Me-Made-March '11: Days 13, 14, 15, 16 & 17

Okays, I’ve been AWOL round these parts recently, so I’ve gots me some catching up to do.

Day 13:

• Me-made pyjama bottoms
• Me-made ruffle front jumper
• Me-made vest and pants

I basically stayed in all day packing up our belongings ready to move to a new flat (woo hoo!). I’ve seen some other candid souls on the MMMar ’11 Flickr group photo themselves in their jim jams as an accurate reflection of their daily outfit, so here’s mine!

Day 14:

• Me-made denim sailor trousers
• Me-made Saint cardigan
• Me-made Sencha blouse
• Me-made vest and pants
• Me-made coat and bag

Phew! Move day. So exhausted. Nothing else to say.

Day 15:

• Me-made black sailor trousers
• Me-made leopard long sleeved top
• Refashioned cardigan
• Me-made vest and pants
• Me-made coat and bag

Surprisingly this is not a repeat outfit, but I’m feeling as though my outfits are getting a bit repetitive anyhow. Maybe I would be feeling like that anyway at this point of the year, when I’ve been piling on my warmest clothes for months on end and just want to be in a different season already. I just find it pretty boring when my most imperative wardrobe concern is warmth, rather than if my clothes are reflecting my mood or personality or what have you.

Day 16:

• Me-made ruffle front jumper
• Me-made denim skirt
• Me-made vest and pants
• Me-made coat and bag

This skirt was rediscovered during the move to our new flat. I don’t think I’ve worn it since we travelled back to the UK through France last August. It was totally not warm enough yet on Day 16 to wear it, but it was really nice to have a different garment and silhouette thrown into the wardrobe mix. I’ve been too busy sewing stock for my stall at the impending Brighton Craftaganza to get any new threads finished for myself to make MMMar ’11 more interesting.

Day 17:

• Me-made black sailor trousers
• Remade/refashioned sweatshirt
• Me-made vest and pants
• Me-made coat and bag

TOTAL outfit repeat. I got to day 17 without a repeat though, which isn’t bad in my book. Considering how often I usually rotate the same few outfits, I’m really pleased to have got this far. Plus, not repeating my outfits was never my main goal, just a little side-bet I find I end up having with myself! I do really like how these challenges make me invent new garment combinations and consider my mid-week outfits far more than I normally do. Making that conscious effort to present myself differently has a direct effect on my mood, for reasons I can’t be bothered to explore right now, so it’s funny that I don’t do so very much on all the other days that don’t get documented for the eyes of my blog’s readers and Flickr group viewers.

So, as you may have gathered, my recent absence from this blog and sporadic involvement in the Flickr group is due to my recent move. I have been checking all the awesomeness on the Flickr group when I can during my lunch breaks at work, but haven’talways had the chance to comment. I just want to say how awe struck I am by all the fantastic and imaginative creations and refashions that other MMMar ’11 participants have been wearing and sharing this month. Thanks everyone who has been involved in making this a very inspirational month so far, and to all those who are not directly participating but have been so supportive. The challenge continues...

Me-Made-March '11: Days 10, 11 & 12

So the days of March are now in double figures. Spring's pretty much here and I'm gearing up to move flats and start a 'new season' of my very own. But what you really want to know is, what the hell have I been wearing over the last few days? How on earth have my me-mades functioned through the stresses and strains of being me? Let's take a look....

Day 10:

• me-made faux-vintage dress (bad choice as the sleeves are quite tight and rubbed off a lot of the remaining scab on my new tattoo. What? You don't want to hear about my scabs?!)
• me-made Saint Cardigan (worn for most the day, but for some freakish reason I must have deemed it warm enough to remove it for at least long enough to take a photo)
• me-made vest and pants
• me-made coat and bag

As I mentioned on the Flickr group, note to self: make more day-friendly dresses. Soooo much easier to throw on a dress to make a nice outfit than trying to juggle a million separates. Now watch me make a million more separates instead of making a single dress... I never learn.

