It's my birthday! I saw in the early hours of the day at a wedding, wearing what I think may be my finest ever sew - a culotte jumpsuit - and luckily managed to get some pictures of it too. This has been in the pipeline for a little while now, so I'm thrilled that it a) worked out, b) I had an occassion to wear it, and c) I get to share it with you guys!

B6178 meets Flora!

Clearly ecstatic about the freedom for weird dance moves!

I made it using a mash up of two patterns - the By Hand London Flora bodice, and the B6178 Culottes, which I've been singing the praises of for the last couple of months (and blogged about here). I've had the Flora pattern for nearly 2 years now, but I've always put off making it for the fear of having an ordeal with the fit adjustments. After making a couple of pairs of B6178s and absolutely loving them, I realised that they'd look amazing together if I could make it work. This, coupled with the slight pressure of an impending wedding - one of my resolutions was to sew my own dress for wedding attire - was the push I needed to get fitting. It's not quite a dress I know, but I wanted something a bit different, and in my head, in this totally fitted the bill.

Working out the fit adjustments on the bust

Gigantic darts on my muslin!

First up was the - dreaded - fitting. I needn't fear the FBA, but there's just something about committing to it that makes me nervous. Anyway, the BHL site has the best FBA tutorial for version B of the Flora bodice. I made up the adjusted version and it was nearly spot on. I just had to take a centimetre out of the centre front as everything was all a bit too far out. I made up one other muslin  - a big deal for me considering it's usually very rare that I even make one - just to be sure I had the fit right, and then cut straight into my final fabric.

A pretty good fit for the first muslin

I used this lovely black and white polka dot crepe that I made the Nita Wrap Skirt in. I bought 4metres ages ago for a project that never saw the light of day, and I'm finally glad to have found the perfect use for it - a bold silhouette calls for a bold fabric right? I even had enough to fully line the bodice in it too - the stuff of luxury! The only thing I should've given a bit more consideration to was the placement of the spots. There was no way I was going to attempt pattern matching, but although I matched the selveedges, I seem to have cut the fabric with the spots running at a twisty angle. I'm hoping the spot placement looks fairly random despite the definite squiffy angles.

Used making my own outfit as an excuse to buy sparkly new shoes!

Back view

Happier than I look!

I'm not saying it's quite my finest technical sew, but I couldn't be prouder of the ideas, the pattern mash up and how it came together, and getting the fit just right - I love it, and it's a dream to wear. It's even more of a dream to wear with these sparkly shoes I got in Zara - making your own wedding attire totally justifies a new shoe purchase right? I've since seen a pattern that's probably a quicker way to make a similar one (the New Look 6446 - Erica Bunker made a fab version) but I'm glad I pushed myself with this one, and finally made up the Flora bodice! I think there'll be many more of these (Floras and Flora/culotte jumpsuits) to come :)

Here are a couple more pictures from the beautiful wedding we went to (congratulations Helen and Shaun!)

I have another 3 weddings to go before the season's out, and I'm really excited about making my dress for the next one after being sent a parcel of beautiful fabric from Sew Essential. Updates on that one very soon!

Is anyone else planning to sew their wedding outfits this year?

2nd Turia Dungaree Dress

Finishing the pocket edges

Pre-buttons and buckles

I used bias binding where needed to conceal the raw edges on the inside pockets and back - the main edge is machine stitched and then I hand stitched it in place on the inside. I blindly put all faith in the instructions with my first pair, which frayed like mad in the wash on the bits where there weren't explicit directions to finish the raw edge. Ah what a thing hindsight is... It took a bit of time to do, but I'm SO pleased with the finish.

Back view

Adjustments:

- I adjusted the positioning of the back pockets - I thought they were too high and too far apart last time - which has worked out pretty well. Note: topstitch detailing on them too - I was really starting to enjoy it by this point!

- I sewed the back straps in slightly angled towards the direction they go during wear. I suspected this might improve the fit after making my last pair and it really did the trick - thanks Jo for letting me know that it worked for hers and giving me the confidence to try it!

Final picture - just ready to head in for day 1 of Primavera!

Finished with buckles and buttons!

I have some pretty big makes on my 'to-sew' pile, and a house move on the cards for June, but when I finally get chance, I'd love to hack the pattern to make a long button down version like this one from Monki.

A very hackable option for the Turia Pattern

Thanks again Pauline Alice for my perfect summer pattern! (which will probably see me into autumn and winter too).

Top row: days 15, 16 & 17; Bottom row: days 18, 19 & 20

Day 15 - Self drafted Liberty dress; Day 16 - Vogue 1395; Day 17 - Blue Kielo Wrap Dress; Day 18 - Faux wrap skirt; Day 19 - Nita Wrap Skirt and sleeveless rise turtleneck hack; Day 20 - Simplicity 2154 skirt; Day 21 - (pictured below at The Big Simplicity Blog Meet) B6178 culottes, sleeveless Rise Turtleneck and Driftless Cardigan.

