Daisy Emery the second

I bought this fabric a couple of weeks ago in Fabricland and I just love it, it's so summery!  I decided it would become an Emery in time to wear to the Christine Haynes event at Raystitch and got it finished at half past midnight on the Friday morning.  I did have to go to work that day, but nipped home at lunchtime to get changed so that I could get straight on the train after work.  It was a lovely event, fab food and cocktails, and great people.




Daisy Emery the second

 When I've been to Raystitch in the past I've failed to notice that they have a lovely little garden at the back of the shop - an oasis of tranquility and a great place for a get together since the sun was shining.  I really enjoyed the evening and it was especially good to meet sew-ers (have to put the hyphen in there otherwise my mind sees it as something else) whose blogs I read, and new ones whose blogs I've added to my reading list - although this is still in my head, not listed here.  There were some great dresses being worn, and I really enjoyed the short time I was there.  The fact I'd had a late night, been at work all day and then enjoyed alcohol in the sun meant that I was beginning to flag before the end of the 'do' and so didn't stay until the end, but it was a lovely end to the week.


I was very tempted by several of the fabrics at Raystitch, especially some of the Japanese ones - gorgeous colours and designs, but in the end I just bought a couple of pin cushions which I was really pleased to find.  I've been after a larger pin cushion for a while now and just haven't come across one, so when I saw these I decided to buy two!  They are fab - surrounded by little smiling people.

Happy, smiling pin cushions

 I've also decided to give this blog a bit of a summer makeover - I haven't made it to Paris yet this year and so to ward off possible withdrawal symptoms will be making up some of the Paris-themed fabric in my stash very soon.  But right now, I have a polka dot dress to finish and a fruit print dress to cut out so I shall say ttfn.

Me Made May - weeks 4 & 5

The first outfit for week 4 was my Flamingolex dress, with a pink cardigan from Woolovers and pink Birkenstocks, so it must have been a warm day ;-)

I should really decide what to do with the rest of this fabric, I think I have just under 2 metres left, so enough to make another dress, but maybe I should make a skirt instead?  I've seen some other flamingo fabric which I'm tempted to buy, but haven't yet - I really have (far) more than enough fabric stashed to last me through the summer.  I also have a flamingo print Hell Bunny dress which I bought last summer and which needs altering - should get on to that soon really because it's a fab dress.

 

19th May outfit



On Tuesday I wore my red roses dress, with a green Woolovers cardigan and white Birks.  I must make another of these because I do like the circle skirt on it.

20th May outfit

On Wednesday I wore my yellow Cambie dress with a blue Woolovers cardi and navy Birkenstocks (bit of a pattern here I think).

21st May outfit

And that was it for week 4 - I had Thursday and Friday off work.

Week 5 was a four day week because Monday was a bank holiday.  My original thinking at the beginning of the month was that by this time the weather would be warm enough for me to wear any of my dresses, but Tuesday was freezing and so I wore my yellow birds Emery again, with my Pecan Primrose cardigan, woolly tights and El Naturalista shoes.  Honestly, the last week of May and the weather was like March - urrghh!  I had intended not to repeat-wear any dress this month, but the fabric of this dress is quite thick, and wearing it meant that I could also wear a wool cardigan.  I've got lots of H&M and Woolovers cardis in different colours which are great when the weather's not cold, but they don't really cut it when it is.




27th May outfit

  Wednesday was no better weather-wise and so I wore an rtw dress from Anne Elisabeth in Paris with a me-made wool cardigan which I haven't blogged about, but there is some info about it on Ravelry here.

I absolutely LOVE this dress, I bought it last year and I can see that when it eventually wears out I'll unpick it to use as a pattern.  There's something quite vintage-y about the style - although not the fabric - kimono sleeves, underarm gussets, shaped bodice and a darted skirt with a deep hem.  It even has a lapped zip.  I find AE clothes are a bit hit and miss - some years I've liked lots of them other years not.  I have a fabulous skirt which I bought a few years ago, gorgeous print and very flattering style (although I won't unpick this one - I haven't got the patience to sew up the number of seams that it has).  And there have been a few other dresses and skirts that I've liked, but they either haven't had my size or I've baulked at the prices - in the past few years the perception that spending foreign currency isn't like spending 'real' money, and anyway I'm on holiday so it's a souvenir, hasn't overridden the sharp intake of breath at the price tag.  But this dress was worth every euro.

Woolly tights and black El Naturalista shoes, again.  Nearly June and woolly tights - it just shouldn't be necessary.

28th May outfit

On Thursday it felt marginally warmer and I wore my Anthro Anna dress with a cream H&M cardi, but still with woolly tights and El Naturalista shoes.

29th May outfit

Friday was another repeat wearing - my yellow vintage repro Vogue dress with a me-made blue wool cardigan (unblogged, but will write about it soonish), navy tights and Orla Kiely for Clarks shoes.




