Me-Made-March: Days 28, 29 and 30!

Best crack on with Day 28 of Me-Made-March:

Me-made wool-blend dress, stripey T-shirt, vest and pants. I'm very into this outfit as a way to keep warm without needing a jumper or cardi, very glad I resurrected this dress. I can't even remember why I decided I didn't like it. I think maybe it was because the facings and seam allowances don't lie very flat because of the thickness of the fabric.

Day 29:

Me-made jumper dress, vest and pants. Day 29 was the first day of the Easter holiday week which I more or less have off from work, so resolutely decided not to wear makeup, which in hindsight I think was a mistake! I was going to try jazzing up this dress with a brooch or belt but forgot.

Day 30:

Me-made dress, vest and pants. In case you were wondering what's so funny, my boy was performing a booty dance whilst taking the Documentation pap.

Do you remember this dress? Well aside from all the hassles I had making the damn thing, I've only worn it twice prior to today (Day 30). That is because I made the wrist elastics too tight, and instead of replacing them, I put it away which resulted in me not wearing it because it was uncomfortable. Well, seeing as one of the aims behind Me-Made-March is to make myself actually use the clothing I have created, I was determined to get some wear from this dress. So, when I put it on this morning and remembered the wrist issue, I finally unpicked them and added new longer elastic. I did this whilst still wearing the garment (well half wearing it) which is apparently bad luck, but touch wood the rest of the day went well and I loved wearing this dress. I'm sure I'm going to get heaps of wear out of this now that I finally made the simple improvement.

Fabric Swap Round 6!

Is it Monday again? Excellent! That means it's time for another round of the International Stash Bustin' Fabric Swap! I am very pleased to announce that Margaret is set to be the new owner of last week's fabric. She, in turn, is offering up the pretty fabric pictured above. Here's what she says about it:

'My fabric is four yards of 45" and rather cottony. Perhaps a cotton blend; unknown precisely. Quite soft, not extremely thin. It's white and pale and has pink and blue-green flowers. Somewhat pastel. Green and yellow are also featured, though not so prominently. Estimated
from the seventies. The picture is kind of dark, it's actually a bit lighter than that.'

If you would like this to be yours then you can enter by emailing me at sozoblog@gmail.com with your name, email address, postal address, a picture of the piece of stash fabric you are offering up and a short description of that fabric (width and length of fabric and fibre content if known will suffice). Mark the subject of your email 'FABRIC SWAP 6'. I'll select a recipient at midnight Sunday 4th April using a random number generator and inform them Monday morning, and post the next piece of fabric.

Round six, ding ding!

Me-Made-March: Days 25, 26 and 27!

So, cracking on with the last week of Me-Made-March, Day 25:

Me-made sailor trousers, stripey stretch top, Saint cardigan, vest and pants. Not much to report.

Day 26:

Me-made Bubbles skirt, Saint cardigan, vest and pants. The Saint cardigan has had a bit of a bashing recently, being worn pretty incessantly. It is a victim of it's own success, if you will, as it perform well as a layer over lighter tops and as a top in it's own right. In fact I'm wearing it right now and something to put over my pyjamas when I first get out of bed (yes I know it's nearly 1pm, it's Sunday) as I never got round to making a dressing gown. It's starting to go bobbley.

I totally forgot I had this skirt until I rediscovered it last weekend whilst trying to find an example to show the sewing group ladeez how to apply a skirt facing. It's not a great fit, being pretty wide at the waist with little shaping for my curvy bum, but tucking a vest in the top helps pad the gapping waist out a bit. Evidence that this more colourful outfit made it out the flat (note a complete lack of navy blue in this outfit, which is a sight about as rare as a French steak):

Day 27 coincided with a beautifully sunny Saturday that I spent exclusively with my boy, seeing as his new working hours make hanging out together a less frequent occurence:

Me-made tunic dress, jeggings, vest and pants. Ah, that's better! LOTS of navy blue. My boy says this tunic looks like standard issue for a worker in communist China! Anyways, we went for a lovely walk round a very cool part-residential part-industrial barrio to the east of the city called Poble Nou. Most people don't bother to visit it, but we love it. It has a relaxed, friendly and pretty centre that on Saturday was buzzing with people having a coffee and tapas. The centre is surrounded by decaying old factories and warehouses that are awesome to photograph. Oh, and it's short walk to the beach:

I think you can probably tell that I've got a Barrio Crush. It's happened before, I was all over North Raval/Sant Antoni about a year and a half ago. If we weren't moving back to UK, I'm sure we'd try a stint at living in the 'Nou'. Oh, and 'Nou' is pronounced 'Now', so I could have lots of fun talking about living in the Nou/Now. There really isn't adequate time in four lifespans to spend a stint in all the places in the world I'd like to try living in.

