My Me-Made-May 2019: Lessons To Learn

(my favourite outfits worn during Me-made-May 2019)

I'm sure that every year I state that Me-Made-May went by in a flash, but somehow I feel that it's especially true this year. By writing this post, I hope that I can draw some conclusions from the fleeting experience that was my challenge, and extract some lessons that I can make use of.

So my challenge was to wear a unique combination of me-made garments each day throughout May, and to wear a dress, skirt or pinafore at least three times a week. The first part was basically a repeat of my challenge last year, which I had found super helpful when picking out garments for the rest of the year after MMM was over. This year, I did manage to create a different outfit every day, however  I don't feel that I was as inventive as last year with my combinations. I added the second part in the hope that those garments would start to feature more regularly in my wardrobe rotations during the rest of the year, but I just don't think that's going to happen, at least not until the weather gets properly hot. To be honest, I'm not sure if I did manage to wear a dress/skirt/pinafore three days a week during my challenge, I kind of lost track of that part. However, the challenge has helped me ascertain that I should make more and less of the following:

More jeans! 

I love wearing jeans, particularly skinny ones, but I currently only have one pair (plus one pair of jeggings that aren't as comfortable). I'm not going to be able to wear my Gingers when is gets hotter because they sit so low that I don't feel comfortable wearing them without a vest/camisole tucked in. Spoiler alert: I've already started a second, higher-rise, pair of Gingers in turquoisey-blue denim, however I think I should also make a black pair ready for the Autumn.

More dungarees!

I really enjoy wearing my black linen Heyday dungarees and my freshly reworked Burnside bibs, although my Mila dungarees have mainly been assigned to allotment use these days. I own another three patterns for dungarees that I have yet to make, and I can't wait to give them a try as soon as I've got through enough of my stash to justify buying some more fabric.

More coats/lined jackets!

May is often a weird month for weather, and this year that was definitely true. I wore both my winter coat AND shorts (not at the same time!) at different points during the month. I really hate that I basically have to wear a coat for eights months of the year, and my Cocoon coat is starting to show signs of the frequent usage, so an additional lined coat or jacket would be great both to add variety and to prolong the life of my Cocoon coat.

More summer clothes!

I only own two pairs of shorts and two sleeveless tops at the moment, and if this summer gets anywhere close to the consistently hot temperatures of last year's, then a couple more or each would be very welcome.

A jumpsuit/playsuit!

I do not own a jumpsuit or a playsuit, which is ridiculous because I have wanted one for years. I treated myself to the Yari jumpsuit pattern by True Bias, making the most of the Me-Made-May celebration discount code, and I thought that the short version might be a great alternative to actual shorts (see above).

More fitted knit tops!

Looking through the pics of this year's challenge and I can see just how much I wear my stripy Gable top. Which in itself is no bad thing, of course, but I've already had to mend it once, plus I'm often at a loss of what to wear under dungarees and pinafores when it is in the wash. Therefore, for next Autumn, one or two more long- or 3/4 length- sleeved fitted knit tops would be awesome. 

More volume!

This is at odds with my previous statement about preferring skinny jeans, but I'm starting to want to play around with volume in my garments a bit more. I've bought a cardigan pattern that offers a slight deviation from my usual silhouette, so I'm going to start there and see what happens.

More colour!

This feels a bit scary to me to admit, but maybe it's time to branch away from only wearing black, white, navy, denim blue and mustard. Maybe.

No more dresses/skirts/pinafores!

I did enjoy wearing my pinafores on certain days and for certain roles that I perform, but I now have four pinafores and that is definitely enough for my current needs. And although I often see other people's amazing self-made dresses, I know that if I had them, I wouldn't reach for them often enough to justify the time, money and resources that would be required.


If you challenged yourself this May, did you learn any lessons about your wardrobe? What conclusions did you draw? What came as a surprise to you?
 

#2019makenine Plans And A New Pace

This will be my last post of 2018, so I'd like to say Happy Christmas (or whatever you celebrate around this time of year, if anything!) and Happy New Year. Thanks for visiting my blog during 2018, and I hope you'll pop back next year. I'll have the kettle on.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I LOVE the start of a new year to reflect on what went well during the previous twelve months, and the chance to concoct some plans for myself going forward. Maybe it's because I'm an upholder, but I find creating resolutions and plans really fun, not stressful or something I immediately want to push back against. Sewing wise, I really enjoyed making a #2018makenine plan this time last year, and I got a lot out of executing it, so I've been very excited to make another. I understand that I don't *have* to complete each goal that I've set, but when I'm feeling uninspired or indecisive about sewing projects, I'm sure that it's going to be useful to have this grid to refer back to.

So pictured above is my #2019makenine plan! Like a genius, I've come up with a new angle this year (ha). I've selected nine pieces of fabric which are currently residing in my stash, and I plan to turn into wonderful, wearable garments by the end of 2019. Two of these pieces have been in my stash for only a couple of weeks, whereas one has been there closer to seven years. I've got a pretty clear idea of what I want to make from most of them, but I'm going to keep most of those ideas close to my chest as they are liable to change.

Here's the run down:

1) Mustard viscose twill from Fabric Godmother. One of my newer purchases, I recently made a top from this fabric in a different colour way, so I can vouch how lovely, drapey and soft (although liable to wrinkle) it is.

