Coming Up in July & Me Made June Review

Hi All

I wanted to let you know about a few things I have planned for July...

1. Result of the vintage buttons and pattern giveaway! Still time to enter....

2. Wrap skirt tutorial in response to demand - I think 2 requests is enough to make it valid! I wish I'd taken photos as I made it, but I'll think of something to make it nice and clear, even if I need to make another one. It is super comfortable so I certainly don't mind doing that!

3.This I am very excited about - Do you remember back in April I posted about the Marian Martin/Reader Mail pattern company, giving a bit of history? Well, I was contacted by a lovely lady who actually worked at Reader Mail in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and she agreed to do an interview about her time there. It is truly fascinating, and I will spread it over a couple of posts, as there is so much information in there! Here's just a small snippet:

"It was a very strange place to work in many ways. It was a place destined to fail in the modern world. It was like show "The Office" but set in a sweatshop. The average age of the employee before I was hired was about 72 - no joke! They had a 94 year old janitor who, if you called him to change a lightbulb [and believe me, we delayed as long as we possibly could before calling him], all the ladies instinctively gathered around him to steady him on the ladder because he teetered so badly."

Finally a brief review of Me Made June. Overall it was a really fun experience, so thanks to So Zo for initiating and organising it. I haven't taken any outfit photos for the last 3 days - I just got so bored with doing it, but I did wear handmade so you'll just have to trust me! So what did I learn?;

• I have more handmade items than I think! I made it to Day 17 before repeating and could have made it even longer if I'd tried a bit harder.
• I need some plain skirts and tops, but they have to still be interesting to make in some way, otherwise I know I won't make them
• If you put photos on Flickr, check your activity feed to see who is commenting and favouriting your pictures. I did have a couple of *slightly shocking* experiences when I saw what kind of photos my innocent pictures have been favourited along with. Some seemed fairly harmless, but if you're not comfortable with who is favouriting your photos, Flickr has a great mechanism for making sure you can totally block some users. Read the Slapdash Sewist's post for some helpful information
• I really enjoy restyling. It's quite a good challenge to work with what you have, and I'll definitely be doing more of this
• The 'multiple photo' and self-timer features on your camera are really helpful if you have to take photos of yourself
• I really need to stop grabbing a cat to add interest to my outfit pictures. Sometimes they do just get in the way, but I don't want to overdo the cute factor, adorable as they are.

How did you enjoy Me Made June? If you didn't participate, do you feel inspired to? I believe Self Stitched September is planned!


K x

Me Made June - Days 23, 24, 25 & 26

Hello!

I spent a busy weekend which included knitting/sewing up my cabled cardigan, which is very nearly finished, and making a new skirt (debuted on Day 26...). I also celebrated my blog-birthday with a giveaway. So, on to the outfits...

 Day 23 - Re-fashioned Laura Ashley Dress, as blogged here. I'm so delighted with this dress!

 

 Day 24 - Crescent skirt again

Day 25 - Simplicity 2593 Cynthia Rowley top

Day 26 - Decapitated picture, including my BRAND NEW A Line wrap skirt - self drafted (with guidance from a book - does that count as self drafted?). I've still to post about this one

I'm looking forward to the end of MMJ. I haven't even taken a photo of today's outfit as it's a repeat. Only 3 more days to go!

K x

1st Birthday Giveaway

It's a year since I made the first post on my blog - Happy birthday to meeeeeeee! Over the course of the year I have loved writing here and being part of the online sewing community. I have developed a list of favourite blogs that I look forward to reading and have found that keeping my own blog has really made me challenge myself and develop my sewing skills. I feel I have grown in confidence with sewing a lot in the past year, and this has been in no small part to sewalongs in which I have participated, projects like 'Me Made June' and all of the tips, advice and inspiration available online.

