End of Me-Made-May 13

I have absolutely loved Me-Made-May-13 and I am so grateful to Zoe for organising this initiative.  I have found it encouraging and inspiring to see so many others make their own clothes- a huge range of locations too!  It gave me a sense of direction making my own clothes and althought the UK weather was rather chilly for much of May, I wore things that have been hiding neglected in my wardrobe and discovered again once more.  The self photography is challenging and everyone's least favourite aspect but I did give my daughter a chance to sharpen her photography skills whether she liked it or not.  

This outfit is a couple of favourites, old and new.

The skirt is Simplicity 2215, one of my favourite patterns ever, read more about it here.  The top is from Meg McElwee's Craftsy Sewing with Knits class and although a recent make, I wear this a lot.  

It was colder mid week so I wore a warmer corduroy skirt, Simplicity Amazing Fit 1717 with last years voile Tova- rather depressingly boots and socks had to come out for this day.  You might notice that Lottie doesn't like to miss a photo op.

On Thursday, sun shone so a return wear for vintage Simplicity 6789 wrap skirt.  This is skirt has had lots of wear already and it is only a few weeks old.  Although it is a vintage pattern, this one comes up a lot on Etsy and ebay.  The blouse is last years' 'Library' blouse (Christine Haynes pattern class on Craftsy).  I like the detail on this but it has always been big in the bust so I refitted the dart and made it a lot longer and also removed the bow.  The neck line is a 60s shape and is cute but not the most flattering cut for me.  The tucks are my favourite part of this top.  The bag is Me-Made too.

I finished Me-Made-May-13 with a new dress. 

This dress came about with a little detective work.   I found a homemade dress at a car boot sale last summer that was the perfect fit.  After hours, days, weeks  a little browse on Etsy, I found the pattern, Simplicity 6329 that matched the dress and in my size.  View1.  It is an economical pattern, omitting the ties meant I could fit it into 2 metres of fabric with a little to spare.  I knew a black floral worked so I chose a Shelburne Falls floral print bought from here.  I had some thrifted vintage cotton bias binding.  I find early 70s styles work well for me- fitted at the bust and flowing over the hips works well on my body shape.  I cut an inch longer than the original.

So far so good.  Fitted around the bust well, only a little extra fullness which is acceptable for me- if I fit too closely it can look a bit skinny.  I added a little button detail to highlight the bodice detail which is harder to see in darker fabric.  I took the sides in 1/2" each side.  

I took my time on the zip and consulted my sewing bible and followed every tedious stage of 'centred zip'.  It took a while but it did work.

You can see the 3 sewing stages here- hand basting, machine basting and then top sewing.  It was a pain to do but it is the best centred zip I have ever done and as this is a long and visible area all down the centre back, I wanted to nail it.  I did notice something else in this picture that I have learnt during May: I am round shouldered so my shoulders come forwards a little. I am stretching my back and shoulders a little more and trying to correct my posture (when I can be bothered).  It is something to consider for future pattern fitting.

All fine, fitted nicely- then I did the armholes, trimming and binding and found the sides were way to big and that I hadn't looked very objectively at the fitting stage.  So I pinned and took it in more graduating to the hip as you can see in the line of pins below (Me-Made PJ pants are in the pic too!).

I did end up with a perfect fit eventually.  A couple of lessons learnt.  If I had traced the pattern I could then have trimmed my pattern for next time- I will make this again.  As I used the master piece I took notes of all the changes in a book that I keep for this very purpose.  If you regularly  make clothes I would wholeheartedly recommend this- so helpful!

