Me-made May 2025 (and 2021)

Another long gap with no blogging...

I decided to sign up for this again having not done so since 2021 - along with life and the world in general the contents of my wardrobe have changed quite a bit since then so I thought it would be interesting to see if what I would choose to wear had changed.

My pledge was to finish a skirt, make two more and one dress, plus get an ME2016 cut out, if not sewn up.  I also had a cardigan which I'd started knitting in December 2023 and wanted to get finished.

I took outfit photos on the days when I wore something me-made. 

Details here, here, here, here, here & here

Details here, here, here, here & here

Details here, here & here

Details here, here, here & here

Details here, here, here & here

I actually ended up making four skirts and three dresses and did finish the cardigan (I've written about them here).  However I didn't cut out the ME2016 (still haven't, hoping to get that made this year).  By the end of it I thought I would make some more fit and flare dresses although that hasn't happened (yet).  In fact I haven't sewn anything since.

And looking at the above photos there isn't really much change in the style of what I wore in 2025 from what I wore in 2021 - which I can see I didn't write about here at the time, but did record on instagram, so here is a quick summary.  I pledged to make three dresses (only made two, but did cut out the third and finished it in June) and to wear something me-made on every working day - only 13 days due to bank holidays and taking annual leave.  Some dresses which I wore in 2021 I wore again in 2025, some I've since passed on.  And May 2021 was clearly colder than May 2025 because there are a few handknits here (and a couple of rtw dresses - the first two in the batch of four photos).

Details here & here

Details here, here, here & here

Details here, here, here & here

Details here, here, here, here & here

Still here... a quick catch-up on the last two years

 Well... long time no see.  Two and a bit years since I've written anything here.  Both the knitting and the sewing have slowed down a lot partly because, despite regular wardrobe culls, I've really got enough clothes, and partly because I've been doing other things with my time (and money).

However, last weekend I went to the Stitch Festival at the Business Design Centre in London hoping to kickstart my sewing mojo (it has, I have plans...).  It was a very enjoyable visit, not crowded which was a blessing, even pre-Covid I was not a fan of crowded enclosed spaces.  I bought three lengths of fabric for dresses (left to right Dolores cotton lawn from Fabric Godmother, Saffron Flower Sienna viscose/linen also from Fabric Godmother and Cebolla Garden Liberty Tana lawn, an Althea McNish design, from Sewbox).

a dress pattern from Tessuti

I've made their Felicia and Lisa dresses so am hoping this will be as straightforward.  I also bought some bias binding to go with the Sienna fabric - I'm pretty certain this will become another Anna Allen Demeter dress - and a circular knitting needle which I think I'll probably need for my current knitting project when it gets to the stage of joining the sleeves to the body of the cardigan.

Looking back, since I last wrote I have knitted a couple of things - a cardigan which I started in February 2021 and didn't finish until January 2023

based on this pattern.

I knitted the body in one piece up to the armholes and after using one skein of the yarn, despite having the right tension, it looked much too big so I unravelled it and started again - one of the reasons for the delay in finishing, I was fed up with it.  I also did plain top down sleeves, by the time it got to them I just wanted it finished and couldn't be bothered to knit patterned sleeves, seam them and sew them in.

I've also knitted a jumper which didn't take so long!  I started in August last year and finished in November.  I wanted an easy knit from stash and this was it.  I've knitted four versions of this design (here, here, here and here) over the years and they wash and wear very well.  I've worn this a few times recently - it's definitely a jumper for spring because of the colours - and it's been really miserable weatherwise.

I'm currently knitting a cardigan on 2.5mm needles, so I don't imagine that will be ready until next spring.

On the sewing front I made four dresses in 2022 - two Bardons (the teal one is linen from Merchant & Mills, the yellow check one is cotton from Minerva),

one Demeter (linen from Merchant & Mills)

and a mash up of Simplicity 2886 and 1801 with Liberty Tana lawn.

I also altered two which I love but wasn't wearing because I now prefer a longer length (original versions here and here).  Fortunately I had some leftover fabric for both of them.

There was no sewing at all last year and I find I'm missing it, so with a couple of bank holidays coming up in May, I should be able to make some time to sew.  Probably not this weekend though as the garden is in desperate need of a tidy up!

