Me Made May 2015: what I wore week 2

dressmaking
My hems seem to have raised quite a lot this week! It's not that I'm feeling particularly risqué... it's just a lot of my older makes had shorter skirts. It's only recently that I've started making garments that are longer in length, so I guess Me Made May's got me mixing in my some of my older makes that have been languishing in the back of the wardrobe for a while. Here's week 2 in pictures:


Day 8


A couple of makes here that I haven't worn together before: a plain (and unblogged) Simple Sew Lottie blouse and my tartan pencil skirt made from the second Great British Sewing Bee book. 

Day 9


This is my absolute favourite dress! Not entirely me-made, but I think I've done enough modifications for it to count. I bought the original from eBay, where it was advertised as a vintage garment, originally belonging the seller's Grandma. I shortened it from ankle length, and altered the long sleeves to shorter sleeves, gathered into a cuff. I think I'd like to do more alterations like this, but it really relies on plumping on a decent original!

Day 10


I definitely didn't look like this on Day 10, due to having a bit too much fun on the eve of Day 9... So my Liberty self-drafted dress got another wear as it was an easy one to grab and throw on.

Day 11


I don't often wear my red Lilou dress, but I've taken it in a little at the waist since making it, and I think it fits a bit better. It's probably a bit too short for my liking, but I did enjoy how much the skirt swished when I walked around the office at work.

Day 12


Here's a picture of me in Urban Outfitters changing rooms, where I'd been trying on clothes to work out how I could make my own versions! I'm wearing my Dear and Doe Chardon skirt with a vintage blouse.


Day 13


Today I wore my spotty Megan dress (with self drafted pointy collar). My dress got a few compliments at work which was nice - must be another one that I don't wear too often!

Day 14


And to round up week 2, I wore this (unblogged) check skirt, with a roll neck jumper from Boden and hand-knitted heart brooch. I made the skirt from the Simplicity 2154 pattern (the accompanying blouse is much more exciting - you can see my version here). The fabric is from John Lewis, and I used the rest of it for the trims on my Mary Quant dress. 



Me Made May 2015: what I wore Week 1

dressmaking
Like so many others taking part, I've made it through the first week of Me Made May (I say that as if it was a real challenge, but it hasn't been at all). I'm really enjoying mixing my me-made garments with shop bought clothes. And I'm loving seeing what everyone else is wearing on social media using #mmmay15. Here's my first week in pictures:

Day 1

I started the month with my newest dress - a self drafted bodice with a Lilou skirt. The weather wasn't quite as summery as my dress, so I layered it over a 3/4 sleeved top.

Day 2

I went to an all day city music Festival on the 2nd and wore my Liberty print self drafted dress with a jacket from Marks and Spencers.

Day 3



Sorry for the terrible grainy picture! You can see this Megan dress with self drafted collar in full colour/quality here! I wore it with a dark green wool cardigan from Uniqlo.



Day 4


My Simple Sew Lottie blouse came out for day 4, worn with my favourite skirt (unfortunately not made by me) from &otherstories - in my opinion, the BEST high street store.

Day  5


I dug out one of my earlier makes - the full skirted dress from the second GBSB book for day 5. It's been stuck in the back of my wardrobe for an age because I was convinced the fit was off, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought! I quite enjoyed wearing this one again.

Day 6


An old picture, but I wore exactly this (with a cardigan) on day 6 - a self drafted gathered skirt and H&M blouse.

Day 7


And an early repeat wear, but I really love this version of the Lottie blouse (worn here with some very jazzy Topshop trousers).




3 things to make for Me Made May

dressmaking
No panic sewing here! This post should actually be titled '3 things that I definitely don't need to make in time for Me Made May but want to anyway', but that isn't particularly catchy. I actually have a bit of time off work and I'm going to hopefully use it to get a few things made from my sewing list.

I promised myself that I would take part in this year's Me Made May, having not made an official pledge last year but giving it a bit of a go anyway with my then-limited hand made wardrobe.Things are looking a bit different this year...



Me Made May is obviously intended to be fun, but I particularly like the way that it makes people re-evaluate the things they've made and the way that they wear them. Just the thought of it made me grab this selection/jumble of handmade from my wardrobe, after which, I felt a) proud that I'd made so much in the past year, and b) happy to rescue the ones that had got lost in the depths of the wardrobe!