Week 4

Top row: days 23, 24 & 25; Bottom row; days 26 (day and evening), 28 & 29

Day 22 - (not pictured) same as day 21; Day 23 - floral self drafted skirt and sleeveless Rise Turtleneck; Day 24 - Floral Kielo Wrap Dress; Day 25 - Rise Turtleneck and GBSB hacked skirt; Day 26 - Lottie Blouse in the day and faux leather Nita Wrap Skirt in the evening; Day 27 - (not pictured) polka dot Nita Wrap Skirt; Day 28 - Turia dungaree dress; Day 29 - Turia dungaree dress and sleeveless rise turtleneck

Days 30 and 31 came from my holiday in Barcelona, and featured my recently blogged B6178 culottes, the wrap top I made as a part of my 'make more tops pledge', and my yet-to-be-blogged second pair of Turia dungarees - those of you who follow me on Instagram may have seen them over there!

Final thoughts on this year's Me Made May...

- My style's definitely evolved. I can split my me made wardrobe into Before-Kielo Wrap Dress and After-Kielo Wrap Dress. Making my first Kielo last year really marked a shift in my me made style, and it's the After's that definitely get a lot more wear.

- I'm moving house soon and have to do the brutal wardrobe cull, so Me Made May has really helped with some difficult decisions. My V1395 dress (pictured on day 16 above) is getting recycled - I just don't get on with the fit -  along with a bunch of older makes that never got a look in during the May.

- You know those days where you just don't feel like getting dressed? Well I haven't got any comfy me mades to wear on them. I'm not sure if this will spur me on in making a bunch of 'house clothes' but I'll definitely consider getting some PJ bottoms sewn up.

- I'm finding that wearing more than one me-made per day is coming quite naturally - maybe I'll have to up the challenge level of my pledge next year (!!!)

- I LOVED seeing everyone else's makes. My Instagram feed was so vibrant and positive all month - so much talent and beautiful patterns and fabric that I'm now dying to try out. It wouldn't be the same if MMMay ran all year round, but there's a part of me that wishes it would - thanks Zoe for organising once again.


The Big Simplicity Blog Meet!

Group shot!

And now a little about The Big Simplicity Blog Meet, which was held in Manchester a few weeks back. Myself, Aimee of Wrong Doll and Angela of Looks Like I Made It had already arranged to meet up in Manchester, and by great chance (fate?!) the event was running on the same day, so we signed right up!

Angela, Aimee and me - so lovely to finally meet!

Cake, goodie bags, fellow sewists and a May Martin masterclass. I'm not sure I was prepared for the amount of wisdom that May was about to impart - I had to steal a bit of paper off of Aimee to jot some tips down! From overlocker tips, to sewing with jersey and turning straps; May not only seems to know it all, but she has an insanely great tip for everything too. She's knowledgeable, witty and very honest - May said she couldn't endorse anything that she wouldn't be happy to use or teach with, with a rather interesting reference to a certain brand of sewing machine that Patrick just so happens to front...

Invisible zipper tutorial!

Anyway, here May is, showing us all how to sew the neatest and quickest invisible zip of all time. I ran straight out to Abakhan after and bought a skinny piping/zipper foot - the piece of kit I'm missing that's prevented me getting an up close finish on the bottom of my zips for all these years!

Goodies and Abakhan haul

We were lucky enough to get a fab bag of patterns, goodies and reading material at the end of the day too. I also grabbed some ridiculous but wonderful snake skin effect faux leather from Abakhan too (May recommended Scotch tape of the machine foot for sewing faux leather!).

For a much more comprehensive run down of May's brilliant tips and advice, see Aimee and Angela's great round ups of the day.

Thanks Simplicity for hosting such a wonderful event!

I challenge anyone to find a more perfect culotte pattern than Butterick's B6178 - but seriously, if you do please let me know, because I'm really getting into culottes now. I'm sewing them up like they're going out of fashion (they probably will soon...but I don't care, which is a good job, as I made 2 pairs of these in as many weeks).

First pair of B6178's

Culottes have always stirred up a little interest in me. I made a sort-of pair last year by hacking the GBSB Casual Trousers pattern, and sometimes wear them with a detachable pinafore bib, but they are what they say on the tin - casual. The Named Mimosa Culottes have been on my radar for a while, but they're just a little too voluminous to tempt me. When I came across a pair of B6178s on the Sew Tesutti blog, I was sold, these were the ones.