30th May outfit

 

And that is it!  I've enjoyed wearing these dresses and am itching to make some more now, having sewn nothing at all during May.

The pink cardigan I wrote about last week didn't actually get finished until the evening of Sunday 1st June, but that is close enough to the end of May for me.  And I didn't get to make a dress with buttonholes, but I have all summer to do that!  And I wish the weather had been a bit warmer towards the end of the month... but all in all, I've enjoyed participating in Me Made May and seeing what other bloggers have worn too.

Pink cardigan - me made May progress

I'm a  bit late in posting this because this cardigan now has a sleeve ;-).  I'm really pleased with how it has turned out given that I'm not using a pattern - it fits!  I'm now on the second sleeve and on track to have this finished by the end of the month.  Knitting sleeves is just plain boring so I've been watching some Mad Men episodes and planning dressmaking in my head to alleviate the boredom.

I have been enjoying wearing my me-mades to work this month, but it's also been nice to wear rtw stuff at the weekends, especially since getting all my summer clothes out of the loft.  It's like having been on a mammoth shopping spree without spending any money - a definite win.

This will be last thing I knit for me, probably until the autumn, because once this is finished I will be concentrating on sewing during the summer, and baby knitting - so much quicker than adult-sized knitting!


Shell pink cardigan

Well, that's it for now, back to the knitting... 

Me Made May - week 3 round up

A bit behind schedule on posting here, life, in the form of redecorating, has intervened.  There has been topsy-turvyness in these parts for the last couple of weeks, but things are pretty much back to normal now and all the boxing up, packing up and moving around of STUFF was so worth the end result.

It has meant no sewing though, and not much knitting either, but I have been able to do a bit here and there.  Now to catch up on Me Made May.  Week 3 is the only week this month that I actually went to work every day - June will be a bit of a shock to the system, since I only did one full week in April as well, a girl could very easily get used to part-time hours...

So, Monday's outfit was my Up, Up and Away dress with a fuchsia pink cardigan from H&M, dark brown tights and chocolate brown El Naturalista shoes.

12th May outfit

On Tuesday I wore my Dotty Anna with a navy cardigan from Woolovers, navy tights and Orla Kiely by Clarks shoes - I love these shoes ;-) I hope she does another collection.

13th May outfit

Wednesday was a very. good. day. because the sun was out so I could ditch the tights YAY!  I had thought about having a week of wearing bird print dresses every day, but decided that was probably a bit too much of a good thing, so the first one of the week made its appearance today - my Bluebird dress, worn with a bright blue Woolovers cardi and navy Birkenstocks - the season of painted toenails is here at last!

14th May outfit

On Thursday I wore my Measuring Up dress - the ideal dress for Me Made May don't you think ;-) - with a pink Woolovers cardigan and pink Birks.

15th May outfit

For the last day of the working week it was back to birds again.  My Cath Kidston Garden Birds furnishing fabric mash-up dress (Elisalex and NL 6824), with a blue cardi from H&M and navy Birks.  I think I may have to bias-bind the skirt seams of this dress, because having washed it a couple of times they have frayed a bit.  I usually pink seams to finish them, but these I zigzagged because I thought if I pinked them and they frayed there wouldn't be much seam allowance left to do something different.  The bodice should be fine because the seams are all encased.  Something to bear in mind on future furnishing fabric garments.

16th May outfit

Well, that's a week's worth of outfits caught up.  Last week's and next week's combos I will put in one post at the end of next week - I only worked three days last week and next week will be four days with the bank holiday tomorrow, so they can all go in one post.

The decorating work meant that I had to miss the NYLON2014 bloggers' meet up last Saturday which I had been really looking forward to.  I did think I might be able to make the afternoon shopping part of the day, but as it turned out, it was not to be.  So I shall be living vicariously through the posts of the bloggers who did go and hope that I'll be able to go to another meet up in London at some point.  And I don't really need to buy any more fabric at the moment... although my sister has bought some fab fabrics from Goldhawk Road recently which have set me thinking that one or two more purchases wouldn't hurt...  I wonder whether the fact that the Tories have been kicked out of Ham & Fulham council in the elections last week might mean a reprieve for the Goldhawk Road shops.  I really hope so.

Well, that's it for this post, I have a sleeve to finish knitting (oh what joy).

Me Made May round up of weeks 1 & 2

Ok, so here is a round-up of the outfits which I've worn to work during the first two weeks of this challenge.

Day one, Thursday 1st May - my pink pansies dress, which I blogged about here, with a maroony / wine coloured cardigan from H&M, similar coloured tights (no idea where from other than my wardrobe), and El Naturalista shoes.  I haven't actually worn this dress much since I made it, not sure why because it's really comfortable and is a good fit, but with long (well three-quarter length) sleeves I probably won't wear it again now before the autumn.  So, MMM was a good excuse to wear it, and enjoy wearing it :-).