A big thank you to everyone who reads and comments. I love reading comments on my blog - it's so gratifying to know that someone out there is reading. It is great to get comments from new people but equally I love hearing from people who comment regularly, and seeing what they have to say about things I have made.

To say thank you, to celebrate my blog-birthday, and as is the tradition in blogland (much like that tradition where you bring cakes into work on your own birthday!), I am holding a giveaway, which I am also using as a chance to get some more inspiration.....

There are two lots of things up for grabs:

1. A pattern - a brand new and unused Butterick vintage reissue 1950s pattern, B5032. This is for a dress with capelet, overskirt, cummerbund sash and belt. It is a multi-size pattern which covers sizes 6 - 12 (Bust sizes 30 1/2 - 34 inches) and is labelled as 'Easy'.

2. Some vintage buttons - 3 different types, 17 in total:

 

6 blue buttons, with a design around the edge

6 purple buttons with a lovely deco-style design

5 smaller purple buttons which match the set of 6

If you would like to enter, here's what to do:

1.  Be a follower of this blog
2. Comment below, stating if you want to be entered in the draw for 'Pattern', 'Buttons' or 'Pattern & Buttons'
3. If you have one, please tell me what your favourite pattern is - I'm just being nosy, and I'm always interested in finding about about patterns I haven't heard of before
4. If you mention the giveaway on your own blog you can have another entry, please just leave another comment below saying you've mentioned it on your own blog

The last day for entries is a week from today, Saturday 2nd July, and I will announce the winner the following day.

Entry is open to blog readers everywhere.

Good luck and looking forward to hearing from you!

K x

Me Made June - Days 19, 20, 21 & 22

A short post with a round up of my outfits for the last 4 days:

Day 19 - Bird print dress. Worn for a day of being in the house, cleaning and listing stuff on Ebay - that always takes longer than you think!

Day 20 - Black and white Sencha worn with black Monsoon skirt, and matching cat thrown in for good measure.

Day 21 - Handknitted Oatmeal pullover worn with mad hair - cheers rain!

 

Day 22 - Audrey in Unst cardigan that I dislike because it is too big, and I used horrible yarn.

Restyle: Laura Ashley Redcurrant Dress

When I made the Me Made June 'pledge' I also stated that I would restyle 2 items during the month. The first was my Sorbetto top from a vintage tablecloth. The second is this, a Laura Ashley dress.

Before:

I should state that I do have some reservations about 'restyling'. I personally found this dress hideous, but who's to say that history will not judge that I have destroyed a masterpiece? The 1950s haven't always been seen as the go-to decade for style and glamour, but were at one time considered kitsch. Anyway, I digress and the deed is done.

For the restyle I chose a Laura Ashley dress with a pink and red redcurrant print on a navy background, purchased from a charity shop for £3. I had been looking for something to restyle and this appealed to me because of the name, and because it is made of cotton rather than polyester. It was in my size, and turned out to be a perfect fit. I think it must date to the 1990s and is in as-new condition. Here's a close up of the bodice, which features covered buttons. although they are only for show, as it closes with a side zip.

 So what did I do?

1. Took up the length by about 6 1/2 inches to be more flattering, and sit on the knee
2. Shortened the sleeves and picked apart the top of the sleeves to get rid of the full, puffed effect. This was a little tricky as the sleeves had been serged onto the armholes, but I only unpicked the top part for ease. Here's a close up of before:

And unpicked:

First of all I tried  to consolidate the fullness into just one pleat, but this looked just as bad:

In the end I turned the sleeve inside out and cut away all the excess fabric to create a smooth line, then put a seam down the middle of the sleeve that wasn't there before, trying to match the seam at the bodice shoulder. This was a little wonky, but the pattern is pretty forgiving as it is so busy:

3. I changed the covered buttons for plain red ones. I felt the covered ones got so lost in the pattern that there was no point in being there. Why design a dress with a button bodice as a feature when you can't tell the buttons are there? The red also acts as an accent colour.

