Now it feels challenging

I love the first week of Me Made May.  It's all excitement, inspiration and good vibes.

Things usually start to get a bit tricky around week 2.  That's when I ask myself why I pledged to wear two me made items every day.  I've worn a lot of me made undies to fulfill my daily quota :)

My me made wardrobe is not yet at a point where I can put together a full months worth of outfits that I feel good about.  At the moment work is hectic, my personal life is hectic and studying is taking up much more time than I thought it would.  I need my clothes to help me feel good and well put together and I don't feel like it's happening at the moment, but I'm not going to give up.  Alright, enough navel gazing, lets take a look at what I wore.

Day 8

Wearing Simplicity 3686 slim fit pants, self draft top and Simplicity 2443 jacket.  Crazy dogs are optional!

 Day 9

 Wearing Simplicity 2451 skirt and Butterick 5627 top. This outfit looks much better with the black cardigan and shoes that I took off!

Day 10

Wearing another version of Simplicity 3686 pants and Simplicity 2443 jacket.

Day 11

Wearing Simplicity 3538 jacket (pre-blog) and BWOF 2/2007 105b t-shirt (un-blogged). 

Day 12

Wearing my japanese balloon top and me made undies. 

Day 13

Only wearing one me made item today and it's my stripey Kwik Sew 3740 top. 

Day 14

Had to borrow a Flickr photo from last year, but it's the exact same outfit.  Simplicity 3631 jacket (pre-blog) and Vogue 8685 dress 

Favourite outfit of the week goes to day 11, I do love that jacket and the t-shirt fabric is soft and beautiful to wear.  My least favourite is probably day 10, it needs a different top and day 9 looked better when I had my black cardigan on - the proportions look wrong when I take it off.

I think week three is going to be even tougher!

Who you calling Koi?

Ok, so it's a very corny blog title but it's the best I can do at the moment.

I hope I don't have another week like the last for a very long time.  I was so exhausted on Friday night that Wade gave me a 10pm curfew!  I was desperate to spend some time in my sewing room and I had very limited brain capacity so I decided to make myself another pair of Amy Butler Lounge Pants.

I bought this koi print flannelette at Spotlight recently with the lounge pants pattern in mind.  There's nothing nicer than a pair of cozy comfy flannel pj pants on a cold day.  The only thing I did differently to last time was to add an extra 2 inches to the length and leave off the hem bands ( I haven't touched the coat I mention in that post, it's still waiting to be sewn up).

These pants are designed for comfort, not figure flattery (on me anyway), but I love them.  The fabric makes me smile, they feel terrific and I finished them before my imposed bedtime!  Now I just need to make a pj top to go with them.

Week 1 done and dusted

Whew.  I've survived week one of Me Made May and already I've discovered that my wardrobe hasn't changed much, but my tastes have!

My favourite ensemble is day 1 - those pants are worn once a week and the variety of colours in the silk top means it can go with so many things.  And it's silk. enough said.

My least favourite would be day 6 - there's nothing particularly wrong with it, it just doesn't make me feel good.  Generally I wear that as a casual top so I just didn't feel very 'put together' for work.

Most inappropriate outfit goes to day 3 - that dress is far too short for me to wear to work, but I did it anyway and pretended it was ok because it was Friday.

Here's the outfits with links to the item's original blog posts.

Day 1: Simplicity 3686 pants and McCall's 6519 top.

Day 2: My leggings are from Ottobre Woman 2/2008 #16 and the Dress/tunic is Butterick 5247

Day 3: The dress and cowl are both from Simplicity 2054

Day 4: brand new (un-blogged) Renfrew top, self drafted cardigan (pre-blog), also wearing me made undies

 Day 5: Ottobre Woman 2/2008 #16 leggings and McCall's 5630 shirt.  

 Day 6: Simplicity 3686 pants (apparently made pre blog!) and Kwik Sew 3740 wool top

Day 7: Butterick 5627 and a brand new pair of (as yet unblogged) Ohhh Lulu Lola undies. 

