Me-Made-May '12 round up: days 25-31 (water)

Day 25

Dress: me-made | Cardie (on bag): Uniqlo | Sandals: M&S | Bag: Fossil

Worn: out for a drink and dinner with a big group of Bulgarians. Jeez, they like to drink... I had big plans to do a classic photo involving the jet, but it was too windy today so it was switched off :( This is by the bottom of Lac Léman, just as it turns back into the Rhône. And don't worry, I didn't do any fishing.

Day 26

Top: me-made | Skirt: me-made (self-drafted) | Cardie: Uniqlo | Necklace: Modcloth

Worn: to dinner with friends, then to watch Eurovision... I'm pretty certain this top has grown sideways and shrunk lengthwise.

Day 27

Dress: me-made

Worn: around the house, then to sit by the river for a bit in the sunshine. I dangled my feet in the river to cool down. Didn't take long as it is still pretty freezing - I think the Swiss are a hardier breed than me as there were already are lots of people swimming...

Day 28

Dress: me-made | Belt: eBay | Flip flops: Accessorise |Bikini: Esprit

Worn: to lie in the sunshine in the park. It was a bank holiday here in Switzerland, so it was nice to just chill out as it was such a lovely day. I read an entire book! (Paul Auster's Invisible - not his best, but still good. And disturbing).

Day 29

I was feeling very uninspired this day, and didn't take a picture. My me-made item was my yellow fabric necklace

Day 30

Skirt: me-made but not blogged | Top: Uniqlo

Worn: around the house. Watering my geraniums, they've been very thirsty during the warm weather.

Day 31

Dress: me-made

Worn: out for dinner with friends (Lebanese - yum!). I finally got round to adding the zip to the back of this dress. Despite carefully hand basting and checking the placement, it still turned out rather bubbly, but it's good enough, and I've got too many other things I want to sew to unpick and re-sew it!

So, that's it for Me-Made-May '12! I'm going to have a think about what I got out of this challenge and post some musings on it soon...

Me-Made-May '12 round up: days 18-24 (green)

Day 18

Dress: me-made | Belt: eBay | Tights: Tabio | Coat: Manor | Shoes: Payless

Worn: out for a drink with friends, then to dinner, then meeting more friends. I did a lot of walking in this dress as we walked right across town to discover the restaurant we were planning to go to was heaving, so walked back again to go somewhere else.

Day 19

Skirt: me-made | Top: H&M | Pink leopard print leggings (unfortunately not seen): Uniqlo | Coat: Manor | Shoes: Payless

Worn: to do my recycling, then some shopping, then doing a bit of lounging round the house and on the balcony. I've got an awful lot of wear out of this skirt, despite it not being perfect. I've noticed unfortunately that the CB seam under the zip has gone a bit weird and the fabric stretchiness there is going. Hopefully this will be ok if I lose a bit of weight...

Day 20

Shorts: me-made | Top: Laura Ashley for Uniqlo | Jacket: Uniqlo | Necklace: Accessorise

Worn: to go swimming, followed by panaché in the sunshine, then a trip to the market to get tasty food for lunch. When I made these shorts I was really pleased with the fit, but having actually worn them out and about, they actually need a fair bit of adjustment - I've discovered they're way too big in the front, making them rather poochy, and also droopy at the back. I need to fiddle with the fit, but may just make a new pair to save unpicking all the waistband...

Day 21

Top: me-made | Jeans: Uniqlo

Worn: around the house. I'm eating me-grown salad! Served with rösti, smoked goat's cheese and quorn "ham". Yum.

Day 22

Top: me-made | Jeans: Uniqlo

Worn: around the house. Not a great photo (there's an even worse one here), but this is not a great top! I didn't know much about either sewing with knits or fitting when I made this, so it desperately needs an FBA (you can sort of see the pulling at the front in this photo), and the inside is very very ugly. However, it's comfortable and fairly warm, which is what I wanted today.

Day 23

Dress: me-made

Worn: to go swimming, then around the house. This is a squash seedling, I planted it up the next day.

Day 24

Dress: me-made

Worn: to do some shopping. This was the first time this year we have been able to eat dinner on the balcony!

Me-Made-May '12 round up: days 11-17 (ugly places)

Day 11

Skirt: me-made | Necklace: me-made | Top: H&M (I think) | Sandals: Hush Puppies

Worn: on a train to Milan to meet with friends for the weekend. It was a pretty warm day, but fortunately the train was air conditioned (and we booked first class :). This top is one of my favourites, but I've realised it's on its last legs - I need to clone it!

Day 12

Dress: me-made | Scarf: Accessorise | Necklace: Alexander McQueen | Sandals: Red or Dead

Worn: in Milano! The dress is self drafted, and is the refined version of the dress I wore on the first day (I will do a blog post about it shortly - I have it written but need to take some photos of the dress!).