But here are the 3 things still on my list to make:

 1. A self drafted bodice/Lilou skirt hack
I've made a few dresses from a self drafted pattern that I made at evening school, and achieving the perfect fitting bodice is pretty much my biggest sewing achievement.



I want to use the bodice pattern again and again, but make each garment different through simple changes to things like the neckline and sleeves, or a quite obvious one: attaching a different skirt. The original version was tulip shaped with a big forties-style flounce. The one above is my latest, made from Liberty floral with a long gathered skirt. And the proposed skirt for my next version...



The Lilou from Love at First Stitch! It will just take a bit of tweaking to get those lovely pleats to match the princess seams of the bodice (and I might add a bit of length to it too) but I think it will look fab!

2. A basic plain blouse
Readers might know that I love a good Lottie blouse (see here, here and here), but I also love a jazzy patterned fabric too...




I like to sew using exciting fabrics because it lets me make something totally different to the garments you see in the shops. Although I have been known to wear double pattern, I think it's time I made a couple of plain tops (most likely Lottie's), mainly for the sake of other people's vision. But seriously, having a plain blouse to wear with a jazzy handmade skirt will make head-to-toe me-made a much more wearable option.

3. The holiday-sun cover up


Not really my usual style, but I think the most challenging part of Me Made May could be the (hopefully sunny) holiday I'm taking at the end of the month, so some sort of cover up would be great. The pattern and instructions to make this lace jacket/cover up were in Love Sewing issue 8 (the Christmas issue with the free Skater Dress pattern). I'm putting a slight twist on it by using a sheer black fabric with a raised geometric pattern.

So to conclude... hopefully I'll be wearing all of my me-made clothes, plus a few newly made garments next month! Here's my pledge:

 'I, Shauni from The Magnificent Thread, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '15. I endeavour to wear one hand made garment each day for the duration of May 2015'

me-made-may'14

Visit So Zo..What do you know? and her Me Made May '15 post to sign up too!

Super Scalloped Lilou

DIY
My shiny new copy of Love at First Stitch and the bargain fabric I wrote about it my last post have been keeping me super busy this week!


Pins and scissors ready, I jumped straight into making the lovely Lilou dress so I could have it ready to take on my holiday. The stripe fabric I used is a lightweight cotton - pretty good for what is officially my first me-made summer dress!

I love scalloped edges. I seem to spot lovely scalloped-detailed garments in shops like Hobbs all the time, but then I always have the 'Ohhh can I justify spending this much..?' debate. So I was thrilled to see that one of Tilly's suggested variations for the Lilou dress was to make a scalloped neckline.


Tilly provides step-by-step instructions on how to add the scallops to your pattern. I knew that tin of Savers kidney beans would come in handy at some point! (Product placement at its best - other tins are available). I traced around the tin so mine would be bold and deep. The construction part is SO simple - I think my wardrobe will be full of scalloped edges and trims soon!


Love at First Stitch is great because it gives you the confidence to try out these tricks and techniques that you've long-admired, but not quite plucked up the guts to actually do. Sometimes - especially for the not so confident sewist - it's easy to get caught up in sticking to the pattern and following the 'rules'. The book encourages you the reader/maker to 'make it your own' throughout, and that's something I love - even more of that 'I did it myself!' feeling when you've done.


I cut a straight size 3, and like A Stitching Odyssey, I reduced my seam allowance to 1cm near the bust to avoid the dreaded FBA. In hindsight, I probably should have re-positioned the bust dart as everything's looking a bit pointy around there - but hey, maybe I wanted everyone to think that I'm wearing Madonna-style Gaultier underwear...

One thing I did do was take in the shoulder seams a little to stop a bit of gaping in the back. I'd probably take a centimetre off the shoulders on the pattern next time, just to get the right fit for me.



And it's done! I'm not sure I'd win any prizes if you inspected the finish up close, but that's my fault for making a few mistakes and being too lazy to fix them. The waist seam at the back doesn't quite match at either side of the zip - it's just a few millimetres out - and not all of my skirt pleats meet the darts on the bodice where they should. But I think you'd only notice these things if you were told (whoops, there I go giving away my secrets!) By placing the horizontal stripes on the bodice and vertical stripes on the skirt, I will hopefully confuse the onlooker's eyes so they don't see them anyway - definitely the intention.