Sweet Dreams

During Paige's recent hospital stay we spent a little bit of time looking at projects on Pinterest.  This one really caught her eye, so I thought we'd do our own version.  

I used the slim fit style from Ottobre Design 301 (The best t-shirts) pattern in a size 140.  I added an extra 8 inches to the bottom and scooped an extra inch out of the front neckline (it was really high last time I made it).  This time I also used contrast bands to hem the sleeves.  The only thing I'm not 100% happy with is the slight wave in the neck band, but for a nighty it's not a big deal.  The fabrics are all great cotton lycra blends from Spotlight several years ago.  Unfortunately Spotlight don't seem to sell it anymore which is a real shame because it's decent quality at a reasonable price.

At the moment I'm only able to sew in about 20 minute sessions so it took 3 nights to make this - one night to cut out, one night to do the applique and one night to put it all together.  Paige is happy with the final result and I just loved getting to spend a little time in my sewing room.

Expect a few more kids projects to show up here, Paige has shot up several inches since last winter and is in desperate need of new clothes.

And so it begins...

It's the first day of Me Made May 2013!

Despite being completely shocked that it's actually May (how did that happen?) I'm really excited to be taking part in MMM again.

I often find it a struggle towards the end of the month so we'll see how it goes this time.  May looks like it's going to be slightly less hectic than January - April, so I should be able to eke out a little more time in my sewing room.  In fact I have a little project on the go and I love the way it's shaping up.

Here's my pledge:

I, Robyn of Sew Love Red sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '13. I endeavour to wear a minimum of two handmade garments each day for the duration of May 2013.

And today's me-made items are Simplicity 3686 pants (blogged here) and McCall's 6519 top (blogged here).  Not sure what's going on with the angle of the photo, but that's what happens when your 13 year old snaps a quick photo as you're rushing out the door and you're running late.

*Edited to add*

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your kind thoughts and well wishes for Paige.  She's recovering beautifully and to look at her now you'd never know she'd been sick.  My biggest challenge at the moment is trying to get her slow down!

Saying thanks

Thank you to the Red Cross Volunteer who took the time to knit this little bear.


Stripes, as he has been named, helped calm Paige and keep her company when she was unexpectedly admitted to hospital on Saturday.

I'm not the type of person to rush to the doctors and it's incredibly rare for me to go to the emergency department, so it never crossed my mind that the stomach pain Paige was experiencing could be an appendicitis.  She played netball and then came home and did her chores!  The poor girl looked so awful I finally Googled the symptoms of an appendicitis, then I quickly bundled her in the car and took off.  I knew I was right when the triage nurse had us in with a doctor within 10 minutes.

She had surgery within 24 hours, everything went really well and she's now recuperating at home.  The public hospital system gets a lot of criticism, but I have nothing but praise.  The surgeon, doctors, nurses and all the other staff were just amazing.

So thank you to the Red Cross Volunteer and a huge thank you to all the staff at the Monash Medical Centre.

There was quite a bit of pinterest planning done while we were in hospital so there should be some sewing to share soon.

Kombi love - Butterick 5786

Caitlyn has a thing for beat up old VW Kombi vans so when I saw this fabric on the Tessuti website I couldn't resist.
 

Source: tessuti-shop.com via Robyn on Pinterest

I wasn't sure what I was going to make and at $40 a meter I could only afford to purchase a single meter.  I don't usually spend a lot of money on fabric for the kids clothes because there's no guarantee they'll wear it, even when they've asked for it.  After a bit of discussion Caitlyn chose view A of Butterick 5786, a button through shirt with hem detailing.  I was just happy that I'd bought the smaller size range so I didn't have to do any grading.