McCalls 7948 version 2

Having spent weeks knitting the fairisle top I wanted to make something which would be quick!  So this is another version of the McCalls dress I wrote about here.  This is made from an Alexander Henry quilting weight fabric which I bought years ago, probably mail ordered from the States because I had 3.2m of it (which is 3.5 yards).  That's not a length I would buy from a vendor who sells using metric measurements.

I used the whole length for this dress.  I recut the back bodice to be in two parts with a centre seam, and also brought the side seams in from the last version I made, and made the neckline a bit wider.  So this is a real mish-mash - size 14 shoulders / bodice length, size 10 armholes and size 12 side seams.  Rather than use the pattern pieces the skirt is two 26" long full widths of the fabric and the frill uses three 13" full widths.  This means there is slightly more fabric in both the skirt and the frill than would be the case if I'd used the pattern pieces, but I didn't want any leftover fabric and doing this meant that I used the entire 3.2m.  I also added Felicia pockets as before.

I'm really pleased with this - I probably won't wear it until the spring, but I'm glad to have finally sewn up this fabric!

Zigzag dress

This is from a pattern which I bought this year which I though would be ideal for floaty dresses for hot summer days.

I modified the bodice because I wanted it to just go over my head rather than have the button closure which is in the pattern.  This necessitated lowering and widening the neckline.  I also cut a larger size than I usually would because I wanted to be able to wear it over jumpers during the winter.  However... when I quickly tried it on having just sewn the shoulder seams, it was clear that there was too much width of fabric across my upper chest, so I cut the armholes two sizes smaller and that solved that issue.  Another modification was that I lengthened the frill  to make use of the full length of the fabric (3m), which I bought several years ago from Classic Textiles on the Goldhawk Road in London.  Rather than cut three frill pieces per the pattern I just used two full widths of the fabric, so in all there was 12" less fullness.

I cut the back bodice in one piece and lined rather than faced the bodice because this fabric is quite fine and I felt lining it would give it a better structure than just facing the neckline and binding the armholes (also, I didn't have any bias binding the right colour).

This meant that I had to pin the armholes together and topstitch them rather than sewing everything inside out and then turning it through.  This was a faff, so next time I make this pattern I'll put a seam in the centre back.  The pattern pieces for the pockets were for the other version of the skirt and wouldn't have worked with this one so I used the pockets from Tessuti Felicia which were what I had to hand.

Other changes for next time I make this - reverse the proportions of the skirt and the frill - I think it would look better with a longer skirt and shorter frill - and take the bodice side seams in.  I'm sure there will be summery versions of this next year.

60s floral maxi

I bought this fabric several years ago from Remnant Kings - and I've had it so long I can't remember whether I bought it in Glasgow or Edinburgh.  Sadly, I see that Remnant Kings closed down earlier this year.  Anyway... it stayed in my stash while I dithered about what to make with it.  In the end, I decided on a maxi.  This is a pattern combo I've made before - it's a modified bodice from Simplicity 2886 - I altered the neckline at the back to not be full height (much less faff for zipping up) and the skirt is from Simplicity 1801.  However, for this dress I added pockets since this fabric was wide enough to allow for that.

I really love this dress and I'm sure it'll get plenty of wear all year round - with a thin jumper underneath in the winter and on its own when the weather warms up.

Africa Mwamba maxi

This is made from an Alexander Henry fabric, which, although it has 2012 on the selvedge, screams 1960s to me.  It's too thick to make a floaty dress - it's quilting cotton - but just right for a maxi.  I had 2.75m and this used all of it; unfortunately there wasn't enough for pockets.

I used the bodice of Simplicity 2886 which I modified, although I can't remember now exactly what I did. I know I traced the pattern and have probably written the alterations on the traced pattern pieces, but they are not to hand at the moment so, from memory, definitely put in a back seam, lowered the back neckline and rounded off the front, probably brought the shoulders in and altered the armholes.  There were no problems fitting the skirt (Simplicity 1801) to the bodice as it's gathered.

Back view

Just writing this up now has made me think it is perhaps time to revisit my Mad Men Box Set, because it reminds me of this Pucci dress which January Jones wore (can't remember which series offhand though).

Image from clothesonfilm.com via Google image search

Me Made May 2017 week 4 summary

Gosh, this month is flying by and finally, the weather has warmed up!  This has definitely influenced my choice of dresses - the summery prints are now in circulation.