1st May outfit

Friday 2nd May I had the day off work and Monday 5th May was a bank holiday, so day 2 of the challenge was Tuesday 6th May when I wore my recently made pink polka dot dress with a navy cardigan from Woolovers, navy tights, and the same El Naturalista shoes as I wore on MMM day 1.  I really like this dress, it's a lovely  muted shade of pink, the fabric is beautifully soft, it's got polka dots on, and a low back.  And it looks good with navy!



6th May outfit

 Wednesday 7th May I wore my yellow and blue floral dress made from a vintage-repro Vogue pattern - I must get round to making another of these.  This fabric drapes beautifully and the print has a bit of a retro vibe to it I think.  Worn with a pale blue cardigan from H&M and Orla Kiely for Clarks shoes, which also have a retro vibe, but about two decades later than the dress!

7th May outfit

I wore another yellow dress on Thursday, my  recently completed yellow birds Emery.  I teamed this with a charcoal grey cardigan from H&M, charcoal grey woolly tights - yes it was that cold, and chocolate brown El Naturalista shoes.



8th May outfit

 The final outfit for this post was my other Emery, a sleeveless red daisy print one, which I wore with a green cardigan from Woolovers, crimson red tights and green El Naturalista shoes.  I'm really hoping that next week it will be warm enough to ditch the tights since it will be nearly the middle of May.  It's also the only week this month when I'm working all five days, so I plan to do another round-up post next weekend.



9th May outfit

 I wish I could say that I've been making good progress with my knitting, but... (Although I have done some, I'm not as far along with it as I'd hoped to be.  Still, another 20 days left in May so I just might get it finished.)

Watermelons!

Yes, it's another Anna - I just love this pattern, it's so versatile.  I first saw this fabric in Fabricland last summer and was drawn to it because I love these colours in combination with each other.  However, I decided against buying it, I think because I don't actually like watermelons.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I just happened to be in the vicinity of my nearest Fabricland and I found myself as drawn to this fabric as I was last year.  I decided that two metres were going to come home with me because (1) I love the graphic and (2) I don't actively dislike watermelons, it's more that I don't positively like them - indifference would be a more accurate description - which is a shame, because I'm sure that on a blisteringly hot day they are probably very refreshing.  And indifference to the fruit is not a good enough reason to not buy the fabric.

I didn't know what I was going to make but figured that two metres would be enough for a sleeveless summer dress, and so it was, although only just, because this has a one-way print.  Although tbh, I doubt anyone would notice if I'd cut any of the skirt panels upside down.  And it was only just possible to get this out of two metres, I don't think I'd have got a size 14 out of it, so, lucky that I'm an Anna size 12.  This came together very quickly last weekend and, like my Flamingolex, makes me smile whenever I look at it.

Not much to say about the construction, cut as per pattern, graded the skirt seams out to half an inch to give a bit more wearing ease, and made the bust pleats about an inch shorter.


Watermelons!

 Now, I really need to get some knitting done otherwise I'm never going to finish my MMM challenge pink cardigan.

Emery no 2, and Me-Made-May

Yes, another bird print dress and my second Emery, although this time with sleeves.  I saw a dress made up in this fabric towards the end of last year, although for the life of me I can't remember whose blog it was, and knew that I had to seek out the fabric and make a dress from it for myself.

I love yellow and grey in combination with each other and, as I think is kinda obvious by now, I also have a thing about bird prints.  So, I found the fabric at Hawthorne Threads, and while I was there another bird print fabric somehow found its way into my shopping basket as well.  I think that is going to end up as a shirt dress, quite soon I hope.

Not much to say about this dress that hasn't already been said by other bloggers - it's a great fit, this fabric has a bit of stretch in it - and is easy to sew.  And I love it :-)

Grey and yellow birds dress

 I've decided to sign up for Me-Made-May this year and this is my pledge - I Helena of libraknitsandsews.blogspot.com, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '14.  I will wear a me-made dress to work every day during May and will aim to finish a cardigan I started knitting last month.  I would also like to make a dress with buttons, or more accurately, buttonholes!

Wearing a me-made dress to work every day during May won't be difficult because I'm not actually working that many days this month due to the bank holidays and me deciding to take extra days off next to them.  I think I've already made enough dresses to wear something different every day.  But I do need some impetus to finish the cardigan I'm knitting - if I don't get it done this month I can see it languishing unfinished until the autumn.  I've knitted the body up to the armholes, so about a third of the way there.  I need to finish the body, add the button / buttonhole bands, finish off the neck and then do the sleeves.  If I lose the will to live over any part of this it will be the sleeves - knitting sleeves is just plain boring as far as I'm concerned.  But I want it to have long sleeves, so I'll persevere.  And the yarn I'm knitting it with is lovely, and that definitely helps.  If anyone reading this is on Ravelry, it's this one. 

Now I think I need to go and decide which pattern-with-buttonholes I'm going to make up, and start cutting out fabric.