. I need to make some more plain items as patterns tend to clash. I have my eye on the Miette pattern in a blue cotton from my stash. if I want to start making outfits just of what is handmade

Tuesday : Green spotty top,                         Wednesday : my Doris dress

 

Thursday cherry skirt although I didn't wear it with this top!  and  Friday we were having a pink day at work in aid of cancer research so I wore my pink stars when I wasn't wearing the fundraising shirt.



Saturday
I went nautical with my Clemence skirt. its a no pattern skirt and I made four cuts in the fabric using my quilters rule and rotary cutter. front, back, the waistband and cut the back in half. the fabric was from fabric land in Southampton. I made it in an evening and I love it! Just the thing for the fabric shop tour around a town called Gosport near where my grandmother used to live... mum told me that she would be proud if she were still alive. She is the one who taught me to sew!


Sunday
This was one of the first dresses I made for a friend's wedding last August and wearing it yesterday made me realise just how far I have come since. It should have had some serious adjustments but I like the fabric - it is another nautical one.

so I will give you the rest on Wednesday. Thanks for your interest and support.

Me Made May monday week 3

So we are into the third week and actually I have run out of clothes. I mean we are into re wearing the same things again. But that is ok I have learned a lot about how to adapt and mix outfits and sometimes and we are into the ones I made and I don't wear often or at all. I mean we love to sew right but  not everything we make turns out perfectly or we want to wear. Two of the garment I wore this week were learning curve items . Also my go to second time wearing was not the one I thought it would be. It shows me that I really need to make another one of my purple top. I also learned that how I feel about a piece of clothing matters. I know my body shape now and what suits me which I didn't when I made a couple of these items. I also know how to adjust better than I did before.

Tuesday : Yellow Laura Ashley top. I made this because I wanted to experiment with gathered necklines and I love it although the fabric is heavier weight than the pattern dictates and it affects the drape of the garment which makes it harder to wear  This top taught me about drape.

Wednesday: Starry top. i saw someone in a fabric shop wearing one of these and I had to have the pattern I love it. Its New look

Thursday - This is one of my most worn tops that I made so I should really make another one of it  New look 6110 it was hard to make and I bought the fabric in a charity shop. 

Friday: My Irish dress, Ok this is a Tilly pattern its the Louliou dress and its great for being around the house in.  although the straps like always were too long and I had to make an adaption after the fact which involved folding over the straps. commerical patterns are often too long in the straps as my shoulders are short.

Saturday

I went to Southampton on Saturday for a literary day out and because I had a four hour shift in the morning I decided to do my hair early and attack it with half a can of hairspray. So I did my rock chick poof something an american friend taught me at university. when I got back from work I decided on a dress which matched the hair and did my makeup to match too. ( Left)  it was a hit with the people I met so much so one asked me what the fit was like on my - designer vintage dress - and which size I went for as they are hard to judge. I said that I made it myself and the fit is so good because I made adaptions to the pattern to accommodate my body shape. The lady's jaw hit the floor.It is my sew over it Betty dress.

Sunday.

So I have a confession to make, if you have read the back pages of this blog you will know I made the dress above for a competition last summer. I haven't worn it since, until Sunday of this week.  I am putting it down to the fact I hated making it and that is isn't particularly flattering without the ribbon which went AWOL but I felt part of this me made may malarkey was the wearing of things which were less loved and there was no love lost between me and this dress.  I am an hourglass shape so I have to define my waist else I look much bigger than I am.  Its comfy even if not really me.

Monday
I wore my wrap skirt today I love this skirt and its pattern. wrap skirts are great. this one was made in a 80s print and it makes me smile.

Me Made May Monday week 2

so we are now are on week 2 and the novelty factor has worn off. I also had a cracking migraine pretty much all week. I should also point out that the majority of the  pictures were taken when I made the items not this week.

Tuesday9/5 : Mathilde Top from Tilly and the buttons. This is one of my favourite tops. Tilly is my favourite pattern maker and I love this top. It is a joy to wear and I love wearing it. It has a yoke and pin tucks. it also has button up back.

Wednesday10/2 :
 Dotty Peplum (Mcalls 6896.) This was free with Dressmaker magazine a couple of months back and I loved the pattern but the only issue in it is the massive invisible zip down the back which is annoying. I made this in October I think.









Thursday11/2:
K3877 kwik sew A line skirt. yup you guessed it another free pattern Thursday was my day off and I wore this skirt - I made it in may as one of my bottoms that I was going to make. I made it as a remnant buster. This cherry fabric ( I wear it ironically of course!) I bought for the Betty Sew over it dress - which I wore on Sunday. I made a addition to the pattern to scoop the hem at the back which my mother does not appreciate but I love. ( I didn't make the top unfortunately) but it does feature my new hair cut - which I also love! these two pictures were taken this week as I didn't have a picture of the peplum top which goes to show how flattering a camera angle can be or not. I think it is that I don't suit blocks of red which considering my work uniform is red...