2) Lock and Key print African wax fabric from Goldhawk Road. I have tons of this crispy cotton, I may end up giving some away once I've completed my project. I've had this for three or four years.

3) Lightning print french terry knit from Girl Charlee UK. I've had this knit for less than a year, but my initial plan for it fell through. It's feels like quite a loose knit: floppy and drapey.

4) Ruffle print Liberty Tana Lawn from Sewbox.co.uk. I bought this from Sewbox at the GBSB live event last year. I had a great time: leaving my kids behind for a day and heading into London with my sewing-loving friend Rea, chatting to various sewing people at the event and picking up a couple of select goodies. I suppressed the urge to buy a print that featured sailboats instead of this one, and I'm pleased that I did because my love for this print has grown even more over the last year. It's a crime to leave it folded up in my airing cupboard.

5) Turquoise stretch denim from Fabric Godmother. I bought this about 18 months ago, and to be honest I can't really remember why I bought it (maybe sleep deprivation?). I don't dislike it, but I'm not in love with it, as I am with much of their current denim selection. Anyways, it's great quality so I'm going to use it to make a hopefully-wearable toile of some 'proper' jeans. I feel like taking a step beyond my jeggings journey, but taking all that I've learnt about fit and pattern tweaks with me.

6) Bird print viscose crepe from Fabric Godmother. This is another newbie, but I really don't want to waste it my letting it languish in the dark for long. Its drape and busy print is dictating a top pattern that is free of a lot of detail, but makes the most of its flowy movement. I'm pretty sure that this will be the fabric that gets used first.

7) Dark blue stretch denim from Ditto Fabric. I've had this for about 18 months also, and I'm praying there's enough for some dungarees.

8) Cream/navy striped knit. This is the piece that I've owned for about seven years. It's such great quality and the perfect Breton stripe, but it there's only a short length. I'm thinking of using this for some selfless sewing, otherwise I'll squeeze a short-sleeved t-shirt out of it!

9) Buffalo check coating from Fabric Godmother. I bought this maybe two or three years ago, and I'm not sure of the fibre content but it feels synthetic. It's good quality and pleasingly soft though, so it deserves to become a fabulous jacket using one of the vintage coat/jacket patterns that I've been hoarding.


A change of pace...

I announced, but a month ago, that I intended to continue my pledge to use up one piece of fabric per week (like I just did for a year). However, more recently, I've been having a change of heart. I have some new constraints on my time: a new part-time job, some of which I do from home, a toddler who has started to drop his afternoon nap, my recently acquired allotment that I will have to spend more time on when the weather warms up and the days start to get longer, plus an additional top-secret project (NOT another baby, before you jump to conclusions).

My rethink is also because I don't want to load up my wardrobe unnecessarily with piles of garments, and, I must admit, that the successful using up of a piece of fabric per week (even if the outcome was a useful and well-fitting item) occasionally eclipsed the enjoyment of making and wearing the actual garment, which feels wrong.

Sewing up one piece of fabric per week served me well for the last year. It gave me an over-arching project and my life a bit of momentum when I was generally feeling frustrated with the constraints of being a SAHM. But now that things have shifted a bit, the one-piece-of-fabric-per-week project has started to feel more oppressive (and wasteful) than engaging. Therefore, I'm going to implement a more considered, slow-fashion approach to my sewing for a while and see how that goes, which definitely sits more comfortably with my general ethics surrounding consumerism and possessions any how.

I'm mentioning this in part because this slower approach may result in a slightly reduced blogging output. I don't want you to think that my commitment to this blog is on the wane at all. This blog is still as important to me as it always has been, and there will be exciting things happening here in 2019, including the tenth Me-Made-May!!!

Kid's Sewing Strategies: Revised

Over the last couple of weeks I've been giving a lot of thought to kid's clothes sewing plans. I mean, even more than usual. So, we found out that the baby I'm currently brewing is a boy. It was a bit of a surprise at first, in a kind of 'But we make girls, don't we?' kind of way. Pat got over the shock within an hour, it took me about two days. Now I'm totally down with it and excited to make a mini-dude wardrobe, it's going to be ace!

(image source: Brindille and Twig)

This news also seems to be helping me accept Dolores's increasing desire to wear only dresses (preferably pink sparkly ones). I can't get behind the pink-sparkly part, but instead of trying to distract her in the morning whilst I attempt to sneak her into a pair of jeans and a cute sweatshirt or T-shirt, I've been indulging her requests to wear dresses (or flow-y tunic tops which she also describes as 'dresses') as far as the weather, the day's activities and the laundry cycle will permit. Simply put: now that I'm having a boy, I not lamenting the lack of fun sweatshirts, joggers and anchor print stuff making an appearance on Dolores!

(image source: Sloppop Yeah)

I was surprised that she has developed such a strong sense of how she wants to dress at only two and a half. I most certainly don't want to squash her developing sense of self, but I thought I might have a bit more sartorial freedom for a little while longer! Equally, I've been slightly alarmed by how naturally she has started gravitating towards the colour pink, princesses, fairies, ballet dancing and other intensely stereotypical 'girly' imagery and activities. I met a lady at a sewing class I was teaching a couple of weeks ago whose four year old would literally only wear dresses. (Currently at least) I can convince Dolores to wear leggings and T-shirts underneath her beloved dresses, but I think I'm going to have to make her a slightly larger selection than she currently owns.

