Me Made May '14 - Its on!

I, Ellen, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '14. I endeavour to dress myself and/or my BubbaBoo in at least one me-made item each day for the duration of May 2014

Its done. I'm in. Me-Made-May!

Not so many of my me-mades fit me particularly well at the moment so my personal wardrobe is much reduced. I've managed to squeeze in a few feeding friendly tops which may or may not turn up here prior to May. They whip up really fast (gotta love knits for that!) so they can be made up in a couple of nap times. Who wants to clean the kitchen when theres sewing to be done?!

So my challenge is split between me and bubs. He's not one of natures spewy babies, so up until recently he's generally worn the same summer onesie for 24 hours. Now we are needing a bit more warmth day and night, so I can actually get a bit more creative with his wardrobe before he grows out of everything! 

I think between us we should get every day covered, and I can reassess my wardrobe going forward too. Thats definitely been a benefit in the past. Bring on May!

And now it is.

Enough, anyway. I think I need to bite the bullet and buy a french curve, as the problems with the skirt resut with me not being able to draw a smooth curve! Can you tell I'd been wearing it sat down for a few hours?

And I finished the last pair of pants for MMM! 

(Can you guess the Boys name?!)

Me Made May Pledge

  I, Ellen, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '13. 

I endeavour to wear 1 handmade item, teamed with one handmade accessory each day for the duration of May 2013.

I also aim to have made enough pants to last me through too!*

*A short laundry turnaround might be necessary!

Last year was my first real attempt at this, and I did pretty well despite being on fieldwork for some of it.
This year has no such hurdles, so all should be well. And Its one of my 2013 sewing goals, so I have to do it, right?!

My hand made wardrobe isn't massive, but its bigger and more varied than last year and now contains more separates and more "grown up" clothes. I never did get around to making that capsule wardrobe, but I think I did work on having items that go with things I already own. Its been a lot easier slipping me-mades in un noticed. Or at least not sticking out like a sore thumb.

Before May I plan to make a Laurel fall dress, out of some thin grey wool blend, and another skirt in a fabric that I have been coveting for a while. There should also be a Mathilde blouse after I won Adriennes "New Beginnings"  giveaway. The patterns all ready to go, I just haven't had the guts to start yet!

I bought some fancy fold-over knicker elastic at the recent local half price sale, so that should help me make a few more pairs of pants.The pants don't count as and item or an accessory, they're just an optional extra that I've been meaning to get around to producing for a while!

I got a lot out of last years MMM, despite and possibly because I didn't have many things to wear! So if you're contemplating it, I'd say do it! You choose your own challenge, so its as easy or as hard as you make it. 
I'll be posting daily photos in the flicker group, then probably just summarising on here. Otherwise it can get a bit boring.

If you're participating too, leave a link and we can compare notes :D

Dress like the woman you want to be...

Wow! I Cannot believe it is June already!

I made it, and hardly had to defer to me-made accessories.

The best bits?

Learning what suits me and what doesn't.

Seeing what gaps I have in my wardrobe. 

(that would be lower halves and outer wear, the same as most new sewists I guess. Also I don't have much in the way of knits)

Getting lots of ideas from other participants, both by seeing their outfits and reading their comments.

The worst bits?

Having a wardrobe dilemmas on important days, and not having much to choose from.

Seeing just how often I wear my jeans! But I think thats more about the time of year than anything else. They only just came out of summer storage in April.

I wear lots of blue! 

What am I going to take away?

Make more (work appropriate) skirts.

I made two skirts already, but I'm not much of a skirt person and don't have much to wear with them just yet. I'm a dress person in summer, but rarely separates. I might even have a go at trousers. Eventually.

More basics.

I'm a pattern-whore. I buy funky patterns, but then don't want to cut them and feel like a toddler wearing them. So I need to buy some more realistic clothing fabric to start with, and learn how to use prints to look like a grown up and not a 2 year old.

Think about how things will work together.

Maybe for summer I will plan a capsule wardrobe... a number of items that are "me" but  work well together. At the moment I buy and sew without really thinking what it will go with. 

I've been going through a bit of a quarter-life crisis in recent years (Though I'm now 27 1/2). I have a very young face, and I have hair that can be hard to tame. I have been trying to dress more age appropriate for a while, because in my industry its hard enough to be taken seriously as a woman, never mind as a girl. The number of times people have walked into my office and assumed its the admin department just because I'm the only girl around, despite the sign on the door saying "Mining- Geology"...

