Thursday 31 March 2011

It's a wrap - Me Made March 2011

MMM Day 26MMM Day 27MMM Day 29MMM Day 31MMM Day 25MMM Day 24
MMM Day 23MMM Day 21MMM Day 22Sunshine in the sunshineMMM Day 19MMM Day 18
MMM Day 17MMM Day 16MMM Day 15MMM Day 14MMM Day 13MMM Day 12
MMM Day 11MMM Day 10MMM Day 9MMM Day 8MMM Day 7MMM Day 6
Me Made March 2011, a set on Flickr.
Here's Me Made March in all its glory. You might notice there's only 29 photos in the set (and 24 displayed on screen) and there's 31 days in March (you're pretty clever), that's because two days were exact replicas and it didn't seem worth taking identical photos.

This month has really shown me the gaps in my wardrobe, I seem to need more staples - black pants, black dress, white shirt etc. Of course the next item on my sewing table is a really bright casual jacket ;)

PS - I do have a head, flickr just seems to cut it off in these smaller pictures.

Friday 25 March 2011

Crazy

That's how I've felt lately.  It has been a stupidly busy week and to cap it all off I had to work today.  I do enjoy my job but I enjoy my Fridays at home too.  I haven't touched my sewing machine since Sunday evening so the quilt's still not finished.  I need to get it done so that I can move on to other things - I'd really like to put in a good showing for the last week of Me Made March.


Today was Crazy Hair Day at my girls' school - I swear schools do things like this to drive working parents to distraction ;)

Sunday 20 March 2011

You are my sunshine...

It's a gorgeous day today, and I want to sew, but I can't resist sitting outside and soaking up the rays.  I'm wearing my new Hot Patterns Weekender Sunshine top (MMM day 20).  This has been sitting in my UFO pile for over a year so I'm happy I've crossed one more item off the list.




I've cut a size 12 in the tunic length, but omitted the waistband casing.  I like the length of the cap sleeves, but the neckline is lower and wider than I was expecting.  I've also found that the neck band is a little floppy at the centre front.  Maybe it stretched a little during construction but it feels like it needs a wedge taken out.  I didn't have any matching overlocker thread so it was constructed entirely on my sewing machine and then I pinked the edges, entirely unnecessary but I like the way it looks.  I can definitely see myself making up a few more of these.

I don't think I'm going to make my self imposed quilt deadline, but it will definitely be posted out this coming week.

Tuesday 15 March 2011

Quilts for Queensland

Way back in January I committed to completing a couple of blocks for the Quilts for Queensland project that Retro Mummy is coordinating.  I had the very best intentions of getting started right away - but as usual our busy family life took over and nothing has been started.

The recent incredibly devastating events in the Pacific region - earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan as well as Japan's tsunami and ongoing flooding in Australia have really focussed my attention.  Here's a few fabrics that I pulled together over the weekend.


So my plan this week is to complete a full lap quilt top, sandwich and quilt it over the weekend, stitch the binding down on Sunday night in front of the TV and then post it off on Monday morning.

I'm still on track with Me Made March - you can check out my progress via my Flickr photo stream on the right.  Now I'm off to start cutting up fabric.

Sunday 13 March 2011

Dizzy Lizzy

Today I met up with a good friend for a catch up and a bit of lunch and shopping.  I realised yesterday that I had no me made items that I wanted to wear and I'd been keen to use this great fabric from Tessuti for a while. 


This is a really basic BWOF pattern - it's actually supposed to have a cut out back with a tie (not shown in the line drawing) which I didn't realise until I started tracing the top.  This got put together in 10 minute increments throughout the day.  The stripes can make me feel quite dizzy (even my camera struggled to get a clear picture) and it seems that the fabric shifted a little during sewing so the stripes don't match as well as I would like, but overall I really like this top.  

Now if only I could clear my pile of UFOs...

Friday 11 March 2011

...6,7,8,9,10

Prepare yourself for a picture heavy post - it's a Me Made March update.  It seems I left off with day 5, so we're up to day 6.

The weather warmed up a bit on Sunday so I got to pull on my most recent version of Simplicity 3503.  I love maxi dresses, they always make me feel so elegant and yet so comfortable at the same time.



Day 7 and I was back to work where I pulled out one of my favourite tops.  I'd had the 'wings' fabric for a little while but wasn't sure what to make with it and then I saw another blogger make McCall's 5337 (they used a quilting cotton) and it was like a light bulb went off.  My version isn't perfect but I love it.





Day 8 should have been a work day, but Miss G was sick so we both had a day off.  I pulled on another version of Simplicity 3503, this time in a silk jersey.  I'd had this dress stashed away with my sewing things for ages because I hated the way I finished the hem, but now I think that it just needs a good press, something I didn't bother doing before I wore it!



Day 9 was all me-made for most of the day - the little cardi only came out late in the day when it started to cool down.  The top is my recently completed Simplicity 2603 and the skirt is Vogue 8426.  Hubby complimented me on this outfit so it must be OK.