Day 11:

• me-made black sailor trousers
• me-made corazones blouse
• refashioned cardigan
• me-made vest and pants
• me-made coat and bag

After all my witterings about not having anything warm to wear with this blouse that wouldn't flatten the stand up collar, I figured out my new refashioned cardi has a neckline almost wide enough to leave the blouse's collar unfettered. Good enough for me, plus the cardi's colour is almost the same as the green in the blouse. I celebrated with some cider, nachos and wine later that night!

Day 12:

• me-made navy front fold skirt
• me-made stripey T-shirt
• refashioned cardigan
• me-made vest and pants
• me-made coat and bag

It always wierds me out a little to be blogging an outfit whilst I'm still wearing it, seems a bit too meta. Anyways, I may go out later and change my outfit, I will document it should that event arise, fear not my lovelies! Laters patatas!

Me-Made-March '11: Days 7, 8 & 9

Ok, there's no time to lose! There's a lot to get through today. Day 7:

• me-made denim sailor trousers
• me-made Saint Cardigan
• me-made black 1/2 sleeve T-shirt
• me -made vest and pants
• me-made coat and bag

No, I didn't make the lovely neck scarf, it was lovingly hand-crafted by the wonderful Jessica. Go and check her blog out, say hi from me! I might change the specifics of my challenge to be 'all me-made clothing, refashioned knitwear and items hand made by other MMMar '11 particpants!' I can't tell you how much I love this neck scarf. When I wear it with my Navy wool coat and knitted beret, I look like a member of the French Resistance!

Day 8:

• me-made dark grey wool dress (some pattern from an old Burda magazine that I no longer have)
• me-made black 1/2 sleeve T-shirt
• refashioned cardigan
• me-made vest and pants
• me-made coat and bag

If it was a normal day (i.e. not a day when I would photograph my outfit and put it up on the internets), I would probably have slung on the same outfit as yesterday. I have you witnesses to thank for making me dress with a little more variety! I haven't worn this particular garment combo before, but the layering meant I was toasty-warm all day, even with half my arms exposed!

Day 9:

• me-made ruffle front jumper
• me-made denim sailor trousers
• me-made vest and pants
• me-made coat and bag

Not much to tell you about this outfit (other than I just split vegetable chilli all down the front of the ruffles), both main components are tried and trusted friends on which I can rely. So, instead I would like to take the opportunity to thank the incredibly talented and ultra sweet Cecili from Sewing and so on for giving me a Stylish Blogger Award. The fact that it came from one of the very most stylish ladies I've e-met (the term I now use for describing internet friends and acquaintances) makes me even more grateful! One of the 'rules' attached to accepting this award means I must now tell you seven facts about myself. I loved reading Cecili's answers, as it gave us a chance to know this very interesting lady a little better. If you do not wish to know more about me, look away now! If you are, here are seven sewing-specific facts about me (I found trying to come up with seven general facts a bit daunting, where to start?!):

1. I sew from 9am -5pm every week day for my job, plus I usually work on my own sewing projects during my lunch break and sometimes in the evenings and at weekends.
2. At work, the flat lock sewing machine I use is on the work bench so I sew standing up! This freaked me out at first, and I used to kind of perch on the edge of a high stall, but I've got used to it now.
3. My domestic sewing machine I have a home was given to me about ten years ago. It was sitting unused in the garage of an old lady that my dad gardens for. He asked her if I could have it (I was studying fashion at the time) and it's been with me ever since, having survived moving house a million times during my twenties, plus being shipped to Spain and back.
4. I bought my overlocker (serger) secondhand for about £40. I totally abuse it: never oil it, never get it serviced, never clear the dust out, never even change the needles between thick and thin fabric, yet it's way better behaved and reliable than the industrial overlocker I use at work (touch wood!).
5. My current sewing projects I'm working on are some shoulder bags made from African wax fabric to sell at Craftaganza and a squillion metres of bunting to decorate the aforementioned crafting event.
6. At work, I probably make on average 4 garments a day, starting with a pile of fabric and a pattern to finished garments with labels ready to be collected to be taken to the shop. If using jersey, knit or sweat, I usually average more, but I don't tend to use that much these days. I've learnt quite a few shortcuts and tricks to be able achieve this level of output, sometimes I don't like being forced to make these shortcuts, but sometimes it really does make me question why I've been going the long way round for so long! I've kind of found myself in a niche these days of making the woven garments for our clothing line, which I'm fine with me, except putting in six zips in a row sometimes pushes the limits of my patience!
7. I started making little fabric handbags which I sold through local shops when I was in my third year of my fashion degree. It was a nice break from my university projects to focus on something else, something that was more immediate. Making that first sale (to someone I didn't know) was the biggest rush I've ever experienced!