But I struggle to find the balance. I find it hard to look "put together", and my penchant for cute patterned fabrics doesn't help. Some times I feel like a toddler, other times the Boy has no qualms in telling me I look like an old woman... 

I guess its all about finding my own style as my situation changes. At school age I think mostly lived in jeans and t-shirts vaguely gothy, thought now what I wore would probably be called emo. Eeek! More or less the same at university, with less goth and more geek.

At work we wore safety gear, which never really came in  real-womens sizes (size 10... fits perfectly across the bust and waist, a good 6 inches too short in the arms and length...) and isn't the most flattering gear anyway. But at least everyone looked the same and you didn't have to think about it.

Now I'm back being a student, but as a post grad. I'm in the unusual situation after 5 years of having to decide what to wear every single day. People, and more importantly I myself, need to have confidence in what I'm thinking and doing...

 I've recently been thinking about the mantra:

Dress like the woman you want to be

And while I do believe that there is more to life than appearance... 

And I think its true to a point that you will look good in something you are comfortable to be wearing.

But it helps if you look like you know what you're talking about! So I guess thats my aim for the future. 

Make clothes that say "I know what I'm talking about" and faking it 'til I make it!

My first (completed) button up shirt!

I started a burda pattern for a shirt a while back, and as usual I cut it following the bust measurement. 

It turned out HUGE. I spent lots of time taking it in, but I havn't got it right yet, so its sitting in the UFO pile... Maybe this weekend.

A couple of weeks ago I was in the op shop, and saw this basic shirt pattern from 1975. 

Style 1242

It was only 50c, looked like all the pieces were there. I've never really sewn from printed paper patterns, never mind old ones, so I wasn't sure it would fit, but it was only 50c and I had the perfect thrifted fabric to try it out on.

I didn't notice how big the collar would be!

But I do love the sleeves. I finished them with 3 lines of stitching and a button.

There is also an option for big floaty sleeves, which I'm looking forward to trying!

It was a pretty good fit with no changes, but it needs an extra inch or so across the shoulders so I can actually put my arms out in front of me!

Blue Ruffle Sorbetto

Yes, another sorbetto!

This time, no pleat, length extended and an asymmetrical ruffle.

This is made from the left overs of the blue poplin from the Caterpillar dress. I didn't quite have enough fabric, so this one is a little snug, and its really brought to my attention the dart placement. (and the bad quality of my sewing of them)

Should it be lower? It feels wrong... I'm Aussie 10 ish, wearing a 10dd/12D depending on cut and brand. so I know I should be making some alterations to fit around them ;) But it seems so complicated!

Any ideas?

If in doubt, go with the original plan

So. I went for what I'd originally planned...

The Kookaburra sorbetto, dark jeans and a biscuit cardi.

The weather was crazy today- sunny then rainy then sunny then rainy.

I got pretty wet on the first half of the way to uni, but dried off on the second.

I love the old buildings at the heart of the uni!

I got enrolled OK, filled out the paperwork, went to my department, found my office had no desk and no computer, and the woman who could give me a key to the building had gone out... so mixed successes! 

The rest of the week I'll just "work from home". Its all reading and Italian at this stage anyway!

First day back at school...

... and I cannot decide what to wear!

Nothing feels right, me made or not! Eeek!

The sorbetto... jumper?!

So this is what I made to take with me to Italy.

I wanted something warm but wearable in a range of situations. 

Believe it or not, its a sorbetto made out of an ikea throw!

So... what did I do?

I took out the centre fold on the sorbetto.

Added an extra couple of inches.

I drafted some long sleeves from a jumper I already had. They were meant to come down long and have holes for my thumb, but I misjudged the length and width, so I hemmed them at the wrist instead.

I cut out a rectangle as long as the total length of  the neckline, and twice as wide as I wanted the cowl to be. I sewed it on so that the seam for the cowl was against my neck, and the seam joining the cowl together would be hidden beneath the fold.

I took advantage of the finish of the throw to give a more interesting finish around the bottom and the cowl.

I would definitely consider making something similar again, but I wouldn't suggest using the throw ;) 

It served a purpose but was already piling really badly, especially on the sleeves, so I would probably choose a better quality fleece.

PS: Today I'm wearing the herman sorbetto with 3/4 jeans, and yesterday was a pjs day (I landed at 1am, got home at 2, then didn't fall asleep til 6 (midnight Italy time), attempted to wake up a couple of times but fell asleep again each time, only actually waking up at two... I wore the space invader pjs I made for the boy a while back!