Me-Made-March: Days 22, 23 and 24!

Only a week left of Me-Made-March! It'll be interesting to review the challenge when it is over, but I have a feeling I'm going to miss it a bit. Obviously it'll be great to have more variety of clothes to wear again, but I have a feeling that putting on non-me-made clothes, at least initially, will feel a bit like cheating! Non-me-made clothes sometimes feel like camoflage when I don't want to stand out, and I've missed that option at times over the last few weeks. I sometimes feel that wearing something I've made screams 'home-sewer', even if in reality it isn't true. But I do feel proud and happier in clothes that I've made myself, so I guess it's a paradox that I've yet to figure out.

On to the matter in hand, Day 22:

Me-made jumper dress, jeggings, vest and pants. I don't think this photo shows this outfit at it's best, in fact I think that all the documentation shots look a little skewed. I guess that's the result of getting someone whose a bit taller than you to take the photos. Love the foreshortened legs effect!

Day 23:

Me-made sailor trousers, ruffle front jumper, vest and pants. I'm clearly running out of inspired combinations of garments and sticking to previously successful ones!

Day 24:

Me-made stripey T-shirt, Saint cardigan, jeggings, vest and pants. The Evidence paps which prove that I do actually leave the flat (on days when I leave the flat!) in my hand-made outfits have fallen by the wayside somewhat, but I did snare one on this day:

Want a closer look of the super-cool brooch I wore with this outfit?:

It's a sweet little hot air balloon! The balloon part and the basket are actually separate brooches, how clever is that?! It was a gift from my super talented homegirl Michelle who made this with her own fair hands. Luckily for everyone who doesn't know Michelle personally, she has recently set up her own Etsy shop, so everyone has the chance to adorn themselves with some of her amazingly well crafted and frankly genius designs. Check it out, there are some very cool brooches and necklaces available.

At Colette Patterns: 'Fabric Covered Buttons'

A few years ago there was a time when I would wander about the shops and find myself craving virtually everything. It took me a while to figure out that this was because a trend for fabric covered buttons was sweeping the high street. And I had a heightened sensitivity to them. Still do. You could show me a bland or even fairly hideous garment that the designer has had the insight to adorn with covered buttons and I'll still be physically drawn to it. Maybe it's because this style of buttons was also massive in the 60's, one of my favourite areas of dress, or maybe it's because they are successfully achieveable at home; whatever the reason, I can't get enought of the fabric covered button-crack.

Well, what is my weekly post at Colette Patterns, if not an extended excuse to indulge my sewing fixations, thinly veiled as potentially informative or inspirational tidbits? This week's is no different.

Dear Jen,

When I first saw the Jenny skirt pattern on Burdastyle, I clocked it but didn't make a fuss. Having been burnt by unsuccessful Burdastyle patterns in the past, I waited to see if the purchase price would be $7.50 well spent. Then came the variations: dress, skirt with bow front, skirt with suspenders. Yes indeed I could see it's potential, but still I bade my time. Then pictures of members' creations using this pattern began to trickle in, Yoshimi's sleek and simple version, Nikkishell's tangerine dream, and of course Gertie's suspendered delight. SOLD! I'll take it!

However, what I really don't understand is why Burdastyle are offering three variations to buy, yet from what I can gather, each variation includes the pattern pieces for all four styles, yet includes only the instructions for one. If you have figured this out, please leave a comment, it's hurting my brain.

Anyways, I made my first version from the black sateen that dwells in my stash and refuses to decrease in size no matter how many projects I make from it. Not only did I use the same fabric type as Gertie's suspender version, but I also followed her queue to cut the waistband on the straight of grain rather than on the bias.