Friday12/5
 my migraine hit a 9 out of 10 and I was basically confined to bed.  I love these Pajamas they are the summer ones. I have two sets I am going to make more but yeah this is the Margot Pajama bottoms from Tilly and the buttons book ( of course) and the Sew simple shell top and they are made out of a poly cotton print in two colour ways. I like to wear nautical coming from a seaside town. the top was made from an off cut of another dress and the bottoms in the opposite matching fabric.











Saturday13/5
I was working all day Saturday and I was not quite over the migraine. So i was listening to eurovision from the sewing machine as my mother described the acts. this was my outfit of choice. its made from petrol ponte roma. Its the mccalls pattern same as last week M6886 and I made it on a stretch fabrics course last Autumn.


Sunday 14/5
so for church you can of course wear a pretty dress so I picked my sew over it betty dress it has a twirly skirt and I added pockets... which I made in this fab cherry print. I made this dress originally for a tea party I went to at the tea shop opposite Jane Austen's house with a good friend of mine from university organised by her husband for her friends ( nawww she is a lucky girl). This dress I also wore on good Friday to be ironic because I am allergic to fruit and of course its covered in Cherries. something I ummed and ahhed about in the shop. but love this dress. This pattern needed bodice editing because it was designed for someone with much longer torso than me and wider back.

Today 15/5

 This is the Shannon dress from simple sew I made it a couple of weeks ago and it will be featuring in an exciting forthcoming series of blog posts. its made of jersey and has a nautical vibe. I love it - it is so comfortable. Great for a night in whilst you are still not feeling 100%

For me it is one of the joys of  making clothes that each has a story and a journey I enjoy the process of clothing myself something I haven't done in years as last year I lost 3 1/2 stone and of course this hobby is helping me keep it off as I want this stuff to fit in a year or so. This week i learned that colour is important for so long I have just picked fabrics I like rather than thinking about the wardrobe as a whole. I have a lot of blue in my wardrobe some pink and purple but mostly blues and greens.  This challenge is making me think about what I wear and how I wear it  I love making clothes and I take pride in wearing what I make but I am not nor ever have been a fashionista. but i am enjoying the process of developing my own style and making things and enjoying the process of it.

I have potentially a sew with me in the pipeline and a pattern review. so watch this space.

Me - made may monday week 1

Tuesday 2/5
So because I was on a late to early tonight and tommorow I decided against going out I know I should have done it was a prayer meeting but I did my own praying. I wore this beauty around the house  that I made during a course back last year and it is made from McCalls pattern M6927 in of course pink polka dots which was rose and Hubble fabric I think  it was the first I overclocked the seams. I wore it with leggings. Most of my tops are deigned for modesty and cover my bum and don't show off my midriff.
This pattern is awesome by the way I have a couple of these tops  I love it - it is super easy to follow. MCcalls patterns are great and this is a simple one and a great confidence booster


Wednesday 3/5
Today I wore my Doris dress. This dress reminds me of my grandma doris so this is why it is called that and I wore it out to do ministry and hang with my friend. It is from the Sew many dresses so little time book  its the zigzag dress from there. It is the button up bodice and the 1/2 circle skirt  and I love it. it is fully lined and has special buttoning in backwards forwards buttons to stop gaping at the boobage.


Thurday 4/5
May the force be with you  on this star wars day I wore my green polka dot betty blouse it is a pretty colour and it made me Smile. the pattern was free in an old issue of simply sewing magazine


Friday 5/5
Another sewing mag free pattern, this is the sew magazine anna tunic and I love it - the fabric was from a charity shop and it had two different designs on it. I lined it with green fabric.  I love this top and it really makes me smile!

Saturday 6/5

 On Saturday I went to a patchwork and quilting course. it was amazing and I wore my Orla top which is from a Tilly and the buttons pattern  - it has interesting/ evil french darts in the sides. Tilly's patterns are always amazing. I love this top and it was one of the first collars I ever did.

This the the patchwork quilt I made on the course. I love Elephants so this made me happy.


Sunday 7/5
For church on Sunday  I wore this lovely dress because there is no opportunity better than church to wear the pretty dresses I own. I love this one and definitely want to remake this pattern. it is the daisy dress from Simply sewing magazine.

 Today I wore my purple top  its a new look pattern but I am not sure which one it is..  maybe next time I wear it I will write about it

So I have learned a fair bit this week. I have learned that I love what I make and I love wearing what I make. I have also learned that I am quite lazy with what I wear and It has been great to think through what I am wearing each day.

 I have a pattern review in the pipline. Is there any of these patterns you would like a review of let me know in the comments below!