(image source: Toby Tiger)

But back to the boy's stuff. Boy's clothing had always been a pretty abstract concept to me, not something I've given much thought. I've dabbled by making my friends' little boys the odd pair of trousers or shorts, but I'd never thought beyond the occasional stand-alone item. Boys clothes in the shops usually seem sooooo boring. So much navy blue with perhaps a dinosaur, car or (in the summer) sea creature printed somewhere. Little bird clothing seems to be one of the few exceptions, on the UK high street at least. And as I found when researching independent children's sewing pattern companies, despite there being some fantastic ranges for making boy's clothes out there, in terms of quantity, there are far fewer sewing patterns out there for boys than for girls. This is, of course no surprise. The range of types, styles, colours, fabrics and detailing of clothing that is 'acceptable' for boys is far smaller than for girls. However, within the boundaries required to prevent getting asked 'How old is she?' too many times each day, I plan to have masses of fun creating awesome, colourful, comfortable and joyful clothing for my little boy. The images illustrating this post are my current inspiration points for mini-dude clothes sewing.

(image source: C bien fee!)

My feelings towards new clothing for children remain the same, perhaps are even stronger, three years on. Thankfully, about 40% of the clothes Dolores wore when she was tiny was either unisex or once were bought from the boy's section. Plus, an enormous amount of recent hand-me-downs means 'Squiggler' (working-title) should need very little for the first year. Which is useful, because clothes start to fit the child for more than five minutes the older they get, so any sewing efforts for a year+ will be enjoyed for longer! Fabric-wise, I'll hunt through the non-girly sections of my stash that Dolores would now refuse to wear. Plus, I was sent an amazingly generous package from Josie at Fabric Godmother (pictured at the top of this post) when she heard that I was having a boy. The length of fabulous orange-y leopard print twill is for making something for Dolores so that she won't get jealous!

Just as all these discoveries and ideas have been taking place, Kid's Clothes Week has popped up announcing their latest challenge at just the right time. This time the theme is 'The Future', and although it isn't compulsory that you incorporate it in any way (the only stipulation is that you sew kid's clothes for at least one hour each day for a week), I will be using the challenge to sew stuff for my future-son! If you sew for kids, are you taking part this season? Any ideas yet?!

(image source: Molly Goodall)

(image source: Zulily)

(image source: Jenn232 from Kids Clothes Week)

(image source: Petit and Small)

(image source: Instagram user @tomboy_in_a_dress)

Spring Sewing Plans Afoot

Well thanks so much for all the congratulations that were left in response to the news of my pregnancy! Each comment was thoroughly lovely to receive. It's made the fact that I'm going to be a mum again all the more 'real' now that I've shared the news with the sewing community!

So here's what I plan to make over the next couple of months. This list has ended up being a bit longer than I thought it'd be, but I'm pleased that most of the projects should be suitable for, or easily adapted to, post-pregnancy life as well. I want to keep specific maternity sewing to a minimum because, as I mentioned before, I still own all the garments I made for myself last time plus I don't plan to have another child after this one. I do want to make a few extra stretchy items and maybe one woven top for the final trimester, but I'll deal with those plans further down the line. Here's how I plan to get through the inbetweeny bit of pregnancy...

Maternity jeans refashion:

Just as I wear jeans 95% of the time (outside the house) when not pregnant, I have no doubt that I'll be relying on maternity jeans just as much throughout this pregnancy. So I'm going to need more than the one H&M pair I've been leant (that to be honest are rapidly becoming too small) so far. I bought the pair of thifted skinny jeans pictured above a couple of years ago when I was going through an a-typically tiny phase, and they've been too small for me pretty much since a week after their purchase. I'm going to have a whirl at refashioning them a bit like this, and if it doesn't work out, nothing has been lost. Plus, I've got a few peops out there hunting through their lofts for some size 12 maternity jeans, so I may just end up wearing borrowed maternity jeans for the next six-ish months.


Knit skirt:

Sadly, all my knit skirts (like this one, this one and these ones) are already way too tight round my tum. Something I learnt from my first pregnancy is that I prefer to have bottoms that sit under my belly, rather than over the top, so a skirt style like the Megan Nielsen Erin maternity skirt pattern, although lovely, isn't for me. I was thinking about either sacrificing one of my existing knit skirts by cutting down the waistline and adding a new, better positioned waistband, or altering Gertie's knit pencil skirt pattern to make one from scratch. Then I had an Aha! moment and decided to draft my own from scratch on the off-chance that it's a real success, and therefore something I could release as a sewing pattern of my own in the future.

Breton tunic:

The Fabric Godmother is (almost) literally my godmother! Josie the owner gave me some of this epic stripy Ponte de Roma type-stuff (on the left in the photo below) the last time I visited her studio because she could see how obsessed with it I'd become. I bought some other pieces of fabric that day and had gone way over what I had intended to spend (I'm blaming you, amazing wool blend check). I couldn't justify buying any of this as well but I was really struggling to walk away from it!

