Pattern review - Wrap/vest thing (plus Me-Made-June: Day 7)

Wrap thing: Me-Made (reviewed below) / Skirt: Me-Made / Top: Primark

So today was a do stuff at home day, so a pretty casual look. (It was also meant to be a run some errands day, but then the thunderstorms started.)

Pattern description

Top j, view 1 from Unique clothes any way you like by Natsuno Hiraiwa. A crazy reversible sort of waistcoat thing that you can also wear either way up.

Pattern sizing

One size.

Fabric used

Yellow cotton interlock. I had in my mind a cute sunny bright wrap...

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope when you were done?

Erm, well the shape did, I'm not sure I pulled off the effortless Japanese sophistication though...

Were the instructions easy to follow?

They are in Japanese... There is a big picture of how it is sewn together though - and to be honest it's really really simple to put together. Like, just two pieces.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

I like how the garment is such an interesting shape, both on and off the body. The pattern pieces were a bit tricky to trace - think BWOF style pattern sheets, but all in one colour... Just needs a bit of concentration so you're sure which line you want to trace. Once that's done, it's super quick to sew up. (Assuming you don't need to change thread colours in your serger and then miss that one thread isn't through the tensioner properly and spend 20mins trying to work out why it's not sewing properly. Ahem.)

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made

I left off the turned over hem and binding on the centre part, and just serged the edges - I was aiming for a funky graphic look. Unfortunately, with the choice of fabric, I instead ended up wearing a giant duster...

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

I am going to sew this again, but using a different fabric, so I get more of the cool and less of the cleaning products. I also think I'll trace off view 2, which is slightly larger/wider, to get more of the drapey effects and tying ability as in the photos from the book. I would recommend this to others, as long as they're happy to go by pictures alone (or speak Japanese).

Conclusion

Well, I did actually just wear this out the house. With a coat over the top. I think this will be relegated to housewear though for the moment, until I can think of how I can salvage it. Maybe I might bind the edges or put some appliqués on it? I'm looking forward to sewing up a few other things from this book (and my other Japanese pattern books), although for some of them I'll need to do a bit of grading as the largest size given is about 2-3 dress sizes too small for me.

Yellow fabric necklace, plus Me-Made June: Day 6

So today I made a necklace, inspired by this tutorial. I wanted a few more Me-Made accessories, in case I can't keep up every day with the Me-Made clothes (like today...), so I made this necklace this afternoon - and I'm very pleased with it. It was pretty quick to make too. I used slightly bigger beads than in the tutorial so I needed to figure how much larger to make the pieces of fabric, but once that was done it took maybe an hour tops. I used quilting cotton to cover the beads, and it's strung on a black leather thong.

This Me-Made-June challenge is great for my productivity, I've been inspired to actually get going and make stuff rather than procrastinate, I'd like to say because I want to entertain the other MMJ-ers with lots of exciting clothes, but it's more that I get easily bored with clothes and don't want to wear virtually the same thing for most of the month!

I also have a couple of things happening this month that I want to have an appropriate wardrobe for - I'm going to Barcelona next week for a few days for my 2nd wedding anniversary (squee!) and the day we have back, my husband's work have their summer party. Basically, good excuses to sew dressy clothes :)

Necklace: Me-Made / Dress: Uniqlo / Belt: eBay (I think, it's old) / Shoes: Bata

I don't normally wear heels around the house! These are brand new and need breaking in, and as a bonus they went with this outfit.

Pattern review - Gardening apron (and Me-Made-June: Day 5)

Apron: Me-made / Top: H&M / Jeans: Uniqlo / Scarf: Accessorise / Courgettes: Migros

I've realised I need a few aprons for a while now after several messy episodes whilst cooking and gardening, but I refuse to buy them as they are so simple to make. So, at long last I've made one! This is (obviously) for gardening, I plan to make a full apron for cooking soon. This post is also Day 5 for Me-Made-June

Pattern description

Woman's Day, April 1951: "Ripply apron". Half-apron with contrast bias binding and triangular pocket. This is a free pattern.

Pattern sizing

One size.

Fabric used

Quilting cotton with a print of garden miscellanea by Robert Kaufmann. Bought a while back from eQuilter.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope when you were done?

Yep, pretty much, but in colour rather than black and white :)

Were the instructions easy to follow?

They're a little cryptic in places, but it's pretty straight forward to make up (although having said that, I was just looking at them again whilst getting the link to the pattern, and realised I think the waistband was meant to be sewn on the other way up...)

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

This is super quick to sew up - I drafted the pattern, cut and sewed it in less than an afternoon.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made

As my bias binding wasn't terribly wide, I folded it in half and sewed that on, rather than actually binding the edges properly, so my mitred corners aren't perfect. As I mentioned above, I think I sewed on the waistband the wrong way up, but this made much more sense to me, as it adds length to the apron, which would otherwise be very short (although I guess it means it's a little less ripply at the centre).