Monday's outfit was an Emery dress with rtw cardigan.

On Tuesday I wore my Get Cutie bird print dress with an rtw cardigan.

Wednesday saw flamingos making an appearance with my Flamingolex dress and an rtw cardigan from Audrey Star's Boutique.  I love this dress - the style and the fabric, and I have enough fabric left over to make a skirt - I should get on and do that, I'd much rather wear it than let it languish in my leftovers box!

On Thursday I wore my Carmen Miranda dress and an rtw cardigan.

On Friday I wore my Beachhuts Cambie and an rtw cardigan.

Saturday saw the first wearing of my lemon print dress - I bought this in Sainsbury's a few years ago now and love it.  I paired it with a me-made tie front cardigan from pre-blogging days (I didn't use a pattern, so no link).

And to round off the week today I'm wearing my orange floral Simplicity 1801 maxi with an rtw cardigan.

Thinking ahead, a couple of weeks ago OAL 2017 was announced.  This is a challenge to create a complete outfit with a knitted and a sewn garment, and is hosted by Lauren Taylor and Andi Satterlund.  In 2014 I watched from the sidelines, in 2015 I made these, last year I didn't get around to joining in but this year I definitely will. The challenge runs for the whole of June and July and I've got two possible combinations lined up - I'm not sure that I'll get both cardigans knitted, but two dresses should definitely be possible.  I've got the cardigan pattern for one combo and the dress pattern for the other finalised, so still need to decide on the other two in order to get a complete outfit!

Orange floral maxi dress

I cut this dress out in August last year and then it got put to one side for the best part of a year... Rachel's recent instagram photo hop gave me the impetus to get it finished.  The pattern I've used is Simplicity 1801 view C and it would have been a quick and easy make if I'd made it as per the pattern!

However... this fabric is quite thin and I decided that rather than make the dress with just a neckline facing I would fully line it.  Which meant not following the instructions for the bodice construction - there was a fair bit of unpicking involved to get it sewn together just enough for turning it right sides out, and then adding the midriff pieces.  Getting the pockets to go through the lining (rather than between the dress and lining) was also a bit of a faff, but it was worth it once it was done.

Pocket inserted between outer fabric and lining

I wasn't sure which size to cut, so I quickly sewed up the bodice lining and tried it on and it looked OK, but now the dress is finished it has more ease than I prefer and if I make it again I'll cut it a size smaller.  I also think the neckline is a bit low, so I'll cut out another bodice front and cut the neckline higher (not sure whether I have enough leftover fabric to do this, if not then I'll fiddle about with neckline to make it more sweetheart shaped I think).  I did wonder about just hitching the bodice up at the front yoke seam, but then the midriff section won't sit in the right place, so that idea's out.  This won't be happening any time soon though because realistically I doubt I'll wear it again until next Spring / Summer and I'd rather be knitting and sewing things that I can wear now.

The finished dress

I probably will make another of these because I really like the style, but it will be made with the modifications above and also with thicker fabric so that it won't need a lining.  Should be a quick make then, in fact I'm almost talking myself into cutting one out now, but no, it can wait until next year.

Sew Dolly Clackett dress no. 1

Having sewn nothing at all during the first three months of this year (I was knitting though), April has seen me cut out and sew five dresses so far and I have another laid out on the floor waiting for me to finish typing and get the scissors out.

The first to make it to this blog is an Anna maxi made from floral fabric which I bought on Goldhawk Road last year (or maybe it was early this year?).  As soon as I saw Roisin's Georgia dress I knew that I wanted an Anna maxi from that same fabric and spotted an end-of-a-roll of it in Toni's, so after a bit of friendly haggling over the price - there was more on the roll than I needed - it came home with me and I've finally got around to making it up.  Having a week off work over the long Easter weekend has given me the time to get quite a bit of sewing done and I've realised that the dresses I've made have all had some Dolly Clackett influence.  Dolly's was the first sewing blog I discovered last year, just by clicking a link in someone else's blog actually, and as a fellow dress lover I have been inspired by lots of her makes.