The whole dress has cost me less than £5 to make, and I'd say that the quality is a fair bit better than a cheap dress from the high street. The lined bodice gives it a particularly nice, neat finish - hiding away all the raw edges and dodgy bits! I haven't lined a garment since I did my A Levels, so it was a really useful reminder/practice.


The Lilou dress might well become my new wardrobe staple. It's so simple, but at the same time, the results are really pretty - it proves that you don't need to put a bow of distraction on top of everything *cough cough*. You only need 2 metres of your main fabric for the dress itself, (0.5 of your lining fabric) so I definitely plan on having a snoop in the fabric shop and investing in something a bit fancier.
Some ideas:

  1. A chintzy floral Lilou, maybe with a longer length skirt and regular neckline
  2. A medium-weight quality black fabric LBL (Little Black Lilou)
  3. A bold, block-coloured Lilou -  I'm thinking green or red
Here is a quick view of the back of the dress too. Eagle-eyed readers may spot some slightly out stitching, but oh well!


So it looks like me and the Lilou pattern are going to become very well acquainted. I'm also keen to try out the Mimi blouse. But for now, I'm signing off and putting down the needle and thread. It's mere HOURS until I leave to go on holiday, and as I'm heading to a music festival, I just had to see if the Lilou has the moves...


...OH YES IT DOES. Adiós!

Fabric Pilgrimage

dressmaking
I went on a trip to London last weekend. I don't know if you could quite call it a fabric pilgrimage as there were alternative motives for the visit, but I did travel via Megabus, and then caught the tube to the end of the Victoria line - and it was HOT! - so it was a mission of sorts. But when my friend suggested it, I just couldn't turn down a trip to the quite unexpected fabric haven of Walthamstow. I'd heard good things, and it's also listed on Tilly and the Buttons as a London fabric hot spot. Anyway it didn't disappoint - bargainous fabric galore!


The high street is home to an unbelievable number of fabric shops and there are many more fabric/craft/haberdashery traders to be found on the stalls of the outdoor market, which runs down the same road. It's brilliantly overwhelming. 


These pictures are from just one of the many shops. I'm not entirely sure how they can even make profit on £1 and £2 a metre fabrics - but hey, I'm not complaining! For once, could it be possible that London was CHEAPER than the North?! I have to note that not all of the fabric was great quality and it does require a fair bit of rummaging. But if, like me, you're not after anything too fancy or you just want to buy a bundle of 'practice' fabric, then you can't beat it! You'll probably even spot a few familiar prints if you still frequent the bigger high street shops - there were definitely a few fabrics I recognised from a recent trip to Primark.



I went home with 4 metres of the nautical looking blue/white/yellow stripe fabric (priced at £1 per m) and a couple of metres of the lilac flowery (still only £2 per m). Me and my purse are very happy!

So now, and in other news, how am I going to put it to use?
Well I also had a very good post day. A little bit late to the party I know, but I finally caught up and bought Love at First Stitch, the first book by (as mentioned earlier) sewist, blogger, GBSB contestant and all round, super stylish Tilly Walnes.


The beautifully designed book has seven different patterns and easy to follow guides and tutorials that take you from complete novice to proud, confident sewist. The thing I really like about the patterns are Tilly's suggestions of simple changes that make different variations of the garments. Do you remember when Gok Wan was all into that capsule wardrobe of twenty pieces or something? No? Well I do... and it's like that, only so much better. There are so many options that you could probably make them all and spend a month (or a Me Made May) hardly wearing the same combo twice!


I knew which projects I wanted to make before I'd even opened the book. I'm going to use my bargain blue stripey cotton to make a nautical-chic summer Lilou dress - I'm thinking the scalloped neckline variation...


And I have just enough of the lilac flowery to make a pretty Mimi blouse, maybe with a contrast white collar. This one will be on hold for a while until I get a new sewing machine that can handle button holes - though Tasha from By Gum, By Golly has a handy tutorial on making them by hand here for anyone who is patient enough (sorry not me!)