I made a straight size 8 and cut 18.5cm off the back length of the shirt.  I had planned on smoothing the side seams to retain the rounded look but Caitlyn liked the squared corners so we left it that way.  Of course once it was finished she tried to tell me she actually wanted it to have a collar and stand, but there was no way I was unpicking and adding in a collar.  By the time I did that this wouldn't have fit her at all.

As it is I'm not sure how much wear she's going to get out of it, the weather is starting to cool down in Melbourne and it won't be long before winter hits.  At the rate she's growing I doubt it will be long enough next summer!

Ladylike - Vogue 1027

I'm always late to the party when it comes to popular patterns and this time is no different.

The incredibly popular Vogue 1027 is one of my last summer sewing projects.  I'm a bit skeptical when people say that a pattern runs big - too many times I've been left feeling enormous (because I've had to make my usual size) or with a garment that is too small. I usually make a 14 in Vogue patterns, but due to the stretchy nature of my ITY jersey I had planned on going down to a 12.  Of course I'd bought the larger pattern range which started at 14.  How big could it be?   

I'm willing to admit I was wrong.  This sucker has an enormous amount of ease.  I took out over an inch from each side seam just to get a relatively close fit.  It's only due to the weight of the skirt pulling the dress down that it looks as fitted as it does.  I could easily have cut a 10, maybe even an 8.

I've started looking at pattern pieces to see if there's anything I can simplify.  This time I cut the tie as one piece and sewed it in half angling the ends.  I was very concerned about the neckline gaping or the shoulders stretching out, so I used seam tape on the shoulder seams and the front neckline edges which worked really well. 

Mid length dresses and skirts look great on some people, but I'm not one of them, so I lopped 4 inches off the skirt hem.  I usually like to eliminate facings generally top stitching with a twin needle instead.  This time that didn't work - it just made the fabric look terrible - so I've used the sleeve facings and left the skirt un-hemmed (sorry Mum).

So how do I feel about this dress?  It's nice, but it's not my favourite.  It's a very feminine, swishy dress and I certainly feel very ladylike wearing it.. Maybe if I'd made it in the smaller size and used a less stretchy knit I would like it more. I think I'd give it a 7 out of 10.  Maybe I'll like it more next summer...

A couple more - Simplicity 3686

I think you all know how much I love Simplicity 3686, I've lost count of the number of times I've used it.  This weekend I finally managed to finish my second pair of shorts (I cut them out way back before Christmas).  I'm not even sure why I put them aside for so long I only had to finish the waistband and hem them.  No modeled shots but they're identical to these ones.

I love the pockets and the contrast facing.

I made this navy pair late in January and they're getting nearly as much wear as my black pair.  My only regret is not using better fabric.  I really wanted navy and the only navy fabric I could find was a cotton drill (with no stretch) from Spotlight.

These would have been nicer made up in a fabric with a little stretch and recovery.  After a long day at my desk they're all wrinkly and quite baggy at the knees.  Oh well, I still reach for them regularly.

I'd love to make a couple of pairs in a nice stretch wool for winter, but seeing as I don't have the budget to buy more fabric at the moment, I think I'll put this pattern away for a while and start searching my fabric and pattern stash for other autumn/winter projects.

Do you have anything planned for autumn/winter (or spring/summer)?

Happy Easter

I just wanted to quickly stop by and wish you all a happy Easter, this long weekend has been just what the doctor ordered.  I've stayed up late sewing, slept in, eaten way too much chocolate and just enjoyed some quiet time at home with the family.

Thank you all for your kind words on my bathers.  I'm still ridiculously pleased with the way they've turned out.  In other sewing news I've been clearing the decks - finishing up all those half done projects.  I'm not a fast sewer at the best of times so seeing a variety of projects at various stages of completion makes me feel vaguely stressed, as though I'll never get anything finished.  Thankfully I now have several finished projects to show you and I'd like your advice on a couple of the less successful ones.

I hope you're enjoying your Easter break as much as I am.  Go on - have another chocolate egg :)