As with every experience I have with Burdastyle patterns, I had to do quite a bit of fluffing about to get a good fit. I was very honest about my measurements, which resulted in a skirt about two sizes too big, so I took it in, then needed to let it out a fraction... blah blah blah. I also made skirt straight at the bottom, not tapered in to the knees as the pattern dictates. And I eliminated the lining as this fabric is pretty hefty and has a slight stretch which would allow for a great fit if left unencumbered by a lining. Plus Nikkishell didn't line her first Jenny skirt, and if it's good enough for Nikkishell.... I love the eventual outcome of this skirt, it feels sleek and sexy and it gives a great nipped in waist effect.

Having worked so hard to acheive a good fit on the final outcome, I wasn't about to let it go so quickly so I made another is quick succession. Especially as the black version isn't exactly 'day wear' in my present profession. So for Round Two I used up an old blue cotton Ikea curtain I've had in my stash for, oh I dunno, forever. It's quite thick (possibly a little too thick for a skirt but hey!) with a nice canvas-y finish which I thought would translate my current nautical obsession.

I made the waistband narrower this time for a more day time appropriate look. I also included a faux-button stand on which to stitch these cool anchor buttons that I had in my stash. The faux button stand is something I must have learnt about at university, but can remember ever trying. Well it came out really well, if I say so myself! If there is call for it, I may well attempt some sort of 'How-to' on the subject.

This version is lined with this rather awesome navy and white polka dot fabric I was given an eon ago when someone's gran was clearing out her stash. Come to think of it, the curtain this is made of came from a friend's mum who was clearing out her stash. AND the buttons came from my ex's gran's mate when SHE was clearing out her stash! So in fact this is a free skirt! Thanks ladies.

Me-Made-March: Days 19, 20 and 21!

So many things to blog about, so few days in which to do it, I fear I am getting somewhat behind with my Me-Made-March documentation. Oh, it's Day 19 and someone's looking pretty happy:

It must because she's wearing a new me-made skirt (with me-made stretch top, vest, pants and Saint cardigan)! Now, you must forgive my bad manners, because although I have yet to formally introduce you to this skirt, I will presently move on and provide full introductions tomorrow.

Day 20:

Me-made skirt, jumper, vest and pants. If you're thinking I look ill in this photo it's probably because I am ill in this photo. In fact I didn't leave the flat once this weekend. I literally came home after work on Friday and didn't re-emerge until Monday. Normally when sick I withdraw to my comfy sweatshirt and joggings bottoms, but instead I picked the comfiest me-mades I could find which happened to look like my standard mid-week fare, resulting in my flatmate looking surprised and asking me a couple of times over the weekend, 'Do you have to work today?'.

Day 21, and although still sick and house-bound, I decided to make a bit of an effort on account of the ladeez from the Burdastyle Barcelona Sewing Club coming over for a skirt making tutorial:

Me-made wool blend dress, stripey T-shirt, vest and pants, accessorised with a medicinal Bloody Mary, which must have done the trick as I felt heaps better the next day. You may not recall this dress, it was actually one that I made over Christmas 2008, but this is the first time I've actually worn it. I always felt it needed a long sleeved T-shirt to pair it with, which I didn't have until I got into stretch fabric the tail-end of last year, plus I had kind of bannished this dress into storage for some reason because I decided it was a FAIL. Perhaps that was because around the time I made it I very rarely wore anything like this, sticking firmly to jeans and tops on most days. But I'm much more comfortable in skirts and dresses now, so upon reflection, when jazzed with with the stripey T, colourful tights and belt, I think it's a WIN.

Fabric Swap Round 5!

Is it really Monday already? It must be because it time for another round of the International Stash Bustin' Fabric Swap! Woo hoo! After last week's roll-over the beautiful blue and green check fabric finally received the attention it deserved and I am pleased to announce it will be winging it's way to Janet. In turn, Janet is offering up the distinctly vintage looking and abundant fabric pictured above, here's the stats:

'5 yards of polyester, 45 inches wide. It's light brown in colour with pink, green and yellow flowers.'

FIVE yards people! FIVE! Think of the potential. Think of all those vintage patterns you have/have seen that require vast quantities of fabric that your current stash just can't provide. This could make them a reality! OR, you could make a more frugal item, and if it went wrong, you could start again in the same fabric without anybody knowing!