A good week for sewing. Must get going if I want the Lilou to be finished before my holidays!

Fitting a blouse - oh the antici......pation!

dressmaking
I shouldn't have strayed into the craft/haberdashery department when I went to John Lewis last week. The beautiful fabric drew my in though, particularly the special edition 150th anniversary fabrics. They only have a few for sale online and I didn't take pictures unfortunately, but they were so many bright colours and amazing retro prints. And of course I saw one that I 'just had to have', though at £18 per metre, I have to admit it was a little (a lot!) out of my budget :( After a momentary sulk, I decided on a compromise between the fabric and my purse and bought a small amount, enough to make a pretty jazzy collar. 


I came home with 0.3metres of fab pink/purple wiggly line 100% cotton. After the success of my first Simplicity 2154, I thought this would be perfect for a collar on the second attempt. Then came the DILEMA: what colour do I make the blouse?! I went to B&M Fabrics based in Leeds Kirkgate Market (if you live anywhere near Leeds GO!) and ended up buying two colours: a perfect pinky/purple match, and a majorly contrasting minty green.

After some nail biting decision making, I decided to go all out and make it in the contrast green. I had a vision of it looking all lovely and retro, maybe a bit fifties, but when I started cutting and stitching the pieces together, I had a moment of 'oh no'... I was going to look like I was putting my scrubs on to go into theatre. Hello Dr Frank-N-Furter, unexpected and accidental sewing inspiration - just let me grab my pearls and a pair of pink Marigolds...


I  made a serious effort to tack everything first this time, and the overall finish was much neater. The fit is probably a bit off though, hence the doctor's scrubs comparisons. I can't believe it's took me so long to realise that a little bit of pattern can subtly disguise all manner of sewing sins and fit issues! The fabric I used for the last version was a bit thinner so the blouse sits better, especially when tucked in, and the pattern of it diverts attention from any dodgy bits. But in when made in a block colour (minus the collar), I'm really noticing the excess fabric around the waist.


Trying to get the fit spot on was actually a really good challenge, and it means that both my Simplicity 2154 blouses will have a different look to them - it's not my uniform you know!

I did the alterations the way I thought best, which involved lots of trying the blouse on inside out and pinching and pinning at the darts. It was mainly the front two that I was concerned about - they needed taking in a bit under the bust in order for the fabric to skim over the bust/waist area better. I measured and tacked both first to make sure everything was even and I'd not completely distorted the shape of the blouse.


Once I'd done that I thought why stop there with the adjustments?! The improved fit on the body actually made the shoulders look a bit out of balance, so I unpicked the arm facing (the bit that you press towards the inside for a neat finish) and restitched it an extra centimetre in - much better. They also got a top stitch after the photo below, so it sits nicely in place. I attached the collar, and taaa-daaa, I no longer look like an I'm heading to the theatre (or the lab)!


I never thought I'd get into ironing, but the sewing thing really forces you to! It's quite satisfying to press all those darts into shape and get rid of all the creases from squashing it through the sewing machine. And I did a proper hem this time - no bias binding cheats - so a blast a steam was pretty much essential to turning it up.


And it's done! I think I finally got it to fit my retro vision. I left the bow out for now as I wanted it to look a little different from my last version, and I quite like it as it is, nice and simple.

There's even a subtle nod to Dr Frank-N-Furter at the back fastening with a couple of pearly buttons - I managed to get this bit to sit spot on this time hooray!


It's already had quite a bit of wear in the sun. Now what should I make next..?


Double Denim

box pleats
Well, not quite double denim - though I'm definitely not opposed to it - but I made a second skirt from the MASSIVE amount of denim that I accidentally purchased. Unfortunately I've used it all up now, so I won't be recruiting members for a B*Witched tribute act.

I decided to make a second version of the box pleat skirt from the Sewing Bee book. And I did something that I know I shouldn't have done really... I cut against the grain. Rather than matching the selvedges when folding like you're usually meant to, I had to fold the fabric the other way to make the pattern fit. In fact, there was enough to lengthen the skirt a bit, and in my defence, it was more economical - waste not want not etc. NOTE: I wouldn't normally do this, but as it as I already have a skirt made from the same denim, (which you can find here) I thought why not? If it goes wrong it goes wrong, and then I'll have learnt my lesson.

