Showing posts with label Me Made May. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Me Made May. Show all posts

Monday, 30 May 2016

#MMMay16 Me Made May

Well May is almost over and this is my first post of the month! I am happy to say that I was able to fulfill my pledge to wear something I had made myself at least once each week during May.

Blue white linen skirt


It was by and large a Me Made Monday and the most worn garment was this linen mix skirt that I made a couple of years ago.  I adjusted New Look 6035 as my waist is larger than the pattern size, I think it may be a little flat in the centre area where I made the increase, but I also think that I can see it because I  am looking for it.


http://snadralovesblogging.blogspot.co.uk/
Navy dress

This navy dress got a couple of wears but I do find the neckline a little wide.  This is the dress I made at the Sewing classes I took last year so the pattern was not my choice, however, I am pleased with the the quality work I did and it has made me realise that I the more sewing I do the better my skills will become.




Last but not least is the red spotty top I made last year and is one of the favourite garments I have made.  The fit is not perfect and each time I wear it I realise that I need to explore how to do a FBA (Full Bust Adjustment).

So there we are my first Me Made May completed and my first post for May 2016,

How was your #MMMay16 did you meet your pledge or did life get in the way?

Friday, 29 April 2016

Making Lavender Sachets

I have been meaning to make these Lavender sachets for months but as usual my attentions were diverted to some other passing fancy.  As I was starting to pack away some of my winter clothes I felt like now was was the right time, although with the current snow, sleet and hail here in the UK most things have already been unpacked!


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Lavender Sachets

The fabrics will probably be familiar to you, if you have been following the blog for a while, as they have been used in the Summer tops I made last year and also in the bags for the Advent Calender.  My Magpie tendencies won't let me throw anything away that I think might come in useful.


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Stamped fabric

Knowing that the finished items would not need to be either washed or worn I took the opportunity to stamp onto the white fabric (one of Hubby's old shirts), using a little kit I brought from the local market.  Influenced by the soothing properties of the lavender I chose to stamp words associated with it............ peace, calm, zzzz. 



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Stamping set

They are nice and simple to make and are ideal for using up scraps, hence the different shapes and sizes.

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red spot lavender sachet
If you have only a small amount of fabric it can still be used for decoration or you can have a different fabric on the front to the back, you really just have to play around with what you have to hand.  I toyed with putting buttons on but couldn't find any that I felt fitted in, maybe on the next batch.

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Choose your design

Lay out the design until you are quite happy with it and then sew it on, it needs to remain in place but isn't going to get any hard wear so you can leave some edges free, I do however recommend the use of pinking shears or you will need to hem your edges unless you are looking for a frayed edge.


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Hem  along the sides
With the design facing inwards hem along the edges leaving an opening at one end, a bit like a pillow case. On the red spotted sachet I pinked all four edges and stitched on the outside, as it adds another texture.

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Bag of lavender

Turn the bag through so that the right side is showing, you can press it to give nice crisp edges or you can be a lazy bones like me and just go straight to filling it with lavender.


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filling the lavender sachet
I found the least messy way to fill it was to stand it in the bag containing the lavender and use a piece of rolled paper as a makeshift funnel, then just pile it in there. You want the sachet to be quite well filled so I would suggest over filling and tipping out the excess.

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tuck the ends in

When you find the right level fold the ends of the sachet inside to give you a nice neat edge and sew along.

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Red stitches

The red stitches of the visible hem contrast nicely against the white of the fabric


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3 lavender sachets

All three sachets are tied together by the use of the base fabrics as contrast on the other two.

This would have been a nice quick make if done on the machine but I opted to hand sew and underestimated how long that would take me, luckily I wasn't under any time pressure.

These are ideal as birthday or Christmas presents, it is never too early to make a start!

Just a reminder that the Me Made May challenge starts on Sunday, I hope all who take part have fun with it, please feel free to leave a link on here to your blog or put up your instagram name so that we can follow you.  I haven't decided how I am going to document my little effort, but as my pledge is only once a week it won't take up too much time!

For those in the UK enjoy your bank holiday weekend and I hope you get to see some sunshine 







Saturday, 9 April 2016

In the Navy - new look 6106

I have settled on the project to get my sew-jo back, nothing earth shattering or too wild just a nice simple navy skirt New look 6106 view B but knee length.  I brought a vast quantity of this navy cotton fabric for very cheap from My Fabric Place a couple of years ago and this is the last of it.  It is a little bit heavier than a standard dress cotton so I think it will be fine for a summer skirt. I used some of it to make the dress that was the project for the sewing classes I attended last year, I haven't worn this a great deal as the pattern is not one that I would have chosen, however in the interests of making do and mend I will endeavor to wear it during Me Made May 16

http://snadralovesblogging.blogspot.co.uk/
New look 6106




I have a lot of navy and white striped tops that I wear with jeans or the light weight navy trousers that I picked up from Next last year so it should slip into my current wardrobe really well.  If I was a more confident sewer I would love to do this with a contrasting mustard, red or even orange thread, but I am aware of my limitations and will be happy to have a wearable skirt at the end of things!