K. If you would like to give this fabric a home, then you can enter by emailing me at sozoblog@gmail.com with your name, email address, postal address, a picture of the piece of stash fabric you are offering up and a short description of that fabric (width and length of fabric and fibre content if known will suffice). Mark the subject of your email 'FABRIC SWAP 5'. I'll select a recipient at midnight Sunday 28th March using a random number generator and inform them Monday morning, and post the next piece of fabric.

Round five, ding ding!

Me-Made-March: Day 18 and a New Warm Thing!

Day 18, note the barely concealed excitement on my face caused by the fact that I'm WEARING A NEW WARM THING!:

Me-made jeggings, jersey dress, vest and pants. Neither my navy ruffle front jumper OR Saint cardigan in sight!

Actually, I have to admit it is finally starting to get warmer. But it's still far from summer top weather, so I thought I'd finally get round to bustin' the grey and black knit fabric that's been in my stash since the January sales. I made this jersey dress based predominantly on the pattern I used for my comfy dress, which in turn was based on the pattern in Sew U: Home Stretch.


I initially had vague plans for creating something more avant garde from this fabric, but I came up against three barriers, #1: I only had one metre of this fabric, #2: I had no avant garde ideas, and finally #3: I'm just not that stylistically avant garde. But the outcome is very wearable, and when you are relying on self-made garments alone for a given time, wearability is the best I can hope for!

At first, I tried to make more poofy sleeves, by slash-and-flaring the sleeve heads of the exisiting poofy sleeve pattern. But I didn't do it right and they looked strange and more than a little Rhianna. In hindsight I should have added a shitload more volume to the sleeve head and done some nifty poof-control technique like Karin did here. However I didn't, and to be fair I wouldn't have had enough fabric to do so anyhow, so I unpicked the sleeve heads and trimmed away the offending excess and got the poof under control.

I decided a scooped neckline would be flattering, and instead of attempting some sort of self-binding, I used some FOE (fold over elastic) which has got to be the quickest and easiest method of finishing necklines, whilst also creating a clean finish. All in all I'm very happy with the outcome. It may get taken in a little at the waist, particularly when it warms up enough to not need to wear a vest underneath, but the fabric isn't as stretchy as you may think so that may create problems getting it on and off. I'll ruminate on that one.

Pledge Your Allegiance!

Issue 12 of the Aussie produced Mixtape zine has been on sale for a while now, but due to postal interference, it took sometime to get my hands on my copy. Now that I have it, I can confirm that I do indeed have a small article featured in this issue. Obviously I'd urge you to get a copy, either by finding a bricks-and-mortar stockist if you live in Oz, or by ordering a copy to be sent by post, OR by waiting a while until they turn it into a pdf and sell it to you that way. However, all of methods are going to take time, and I'm sure you're desparate to read what I have to say in the article, so here it is:


Many of the (no doubt amazing) people who read this zine will already be aware of the Wardrobe Refashion blog and, dare I say it, movement. WR is underpinned by a pledge to abstain from purchasing mass-manufactured garments (excluding underwear and footwear). Well, if you were considering diving in yourself, have got to the brink but feel there is something or other holding you back, permit me to say a few words.

Some time ago, I was the organiser of a sewing group in London. The meetings’ attendees, almost without fail, consisted of a handful of hardcore regulars and a smattering of generally nervous new faces. The Hardcore would always engage the Nervous Newbies in friendly conversation and they would visibly relax. At one meeting a very sweet and beautiful young girl joined us, but she had been so nervous (god knows what she was expecting!) that she had dragged along her poor boyfriend, who had absolutely no interest in sewing whatsoever. When she had established that we weren’t going to eat her, he was released to his own devices and allowed to escape our fold. In time, the conversation turned itself to the topic of the WR pledge which, at that point, I had been participating in for about a year. This fact shocked Pretty New Girl and she exclaimed something along the lines of ‘But how do you manage? You can’t make all the clothes that you need, surely?’ Well, no. My first reaction was to state ‘Just because you sign up to the Wardrobe Refashion pledge, doesn’t mean all the clothes you already own magically disappear!’ Maybe my explanation had left her with the impression that the pledge entailed clearing out everything you own and being forced to start from scratch (I’d imagine that being pretty chilly at the beginning!). But maybe, and I think more likely, she was caught up in the popular mindset of ‘needing’ certain new items at certain times. How often have you heard your friends, colleagues or even yourself say something like ‘I need some new black jeans’, or ‘I need to get a new summer skirt to take on holiday’? Do you, though? Do you really need them? Is there really no way you can wear something else, refashion the offending existing item, or even make yourself a close approximation?