Final  fitting, pins and all
I added 3" to the length - I'm going for the demure look clearly - and after causing my sewing machine some serious stress with a few too many layers of denim, I had a finished skirt, pretty much all in an evening's work! I just had to slipstitch the inside of the waistband rather than machine sew due to the thickness of the denim. The pattern didn't have a lengthen/shorten line, which probably suggests that I wasn't supposed to go altering it, but oh well, I gave it a go anyway! I actually quite like the length, I think it makes the skirt look completely different to my first version.


In hindsight, denim really wasn't the most suitable fabric to use. I can't decide whether to say it sticks out, or just holds its shape very well...

The waistband however, is much sturdier and less likely to crease and bunch up when sitting. I'd definitely recommend using a thicker interfacing (or a couple of layers of lightweight) if making the skirt with a thinner fabric.

The box pleats hold well, but I wasn't really sure where they should stop. In the poly cotton, they fell much more naturally, so in a fairly robust denim, it was quite difficult to make them look like they naturally fade out.


It's not my biggest success, but then it's not a disaster either. It might not be holiday wear, but that's because it's quite heavy and I'm only taking hand luggage (ha!), but I imagine it will get a bit of wear over the summer.

Next up is the Simplicity 2154 blouse version 2. I can see me being the type of sewist (sewer?) who tends to stick with patterns I like once I've found them...


A bloody big bow (and the Simplicity 2154 blouse behind it)

bow
If you walk past me in the street, you'll probably see the bow before you notice me, because I finished the Simplicity 2154 blouse. I had great fun with the pattern and love pretty much everything about the finished garment - I'd wear it every day if I could!


It was frantically finished on the morning that I wanted to wear it. I spent my train journey picking out all the tacking and basted stitches and did a bit of a rush job with the zip. I was in such a rush to get leave the house that I didn't get chance to take a picture of it. So the first picture of me in my dream blouse ended up being a badly-lit, slightly tipsy toilet selfie (sorry!). I cropped the toilets out for everyone's sake, but my elbow does seem to be resting in one, that's just my natural stance...


And sshhhhhh it's a secret, but it wasn't actually finished - I didn't have time to hem the blouse, very bad of me I know, but it was tucked in so who was going to notice?

After it's first wear, I finished the hem, did a few adjustments and took some proper photos:


THE BOW: It's big, so big it overshadows the blouse, and probably me, but I don't care because I LOVE IT! I can totally understand why both Bimble and Pimble and Handmade Jane chose not to interface their versions, but I really do love the structure it's given mine, and it also sits really nicely when worn with a cardigan. I used medium weight interfacing rather than light weight, and the bow sits a bit differently to how the pattern intends it to, but that's fine by me. I'd suggest skipping the interfacing altogether though if you wanted more of a drape on it, particularly if you're using a 100% cotton that already holds its shape quite well like this one.



There's no underestimating the amount of satisfaction you can get from a tiny button. I managed to find the perfect little retro match for the blouse. The back had a bit of a tweak after the first wear - it didn't quite sit right at first, so I got my flatmate to do a temporary safety pin fix. I ended up just moving the button over so there was a slight overlap at the top of the back opening. I was also meant to make a thread loop for the button, but I was being lazy and opted for an elastic loop instead. The thread loop is one to try in the future though - I'll be following this tutorial when I get around to making one.


And here it is worn with my denim Sewing Bee pencil skirt, and my pale and holiday-ready limbs. I made a straight size 14 with no adjustments, and although it fits perfectly on the bust, there's a bit of excess fabric around the waist. Luckily, I tuck most things in anyway, and the high waist of the pencil skirt works great. I had been a bit uncertain about having a zip in the side, but it's lapped and barely noticeable. I might consider putting one in the back instead to give a bit more flexibility with adjusting the side seams, but I should probably just pluck up the courage to take in the darts instead.


I've been planning the next version(s) already. I'm thinking of making a couple of simple collared versions without the bow, to have as throw-on wardrobe staples. When I'm a bit more confident with different fabrics (and hopefully have a better sewing machine) I'd like to try it in a thin, body-skimming fabric with a better drape too! 

 But for now, goodbye from a very happy me and my bow!

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