B1678

I made view D - the simplest version, without any additional pleats or tucks - and I think they are spot on, both in volume and fit. The have handy pockets, and fasten with a zip up the back - another opportunity to avoid trying a fly fastening! I thought I would be cutting it quite fine size wise, as my measurements aligned with the size 14... no room for manouever if I needed the next size up as I'd only bought the version of the pattern that went up to size 14. Luckily there's plenty of ease in the culottes, and I although I didn't need to, you could probably attach the waistband with a bit more ease and get an extra inch out of them.

Pair two, worn on holiday in Barcelona

I made pair 1 in a khaki, mid-weight, poly/crepe-feel fabric from the grab bins in Abakhan. I wasn't so sure if I'd definitely like the style and fit, so I didn't want to commit to anything fancy fabric-wise. Anyway, I thought they were great and was wearing them straight away. The fabric was a really good match too as it has a great drape, and hangs really nicely. The culottes are Ease-Stitched into the waistband, basted and then sewn. I managed to catch a few little tucks by accident when sewing, so they're not quite the neatest, but the bits I caught are pretty symmetrical, so I didn't feel the need to unpick the whole thing and sew it again - it's a design feature darling.

Close up of fabric used for my 2nd pair

I took a little bit more care over my second pair. In fact, quite a lot of care over making sure the pinstripes in this lovely Fabworks crepe/viscose were straight. I had such a clear vision of the finished version in this fabric - I was thinking Cos/Comme des Garçons style with a little Vivienne Westwood pirate era thrown in - and I'm so pleased that they match up to it in reality! There's actually a pair just like them in Topshop for around £30 at the minute - mine cost around £12 to make.

Why buy Topshop when you can make your own?

Back view!

I'm currently trying to work out the fit of the By Hand London Flora bodice so I can make a B6178/Flora mash-up to wear to a summer wedding or two - fingers crossed it works!

FBA and fitting adjustments to the Flora bodice

I also have some of the pinstripe fabric left and fancy making a matchy-matchy top - I'm channeling Cos-style again here. It's a decent chunk, but probably less than a metre... Does anyone have any simple top recommendations for woven fabric? Maybe something sleeveless or cropped would work, or perhaps one of the Seamwork patterns..?

Top row: days 1, 2 & 3; Bottom Row: days 4, 5, 6 & 7

Day 1 - Rise Turtleneck and self-drafted skirt with pinafore bib; Day 2 - Kielo Wrap Dress and new Driftless Cardigan; Day 3 - self-drafted velvet skirt, Rise Turtleneck and Retro Rucksack; Day 4 - Rise Turtleneck hack, self-drafted skirt; Day 5 - Rise Turtleneck hack and Tilly and the Buttons Miette Skirt (from the pre-blog days!); Day 6 - Nita Wrap Skirt; Day 7 - self-drafted culottes with pinafore bib and Make it Easy top.

Week 2

Top row: days 8, 9 & 10; Bottom Row: days 11, 12, 13 & 14

Day 1 - new Butterick B6178 Culottes (to be blogged) and sleeveless Rise Turtleneck; Day 2 - self-drafted skirt; Day 3 - GBSB casual trousers; Day 4 - Tilly and the Buttons Megan Dress; Day 5 - another new pair of Butterick B6178 Culottes (to be blogged); Day 6 - Kielo Wrap Dress; Day 7 - Turia Dungaree Dress.

Things I've noticed so far...

- The daily selfie thing is hard work! I know it's not the main aim of MMMay, but I really do want to document it. I've been enlisting the help of various friends, colleagues and my boyfriend, so it's not just a month of mirror selfies - let's just say I'm spreading the word about MMMay!

- I have very clear favourites - at the minute it's my Butterick B6178 culottes (which I'll post about soon) and one of my new, pledged tops: a sleeveless hack of the Papercut Patterns Rise Turtleneck. Taking daily pictures has really got me thinking about my regular repeat wears, and encouraged me to pick out some lesser-worn garments to mix in with my new faves.

- I wear A LOT of black. I'm trying to inject a bit more colour into what I wear, so we'll see how the rest of the month goes.


My Pledged Makes

I threw in a sideline pledge to make a couple of tops, to try and fill some of the gaps in my me-made wardrobe. Now the weather's warmed up, I've noticed that I'm particularly lacking in summer-appropriate tops, so that was the driving force behind this sleeveless hack of the Papercut Patterns Rise Turtleneck (worn on 4 of the first 14 days of MMMay!).

New top with old self-drafted skirt

As a part of my pledge, I also hoped to re-introduce some 'long-lost' makes into regular rotation, so I'm really pleased that this self-drafted floral skirt got it's first spin in a while with my new top! The 'hack' was simple - I re-traced the whole Rise Turtleneck pattern, but adjusted it by tracing the armholes of a TNT sleeveless pattern. I also took in the sides to make the body a bit closer fitting.

The shaded bit shows the adjustment to the armhole.

Pattern from Prima Magazine in 1995

Holiday top worn with a self-drafted skirt and Butterick B6178 Culottes