Me Made May #4

Hellooo! We are back from our holidays and I have some feel good holiday snaps mixed in with my last Me Made May post.It is a bit more chaotic this time with some days missed but clothes made and worn by me nonetheless.

Worn to - Home day today packing for holidays

Made - Mathilde Blouse in Liberty Florence fabric.Jersey necker made up out of fabric that was too thin for a T-shirt

With - New jeans with stars!!! bought in M&S for £14 on a sale rail.

Thoughts - I like this blouse but I do struggle with what to wear it with so it has occasional outings when the temperatures are Spring like.

Make again? - Probably not. I took quite a bit of fabric out of the sleeves when I made it. It doesn't earn it's keep in my wardrobe really. Sorry.

Journey stop off at Hardwick Hall

Worn to - Travel on holidays

Made - Jeans from burda

With - A second hand sweatshirt

Thoughts - They really are a home made staple, as you will see!

Make again? - yep, maybe in fine cord or cotton drill

Worn to - The beach

Made - Cord skirt, t-shirt and neck wrap

With - navy leggings

Make again? - Yes

Worn to - Exploring Whitby

Made - T-shirt

With - New Gap city slicker trousers (thanks Bloke, I love them)denim jacket later when it got windy

Worn to - Meal out with my dad and his wife who joined us on holiday and the children too

Made - Shift dress

With - Leggings and a denim jacket. Along with my cherry brooch from Amy at Love made my home.

Thoughts - Staple summer dress.

Make again? - Definitely. I altered the pattern specially for me.

Little M joined in with her going out dress too with a similar-ish pose! I made it in early March and it is getting small already.My mum knit the cardigan.

Worn to - Play crazy golf!

Made - Vintage top

With - Gap trousers

Worn to - Lunch and more walking

Made - Dress and necker

With - Leggings and navy jumper

Worn to - Fossil hunting at Robin Hoods Bay on the beach

Made - Jeans from burda

With - A bought t-shirt

So I wore variations of these clothes for a week and never got tired of them. What have I learnt from doing Me Made May?

1. I must stop making things because 'they-go-with-jeans' because I am at work four days a week when I can't even wear jeans!
2. I need to make a summer jacket because I only have a denim one and that is either too casual or I am wearing denim jeans so it looks silly.
3. I need to make some plain knits and solid colour items so that I can wear my floral/patterned makes easily.
4. I actually like wearing the clothes I make.

I hope you have enjoyed this little journey of sewing, I know it is a bit of a marathon. I have loved seeing other peoples clothes which I have been following on Pinterest and it has given me a lot of inspiration. I'm off to catch up on some of your some blogs because we didn't have the internet for a whole week on holiday!!!

Love Jo xxx

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Sewing the brief

I seem to have so little time... Where is it all going? ...you too? it is frustrating isn't it? I had some bloggy deadlines to meet, some more important than others, so I needed a project that would fit a wide criteria, namely:

1. I would love it, wear it and it would also go with something I already had. (My new years resolution)
2. It was from a vintage pattern for my Vintage pledge 2015 with stitching odyssey.
3. It needed to be from Simplicity to enter their sewing competition, I had already received the free pattern and really wanted to enter.
4. I could wear it on holiday in Me Made May 2015.
5. It would replace the catastrophe I made of my Minerva fabric this month which is due for post today (one way stretch towelling long story, let's not go there!)

What an earth would I do to meet all this criteria with 

time ticking away before our holiday next week?

I made this in fabric I bought last Summer! It's a vintage pattern, from the Simplicity competition entry requirement, made from Minerva fabric with the lacy zip and I LOVE it.

I will be making more of these I can tell you. I have some blue chambray under the bed that would make a good one, maybe with some applique on the side.

This is what happens when you get the camera too close on self timer!

You can't see them on here but you can on the pattern, these deep side darts really suit me and I shall be looking out for more of them in future patterns.

I even managed to pattern match the roses on the back seam.

I used the three quarter sleeve pattern piece and made them shorter, made the zip shorter at the back and added the modern twist of having it out the outside. So I have entered the competition and used up the last of this pretty ribbon edged fabric from Minerva. 

Thanks Vicki for letting me off this months fabric disaster! 

Enjoy the links. I'm off to pack. What an earth do you pack for a UK holiday in May in Whitby? Jo x

Me Made May week 3

Me made May week 3 linking with So Zo: I am not jaded yet so still enjoying the challenge as well as seeing how other bloggers tackle it too. The weather has been pretty changeable over the last 7 days.