I’ve been committed to the pledge for something like two and a half years now, and the most important lesson I’ve been forced in that time to learn hasn’t been how to blind-hem, or tackle stretch fabric; it’s been that I don’t need new garments, like I thought I did. In fact, it’s possible that it actually felt more like I had a right to new clothes. First whilst being a student, and throughout the trail of low-paid jobs I have since left in my wake, there has never been much spare cash left for all the new clothes I desired, which often left me feeling somehow cheated. Accepting the challenge of the pledge released me from these feelings. I’ll be honest, initially it was a massive shock to the system, possibly similar to going cold turkey. I had to force myself to avoid even looking in the stores which sold cheap mass-produced clothing, whose practices I had always abhorred but whose prices I previously enjoyed.

It forced a new relationship with my existing clothes. I own garments which have now been with me for ten years. Previously I would have found an excuse to replace and discard them, simply because I had fallen out of lust with them and fancied the hunter-gather high achieved by a purchase. Over the period of these relationships I have loved them, felt indifference towards them, hated them, buried them, rediscovered them, and loved them anew. I have also learnt that that ‘quick-fix-new-purchase’ buzz is equalled, if not surpassed, by a charity shop (op shop/thrift store) score. And the feeling you get when a hand-made garment receives a compliment? Unparalleled!

But what was it that made me feel I needed new garments? After thinking long and hard, I came up two answers: main-stream society and the power of marketing. ARGH! The two things I had always prided myself on thinking I was impervious to. DAMN IT! ‘That’s it!’ I thought, ‘I’m going to show everyone, I’m going to make a success of this pledge’. I hope that’s what I have been doing ever since. It’s difficult to un-tangle yourself from subliminal pressures, but I found it can feel amazing when you do. Liberating times!

Nautical Undies!

Rarely do I find that whatgarments are currently in the high street and what I am feeling inspired to make are the same. However, women's, men's and children's wear are all awash with the nautical trend, and (to quote everyone's favourite multinational corporation): 'I'm Loving It'. I felt my me-made wardrobe could use another set of undies, so using some synthetic navy stretch and the scraps of my stripey T-shirt, I knocked up these:

For the pants, I used the pattern I developed in January, although made it a tiny bit bigger. I found my initial pattern worked really well in super-stretchy fabric with significant lycra content, but when I used the same pattern on not-so-stretchy knit fabric meant for T-shirts with no lycra content, they came out a teensy bit small. In terms of elastic, I used some thin red satiny FOE (fold over elastic) which I previously wrote about using in this post last month. As you may have noticed, I've been pretty into trying to sew with different types of underwear elastic and attempting different methods of application, but I would say FOE is my favourite. It's so easy to use, only requires one step to attach it, AND it creates a really nice clean finish.

The vest was created using the vest pattern I also developed in January, no alterations. You can't really see from this picture too well, but the fabric is a kind of self-stripe, alternately solid and sheer-ish. I wanted to make pants from the same fabric but didn't have enough, but I like how the stripe in this navy fabric echoes and compliments the more obvious stripe of the pants fabric. I used the same FOE as the pants which helped to keep the look uniform.

The ready-gathered anchor trim came from a haberdashers in Southend, Essex, UK (my home town!) when I was back at Christmas assisting my dad on a snowy shopping mission to buy my mum's Christmas present. My dad is really into sailing, so it's nice that he was with me when I bought it. Because the trim has no stretch, I only applied it to the front section of the vest, as I didn't want to restrict my ability to actually get the thing on and off (plus I wanted to keep some back for an as-yet unspecified future project!). So there you have it, the tale of the Nautical Undies.

Me-Made-March: Days 16 and 17 = halfway!