4. A paired the dress with a red belt. Like the buttons, this provides a focus. There is so much going on with this dress pattern wise that I think it needs an accent colour.
 
So here is the finished dress:

 

What do you think?

I'm really pleased with how it turned out. In total the cost was £3.50, to include the 5 new buttons I bought. Not bad eh?

The great thing about doing this restyle was that it challenged me and made me try something I wouldn't have before. Navy and pinks are not colours I would normally choose but I've grown quite attached to this dress after tailoring it to suit my needs. I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for some more potential restyle projects as I scour the charity shops.

K x

Cabled Cardigan/Cat Rest Progress

You know how cats love to sit on whatever you put down - a newspaper, a plastic bag, some laundry? Well our cat is no exception:

Anyway, this is the progress with my cabled cardigan. I only have another half of the sleeve to knit, plus the button bands and collar, then sew it all together. I hope I like it! I do find it hard to tell with knitting. I'm enjoying the knitting process, and like the colour and cables, but hope the shape and size will be nice once it is made up. This is what I'm aiming for:

And here's a better photo of where I'm up to so far:

I have yet to decide on the buttons but hopefully I can use some from my ever-growing button stash. That's what it's there for after all!

K x

Me Made June - Days 16, 17 & 18

I'm pretty proud of myself - I made it to day 17 before I had to repeat a handmade item. I could have gone on a couple more days if I was a bit more organised with a couple of new items I have planned, but I've not done any sewing at all this week. After a couple of weeks where I sewed nearly every evening, I've given myself a break this week to concentrate on my knitting instead. I want to get my cabled cardigan finished for my holiday in July, and at this rate I'm well on track to do so.

I've added a new page to my blog with 'pending projects'. This is to help me remember what I want to do. Some are more immediate than others so I might assign times for them to be finished, but only if I feel I'm stick in a bit of a rut. I've been absolutely loving sewing recently so I don't think I need to be too strict with myself at the minute.

So, on to the outfits;

 On Day 16 I decided to break out my 1950s dress, as blogged here. I was at a preview for the new Riverside Transport Museum in Glasgow, and my idea was to get my photo taken in front of an 'era appropriate' vehicle. Unfortunately the museum is not yet finished - to the point that there were work men working during the preview, and hence the plastic barriers! This Glasgow Corporation double decker bus was the most appropriate vehicle I could get access to, but I think it works well with the dress!

 

Day 17 - My floral Crescent skirt, worn with sombre black. Well, it was a bit cold and rainy. I still got some compliments in work about how summery I looked!

 Day 18 - Needle cord Beignet, worn with striped top, and a new haircut. And it was raining again!

K x

Me Made June - Days, 13, 14 & 15

Hello there!

Thanks for all your comments on yesterday's posts on my 1970s finds. I am so looking forward to using the fabric and patterns. I did go back for a further look at the patterns today, but nothing decent was left. I'm certainly not complaining though, after my fantastic haul.

Jane of Handmade Jane also alerted me that a photo of the buttons and piping on my Beignet skirt has been featured on a post on the crafterhours blog by Flossie Teacakes. Thanks Jane! The post is worth a read for some inspiration on how to add interesting features to a plain skirt.

Now onto my Me Made outfits for the last 3 days....

 Day 13 - Sencha blouse in striped cotton. I love the stripes but the material I used is really a bit thick to drape properly, so it doesn't sit as nicely as it should. It looks alright in this photo, but looks pretty terrible from other angles. Lesson learned, at least.

 

 Day 14 - Hand knitted jumper using the Oatmeal Pullover pattern. I love this jumper - the colour and style

 

Day 15 - Simplicity 2593 Cynthia Rowley top.

So what am I up to at the minute? Knitting my cable cardigan - I've just begun the 2nd sleeve. I also have another Sorbetto in lovely cotton shirting in the pipeline, plus another restyle to show you before the edge of the month. And a dress to make for a wedding, plus knitting for the ever growing list of babies on the way. I'll be busy, no doubt!

