Me Made May Days 17 - 22

Can I just start by apologising for the Olympic length Me Made May post that I am about to inflict on you, my readers.  Last week was a big week with Mr Epiphanies in Sydney for work and with me working 5 days a week also and flying solo, last week had it's trials.  I am still playing catchup and this week is all but over.

Day 17 was Friday, and since my office doesn't do casual Friday, per say, I thought it was about time they did. For the first casual Friday, I thought I would introduce the concept gently, and test the waters with my original ponti pants adapted from Style Arc Laura leggings pattern, teamed with a rather formal rtw shirt and Jade wool blazer made using New Look 6035, oh and new suede ankle boots.  No one in my office complained so I will have to see what I can come up with this week!

Day 18 was Saturday and it was one of those grey drizzly days that make you just want to do inside things.  Not so, though!  I had to rug up warm and head out to the rugby paddock.  I switched out the new boots for some outdoor style boots so as not to ruin my new ones in the mud.  These ones were reserved for the afternoons fabric shopping trip with my daughter.

Today I am wearing a wool version of Vogue 8771.  This is one of my favourite jerseys but I need to cover the neck with a scarf because sadly it is too big for my liking.

Day 19, was Sunday.  It was another miserable day, although you wouldn't notice from the photo.  My covered patio is good for winter as well as summer!  Today I am wearing my favourite Sewaholic Renfrew and me made hand knitted cardigan coat for another round of fabric shopping, and a little sewing plus the requisite weekend domestic chores.

Monday and another working week saw a repeat from day 7.  This is my favourite dress so wearing it only once this month was too bigger ask.  I have found my boiled wool Sewaholic Minoru makes the perfect light weight but warm jacket to get me to and from work.

On Tuesday, I wore a me made dress and tee, but I am sure this will be repeated next week so I will leave it until then to add the links. Because it rained agaaaiiin (we are certainly making up for a rainless summer), I wore my Goretex Simplicity 2153 raincoat.

Yesterday, day 22, I wore this Butterick 5672 dress made in blue ponti knit.  I don't wear this dress quite as often as I might, because it is very fitted and I feel a little self conscious wearing it.  Looking at the photos of me wearing it, I am not sure why but it just isn't a favourite.

All of this brings us back to today and I haven't actually got round to taking my picture.  I better though before the sun disappears!

Me Made May Day's 13-16

The weather has been unseasonably warm, so before it breaks, I have been taking every opportunity to wear my transeasonal garments.  This Vogue peplum top is one such garment, as are my black linen  Colette Clover pants.

Sometimes in the working week you just need a little pick me up.  This cheerful Simplicity floral dress is just what the doctor ordered on a very busy Tuesday (day 14)

On Wednesday, day 15, I chose a little more subdued outfit.  This is actually one of my favourites at the moment.  I love the pop of yellow in my upcycled blouse made using Simplicity 4589.  The skirt, is a lovely lined wool flannel, made using Colette Meringue and although we had a rocky relationship at the beginning, I find this skirt a good neutral when I am tired of black.

I am finding it increasingly difficult to decide what to wear of a work morning lately.  We should be waking to temperatures of 0-4 degrees, rising to a high of around 13-15 degrees.  Instead this morning, I awoke to 11 degrees and while I was standing in my wardrobe staring blankly at the rack the sound of birds singing made me decide on this incarnation of Vogue 1247 in black wool knit, and my current favourite blouse, my summer version of Sewaholic Alma in silk metal.

That just about wraps up another week, a week that has been manic to say the least.   I haven't had much sleep but I have managed to squeeze in some sewing time on a very special project.  Who need's sleep!  It's overated! 

Me Made May Day's 11 and 12

Day 10 was Saturday, which mean't a very casual day of kid's rugby followed by some shopping.  For the rugby, I swapped the ankle boots for a pair of Teva insulated boots because the park is getting very muddy.

Today, I am wearing my latest version of Sewaholic Renfrew. This time I have made it in a 80% wool 20% nylon sweater knit bought from Cotura Fashions at the end of last winter at the princely cost of $6 per metre.  I added an extra 1cm to both the side seams and the arm inseam because I wanted to wear it over another layer.  I also omitted the hip band in favour of a twin needled hem.

On Sunday, Mothers day, I started out in the same jersey for a day of housework  (yes I know it was Mothers day but with a chaotic week ahead, I had to get a running start) but this time with Anita Ponti printed pants and white Maria Denmark tee.  The wool jersey lasted, well maybe half an hour after this photo was taken and by 10am was discarded as the temperature rose to a very warm 25 degrees celcius.  

You can just see the reflection of my son in the glass doors as he waited patiently for me to take the photo so he could sweep up all of those leaves!