I seems to me that there is only one logical use for this stripy stuff: a tunic-length Breton garment based on this vintage pattern pictured above (again). I still maintain that my 1960's Breton top is the best garment I've ever sewn (I'm wearing it as I type, with a vest underneath and two cardigans on top because it's still too nippy for it really) so it is the logical step to make something very similar that will hopefully be loose enough to cover a second-trimester bump, and then worn heaps in the future. My only concern is that I won't be able to wear it again straight away post-pregnancy, as a tunic-length garment without some kind of inventive trap door is going to be useless for breast feeding. Oh well, I'll have to put it by for a year or so.

Turquoise Ponte de Roma cardigan:

Until about two minutes ago, I was going to use this post to request ideas on what to use this turquoise Ponte de Roma remnant (from Ditto Fabrics in Brighton) for. Annoyingly, it's one of those colours that I struggle to get an accurate photo of, it's actually a much clearer, vibrant shade than the image above would have you believe. As you may know, I rarely buy new fabric to sew with, but the early growth of my baby bump set me in a bit of a spin and bought this in a panic because most of my wardrobe was rapidly becoming too tight. I really like it, and don't regret the purchase, but figuring out what to do with it now that I have it has been a little tricky.

First of all, I thought maybe a MIY Collection Walkley dress was the way forward. I'm still head over heels in love with Handmade Jane's stripy top version, and it is a VERY popular project with the students who attend the the classes that I teach at the MIY Workshop. But then I realised that I have so many Dolores batwing dresses knocking about that my knit dress needs are pretty much covered. Then I thought about using it to make some yoga pants/comfy trousers (see above) but it only has a two-way rather than four-way stretch which would limit the comfort and practicality of trousers. I could use it to make the knit skirt I wrote about above, but that would only use about 70cm of the 1.5m I bought so it seemed a bit of a waste.

(image source: Skinny Bitch Curvy Chick Patterns)

Then I had a brain-wave. What do I wear 9 days out of 10? A freaking cardigan. The boxy, round-necked, 50's style cardigans that I have a number of, both self made (like this and this) and secondhand, don't look particularly great with a growing bump. I button up the first few buttons, but then my belly just pokes out the bottom, and until I look 'more pregnant' I think it's making me look tubby and like I can't dress myself properly! A looser, low V-necked style of cardigan that looks good unbuttoned seems to be working better at the moment. I have a beloved secondhand mustard one in this style that I have worn to death over the last five years is starting to look really ratty, so some kind of recreation of that would makes all sorts of sense. Pattern-wise, I was checking out the new Grainline Studio's Driftless cardigan pattern which is close to what I was thinking of, but ultimately I feel would work better in a knit that has a more drape-y quality to it than my Ponte. 'Right', I thought to myself, 'time to bust out my pattern-drafting skills'. Perhaps I would make a pattern from the secondhand mustard one but develop it a bit so it was a little larger and with proportions more suited to the Ponte. Then a bit of serendipitous online window shopping brought the SBCC Cabernet cardigan pattern (pictured above) to my attention. It's basically perfect, exactly what I was aiming for. All these awesome independent sewing pattern companies are making me really lazy! Still, I'm growing a human whilst trying to care of another one so I'm not allowing myself to feel guilty for buying a pattern rather than drafting it! Plus, supporting independent pattern companies is no bad thing, of course.

(image source: Skinny Bitch Curvy Chick Patterns)

Comfy trousers:

During my last pregnancy, I made two pairs of leggings/treggings type-thingys mainly to wear to pregnancy yoga and knocking about the house: one in a weird blue ribbed knit (which you can see in this post), the other in black double knit. After giving birth, I left the ribbed blue ones as they are for use in another pregnancy, but I took in the waist elastic on the black pair and have been wearing them around the house ever since. And my goodness it shows. The knees and bum area are shiny and baggy, and one knee is ripped to shreads. My criteria for comfy trousers is this: even though they are for wear around the house, I shouldn't be embarrassed if a mate pops by and sees me in them! My black leggings no longer comply with this criteria.

Both those pairs were made from a self-drafted pattern that I was never entirely happy with, so I think I'll either splash out and get the SBCC Pinot pants pattern (pictured above) or use a leggings pattern that I already own but have yet to use as a starting point, and once again adapt it for pregnancy by lowering the waistline at the front. I'll probably taper the lower leg a bit too. I've bought some navy Ponte de Roma with a great four-way stretch content from Ditto that should perform better than the black double knit, which was never very suitable for leggings in the first place.

(image source: MIY Collection/Wendy Ward)

I may also have a go at the wide leg trousers from Wendy Ward's 'The Beginner's Guide to Dressmaking' book (pictured above) as well if I can source some lovely drape-y knit. The waistband doesn't contain elastic, it's made from a wide band of knit that you can then fold over like on some yoga pants, so I reckon they'll be suitable for pregnancy and enormously comfortable.

Leggings refashion:

In much the same way I was considering reworking a knit skirt to accommodate a bigger belly, I'm going to hack up these thrifted leggings too. The waistband was always too tight and I rarely wore them anyway, so it's no loss if it doesn't work out. I'll make them into leggings for Dolores if that's the case. I'm seeing these as another comfy-trousers-round-the-house option, as well as for wearing to preggers yoga, as and when I get my arse to a class.