Day 13

Top: me-made | Skirt: me-made | Cardie: H&M | Necklace: Alexander McQueen | Shoes: M&S | Bag: Fossil

Worn: around Milano and to travel back in. This photo was taken in the Triennale di Milano (and yes, that is the man I married on the right there...) I also wore my me-made pyjama shorts whilst I was in Milan. Oh, and i would highly recommend the website airbnb - we booked our apartment through there, and it was a great experience all round (no, I'm not on commission, just very impressed!)

Day 14

Top: me-made | Belt: H&M | Jeans: Uniqlo

Worn: around the house. This is definitely being retired to the "round the house" rota as it constantly annoys me. The clear elastic in the neckline feels horrid and I obviously didn't cut it out quite on grain as it's twisting at the bottom. I might try and salvage the fabric and remake it into something else, as I love this colour. Oh, and this ugly place is my hallway, which needs an awful lot of tidying, and a bit of DIY.

Day 15

Skirt: me-made (BurdaStyle magazine) | T-shirt: Laura Ashley for Uniqlo | Cardie: Uniqlo | Necklace: Alexander McQueen | Tights: Tabio | Shoes: M&S

Worn: to do shopping, and then out for dinner with my husband to celebrating him passing his driving theory test. I finally got round to putting belt loops on this skirt, so I wear it much more now. It could probably do with being pegged a bit more, but I can't be bothered unpicking the hem (it doesn't look so bad in this photo, but it looks a bit odd from the side).

Day 16

Skirt: me-made (but not yet blogged) | Top: Uniqlo | Cardie: Umm, either H&M or Primark | Knitting: making myself a lightweight cardie/coverup for the summer

Worn: around the house. The skirt is green crinkle gauze, two pieces of the full width gathered into a wide elastic waistband. It didn't turn out quite as intended - I wanted to wear tops tucked in, but the gathers make my bum look enormous - but discovered it looks ok with the top untucked. I do need to shorten the hem by about a inch because I keep tripping over it.

Day 17

Cardie: me-made | Top and jeans: Uniqlo | Bag: Primark | Necklace: Alexander McQueen | Shoes: Payless

Worn: to go swimming, coffee out, then lounging around the house. It was a bank holiday here, and actually quite a nice day! Pictured here after swimming, this is one of the ice hockey rinks at the sports centre, now closed for summer.

Me-Made-May '12 round up: days 1-10 (food and drink)

Day 1a

Top and shorts: me-made

Worn: to sleep in. I wanted to wake up in the proper me-made spirit!

Day 1b

Dress: me-made | Leggings: gift from my mother-in-law

Worn: around the house. This was a trial for a dress I was drafting. I'm not entirely happy with how it turned out (the actual version has been modified and will be coming up soon) as it's a bit poochy over the stomach, but I still finished it up, and it's very comfortable to wear.

Day 2

Blouse: me-made | Jeans and tank top: Uniqlo | Shoes: Office | Belt: H&M I think

Worn: to the garden centre to get more soil and plants for my balconies. I never feel entirely comfortable in this blouse, I made a FBA, rotating the extra dart into the shoulder and side gathers. I think I should have rotated more of it into the side, as it does weird poofy things around my shoulders. It is still useful to wear though, as it's nice and cool.

Day 3

Apron: me-made | Top: H&M

Worn: to plant up my balconies. I like this apron, it makes me smile, but if I make another one I would widen it slightly as I'm slightly larger than the 1950s ladies it was intended for!

Day 4

Dress: me-made | Necklace: Alexander McQueen | Sunglasses: prescription - best investment I ever made | Drinking: Campari-orange |Also worn with black leggings and (whilst I was out) a black cardie

Worn: for lunch with a friend then more gardening. This was for the Flickr group weekly photo challenge: food and drink. I've grown to like this dress and have worn it a lot, although it's looking a little tired now. I plan to make another version, and also plan to whip up a quick top in this fabric as it is quite fun.

Day 5

Skirt: me-made | Top: H&M | Leggings: Uniqlo | Hands: authentically dirty

Worn: to plant up the last of the stuff I bought. I decided I would make the photo-taking more fun for me and continue the Friday themes for the following week - this is my vegetable balcony (it's very overlooked so we never use it to sit on).

Day 6

Dress: me-made ("day 26" pictured in this blog post) | Apron: me-made (but not yet blogged) | Chili: delicious

Worn: around the house. Making a veggie chili - this is just before I realised I didn't have any passata (or any substitutes) and my husband had to run to the only shop around here that opens on a Sunday! Fortunately they had some.

Day 7

Blouse: me-made (Sorbetto) | Vest top: H&M | Trousers: Monsoon | Parachuters necklace: Modcloth

Worn: out to do some shopping. I occasionally struggle with styling this sorbetto, as it's quite short, but discovered it looked fine worn with trousers if I put a vest top underneath.

