Self Stitched September: Week 1

Despite having very few of my own makes I've decided to take part in Self Stitched September, a challenge lots of sewist bloggers have taken part in the last few years. Like Me Made May, the idea seems to have been originally conceived by Zo of Collette Patterns, though this year they seem to have been quiet on organising it. Here's a link to her post last year.

This year I'm not aiming to wear something I made every day, just most days, here's the first week's line up...

1st September...Waking up to wearing my new nightie, not yet blogged! It's New Look 6984, more info to come soon on a future blog post.

2nd September, New day, same nightie!

 

 3rd September, the Joanie dress (New Look 6000) got brought out for work.

4th September I wore my favourite blouse New Look 6963, the original version. 5th I had a break with nothing else clean / suitable for work!

 6th September, for a meeting and birthday drinks with friends I wore my other New Look 6963, the Japanese Blossom Blouse.

Who else is taking part in Self Stitched September? Drop me a comment if you're a fellow blogger / tweeter, would love to see other people's outfits!

Me Made (Saturdays in) May: Week 3

Only one more Saturday to go in the 'Me Made May' month! I have to say I'm a little relieved - really running out of clothes!

This week was a surprise birthday party for an old friend Tammy, a meal in an Italian at lunchtime. I went pretty casual with my first New Look 6963 blouse, a thrifted Mango coat and jeans.

 

This is absolutely my most worn self-crafted piece but I think it's time to break free! I've got my eyes on a nice wide collared Vogue number next :)

Me Made (Saturdays in) May! Week 1

So, I've come across this wonderful idea via Twitter, called 'Me Made May'. Essentially the point is to make the most of your own creations for the month, wearing clothes you've made but not worn as much as you'd like.

As a new sewist I'm not yet ready to go a whole month, but I'm still up for a bit of a challenge. This Saturday saw an action packed hen do, so I actually got to wear two of my makes! The daytime involved sewing a quilt with the ladies, for which I wore my lovely new Japanese blossom blouse paired with some jeans and a cardie. As ever the shape offered a slightly vintage feel and was really easy to wear (trying hard not to make a third version!). 

Here shown with one of my quilt squares...

We had a bit of a night out too, which meant that the Ted Faker dress / TPD got a bit of a work out... The photo from that blog post was taken early on, this next one was in fact, the only shot of the dress from the night... Rather than being passed out I can reassure that this was dancing on a chair in the restaurant... We were told to... honest!

The verdict on the dress is that it shows creases pretty quickly and the poplin skirt is probably a bit too lightweight for the job. It held up to the evenings activities pretty well though! I doubt I'll make this one again, aside from as a 'quick' gift.

Japanese blossom: New Look 6963

So I've been busy making another New Look 6963, this time with a Japanese style blossom print by Tanya Whelan - Millie Moon is selling a version at the moment (not a recommendation, I've never shopped there). 

I love how wearable this shirt is! To me it's a pattern that works well with turned up jeans for a slightly retro weekend feel, but it can be worn smartened up too. At the very last moment I swapped to some pink buttons picked up at John Lewis, I think it really helps the blossom colours stand out.

Here's the sleeve detailing that drove me mad the first time around - this time it was super easy!

 

Do let me know what you think, how would you wear it?

New Look 6963

This is my New Look 6963 shirt - finally! I've actually been wearing it lots, but haven't had one of the great shots that I like to use on here. There's more details on the process of making it over on this post here.

 

 

I've been wearing it so much I've decided to make another version of it. So far it's going much easier than the first time around but I know I'm procrastinating until I get to those damn sleeves again!

Just before I go, here's a little plug again for my map of fabric shops in the UK. I was inspired by other bloggers who tended to focus on one city, but as I'm a bit of a traveller I thought I'd do my own version ;)

Getting shirty about shirts

I had started to write a step by step guide to sewing the Burda JJ 6009 pattern because so many people had noted how complex / unhelpful the instrutions are. I had made a really good start, but then every bit I did has been wrong when I've taken it back to my dressmaking class, so I've given up. Only on the tutorial though, I'll leave that for someone far more adept than me!

In the meantime I thought it'd be a good time to post up another one of my shirts, another 'challenge'! This one was made using New Look 6693. I was attracted to the label of 'Easy', and the informal styling.

In the end I went for view C - It looks shorter in the body, and is a little more my style. I ended up chosing a heavy weight cotton, Itsy Bits by Andover Fabrics - I think it's a craft cotton. I paid a fortune at John Lewis, £18 p/m but it's been a learning experience... Half the price on the internet! I've never bought from Tudor Rose, but they're selling it for £9 p/m at the moment.

I also chose some mother of pearl buttons from John Lewis, though they don't match perfectly, I think they work! Back then I hadn't realised the importance of doing pre-washing to prevent shrinkage, but luckily I'd made it a little looser and it doesn't seem to have shrunk in the wash.

I've been told it's very 1940s, which sounds good to me! The cotton is so soft, the shape is relaxed, but formal enough for work - actually it's one of my favourite makes so far. Hopefully I'll get a better photo of it soon, styled up but until then here's just a snap on my little camera :) What do you think of the final product?