Rework the denim Tova top:

I still don't know how the upper sleeves of my denim Tova top are too tight, but my grey dress/tunic version is fine when I used exactly the same pattern pieces (and have yet to wash the denim one), but hey! I'm pretty sure I can just about squeeze another pair of sleeves out of the remaining scrap of denim, so I need to push myself to alter the sleeve pattern piece and bust out the seam ripper. I'm hoping I can layer the stripy Agnes top underneath this until it gets warmer. And as long as my boobs don't inflate too much more, it should be suitable for breast feeding wear too.

Considering Spring Sewing Plans: Plus, Some News

(how good is this photo?! I was hoping to loosely recreate the dress on the right using the By Hand London Kim dress pattern and some Hawaiian print cotton)

As someone who general HATES to be told what to do, and has always tended to sew whatever I feel like at whim, I am amazed at how diligently I completed the nippy weather sewing plans that I set myself last Autumn. It definitely helped that during this time I kept my kiddie-sewing projects entirely whim-led, which I used to intersperse the adult projects.

(utterly amazing African wax fabric Megan dress made by Norse Otter, so inspirational!)

So having completed all those, I'm now thinking about what set of sewing plans would be great to move my wardrobe into spring and summer. To be honest, I actually started day dreaming about this back in November! However, I'm sadly going to have to put plans for two Tilly and the Buttons Megan dresses (one plain navy and one in African wax fabric), a couple of pairs of Deer and Doe Chataigne shorts, a bunch of cute little vintage-style blouses, a Hawaiian By Hand London Kim dress, and finally getting closer to great fitting trousers on hold for now, because (dramatic pause...) I'm pregnant!

(oh perfect stripy little blouse, my preliminary toiling has ceased. Let's hope  that next year I can remember what I was up to)  

As those of you who trawled through my many maternity wear blog posts last time round will no doubt be aware, I didn't really have a clue of what to expect, what I'd need and what I could or should make for my last pregnancy. This time should be quite a different experience. Not only do I still own the items that I made and wore for my previous pregnancy (when my sister-in-law gives them back!), but I know what I felt most comfortable in so should be able to focus my efforts much more usefully this time round. PLUS, seasonally I know what I'm in for as well because the current due date is only two days away from Dolores's. Touch wood, all being well, I will be busting out a healthy little peop around the end of September/beginning of October.

(one of the fabrics from Le Stash that I selected for the Chataigne shorts pattern, what fabric would you make this pattern in?)

All that being said, one key difference with this pregnancy compared to the last is that I started to show at an alarmingly (to me) early stage. I'm already feeling the pinch, literally, of not fitting into much of my clothing. On my bottom half I'm currently limited to one pair of slightly-too-small maternity jeans that have been leant to me by a friend, and my mustard mariniere trousers with the front folded down a little bit (strong look). I need to hatch a few clever sewing plans to expand the selection of items that I already own, and also make some things that will hopefully be useful after this pregnancy as well. I'll return with my conclusions after the sign-up post for this year's #mmmay16!

Kid's Clothes Week Sewalong February 2016: Toys!

 

Woo hoo! The Kid's Clothes Week sewalong/challenge is here again and starts TOMORROW! I bowed out of taking part last time (October 2015) bcause I was eyeball-deep in working on my Anya shoulder bag pattern, but this one couldn't have come at a better time. Today I sewed the final stitches of some window display sample garments for the Village Haberdashery, and with no other personal sewing projects currently on the go, I'm free to indulge my love of making stuff for Dolores all week.

As you may or may not already know, the rules of Kid's Clothes Week are incredibly simple: you just have to sew kid's clothing for one hour each day for a week. This season's challenge is 'Toys', but you can take or leave the theme as you wish. As usual, they have offered some great ideas (like these) on how you may find inspiration in the theme.

 

So what are my sewing plans for next week? Umm, I'm not sure! I've been doing a bunch of quick scrap-busting projects for Dolores recently (like these shorts and these sweatshirts, plus others that have yet to be blogged), so I think I may take a different tack and work on slightly more time-consuming projects that use some larger pieces of fabric from my stash. 

What about you? Are you taking part this season? If so, are you incorporating the theme? Either way, what was your favourite ever kid's clothing sewing project, if you've made one? 

Trouser Fitting Quest FAIL

At some point during the first half of 2015, I set myself the task of getting to grips with trouser fitting by the end of the year. No mean feat. In June I put a shout out for any suggestions of resources to help me with this and many of you left helpful comments. So, we now firmly into  December 2015, have I nailed trouser fitting? NO!!! Here's what's been going on....

I checked out most of the recommendations of books, websites and blog posts that were included in the comments of that post. I decided to buy Pants For Real People (pictured at the top of the post) and Sewing Pants That Fit (pictured above). When it arrived, the pleated front, super-loose 80s styles in the Sewing Pants That Fit seemed so far from the types of closer fitting trousers and jeans that I would like to make, that I questioned how much use the advice in that book would be to me so haven't given it much of a look yet. However, I did set about reading Pants For Real People pretty much cover to cover. 

Despite the Oprah-and-Ricki-Lake-era garment styles and photos, Pants For Real People seems to me like is contains most of what you'd need to be aware of when trying to fit trousers. Like it's equally fugly-but-useful sister, Fit For Real People, the authors are talking about tissue fitting a commercial sewing pattern to your body. I still believe that that is an insane waste of time, and cannot see why you wouldn't make a toile/muslin IN REAL FABRIC instead of trying to wear paper to find out what alterations you may need, but wharves. The advise about what fit issues to look for and how to adjust the pattern to avoid them is still put across really well.