Fancy Pants!

I actually did very little sewing specifically in preparation for MMMar '11, but had been working on some bits and bobs that are proving very useful for this challenge, namely: more pants (knickers, panties, undies etc, call them what you will)!

At work, we sometimes (but sadly not very often) receive pieces of sample fabric to work with, and recently we were sent lots of bits of amazing quality printed stretch/jersey fabric. We've been using it to make various garments, but I've made sure a few of the smaller pieces that won't make a full garment come my way to become new undies. (Using my How-To Construct Undies method, of course!)

Most of these fabrics have a really lovely silky quality to them. Pattern-wise, I used a tweaked version of the initial pattern I developed back in January last year from my most comfy shop-bought pair. The elastics I used are a mixture of bits and bobs I've bought from a variety of sellers on ebay. It's tricky buying pants elastic on ebay I've found. It's really difficult to judge the quality of stuff via the pictures, and it's rarely turned up in real life being as I'd expected it to. For example, the black with gold stripe stuff used in the pants pictured above, I had very low expectations for. I had bought when there was very little to chose from (ebay stock goes in waves like that I've found) but really wanted to get cracking with pant-making. It turned out to be really lovely and excellent quality.

One of the things I like the most about sewing is figuring out how to make something, be it pants, trousers, T-shirts or whatever, and once you have made the successfully, you no longer need to buy them ever again! I love that sense of accomplishment and, well, independence I guess. There's a sense of self-sufficiency in relying on the high street and mass-production less and less with each type of garment I figure out how to make for myself. I actually haven't bought any new pants since I worked out how to make them, so that over a year now. I know I am unusually lucky to have access to free good quality jersey from which to make them, which is why I'm stocking up now in case the well runs dry!

Me-Made-March '11: Days 4, 5 & 6. Plus, Knitwear Refashion #1

Hope you had a wicked weekend. Phew! Mine was pretty busy. But that's one of the things I like most about these me-made challenges: seeing how my self-stitched wardrobe stands up to all that life can through at it!

So, when I personally signed up for MMMar '11, you may recall my whitterings that I was including refashioned knitwear and sweatshirts into the challenge this time round. Well, I actually got round to finishing up one of these intended refashions. I did take 'before' shots of this cardigan, but they weren't very illustrative. This cardigan was very much 'pre-loved', a bit saggy at the cuffs and very bobbley from washes and wears, but it's 100% cashmere so super soft, and the nicest emerald green so I felt I owed it an attempt at resurrection. Here's what happened:

• Took it in at the sides right from the hem, all along the sideseam and along the sleeves to the cuffs. This brought it down from a UK size 16 to more like a size 14, as well as sorting out the saggy cuff issue.
• Used a razor to get rid of the worst of the bobble effect.
• Added the white flower trim (which I had rescued from a thrifted 70's bridesmaid dress back when I was at University) to make it more interesting.
• Changed the buttons from the wierd dark green ones to these white ones which echo the flower trim.
• So, back to MMMar '11. Day 4:

• me-made black sailor trousers
• me-made navy stripe long sleeve T-shirt (not previously shown on this blog)
• refashioned cardigan
• me-made pants and vest
• me-made coat and bag

In the afternoon I headed back Essex to see my peops for the weekend. Me and my best mate also got new tattoos! Day 5:

• me-made black sailor trousers
• me-made Sencha blouse
• me-made vest and pants
• me-made coat and bag

Later the same day we got ready to hit the town:

• me-made Macaron dress
• me-made pants and coat

My new tattoo probably deserves its own blog post actually. Maybes I'll do that once the scab is all off.