Day 10 brings me up to date.  Today's me-made is my jacket.  It's a natural coloured linen with a metallic golden finish, which I don't think you can see in the photos.  It's another Simplicity, this time it's Simplicity 3538 one of the earlier Project Runway patterns.



I'll be back later today with Day 11's picture.  Prepare to be underwhelmed :-)

Tuesday 8 March 2011

I've been nominated...

...for a Stylish Blogger Award.


A big thank you to Amber for sending some blog love my way.  So now you get to find out seven things about me and then I nominate seven other bloggers for the award.  You would not believe how hard it is to come up with seven interesting things about me and seven blogs that haven't already received the award.

1.  I'm a master procrastinator - it took me hours to write this post!  I'm also great at starting projects and then getting side tracked by other ideas.

2. As much as I love a good glass of wine, I can't go past a glass of Coca-Cola.  If production ever stopped I'd have a meltdown.
3.  I love action movies - I think this comes from being born smack in the middle of four boys.  Any movie with Vin Diesel in it automatically gets my vote, mmmmmm.
4.  I'm one of six kids, you know I have four brothers (see above) but I also have one fabulous sister.  Hi PJ :)
5.  I have an unhealthy obsession with shoes.  If I see a fabulous pair of shoes then I'll happily ask their owner (friend or stranger) about them.  There's nothing nicer than a compliment from a complete stranger.
6.  I love being tall. I'm 183cm (6 foot) and I'm quite happy to rock an awesome pair of heels.  I don't like seeing tall people hunched over.  They should throw their shoulders back, lift their heads high and be proud of their height.  I have nothing against my vertically challenged friends, I'm just saying we should all be proud of who we are!

7.  Winter clothing should be warm!  I get really cranky when I see sleeveless tops or shoe string straps on 'winter' clothing.  There are exceptions to this - a tropical climate and special occasion items - but down here in winter it's cold and I want to stay warm.

OK now the hard part, I've spent way too much time worrying that people have been nominated before, that they won't want to play along, that they want me to quit stalking them and leave them alone...but I'm just going to throw caution to the wind and get on with it. So, in no particular order, here's my seven people:

Toy of Life Happens Be Positive
Jacquie of Home Made Couture
Gabrielle of Up Sew Late
Cherri of Cherri-Berri
Corrie of Retro Mummy
Melissa of Fehr Trade
Amanda of Amanda's Adventures in Sewing

Saturday 5 March 2011

MMM catch up

When is your camera most likely to play up?  How about when you have to take daily pictures of yourself...not sure what the problem is but having to constantly mess around with it is driving me crazy.

So I left you with pictures of day two - thanks for the shoe love :-)

MMM Day 3 saw me pull out the BurdaStyle Kasia skirt.  I think just about every blogger has made this skirt.  My version is made from a navy cotton linen blend with the front panel lined in red.  Rather than add the traditional six buttons for the sailor front I've only used the top two.  I like the way it looks but it does pooch out a little bit.


MMM Day 4 and I'm back to the Simplicity patterns, this time it's Simplicity 3684 - View A in a silk cotton blend.  I'm looking pretty rumpled in this photo - it was taken after a long day at work which felt even longer because I don't usually work on Fridays.  I loved this shirt when I first made it - but now I can only see my mistakes.  My delightful husband told me I looked like a bloke.  I'm going to take that as meaning that it's too big and you can't make out my figure ;-)


MMM Day 5 and today it's a top from a Japanese dress pattern.  I saw the ever stylish Yoshimi make this and loved it so I had to make my own.  I love the way the neckline changes, curved at the front and a V at the back. 



You can see from the photos above that I've been spending some time in my sewing room, mostly working on some kids clothes and mending (yuk) but I do have a new dress cut out so hopefully I'll get some of it done this weekend.

Wednesday 2 March 2011

Me and my blue suede shoes - MMM day 2

Miss C (11) and Miss G (10) got in on the photography action today.  Today's item is Simplicity 3686, view B without the pocket flaps.  I love these pants, this is the third pair I've made.  They're a charcoal grey pinstripe lightweight wool and were an absolute pleasure to sew.  They really need re-hemming as they're too long for all my current pairs of heels, but I just haven't had time.


Speaking of heels, here's a gratuitous shot of my blue suede ones.  They don't get out much as they can be a bit overwhelming.


If you haven't already checked it out, head over to the Me Made March Flickr page, you're sure to find something to inspire you.

Tuesday 1 March 2011

And we're away - MMM Day 1

I really wanted to start Me Made March with a bang - some great outfit that would really impress.  But the first day of March had other ideas - its now colder and greyer than ever and so I grabbed an old favourite and hoped that I could handle bare legs when in reality I should have been wearing tights and boots.

Seven year old Miss P was my photographer this morning, snapping a couple of shots before we ran out the door for school and work.  The dress is Simplicity 3678, view C with an altered sleeve, made up in a cotton elastine jersey.  I was trying to work out how old this dress is and I think I made it two winters ago, so I'm really pleased with how well the fabric is holding up.



I don't know if I'll be posting photos every day, more likely to be every few days.  Lets hope the photography gets better as we go along :)