I fulfilled my original promise and wore Me-Made garments at least 3 days a week, often more.  I made more than my suggested 3 garments and there is more in the pipeline.  I chucked out old clothes that I no longer need to make space for new makes.  I put a lot more effort into my choices so my old faithful- a long denim skirt hardly got worn at all. My percentage of homemade clothing is a lot higher and now I feel more confident with sewing knits, I know that I will be making a lot of long sleeved and short sleeved Tee tops- these are the bedrock of my usual wardrobe.  I am planning another Bleuet dress- this time in Melody Miller 'Vinyl' floaty linen to wear at Fat Quarterly retreat and my original Bleuet is my top make for this month- I love it.  More PJ pants are needed to show construction details for teaching at Retreat.  And then I have a couple of quilts that need to be done so busy busy- I like being busy.

My other Me-Made posts can be found here:

Me-Made 1

Me-Made 2

Me-Made 3

Me-Made 4

The Flcikr group is full of inspiration if you need ideas for patterns and makes.

Me Made May Weeks 2-3: Everything Else

Self photography is a tricky business so what follows is mainly a selection of dodgy selfie iphone shots with some of my weeks 2/3 Me Made May 13 outfits.  I made this Airelle top a few weeks back with some Grayson Perry Liberty lawn which was an ebay bargain.  It needs a proper photo as it is a lovely slightly fitted blouse and has really given me a new pattern company to love- Deer and Doe.

I made a size 38 (UK 10) and altered the bust.  Although I am narrow in the chest I hate any sort of restriction in the sleeves or shoulders so I find this size and taking in the sides and the chest works best and is my standard adjustment for lots of tops.  There are waist and back darts for gentle shaping and the shoulder line is created by front and back yoke.  The sleeves are a lovely fit, especially around the armscye/armhole.  I did manage randomly place two of the central flower motifs rather creatively placed like pasties on my front! 

 It's a little gappy around the V so on the next one I will adjust it on the front at the shoulder by the neck so this lies flat. I reduced a little fullness on the pattern piece by taping down with washi tape. I generally use Swedish tracing paper for pattern pieces.  Tracing is not my favourite part of dress making and this makes life easier.  It is soft and strong, does't crinkle and tea like paper and take up loads of room flapping around.  Its popular stuff and hard to get in the UK, Annie has had some in and it has already sold but more is coming.

I made this Wiksten tank a couple of months back using Field Study Rayon bought here.   The fabric practically falls on the body, it clings and flows in a very flattering way.  It is also tricky to cut- scissors rather than my usual rotary cutter preference.  It needs gentle handling and sharp pins as it will snag easily.  

As a result, I went with an easy pattern shape.  No darts so good for a small bust, although  I found that as rayon drapes so well, the tank came up looking a little big and I could have gone down a size- I can't wear it without something underneath as it looks too loose but the print is so pretty and the flow of the fabric is such a pleasure to wear, I am happy to layer it.

Sometimes I can persuade my daughter to take pics.  This is my latest Lonsdale skirt made again with Anna Maria Horner Field Study but this time linen/cotton from here.

This is incredible fabric to work with, quite heavy but with lovely drape and flow.  It holds a crease from the iron but doesn't crease when you are sitting or holding it and the pattern works in both directions so the 60" wide fabric is perfect for an A-line maxi like this.  Size 6 with the waist sitting low, no pattern alterations. Mmmm, swishy...

I made these PJ pants in preparation for my Fat Quarterly retreat class.  I have 3 pairs, all a little different and a 4th pair planned to show the construction techniques involved.  There area few alternations to the original Simplicity pattern which are part of the class- adding leg hem cuffs, adding a wider part elastic/ part draw waist tie.  These were made entirely from thrifted fabric, soft twill weave florals.

And finally a dress from last year, Simplicity Cynthia Rowley 1801.  I like this dress, good pockets, the right length, gathers front and back and not at the sides on the skirt all works well but I do lack the fun bags at the front and if I fitted this really well it would not be flattering.  I wore this on a little shopping trip with my sis.  We tried on stacks of clothes in a local dress agency and gave each other honest opinion- yay or nay on how we looked.  I came out from the changing room in this dress and she shook her head- no not that one.  I had to point out this is what I came in.  Its alright, she's my sis, I forgive her and she has a point!