Day 8a

Top: me-made | Headband: me-made from an offcut of a skirt I made yesterday | Jeans: Uniqlo | Belt: H&M I think | Brooch: Accessorise

Worn: around the house, doing lots of sewing. I haven't worn this top for ages, as it really annoyed me the last time I wore it. However, revisiting it, it's not as bad as I remember. I might try another version in more drapey fabric again (and try not to stretch the neckline horribly this time!).

Day 8b

Scarf: me-made, but not blogged

It was cold today, so I ended up putting on this scarf to keep warm. It didn't quite turn out how I intended (it's a bit too long, and the blocking didn't work properly so it curls like mad), but I still wear it quite a lot.

Day 9

Top: me-made (sorbetto) | Jeans: Uniqlo | Necklace: Alexander McQueen | Sandals: M&S

Worn: for drinks by the river, and dinner out with my husband. It was about ten degrees warmer than the previous day, so we celebrated with drinks in the sunshine and a really really delicious dinner.

Day 10

Dress: me-made (self drafted, not yet blogged) | Parachuters necklace: Modcloth | Cardie: H&M | Hair: freshly dyed | Wine: Swiss white

Worn: for drinks by the river with friends. After the nice comments from the other Me-Made-May-ists on this dress, I took it for a whirl in the outside world. It was very warm today, so drinks and dinner by the river were in order! I forgot to get a picture taken with my dinner, so this (empty) glass of wine will have to do to conclude the food and drink week!

Me-Made-May '12 begins...

So yesterday I made myself a pair of pyjama shorts, so I could wake up fully in the MMM'12 spirit! I have to admit I felt a bit left out of Karen's pyjama party, so thought I might be able to catch up on the fun by making the shorts hideously flowery...

This is a stretch cotton, so is super comfy to wear - and to be honest, I don't know what else I'm going to use this fabric for as it's pretty loud. I think I'll make up some full length pyjama bottoms too.

Karen's sew-a-long was handy, but to be honest I didn't really need it (ooh, get me!), the techniques are all things I've done before - although the tip of adding a hanging loop at the back was very handy. I used the same pattern as the twill shorts I made, just omitting the darts and adding a chunk at the top (roughly twice the waistband width) to allow for the elastic casing (and to give them a higher rise). I could have added a bit more at the centre back as it dips a bit there.

As these were only going to be worn in bed, I used, ahem, fast sewing techniques on them: eyeballing the grainline and length addition at the top, and not doing the whole faff of pressing the hems before each pass of sewing, just folding it over as I went.

These were worn with a me-made top too - the muslin of a knit block I have drafted (more details following). I made it in the same bright yellow interlock as the glamorous "duster" wrap, as I have no idea what else I'm going to do with this fabric. I thought I might as well finish it off and wear it as a pyjama top as it's a very snuggly fabric. I've recently been trying a range of different finishes for knits - here I finished the neckline like a t-shirt with a strip of cotton jersey folded in half and serged to the neckline from the right side. The seam is then flipped to the inside and topstitched down. The armscyes and hem are just turned in and topstitched with a twin needle.

I will try and take a photo every day for MMM'12, but I'll probably only post round-ups, unless I have something new to show. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone else's me-made outfits on the Flickr page, I've found it really inspiring during the last two challenges. Yay!

Oh, and this is what I'm wearing during the day today - a sneak peek of a trial run of a pattern I drafted (a post coming up once I've taken the photos of the finished final version).

Me-Made-May '12 sign-up

Yep, I've decided to do this again - I participated in MMJ-11 and SSS-11. The first I enjoyed immensely, the second wasn't so successful, so I'm hoping that I will be happier with what I do with the challenge this time round. So here's the pledge, some more thoughts about the challenge afterwards:

I, Dilly, of Dibulous, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '12. I endeavour to wear a minimum of one me-made or me-refashioned garment or accessory each day for the duration of May 2012. In addition, I will endeavour to make/refashion three more "separates" garments to give my me-made wardrobe more versatility.

So, part of my challenge is going to be trying to expand my wardrobe - whilst it's much more fun to be sewing fabulous dresses, it's not terribly practical when trying to integrate items I've made into everyday wear... I'm hoping that the more everyday stuff will also be a bit quicker to make - my plan is to try and get a few "basic" patterns that I can then adapt as I wish - I'm already making progress on a fitted T-shirt pattern (more on that in another post), I have made a basic shorts pattern (again, more in another post).

There's another important part of the challenge to myself (although I'm not putting it in the actual pledge) - if I don't keep to the goal for whatever reason, I'm not going to beat myself up about it. If there's a day when my me-made items are just wrong (I think we all have those days whether the clothes are me-made or RTW...), I'm not going to get upset, but will instead reflect on why they feel wrong, whether I need to make garments to fill in these gaps, what fitting issues I need to improve etc. I think this will really help to improve my sewing both technically and for wardrobe planning.