Back from Italy... moderately successful MMM

Well, its hard to keep up the me-made-ness when you've mostly made quite formal and fitted clothes then have to go hiking for a week! I went to tghe Piedmont region of Italy for 6 days. 2 days there, 5 real field days, 2 days back. Awesome, huh! The food was amazing- I ate soo much because everything was so yummy, and because I was with mostly Italians it was easier to find out what was good and/or a local speciality. I need to work on my Italian for when I'm there on my own!

But all in all it was a good introduction to my phd!

I took a few me made things with me; I didn't manage to get photos of everything, and the photos I did get are hurried, generally with wet hair :) I did sleep in my dino pyjamas every night, if that counts?!

See that jumper? Would you believe me if I said it was from ikea? ;)

The weather was variable!

Sunny...

Rainy...

Snowy...

But there were views that definitely made up for it!

All topped off with Gelato by the lake on the way back to the airport!

It was a long way to go for 6 days, but we had a great time. 

I'm nearly over the jet lag I think, though it took a few days.

May 2nd - Fish Day

Today we sadly lost one of our fish. She'd been looking under the weather for a while, and today she looked much worse. We'd been searching the net for symptoms; at first we thought it was ammonia poisoning, which is why we had bought the new tank so we had much better ability to control their water quality. Today it looked like she had an infection.
We went out to the store to buy some medicine but by the time we got back she was hardly breathing and floating on her side, so the boy put her out of her misery. Its for the best, but I couldn't do it myself, and cried a little. We burried her in the garden next to her pond. I feel we let her down, but the new set up is huge- much bigger and better filtered than their little outdoor pond, so I think we'll be much better off in future. We can see them better, and detect issues earlier, plus we now have a huge host of water tests and treatments to keep on top of any future "under the weather-ness"

RIP Topaz.

But, we did get some new playmates for Amber, the one left behind. We're still cycling up tank, and will hopefully end up with maybe 6 goldfish in our 85l tank, maybe with some darios once I find some big enough not to be eaten! but today we got two more gold fish, a small yellow comet called Citrine (Trinny for short) and a slightly bigger orange and silver one called Molybdenum (Molly). So far they've all been names after minerals they resemble, but Molly looks like a fish I had as a child in our outdoor pond, and molybdenum is silver, and she's a bit silver... Its a stretch, but it kind of works!
They're loving the tank. Amber is much more active than she was outside, and the three of them seem to get a long really well.

So, todays outfit was fish themed. Whales and jean shorts:

I'm off to Italy tonight for a week or so (crazy life of a phd student) so I'll be offline. I've got some tshirts that I embellished or re-made from mens shirts, plus a skirt I made and a fleecy jumper made using the sorbetto pattern, plus some home made hair clips ;)

Oh, and home made PJs. 

Only time will tell how I go!

See you on the other side.

1st of Me Made May!

Its May! 

So here is my first outfit. Fittingly, one of the first things I ever made. 

A cowl neck tunic with huuuge sleeves. Theyre really badly sewn on to the cuffs, but generally you can't see that because they generally fall inside the sleeve drape. I love the floaty-ness! They were a bit too big at the shoulder originally, so I added the pleat and button just off the shoulder to get the shape I wanted.

All self drafted using a tunic I had, the burda cowl neck tutorial and my imagination.

I wore silver flipflops when I was out, but rarely wear shoes around the house.

Today we bought a fish tank for our pond fish. We were struggling to keep them happy in our tiny little pond, and were missing out on actually seeing them. So we took the plunge and bought a big 3 foot long tank, which will house our two goldies for now, and some more in the future :)

More sorbettos

I think I'm nearly done with this pattern for the moment, though I do have plans to make something with it and a few alterations for the field-trip during me-made-may.

I used these as my last two entries for the Spring Top Sewalong. I did consider entering the Herman sorbetto, but I think these are a little more grown up ;)

I love this whale print, but the fabric is a bit rubbish-very cheap poplin that the colour fades on easily when you iron it. I still love the top though.

For this one I added an extra inch or two to the length, extended the armistices (is that the word?!) and changed the neckline around a bit.

This second one is made from chiffony polyester, from spotlight on sale for only about $6 a meter. Its really wide too, so I only used about 60cm of it for this top. Score! 

Its really flowly and wears well. I just wish I'd made it a bit longer so it will tuck in to skirts etc.

Now I just need to decide what to do with the other 1.4m!

I love the pattern!

I think they look like kookaburras. What do you think?

Herman Sorbetto

I finally jumped on the bandwagon and downloaded Colletes sorbetto top pattern.