K x

How I learned to love the 1970s aka Recent Sewing Finds

I'm a massive fan of charity shops and have a number of different shops I visit regularly. Often I leave empty handed because there is nothing worth buying. Sometimes I leave empty handed because I have resisted the temptation to buy more china. However I always keep going back, because I know that persistence pays off.

These days, the main things I am looking for are patterns, fabric or other sewing paraphernalia. Biscuit tin full of buttons? Yes please! Quite often you have to look extra hard for such things. Patterns tend to be in a box on the floor, perhaps under bookshelves, but usually out of the way. Fabric might be hanging with the duvet covers and bed linen. In the last week I have made some brilliant finds.

First of all, some fabric from the Cancer Research Charity Shop. It caught my eye immediately, and you can see why:

Somehow it looks even more vibrant in photographs than in real life! It is most definitely and unashamedly 70s. I would never usually choose to sew with man-made fabrics, and I don't like pinks and light purples. But I absolutely love this fabric. And I have 2.7 metres of it, all for £1.50. It made me think of something worn by the fabulous Vintage Vixen, who is a devotee of the 1970s, and charity shops. Incidentally,  I would thoroughly recommend perusing her blog to see her incredible outfits and finds.

 

I think they didn't know what to make of this fabric in the charity shop, having labelled it rather vaguely as 'a sheet of material' and stuck it on a hanger with the pastel 1980s duvets. Now what shall I make with it? Any ideas? I can visualise it as a maxi dress, but I wouldn't get much wear out of one. I am thinking perhaps a 1940s style dress, but I am going to need to have a think about the best pattern which will showcase, but not be overcome by, that vibrant pattern.

My next fabric find cost a whole £3.99 from the usually too-expensive 'Vintage' charity shop, and shamefully exposes my fabric snobbery. Here it is:

Do you like it? Please ignore the wrinkles. My first thought was 'a bit 1980s duvet-like' (you can see I have a fixation with 80s duvets). Do you know what changed my mind? The name on the selvage - Liberty of London. The pattern name is Tambourine.

Yes, once I saw that name, I had to buy it. I began to think about what I could make - perhaps a really full skirt with a wide waistband which uses the stripes horizontally, and then the skirt with them vertically. It is upholstery weight fabric so would only lend itself to specific clothing uses. Then again, I might save it until I've done that upholstery class I've been thinking about, and cover a chair with it.

But that's not all. I googled the fabric name, only to find that a piece of the same fabric is in the collection of the V&A. Wow. I'm pretty stunned. It was also designed in 1976. Shows what I know about design, eh? So, if I do make something, it will be museum worthy.

And finally, the patterns. I got 4 for 99p, except I ended up with 5 as someone before me had been through the bagged up patterns and switched them around. I came away with a couple of decent looking blouse patterns from the later 60s and early 70s:

And one hideous blouse pattern:

My freebie was this pattern which has been copied from the original - the instructions photocopied;

And the pattern meticulously reproduced in tissue paper. It was in a brown envelope, so didn't look like a proper pattern

And then this mid 70s pattern. I didn't even see it until I looked through the patterns properly when I got out of the shop. It's a Vogue Couturier pattern by Fabiani. I absolutely love it.

I really want to make this sleeveless version:

It has a pretend button front. Isn't it just gorgeous? I can picture it in some lovely crepe, for colder weather.

I think I feel a little giddy with all these finds. And I might just go back to that Barnardos again tomorrow..... just in case I missed anything else good.

K x

Me Made June - Days 10, 11 & 12

So, we're a third of the way into Me Made June, and here follows a round up of my outfits from the last three days....

 Day 10 - Leopard print Crepe back wrap dress, as blogged here, photo with Dot, looking exceptionally serious

Day 11- Sorbetto top made with a vintage tablecloth, as blogged here

Day 12 - Simple tunic/dress from a vintage Maudella pattern, made using bird print fabric from Ikea.