If I did sew this again, I would definitely make the apron itself a bit larger, both widthwise and lengthwise - I forgot my waist doesn't quite equate to a 1950s waist measurement, so it doesn't wrap quite far enough at the sides of my waist (it's perfectly useable though!). I made it up with the pocket as designed, but I had my doubts about how practical this pocket would actually be. I tried it out with some gardening after I finished it, and I'm definitely going to take off this pocket and replace it with something deeper and a bit squarer.

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

I doubt I'll sew this particular pattern again, although maybe as a present. I would recommend it to others, but with the advice to widen the apron/waistband pieces at the centre, unless you are very slim.

Conclusion

A useful apron that's also a pretty fun shape - I will wear it whilst doing my gardening when I want to feel like a proper housewife! Ooh, and I've just remembered I need to go and sew one of my labels on this too.

Me-Made-June: Day 4

Not much to say about this outfit, was planning to wear a skirt I made years ago, but put it on and realised it desperately needed to be shortened about two inches (and adjusted at the waist), but wasn't in the mood to do any sewing, so changed!

Dress: Me-refashioned (Primark) / Slip: M&S / Brooches: eBay & Accessorise / Earrings: Gift from friend

This started life as a maxi-dress, but it was a bit narrow at the bottom hem to comfortably walk in, so I cut off the bottom ruffle, and re-sewed it at a shorter length. The part of the skirt that was chopped off became the matching tie belt. Unfortunately I chopped off rather too much, so it's now insanely short, hence the slip. I plan at some point to make a half slip to wear with this in black with a ruffle round the bottom, so it looks a bit more planned and less like I just couldn't find the right length slip...

When I was ironing the dress this morning I realised it's actually really badly made - for instance the ruffles on each side of the bodice are slightly different distances from the neckline. I know Primark is never going to be high quality (I bought this at a time when I didn't have much cash so I was limited in choice), but it's definitely still nice to be able to look at something and think "I could make that waaaay better."

This was worn today for running some errands and generally lounging around the house. It was pretty warm and muggy today, so wasn't up for doing much more than that (it's currently thunderstorming so hopefully will be a bit more comfortable tomorrow). Planning on doing some sewing tomorrow to expand my me-made options for the next few weeks...

And here's a bonus kitty photo!

Me-Made-June: Day 3

It's a bit sunnier and warmer today, so I can wear a dress, woo!

Dress: Me-made (self-drafted) / Necklace: Alexander McQueen / Hairband: off-cuts from this top (so I suppose technically me-made too) / Flowers: Accessorise / Belt: Primark

Not much to say about this outfit, other than after a spot of shopping (of the household kind unfortunately), and maybe some gardening, it'll be worn to drink cocktails with friends on our balcony (mojitos and caipirinhas are planned...)

Me-Made-June: Day 2

Second day, and I'm out and about!

It's a bank holiday here in Suisse today, so my husband's off work. We wanted to get out of town, so popped along to Lausanne and met up with some friends for lunch. I like Lausanne, it always seems a bit more happening than Geneva (I think maybe because it has a fairly substantial student/academic population from EPFL). There's also a couple of fabric/haberdashery shops there that I want to check out at some point (couldn't today as everything is shut on bank holidays!). It's very good for getting fit too as it's insanely hilly. We walked down to Ouchy and had an ice cream by the lake, and had a meander through the Olympic park (as demonstrated by the photo above). Shame it wasn't a nicer day - it was really windy, and very grey (so you couldn't see the mountains the other side of the lake), but also quite muggy. I don't think I really needed my coat!

So, on to the outfit:

Skirt: me-made (self-drafted) / Top: Uniqlo / Cardie: Primark / Necklace: Accessorise / Tights: H&M / Shoes: Office / Bag: Ted Baker

I've got a lot of wear out of this skirt, and for one of the first things I've properly drafted for myself, I'm super pleased with it. I think I might have to do a refashion on the cardie though - I've realised how sad the ribbing is looking. It's a cheapy Primark purchase, so it's not surprising that it's sagging a bit. I really like the main fabric, so I might chop off the ribbing and replace it with something else. Hmm, I'll have a think.

Me-Made-June: Day 1

Right, let's get this started...

Dress: New Look 6748 / Cardie: H&M / Leggings: Uniqlo / Necklace: Accessorise (maybe?) / Belt (although you can't actually see it): Primark / Feet: bare as I'm in all day today

So here's the first outfit for the month! Woo! I had been planning on another outfit, but it's suddenly turned bloody freezing (12˚C today according to the thermometer on my balcony compared to 28˚C on Sunday), and I've realised I have a limited amount of warm clothes, so this is what the outfit ended up as. Although it's still not warm enough!

This is a dress I made about 3 years ago and has been folded up at the back of a shelf for the last year until I did my inventory a couple of days ago. I'm not super happy with it, although it's not as bad as I remember. I think many of the things I didn't like about it I now know how to fix, so I might do a few adjustments on this (not least shortening it by at least 2"), and remake this pattern in a better fabric (I ordered this over the internet and it wasn't quite what I was expecting, it's almost a sort of swimsuit feeling fabric. But I liked the print so I used it anyway :)

Oh, I was also experimenting with hairstyles - I haven't had my haircut, but currently have a mock-bob...

It's supposed to warm up again in the next couple of days, so I'm looking forward to wearing more summery stuff soon!