Its FREE, here.

I've been looking for a simple top that I can make into lots of different things, and this is just the thing.

Nice and simple, with the pleat down the front to add some interest, and a bust dart to add some shape.

Herman is our "pet" hippo.  

He sits on our sofa in the TV room and doubles as a cushion :)

The fabric is from IKEA- left over from cushions in my sewing room (which is green and white and awesome). This fabric is rubbish for this kind of top... though the more I think about, I'm not sure its ever been washed, so maybe it has a stiffening agent in it. We'll see what happens on wash day!

I do like the colours though. I think the white tones down the green. I'm glad I made the sleeves and binding from plain white- an all lime hippo top might have been too much!

To counter the stiffness of the material, I added 5 rows of shiring on the back, to pull it in a bit. 

I just eyeballed them in. I think next time I will add an extra inch or so to the length, as the shiring makes it feel like it is riding up. 

I added sleeves as an after thought, using the pattern at "Sew, incidentally..." I don't really do sleeves so far, so it was good practice. They went in really easily, thankfully. I didn't finish the edge on them before I fitted them, so decided to shir around hemline because it was easier that adding a cuff (should probably have done that before fitting them in!) and didn't leave the sleeve gaping.

I bought a gadget to fold bias tape yesterday, so decided to use that to make the bias binding for the neck line. It took a couple of attempts to get it right (I used the tube method, and initially drew my lines the wrong way across the grain, then sewed it up so it would have made hoops not a spiral. I knew I shouldn't have got out of bed this morning!) but I think it will be a good technique to have, and good for using up off cuts of fabric that are too small to be much use and too big to throw away. I suppose other people use them for quilts, but I don't have that kind of patience!

Have you made a sorbetto? 

Let me know. I have some ideas of what else I want to do with this pattern, but more inspiration is always welcome!

Autumn Stripes and Spots

The Autumn is arriving in Perth, and having signed up for Me Made May, I decided to use some of my knit stash to make a tshirt for the cooler days.

This was self drafted and draped. - Dolman sleeves longer than usual for our incoming autumn weather, and tucks up the sides to break up the stripes and disguise the currently-slightly-softer-than-I'd-prefer stomach.

To draft this, I simply used a well fitting t-shirt, folded in half and laid out on the halved fabric. I marked lines up the sides, allowing extra for the seam. When I got to the armholes, I simply drew out more or less straight at 90 degrees to the fold, as long as you want the sleeve to be. 

At the shoulder point of my shirt, I drew another line straight across at 90 degrees to the fold, also marking the point where the neck opening was. Then cut.

Sew up each side, then across the top of each sleeve as far as the marked neckline. You could cut a curved neckline in, but I kept with the stripes, and simply rolled down the front a little more than the back before stitching down a hem at the neck. 

Then I hemmed the sleeves and bottom of the shirt. 

The fabric is something knit-ish, bought at the local fabric shops sale, mainly because I liked the colour and the mix of polkadots and stripes. 

 Finished with a double needle.- Finally attempted it! It didn't work out too well, but you can't see the trouble areas so much.

See my other entries for Raes Spring Top Sewalong.

Have you used a twin needle? What do you think? I like the professional look bit definitely need more practice!

Me Made May!

I, Ellen, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '12. I endeavour to wear an item that I have had a hand in creating, each day for the duration of May 2012 

(even on fieldwork in Italy...)

Its that time again. I've seen this kind of challenge before but haven't been in a position to join in.

I didn't think I'd have enough again, but when you throw in all the bags/accessories I've made, the projects that are nearly done, the plans I have for the next few weeks and the op-shop refashions... I think I might be able to do it!

The problems I can see at the moment  are:

I fly to Italy on the 2nd, for a weeks field work

The weather should be OK, so I can stick with my sleeveless tops (sleeves have always been an issue of mine), and also wear some re-fashioned tshirts and vests. Not much of an opportunity for dressing up though!

Most of what I've actually finished are dresses or PJs.

Do PJs count?! 

I need to be brave and cut some of my fabric. 

Even though I'm no expert, and as much as I love my fabric... mostly it was bought on sale so it doesn't really represent a huge investment. And I'm never going to get any better without making a few mistakes on the way.

It'll be my first month at uni.

Do I really want to be the one in the shirt where the hemline don't match? Can I live with being that girl? Can I make up a few things that don't scream "a three year old made this"?

But I'm up for the challenge.

If you are too, learn more and sign up at So, Zo...What do you know!