So reading Pants For Real People may have led me to a false sense of security. I felt I was then left with two options of how to proceed. Do I, A) choose an existing sewing pattern that appears to be the kind of thing I'd like to wear, and then undergo a series of toile/muslin making and fittings? Or, B) do I draft my own pattern from scratch with my own specific measurements and then do the toile-making-and-fitting dance? I chose A).

Having recently delved into my copy of Gertie Sews Vintage Casual (pictured above) for the knit pencil skirt pattern and been very impressed, I went back and traced out the cigarette trousers pattern (pictured below), omitting the front slant pockets. They are effectively the type of trousers I'd like to make over and over again in fabric with a slight stretch, with different leg lengths and pocket details, so it seemed like a reasonable place to start.

I toiled up this pattern in the kind of fabric I'd be likely to make them in in the future (some gorgeous light/medium weight grainy stretch denim kindly given to me by the Fabric Godmother a while back). I hoped this pair would end up as vaguely wearable and they would show me what tweaks I'd need for perfected future versions. Armed with the toile, some pins, the Pants For Real People book and my mum for technical and moral support, we went in. Oh my, what a cluster fuck! They looked horrendous, and we just couldn't figure out why exactly or what to do about it. My mum and I spent a whole Dolores-nap-time (about 2 hours) inspecting, evaluating, pinching, pinning, shifting and referring back to the book and at the end of it, neither of us had the slightest clue what could be done to make the pattern wearable. I declared defeat and aborted the mission. I'll attempt to squeeze a pair of Hosh pants out of the ashes to salvage some of the beautiful denim, but emotionally I'm still pretty scarred from the debacle!

After all that, I wasn't sure how to proceed, and option B) was looking increasingly likely. Then Minerva Crafts emailed offering me a choice of sewing pattern and fabric to make it up in in exchange for a review. Seeing as what my wardrobe is still lacking in is a pair of decent trousers, I managed to tear myself away from looking at beautiful vintage-repro dress patterns, and focussed on find a trouser-pattern-and fabric-combo to have one more whirl at option A). After a lot of hunting through their overwhelmingly well-stocked website, I picked and received Burda 6811 (pictured above) and a sufficient quantity of black stretch wool twill suiting (which isn't shiny in real life like the pictures suggest). I've only got two projects left in from my nippy weather sewing plans, so I'll crack on with these trousers once those are in the bag and report back in due course...

Nippy Weather Sewing Plans

(image source: Oliver + S)

I usually love the gradual creeping in of Autumn, with a little nip in the air and the beautiful changes of colour all around. However, right now in South East UK the summer has definitely sodded off and Autumn has crept in with a damp, soggy, lack of ceremony. Still, we can always cheer ourselves up by making a fabulous, useful new handmade garment! Today I'd like to share with you what I intend to rustle up over the next few months.

The reason I haven't called this post 'Autumn/Winter Sewing Plans', is that I expect all these garments will see wear throughout the year, not just in A/W. All the pieces I'm planning should be layer-able and  to be worn in a variety of outfit combos. I'm all about maximum wardrobe versatility! Plus, if you're not from or living in the UK, I'll let you into a little secret: the weather here isn't really that bad. The reason why British people are known for moaning so much about it is its unpredictability. MI5 may well be onto me now.... Most other parts of the globe get way more extreme weather of some form or another, but generally most places know what to expect for their season or climate. Here, you can plan a BBQ in July and have it ruined by rain, or you can plan a Novembers day at the indoor soft-play or cinema and find it deserted because it's suddenly turned bright and lovely outside. Generally, the rule of thumb is: if it's nice GET THE HELL OUTSIDE, it may cloud over by the afternoon. 

When it comes to sewing, I am reluctant to state my intended projects as I hate to be tied to my plans, even if it's only myself who will be holding me to account. However, I'm super excited (at the moment) about each of the following, perhaps even enough to see them all through to completion! I'm keeping my sewing projects for Dolores completely spontaneous and commitment-free, so hopefully I can it both ways (planned and unplanned) for a while. Here's what I've been cooking up...

TOPS

(image source: Wiksten)

This will be my third attempt at the Wiksten Tova Top/Dress pattern. I wear my grey dress (now worn as a tunic) regularly, and I'd love to have another shorter and lighter weight version. I've got some gorgeously soft light-weight denim/cotton from the Fabric Godmother lined up and I'm going to aim for a super neat finish as I want this garment to be something I keep for years and years that improves with wear. Alright, this won't be a nippy weather garment exactly, but layered with a vest or jersey top underneath and a cardi on top, it'll still count! 

I still love my 1960's Breton top (pictured above) sooo much, it's almost weird. It's super comfy, but also feels fairly stylish. I plan to push this magic combo further still by making an even more casual version with some stripy French terry that I was kindly given by the Fabric Godmother. 

CARDIGAN

(image source: MIY Collection)

Having recently started teaching at Wendy Ward's MIY Workshop in Brighton, I'm becoming better acquainted with her products and I really fancy having a bash at the MIY Collection Brightside Shrug. This is a similar shape to a lovely emerald knit shrug that I scored in a charity shop that I wear quite a lot, and something similar in a different colour would be really useful.