Autumnal Sewaholic Alma and Me Made May Day's 9 and 10

No, this is not a bad photograph, just a very foggy morning!  This photo was taken at 8am and I was going to wait until later in the day for the sun to shine, but hey, keeping it real people!

Day 9 was another work day so I wore my linen frankenpattern dress and for added warmth in the morning, because this dress has short sleeves, my black merino cardigan.

On day 10, I remembered to participate in the mini challenge which was craft space related, although I can't remember the exact words now...see that is what happens when you post so far after the fact!  Anyho, here is part of my craft space.  The area where my machine lives as well as my coverstitch machine.  My commercial overlocker lives in our garage which can be inconvenient especially in the dead of winter.

You might have noticed the blouse which hasn't appeared here

before.  This is another Sewaholic Alma made using some lovely cotton from an op shop fabric haul that I seem to have neglected posting about...woops!  This time however, I have made the sleeves long instead of short.  I did have to shorten the length by about 5cm but other than this, it was made a straight size 6 as per my previous versions.

My one complaint with this sleeved version, is that the sleeves make the blouse feel a little tight across my back and chest. I perhaps could have gone up a size, or maybe because it lacks back pleats like most long sleeve blouses, it is just the style of it.  On the whole though, I am really happy with it and it goes beautifully with my new green and pink striped pencil skirt that I wrote about last week.

Happy Mothers Day!

It started out as a very simple Mothers Day.  All I wanted was  not to have to do any housework and perhaps the chance to do a little sewing.    My reality was very different!  Courteney made me a new dressing gown.  In the school holidays, she made this somewhat secretly while I was at work.  The trouble came when this fabric shed from one end of the house to the other, and no amount of vacuuming would remove the evidence.  I knew something was up, when she picked me up from work with blue fluff all through her hair!

The pattern Courteney used was the dressing gown from Simplicity 3696.  I hadn't made this up before, but had had great success with the pyjama pattern.  Courteney didn't like the band at the neckline and redrafted it to match my existing dressing gown which had a proper collar.  She came a little unstuck when the fabric stretched out of shape but after a quick tutorial on the merits of iron on interfacing, the project was completed smoothly.  Both Courteney and I are really happy with the way this project turned out.   Now I plan on returning the favour with a little project involving satin and organza.

I was a little spoilt today.  The boys bought me chocolate, including white chocolate which is my favourite but I also gifted myself a new laptop after the mother board on my current one decided to fry earlier in the week.  This has rather hampered my Me Made May efforts but rest assured photos have been taken and a catch up post is eminent.  Oh, and in case you were wondering, I never did get my sewing time today!   

Predictably.......

No, it isn't that I made a skirt, more the pattern that I used.  It

should come as no surprise that I used Vogue 1247 as the basis for my new skirt.  The fabric that I chose is a quality piece of dark olive green fabric with a pink/red pin stripe, bought as part of this op shop fabric haul.  What makes this fabric so special is that it is a lovely 60% mohair 40% wool fabric made in  England.  I know this because it was woven into the selvedge.  I really wanted something special for this fabric so Vogue 1247 was the obvious choice.  I absolutely love the fit of this skirt.  I now have it drafted in made to measure size so minimal fitting is required.  From my draft this time though, I redrafted it to a pencil skirt.  After piecing the pattern pieces together and straightening the sides, I added a back vent copied from an old 1980's pattern that was in regular rotation in the day.

I lined this skirt in a piece of green taffeta lining from Lincraft.  

If I had one little criticism of this skirt it would be that the fabric creases quite easily as you can see in the above photos.

I got a little side tracked while taking this photo.  I found a nice little supply of the last of the seasons strawberries in the garden so stopped for a quick snack before the kids discovered them.

Me Made May Days 6,7 and 8

Day 6 was raining, hence the colourful accessory.  Today I wore 3 me made items,  Vogue 1247 favourite skirt, another favourite in this rescue blouse, and merino cardigan.

Day 7, and the first frost of the season saw me wearing 3 me made outer layers.  Did I also mention that there are me made under layers most days as well!  My dress is another favourite, made using  New Look 6071, and written about here. 

Because we had the first frost of the season on day 7, I brought out my winter coat for the first time to get to work warm and toasty.  This has proved to be another favourite.  I love the warm claret red against the grey.  This was made using Simplicity 2508 and I like the shape so much, it will be my go to pattern in the future.  I also wore a hand knitted by me scarf in feathers that pre dates my blog.

 

Today, day 8, my coat came out to play again because of another frost.  Today I wore it with a recent addition to my wardrobe, Vogue 1027.  It is actually a summer dress but with tights and a cardigan, is very winter appropriate.