Day 6:

• me-made black sailor trousers (are you bored of seeing these yet?!)
• me-made Sencha blouse
• refashioned cardigan
• me-made vest and pants
• me-made coat and bag

No, I don't think these tw tops look very good together either. But the other tops I had with me were too tight on my arm and would have taken the scab off, so wierd combo is was! A big chunk of that day was spent on a variety of trains any how....

Me-Made-March '11: Days 2 & 3

Hi peops, hope your March is rocking so far. No point beating about the bush, we all know why we're here:

Day 2:

• me-made denim sailor trousers
• me-made leopard long sleeve top
• me-made Saint Cardigan (poor thing is pretty bobbley these days! It's seen a lot of action on the front line of these me-made challenges)
• me-made vest and pants
• me-made coat and bag

This was a very cosy outfit, thanks to wearing three layers on the top. This is going to have to be my tactic til it gets warmer. Note to self: wear more stuff all at the same time.

Day 3:

• me-made skirtain
• me-made ruffle jumper
• me-made vest and pants
• me-made coat and bag

You knew it wouldn't be long until you the skirtain crept into play, didn't you?! For some reason, I always feel really 'put together' when wearing a skirt during the day, even if the skirt is as silly as this one! Considering it's a colour combo and print that probably wouldn't appeal to the majority, it gets a suprising amount of compliments! This shot is also funny because you can basically see all of my tiny flat at once! Did I mention that I'm moving in less than two weeks? Yes indeed, I'm taking MMMar '11 out of the current underground hovel and into a, well, slightly bigger flat! Woo hoo!

Me-Made-March '11: Day 1!!!

Can you believe here we are again?! A whole year since my first me-made challenge. I went to bed last night thinking about how genuinely apprehensive I felt going to bed Feb 28th 2010, not knowing whether I'd be able to last a month in me-made clothes without freezing/looking mental/dressing repetatively etc. Well, last night I didn't have quite that same apprehension, but if there's anything I've learnt from this year, it's that life is constantly changing. Each of these me-made/self-stitched challenges that I have undertaken have been very different which is a reflection of what else is going on in my life. Fundamentally, that's the point of these challenges: showing ourselves and others that we can rely on our skills and creations can dress us for Real Life, not just for a pretty photoshoot.

So, in reflection of how preoccupied I've been recently, I was still making my pyjama bottoms that I wanted to wear last night a couple of hours before bedtime. Like for MMMar '10 and the other challenges that have since followed, I wanted to go to bed in self-stitched pyjamas so I'd wake up already participating! This has to be the coldest me-made challenge I've participated in yet, as last March I was living in a significantly warmer climate, so I needed some warmer PJ bottoms than the bedsheet pair I have previously worn. There was some lemon fuzzy flannelette fabric knocking about at work that we couldn't really use for anything, so I used it with a pattern from Burda magazine 12/2007 and some elastic I had in my stash, and got them finished in time for bed! I haven't finished the hem yet, I plan to wash them a couple of times to give them a chance to shrink up before I make them the final length.

For the rest of my day, I looked very much like this:

• me-made black sailor trousers (first seen here)
• refashioned sweatshirt
• me-made pants (knickers) and vest
• also me-made coat and bag (not in shot)

Basically, I work in a studio that is chilly, dusty and dirty plus I need to move about easily, thus my clothing has to be pretty practical. I'm already beginning to see that my weekday wardrobe is going to look very boring and limited very quickly unless I focus on making some more trousers (I currently only have this pair and one other, which are the same pattern but made in denim), refashioning some more knitwear, and upping my usual mid-week quota of skirt/dress wearing.

I hope everyone else's day has been illuminating and fun, whether you are participating in MMMar '11 or not!