Day 16 went a little something like this:

Me-made navy tulip skirt, stripey T-shirt, Saint cardigan, vest and pants. Nice enough, except the skirt tends to ride up when I'm walking about. Evidence this outfit made it past the front door:

Day 17, and I have something to announce, it's definately getting warmer! Woo hoo!:


Me-made jeggings, tunic top, Saint cardigan, vest and pants. It's not warm enough yet to go vest-less (my boyfriend's indicator of when Winter is officially over!) but it's definately getting better. Oh, and check out my saint necklace with the Saint cardigan (I'm not sure why I started writing 'Saint cardigan' with a capital S, but I feel it would lack continuity if I stopped now)!:


I'm pretty excited to be halfway through this challenge, and a couple of weeks closer to regaining access to my cozy dressing gown! I feel I've learnt a few things so far:

• You can easily get by with six pairs of pants, even if you spend a weekend away, as long as you keep on top of your laundry.
• Similarly, you can get by with one set of pyjamas, as long as you wash them in the morning and dry them on the radiator (if the weather is cold) throughout the day.
• Alternating between two tops is boring but possible.

There's probably more, but that's all I can think of right now.

At Colette Patterns: 'Style Inspiration: The French Resistance'

This week over at the Colette Patterns blog, I remembered the glamorised post-war film portrayal of the French Resistance and took a look at the historical reality. Learning more about the French Resistance and finding some images of the participants inspired me, personally, to imagine a look that takes a spoonful of the trench coat/beret stereotype and fuse it with a more modern take on the 40’s feel inspired by seeing what the actual participants were wearing. Either that or I've been busy trivialising heroicism, as one commenter on the post suggested. Your choice.

Me-Made-March: Days 13, 14 and 15!

I was super-busy on Saturday (A.K.A Day 13) and totally forgot to photographically document my daytime me-made outfit. Fail! In fact, I did spend a chunk of Saturday getting my photo taken in me-made clothes, but not in the outfit I actually left the house in. I was having some test shots done for a collaborative project me and some mates have got in the pipe-line, will share all in due course.

Anyway, you'll have to trust me that I was wearing me-made jeggings, navy blue tunic dress, Saint cardigan, vest and pants. My boy and I decided that we would go out on a date on Saturday night, hence donning my glad rags and getting papped in the vintage style coral dress that I posted about a couple of days ago:

We went for some drinks in the El Borne area, and then for some tapas and further vinos near the Santa Catarina Mercat. Whilst wandering about trying to find somewhere that wasn't rammed, we can across this badass piece of street art!

Looks like the illustration from a vintage pattern envelope, does it not?! Onwards to Day 14:

Me-made jeggings, stripey T-shirt, Saint cardigan, vest and pants. If I look a little ill in the photo don;t worry, I'm not, I've just got red wine lips. This was a comfy outfit, although I must admit it didn't have much to come up against as I didn't leave the house once on Day 14! It did have to withstand the creation of chocolate crispy cakes however:

And finally, Day 15:

Me-made skirtain, jumper, vest and pants. A nice outfit for a standard day at work. Job done.

Fabric Swap Round 4 CONTINUED!

Come on Stash Bustin' peops! What's up? This week I didn't hear from any takers for the beautiful check fabric I posted as up for grabs last Monday. So we'll have a Fabric Swap roll-over and keep this one open for another week. The fabric's description is this:

'42.5" wide x 90" long. I think it is either silk shantung or silk taffeta. I bought it in our local charity thrift store, it was a fabric too nice to pass. I have it now for about 6 months and do not have any use for it. The fabric is not that thick but has a firmer fiber which would be great for sculpting some kind of more structural garment. Colors: moss green and navy/dark blue.From pet free and smoke free home..'

If you want to get your mits on it, then you can enter by emailing me at sozoblog@gmail.com with your name, email address, postal address, a picture of the piece of stash fabric you are offering up and a short description of that fabric (width and length of fabric and fibre content if known will suffice). Mark the subject of your email 'FABRIC SWAP 4'. I'll select a recipient at midnight Sunday 21st March using a random number generator and inform them Monday morning, and post the next piece of fabric.

Metric peops, I just figured out 90'' long is about 2m 30cms! There's a lot of potential in this fabric. Among many other possibilities, fabric with some body like this could form a fantastic gathered skirt when making a vintage pattern such as these, for example:

And if you didn't quite have enough for the bodice section, you could always use a contrast piece on the top, as I've wittered on about before. So come on potential fabric swappers, it's kind of a use it or loose it situation with this swap, if I don't receive any entries, I can't take the swap forward and will have to call it a wrap. So even if you don't fancy participating, either this round or in general, if you want to see the swap continue, please please give it a mention and link on your blog or tell your mates so we can keep it alive! Many thanks.