In the last photo you will see that I'm knitting - I was taking part in an event at a glass house in Glasgow, where a group of knitters get together to knit in public. This was my first time attending, and it was really fun. I'm on to knitting the first arm (nearly finished) of my vintage cable cardigan, which I am making steady progress with.

I hope you all had equally fun weekends!

K x

From Tablecloth to Tank Top with Sorbetto

When I signed up for Me Made June, I was aware that wearing just one homemade item each day would be a bit of a challenge. Two would be too hard with my current homemade wardrobe, but one would surely be achievable. In order to add something extra to the challenge, I also pledged to restyle two items during the month. I thought I'd never restyled anything before, but as I was sorting through my clothes in preparation for MMJ, I realised that I had a dress that I had converted into a blouse.

Anyway, this is my first restyle of the month, a Sorbetto top made using a vintage tablecloth from a charity shop.

   I picked up the tablecloth months ago - a square cloth printed with scenes of Plymouth.

I think I had a vague notion of doing 'something' with it. At one point I considered making it into a Sencha blouse, but then the planets aligned -  Me Made June was proposed, I'd seen some lovely restyled items (cheers Lucy, I was inspired!), I decided to make a top with bias bound edges, and then the Sorbetto top was launched.


I did have some misgivings about cutting up the tablecloth. I don't know how old it is - 1960s perhaps? I think it is either being a wuss, or my museum background that makes me shy away from damaging anything remotely old. However as it wasn't a particularly rare item, I decided to go for it.

Pattern Used

Colette Patterns Sorbetto - which can be found for free here. It is a tank top with a pleated front and bias bound edges. If you've never used a downloadable pattern before, you just need to print out the pages and tape them together, then cut out your size as normal.

 

Photo by Colette Patterns

Does it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope?  
Yes! But the pattern is straightforward so I'd be worried if it didn't!
 

Were the instructions easy to follow? 

Definitely, as with all of the Colette Patterns range the text and diagrams are really clear.

The top before the bias edging was attached

 After attaching the binding

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? 

I loved the simplicity. This top is very quick to make, particularly if you have pre-made bias binding. Most of the time I spent making the top was on preparing and applying the binding. I don't think I dislike anything! The sizing is good, instructions great, the style simple and classic, and it's FREE!
 

Fabric & Notions

Vintage printed table cloth from a charity shop for the front and green linen-effect cotton for the back and bias. I would have used the table cloth for the whole thing if it was big enough, but chose the green as it was close to one of the colours in the cloth. I'm not what the tablecloth is made of, perhaps a cotton mix, but it has quite a nice drape. I really like the look of linen, but it is far too creasy for the amount I iron (seldom), so this lovely textured cotton was perfect.

Bias made using the continuous bias tutorial - it makes A LOT. I'd also bought a bias maker, but for some reason I chose one that makes bias smaller than 1/2", which seems a standard size. Also, I can't make it work properly.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made

I took it in a small amount (0.5 cm) at each underarm seam as it was a bit gappy on me. I tapered down from the top of the seam about 2 cm. I could also have done with making it a little smaller at the bust, which I will do on the next one by making the bust darts bigger.

  

 

 
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? 

Yes and yes. I have the fabric for the next version lined up and I would wholeheartedly recommend the pattern. I think the loose fit is really flattering and it uses 1 1/2 yards of fabric so is a great way to use up some stash fabrics too. I might add a little to the length next time, since I'm tall.

Cost

£7.63 exactly - £1 for the tablecloth, £4.99 for 1 metre of green cotton, £1.64 for green thread.
 

Conclusion

I think the green bias edging makes it looks quite different from using a white edging, but as I felt it might be hard to match the white, I went for the green and made a feature of the edging. Overall,  I love the top and pattern, and I will be making more.