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Contrasting threads



I will need to tweak the fit on the pattern as my waistline is hiding under a comfort blanket made up of Christmas and Easter chocolate! so I will need to pick up a larger waist size than hip size and taper down, also I don't want such a pronounced "A" shape so I will need to do some more tapering to achieve this.  Tears, tantrums and triumphs will no doubt follow I will share all of course!


There is a half price sale in the UK on all Simplicity patterns at the moment if you are looking for a bit of inspiration why not have a little poke around.  I love this vintage wrap around dress but after my disastrous encounter with the walk away dress last year I think I will just stick to admiring from afar!






http://www.simplicitynewlook.com/
Simplicity 8085

Anyone else got any sewing plans or is your sew-jo still missing?

Tuesday, 5 April 2016

Me Made May 2016 #MMMAY16




http://sozowhatdoyouknow.blogspot.co.uk/


Last year when I was just taking baby steps in my sewing life I was fascinated by the Me Made May campaign that is run buy Zoe, the premise is to wear something that you have made yourself everyday during the month of May.  It is an opportunity for the sewing, knitting, crocheting and crafting family to be proud of our achievements and to go out in the big wide world and proudly show off our talents. Many participants post photos on their blogs and through the usual social media outlets, just search for Me Made May 15 to get an idea of what was happening last year


You make your own pledge that fits with what is achievable for you and post it  in the comments on Zoe's blog, here is mine





Blogger sandra gilbert said...
'I, Sandra from snadralovesblogging.blogspot.co.uk, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '16. I endeavour to wear at least one homemade garment each week for the duration of May 2016'



I don't have a huge amount of homemade clothes so I wanted to aim for something that I knew I could easily accommodate as I felt this was very much about participating. If the weather is good I will wear more as most of my homemades are summer clothes.


Looking back to my blog last year here I was full of enthusiasm for Me Made May and made some very committed sewing plans to go the whole nine yards and have outfits for the full 31 days, how times have changed, I haven't sewn anything this year at all!  There are sparks of life in my sew-jo and this is helping fan the flames a little more, I am planning a new skirt, I just need to narrow down my choice of pattern and pick the fabric.


So is anyone else making a pledge for #MMMAY16 ?


Monday, 18 May 2015

......Planning a sewing wardrobe

If like me you love a good nose around sewing blogs you will probably be aware of the Me Made May #mmmay15 started by so zo,,,what do you know  you make a pledge and wear clothes and accessories made by yourself through out the month of May.  I have enormous respect for those who are participating and I was very tempted to join in this challenge but as I only have the dress I completed the other week and a skirt I made last summer there was not enough me made to go around. However, this got me thinking that I should start planning now so that next year I can be a full participant.

http://snadralovesblogging.blogspot.co.uk




Having indulged in fabric in the last couple of weeks and having grabbed some cut price patterns in the recent Simplicity promotion I am awash with sewing plans at the moment and have at least 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 things in my head that I am considering making, however, this new train of thought is making me take a more considered approach.

My current plan before considering MMM


  • summer dress - New Look 2373
  • sleeveless top -possibly 2 - pattern(s) to be decided 
  • retro blouse - Simplicity 1692
  • tea dress - red with white pin dots - New Look 6183 or 6093
  • 40's style fuller than A line but not circle skirt - pattern to be found


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Reviewing my clothing needs I work 5 days but we have dress down Friday so I only need enough "work" clothes for 4 days and enough "casual" clothes for Friday at work and for the weekend.   As far as work clothes go I am fortunate that we don't have a very formal dress code, I already have the dress I made in my sewing class so I think another dress and a skirts or maybe 2 would cover that as I can wear the skirts with tops I already have, although my current sewing plans already involve at least two tops.

I think the casual clothing could be more of a challenge, I tend to live in either jeans or ski pants so it will be tops and tunics all the way. I have an unfinish tunic top that I just need to give a bit of time to so two more tops should give me a bear minimum to cover the week.  I also have a nearly finished cardigan that could help matters, maybe I need to explore all my unfinished projects to see what other treasure there might be.

Of my original plan I think the tea dress and the two tops would fit into my "considered" plans, the summer dress I want to make for my holidays in about 4 weeks time so I really need to crack on with that, hopefully I will get sometime this weekend, so all in all I think I am on the right tracks .



What do you think would that be enough to get me through 31 days?  If you are taking part in Me Made May please feel free to leave a link to your blog I would love to take a peek and get some inspiration