Monday 11th May

Worn to - Home day today. School run, laundrette, spot of sewing, cooking, gardening and tidying up.

Made - Lined Cord Skirt from Ottobre magazine with pockets and waistband necklace from ravelry

With - Bought Navy t-shirt with pink shoes

Thoughts - I love it. Thanks to my friend for the gifted and thrifted fabric.

Make again? - This is my second one, there will be more!

Tuesday 12th May

Worn to - work tutoring English to apprentices.

Made - Lined Cord Skirt again. Jumper from Laurie Summer top here with Louisa Harding yarn merletto, surprisingly I made it in 2012 when I checked ravelry.

With - Sari scarf and pink shoes

Thoughts - I am in love with this skirt.

Make again? - Yes to skirt. My mum is going to make the top for herself too.

Wednesday 13th May

Worn to - work tutoring English to a parent group

Made - Jumper from Laurie Summer top and necklace from ravelry here

With - Bought, wide leg, white, linen trousers

Thoughts - A comfortable to wear summer outfit even when it is a bit breezy. The top had a ribbon threading through the holes to nip in the waist but I got bored of re-threading it every time I took it on and off but it does look better with it in.

Thursday 14th May

Worn to - work teaching reception children

Made - Bead edged crochet triangle in regia sock yarn

With - Grey jumper and white trousers from yesterday and my felt birdie brooch from Bee at Linen Cloud

Thoughts - Sorry, it was colder than I thought today so a bit of a lame effort!

Friday 15th May

Worn to - work in the office doing apprentice admin and ICT tutoring

Made - Vintage dress circa 1968

With - Green shoes and bare leg tights

Thoughts - I love the feel of this dress with the silky lining.

Saturday and Sunday 16th May

Worn to - The cabin for a sleepover.

Made - My wearable jeans toile in brown cord from Ottobre

With - T-shirt and old fleece

Thoughts - My try out pair of jeans helped me practise a zip fly, top-stitching on pockets and belt loops. They are my gardening/outdoor trousers!

Monday 18th May

Worn to - Work: conducting tests, office work oh, and the dentist!

Made - T-shirt and trousers from a free Sew home&style pattern (on the letters page this month.)

With - Spotty scarf

Thoughts - Great for work. Five people asked me where I got my trousers from today! 

Tuesday 19th May

Same again but with warmer lined trousers and a stupid smile!

So still wearing my own clothes, having a haircut on Thursday too. I may struggle next week as we are on holiday and it is bad enough knowing what to pack for a seaside holiday in the UK in May without having to factor in homemade stuff as well!

Thanks for looking. Have you ever sewn anything for yourself?

Jo xx

Weekend fun

Not many words today but lots of pictures in full techni-colour green...

Paddling.

Little M likes to live on the edge, with her nose close to the water saying 'wowww' over and over again.

This is what she is looking at...

Big Sis is scooping and looking...

I have a few minutes to myself searching for wildlife...

Then we wanted to catch the bluebells before they went over this year, they were magnificent.

Sisterly, 

skipping,

collecting and identifying.

There was a bit of crochet goodness in the cabin stopover too. I made these two years ago, they were too big for a scarf and too holey when I joined them together to start a blanket so I stuffed them in a bag until an idea came along.

Today I strung them together on ribbon as cabin decor. Little M bombed my photo there... I laughed out loud so...

She did it again...

I also made four more squares towards a slow burn blanket I only do when we are at the cabin. Few more years I think...

We stayed over on Saturday night, ate pasta, toasted marshmallows and lit the log burner for a cosy nights sleep.

Hope you all enjoyed some 'green' this weekend. Jo xxx

As suggested

OK, I trust you, even though I don't know some of you but I believed you when you said the flowery cord would make an excellent skirt. How right you all were.

I had been resisting using it for a skirt because I had enough for a dress and now I have a little bit left over which is useless but look what I have... a fabulous lined skirt.

I chose to make the 'On trend' skirt from Ottobre autumn/winter 2015 because I had made it before, loved the pocket details and challenge of a bit more skirt for my sewing time.

I am enjoying Me made May but boy is it showing up the need for me to make some solid colour garments. 

I want a plain cardigan to go with this now. 

Might go yarn browsing. 

Thanks for the advice you lovely people. Jo xxxx