SKIRT

My first and second versions of Gertie's easy knit skirt pattern have been real successes, and I like wearing both more than any other skirt I have ever owned. I'm hoping I've got some more suitable knit fabric lurking in my stash for another (hopefully black...).  

OUTERWEAR

(image source: Oliver + S)

I've had the Liesl + Co Woodland Stroll Cape (pictured above and at the top of this post) Pinned on my 'Sewing Patterns I Want' Pinterest board for yonks. A while back I was looking at a subsection of my fabric stash that I usually pretend does't exist when I realised that a length of check wool in there might just be big enough for this cute cape. I've had the pattern printed and cut out for months, time to attack!

(image source: Papercut Patterns)

The Papercut Patterns Waver Jacket is the most recent addition to my sewing plans. I think this pattern is hasn't been out for long, and when I saw it, I knew it was the pattern I had been waiting for to make a much-needed and longed for rain jacket. Thanks to my sponsor Sewbox.co.uk, a copy is winging its way to me as I type. I cannot wait to get cracking on this one, and show you the amazing fabric I have in store for it! Until it's finished, I'm going to keep it a secret....

What about you? Do you have a few plans in the pipeline? Do you feel like me, in that you are often reluctant to share your plans 'out loud' in case you change your mind? 

A Mother Lode of Sewing Stuff

And who knew 'mother lode' was spelt 'mother lode' and not 'mother load'?! Not me until I did a spot of googling just then. Anyways... I am one lucky baby-mama because I have recently received not one, not two but THREE packages of baby/toddler sewing stuff from super lovely sewing bloggers. Up until now, I have mainly dressed her in secondhand and hand-me-down things because she's been growing too damn fast. But I plan to make more of her clothing myself as she gets bigger, with a dose charity shop scores and hand-me-downs for the difficult or boring to make things, and nana-knits for her knitwear. Which is just how I approach my own wardrobe I guess, save for the nana-knits.  

So let me show you the awesomeness that I now have to work with! The top image is a whole of beautiful vintage sewing patterns that were sent to me by lovely Adey from The Sew Convert. Can you see that two of them have a nautical theme?! Amazing! She also sent me the four patterns in the bottom row of the image above (one of which I have just finished using, blog post on it's way...). 

The top row of pattern in the image above were sent to me by fabulous Jenna from Just Sew Jenna. As you know, I have already used the romper pattern, and I can't wait to get stuck in to the others. She also sent me the fabric on the top row of the image below to incorporate into my makes. 

The middle row of patterns were sent to me by wonderful Catherine from Clothes and Sewing, including a super cute dolly sewing pattern that I eyed up on the front of a sewing magazine but couldn't justify shelling out for. Catherine has kindly sent me several packages and parcels of sewing-related items since my baby was born, as well as getting me hooked on the Ottobre design children's sewing magazines.  

All three women sent me these patterns because their own children have grown out of the largest size. I aim to honour their kindness by using each pattern at least once and then to pass these on to other worthy sewing-mamas when I am done.

The wonderful printed fabric pieces in the bottom row of the image above are all big enough for whole garments. They were given to me by a newly made IRL friend who bought them to make stuff for her own baby girl but can't really be bothered. The deal is, I get to make them into lovely clothes for Dolores, and then pass on the garments to her daughter (who is five months younger) when she's grown out of them. DEAL!

So with the awesome sewing patterns pictured above, along with my own modest stash of baby/toddler patterns scored from charity shops and flea markets AND my five copies of Ottobre design AND a couple of Burda magazines AND the patterns from the Perfect Pattern Parcel #2, I think I'm set for Dolores-sewing for some time. Thanks again to those lovely, generous ladies, I'm so grateful.

So tell me, what garments have you enjoyed making for your children/other people's children? Which patterns have you used again and again? 

Spring/Summer Sewing Strategies

(image source: Sewionista)

A month or so ago I was emailing with Jen about ideas for posts that might be useful or interesting for Me-Made-May'14 participants to read during the challenge. An awesome idea Jen came up with was writing about creating clothing for the seasons we are coming into as May descends in our corners of the globe. You can read Jen's fascinating take on creating clothing for Autumn/Winter in the Southern Hemisphere here. Which left me thinking about the weather we currently have here in the Northern Hemisphere and how best to fill our wardrobes with suitable clothing...

I swiftly realised that that is just too big a topic to cover! The Mays I enjoyed whilst living in Barcelona for example, are no doubt entirely different to the Mays going on in Canada, for example. So I thought it would be interesting to throw the question out to various points of the Northern Hemisphere's blogosphere: 'How do you approach clothing to make and wear for around this time of the year?'. Just to clarify that despite the title of this post, I'm of course not just talking about sewing, I just can't resist a bit of alliteration. 

(image source: Roobeedoo)

Ruth in Scotland (pictured above):

"Spring (or Summer) in Northern Scotland can sometimes feel more like a Southern English winter. Just the other day (end of April) I was walking along thinking "This feels like a Brixton February morning: frosty, with the sun fighting to get through the fog". As a result, I sew heaps of optimisitic sleeveless or short-sleeved tops in bright cottons... and then have to pile on layers of wool to keep warm. 

