Me Made May 2017

So, May is nearly here and it's time for me to put in writing what I would like to achieve during this year's Me Made May challenge.  My aim is to wear something me-made every day during May which means having a bit of a blitz on the ironing this weekend.  I've finally got all my summer dresses out and washed and aired them, but there is still some ironing to be done!

These are all ironed and ready to wear

If the weather isn't so great I've got a good selection of hand knitted cardigans that I can wear, so it should be possible to get through the month with no repeats.  I'll try and do daily photos on instagram too.

On the making front I've got two cardigans on the go at the moment which I'd like to get finished,

Madelinetosh sock in Espadrilles

Fyberspates Scrumptious 4-ply in pink (or maybe it's called Baby Pink...)

and I'd like to sew four dresses.  I've already matched pattern and fabric for these two

And I'd like to make a couple of these up with one or two of the vintage patterns I blogged about here.  (I'd like to make up all this fabric obvs, but I won't get through it all in May!)

This should be possible because we have two public holidays this month - the first one being this weekend is a bonus as I'm intending to get all the cutting out done.  I've also got a couple of extra days off work as well, so with a bit of luck and a following wind I'll have six new garms by the end of May.  Fingers crossed!  Although not while I'm knitting or sewing. ;-)

Vintage pattern pledge and other bloggy happenings

Not quite sure how three months have gone by since my last post, I suppose I've actually been knitting (no sewing at all yet this year)!

Back in January (goodness, that long ago?) I signed up for the vintage pattern pledge on Stitching Odyssey's blog.  I loved seeing what everyone made last year, and this also fits well with my intention to sew from my pattern stash this year.  At the moment I'm knitting vintage, but the sewing will come when the weather warms up.  My pledge is to sew four dresses using vintage patterns which I haven't made up already.  I haven't decided which these will be yet - all from one decade or all of a particular style perhaps (shirtdresses, big skirts, slim skirts, sleeveless, kimono sleeves, short sleeves, long sleeves...).  What will probably happen though is that I'll get all the patterns out on the floor, look at my fabric stash and start matching the two together.  This will no doubt end in more than four combinations and then I'll have to narrow them down!

I'm also currently participating in Me Made May, although I don't think I actually got around to signing up on Zoe's blog, tsk tsk.  Anyway, my pledge is to wear something me-made every day this month and so far I'm succeeding.  I've been posting daily outfit pictures on instagram and have loved seeing what other participants have been wearing as part of this challenge.  I'll do some round up posts on my outfits here shortly.  The weather hasn't been particularly warm yet this month which is a shame because it's meant that I haven't worn some of the dresses which I'd intended to, but there's still just over a week to go, so maybe they'll see daylight yet.  If not, well, there's always June, July and August!

I've also just signed up for the Lladybird / Untangling Knots Outfit Along on Ravelry.  I won't be using either of the suggested patterns though - I like knitting cardigans with 4-ply and I've got more than enough sewing patterns to choose from.  I've picked out a couple of possible combinations from my yarn and fabric stash but haven't decided which patterns to use for either combo.

Excelana 4-ply in Damson Wine and fabric which I can't remember the name of - will come back and edit this when I do

Malabrigo sock in Terracota and some vintage cotton

And I may well end up doing something completely different...

In the meantime, I've completely unravelled my Land Army-ish jumper and started knitting it all over again - will write about this in another post.

Actually, I've got several posts written in my head, I just need to get fingers to keyboard.

Well, that's it for now.  It's a bank holiday weekend and I've got a list of things I want to get done as long as both my arms - completely unrealistic, but I had the day off work today so at least I got a bit of a head start.  I'll be back again soon with some FOs and Me Made May round-ups.

My sewing space

I've been meaning to write this post for ages and the instagram challenge organised by bimbleandpimble has spurred me on.  So, on Sunday I spent some time organising my space (well quite a lot of time actually) and taking some photos of it in its pristine tidy state, before I started spreading patterns, fabric, scissors and all the other bits and bobs about and it looked like it usually does - a bit of a higgledy piggledy mess!

This is my sewing table in its usual configuration.  Myrtle the dressform is in the corner and there is a daylight lamp clamped on the edge of the table for evening sewing.  Also lurking in the other corner is my steam generator iron - great for ironing - especially since it switches itself off if not used for 10 minutes, not so great when it comes to descaling it, which frankly is a faff.

 

Machines - four - well five actually, but four sewing machines.  A Singer which my mother gave me years ago when she bought herself a Bernina.  I usually keep this threaded up with white cotton.

Singer 99k

This was the machine I used in my childhood and I'm very fond of it.  Next the Bernina, which my mother gave me last year when I took up sewing again and asked her advice on machines. 

Bernina 801 Sport - why?  What is sporty about a sewing machine?

The third machine is a Janome which I bought when I took the Singer and Bernina in to be serviced and couldn't be without a machine.  I bought this particular model because it was the one I used at the By Hand London sewalong last year and I'd found it easy to use (except for the presser foot lever not being at the centre back - why? but that is a minor niggle).  It's also easily the most lightweight of my sewing machines.

Janome Sewist 525S

And finally, a Cooper which I bought purely because I love the colour, which is richer than it looks in this photo, and also I suppose because I fancied having a manual machine.

Cooper - don't know the model name, but look at the lovely colour

My fifth machine is an overlocker which I was given recently by a lovely lady in my local knitting group who is moving and hadn't even taken it out of the box.

Husqvarna Huskylock S15

Really Useful Boxes - these live up to their name and I use them for storing patterns,

One of two boxes full of patterns, with a rail of ironing-as-art on the right ;-)

buttons,

sorted by colour

 and a box each for my mending & alterations, and leftovers.

stuff to be dealt with in these two

Also in the photo above are my kneepads, an essential bit of kit for cutting out on the floor.  It's great not having carpet - easy to either sweep or hoover up all the stray threads, but it is hard on my knees, so these are invaluable.  On top of the boxes is my sleeveboard and also a totally invisible French curve (but I know it's there).

Other storage - this drawer unit is sold by Ryman's as stationery storage, but as you can see that's not what I use it for.  It's really handy to be able to see exactly what's in it!  Top drawer is bias binding, a tape measure, glasses, tracing wheel, pens, needles and various other odds and ends,

 middle drawer is Janome bobbins, presser feet, marker pencils, tailors' chalk and unpickers,

 bottom drawer is for my scissors and pinking shears.

This container I bought a few weeks ago just because I loved the look of it, without any clear idea of what I'd use it for.  Fortunately I already had a yellow bucket which fits nicely inside it, otherwise I'd have had to make a lining for it.  At the moment I'm using it to store thread which I use for tacking (can't bring myself to call it basting - that's what you do to meat).

Here we have my fabric stash cupboard

Fabric organised by metreage - longest lengths on the bottom shelf

and on top

The yellow box is full of cards of buttons, the beige plastic box contains Bernina presser feet, bobbins and other bits and bobs, the miniature Singer machine has Singer bobbins in the wooden storage bit underneath it, and my pressing ham - I wouldn't be without this.  The green stripey tin has all my zips in (and the picture on the lid is my avatar picture), the brown wooden box is full of tapes and ribbons and was my grandmother's, and the floral tin contains all the other odds and ends like hooks and eyes, poppers, safety pins etc.

And finally my thread rack, in all its rainbow-coloured glory.

And I think that's everything!