To celebrate Roisin's upcoming wedding, a competition has been launched, and there is now a fabulous selection of dresses appearing in the flickr group.  I'm not really one for joining in sew-alongs or knit-alongs, mainly because I have enough deadlines to work to in the day job, knitting and sewing are for relaxation; but occasionally serendipity intervenes, as it has here, when I noticed that all this month's makes had a Dolly Clackett element to them.  And since I've had so much inspiration from her sewing I've succumbed and entered.  Also, I love seeing what other bloggers make and it's only fair to return the favour I think.

I realise that this blog needs some serious work on it, but that will have to wait until I replace my PC, which has decided it doesn't want to talk to blogger anymore, and typing posts on an old and very slow laptop is time-consuming, but at least it works!   I'm digressing here aren't I?

Back to the dress.  Here she is.


Tropicanna dress

Back view

I love the Anna pattern - this is my fourth take on this dress - and I decided I wanted it to have a V-back which I think has worked out pretty well.  I now feel the need to make more maxi dresses for the summer and fortunately already have some patterns which have maxi versions, so there will be more appearing here over the next few months.  The fabric on my floor is calling me now, so I'm going to cut out my second Emery.  The first one will be for my next blog post. :-)

Update May 2017
Much as I loved this with both a v-neck back and v-neck front, I found that it slipped off my shoulders rather too easily unless I was vertical (when gravity would keep it in place), so last year I unpicked the fron bodice and cut a replacement with the bateau neckline option and this has solved the falling-off-shoulders problem!

Dotty Anna & Lily Anna

Here are two more Anna dresses from By Hand London – this is such a pretty and versatile pattern that I will be making more of them this year.  I made both of these in December but haven’t had time to blog about them until now because, well, life.

The first one is made from some polka dot fabric which I bought at the Knitting & Stitching Show at Ally Pally in October.  I like polka dots, in the same way that I like gingham, and bird prints, and I like this particular one very much because (a) it’s cotton not polycotton and (b) it’s white dots on a colour rather than the other way round.  I decided to make this with a gathered skirt, which is just two widths of the fabric (58” wide) with one cut in half to accommodate the back seam, so I got the whole dress out of 2m of fabric.

As with my first Anna I cut a size 12 and took the back neckline in by ⅝” and tapered it out.  I also did size 14 bust pleats because the pleats on my Anthro Anna come up a little high.  With a machined hem this dress came together very quickly.

Dotty Anna

This next one is a v-necked maxi version made with stretch cotton which I bought in Fabricland recently.  As soon as I saw it on the roll I knew I wanted to make an Anna maxi from it (and that doesn’t happen often – it’s more usual that I buy fabric without a particular pattern in mind).  I bought 3.5m and as it’s 56” wide and I cut the skirt pieces 6” shorter this was enough fabric, even though it has a one-way print.

This too I made with size 14 bust pleats, however I didn’t think to cut a size 14 skirt front, so there is a bit of mismatch going on at the waist.  I don’t think it’s that noticeable though and it’s not something I’m going to fret about.  Next time though, if I am using the skirt pattern pieces, I will either cut a 14 skirt front, or use the size 12 bust pleats and make them shorter so that things match up.  With a gathered skirt of course this doesn’t matter!  I also tapered all the skirt seams from ⅝” out to ½” to give a little more room around the waist and this has worked well.

As I was sewing the skirt pieces together I noticed one of them had a mark on it – not sure what from, but having seen it I decided to cut out a replacement piece which fortunately I had enough fabric left to do.  If there hadn’t have been enough I’d have left it and tried to ignore it, it wasn’t that noticeable really and I’m not sure that anyone else would have seen it, but once I knew it was there…  However, I didn’t have quite enough fabric and so the replacement piece was a bit shorter than the rest.  This meant I ended up cutting 1½” off the length, and with a machined hem of ⅝” + ⅞” it is now an ideal length for wearing with flip flops rather than killer heels.  Which is just fine actually as I tend to live in Birkenstocks in the summer.  The only thing I haven’t done, and probably will, is to top stitch the neckline to keep the facing from riding up at the front.



Lily Anna maxi

I’m really pleased with both these dresses and I’m sure other versions will be appearing in the next few months.  At least one more maxi (this is the only maxi dress pattern I have), and maybe a mash-up with the Elisalex skirt, possibly one with the Cambie A-line skirt if I can make the darts line up (or use a fabric where it won’t show if not), and, well, we’ll just have to see where the fancy takes me for further outings of this pattern.