Despite an addiction to knitting, I suffer from a severe shortage of work-appropriate handknit cardigans. Every me-made month I come to the same conclusion: I need to knit more full-sized woolies instead of heaps of socks and scarves. So a garment I expect to wear a lot this May is my handknitted Audrey in Unst cardigan. It is made out of locally-spun wool knitted at a fine gauge. It has enough structure to look smart for work, but left unbuttoned it appears quite relaxed. It goes with everything! But that doesn't let me off the hook - I really really need to buckle down to knitting another!"

(image source: Stale Bread into French Toast)

Tasha in USA (pictured above):

"If I had to pick a theme for dressing in May, it would be versatility, which to me means layers. I usually spend a lot of the month traveling around the US, selling my husband’s photography, visiting friends and camping out in various cities and parks, and with my wardrobe limited by what will fit in our truck (read more about our life on the road here). I feel like adding travel just adds another level of unpredictability to what is already a transitional time with a lot of varied weather. My strategy for what to make and wear for all of this is what I learned growing up in the mountain Southwest, where temps vary hugely from day to night: dress in layers. I have several lightweight tops, a couple of sweaters and a soft jacket that I can wear all together under my rain jacket if it’s really cold, or in various other combinations. One of my goals for MMM’14 is to knit a light cardigan to replace one that’s been a staple of my layering for many years! 

The undisputed most-worn garment of my MMM’13 was my purple corduroys. Last year, we had more cool and rainy days in May than usual, and I wore these pants/trousers all the time. I think a good pair of pants is essential for transitional weather, they work for warmer and cooler days (with different tops of course) and even with long johns underneath if it’s cold. I now have a new pair of me-made trousers, which I expect to get a lot of wear this May!"

(image source: Dedal, Aguja E Hilo)

Mari in Northern Spain (pictured above): 

"As soon as you asked me to talk about an essential garment for Spring I didn't thought about a dress or a jacket, I thought in an accessory, a foulard. Weather in Barcelona on May can be unpredictable and a foulard is a good choice, it is an elegant accessory. It warms my neck in the early morning or I cover my shoulders if the air conditioner is too high. I have a good foulard collection but this one is my favourite, it's silk and I painted it ten years ago, I still love it."

(image source: Sewionista)

Julia in Germany (pictured above and at top of post):

"Here in Southern Germany, Bavaria to be exact, May can be kind of unpredictable. Last year was very cold and rainy, this year it will probably be very warm if April is an indicator. In addition, the temperature shifts a lot during the day. Mornings and evenings are still quite cold while it might already be summery during the day. So it is necessary here to wear layers most days that work for walking to work in the morning as well as sitting in the warm office during the day. Since it is often still too cold for bare legs, my usual outfit consists of pants, T-shirt/top and a light jacket or blazer. After the long winter I'm always really sick of dark colours and thus I tend to go for light/pastel colours during this time. I also noticed that I really gravitate towards floral prints once it gets warmer. Pieces I have worn a lot last spring/summer were these floral pants and this white jacket. The colours and print of the pants put me instantly in a good mood and they work well with differents tops. The jacket is made from cotton and unlined, which makes it perfect for spring/summer and in white it fits into every spring/summer outfit. I also really like this type of short jacket/blazer because it can be combined with pants as well as with skirts and dresses. 

When I plan a new wardrobe for a new season, it helps me to create a Polyvore-board of my sewing plan. This prevents me from getting distracted or sidetracked which normally happens a lot with all the great inspiration on the blogosphere. It is important for me that the pieces on my sewing plan complete my already existing wardrobe and can be combined with each other. They also have to fit my life and style, which is mostly casual as I don't have to follow any dress code at work."

(image source: Aventuras de Costuras)

Merche in Southern Spain (pictured above): 

"Where I live, in the South of Spain, Spring is almost non-existent. That means you go from wearing your coat one day and in a week's time you'll be dressed in your summer clothes. That usually happens in the middle of May. Up in the North is a complete different thing: you always, always need a light cardigan or a jacket to have around when the night falls. One garment that I made and find very useful and wearable during this Spring-Summer period is a maxi dress I wore on many occasions. I think that due to the neutral colours and the shape of it, it can easily go from formal with high heels and a shiny bolero as I wore it to a wedding, to more hippy-like style with a denim jacket and flip-flops. It is, quite frankly the most worn item in my summer wardrobe!"

(image source: The Sewing and Life Adventures of Emerald Erin)

Erin in Canada (pictured above):

"My strategy for the springtime is definitely layers! I'm all about layering clothes so you're always prepared to keep up with temperature changes through the day. For me this means it's time to make scarfs in spring colours (crochet or fabric), and it's time to make light jackets and light shirts to go under the jackets. Then, when the really hot weather comes along, you can ditch your scarf and jacket and have a nice light top.

A light jacket that I have been living in recently is my Islander Sewing System denim jacket- I've been wearing it with sweaters and long sleeves right now, but I predict that I will be wearing it constantly with t-shirts and tank tops underneath, and lighter scarves! - http://emeralderin.blogspot.ca/2014/04/my-first-me-made-may-mmmay14.html - and I think this is a really great example of what I will be wearing this May, and it includes my jacket, which I know will be my go-to piece!"

And myself? I agree with the layerettes, it's all about the layers for me. Looking back at previous MMMay's, I have to say it's my Captain Jacket that has proven the most used and the most useful. If I remember correctly it was something of a faff to make, but in terms of the ratio of 'hours to make : hours worn' (yes, that's a thing) it was totally worth it.