Me Made May: Days 11 to 15

A shorter update this week.

Day 11: Megan Nielsen Eucalypt Tank, with Gap jeans and Oasis cardigan. Just a day in and about the house. Nursery pick up, trip to Tesco, nothing special. Love this tank, the colour is so vibrant, and it works well under a cardi for cooler days.

Day 12: second day of bottoms. Grainline Moss Mini, with Boden Breton tee and mustard tights. This was a really busy day of housework, nursery pick up, Small Boy's sports class, a play date and then my stepson and his girlfriend came over early evening to celebrate his birthday. I loved this outfit, and so did everyone on Instagram. This photo got more "likes" than I've ever received there previously!!! I picked the tights because black felt too wintery. I did get a few strange looks, but I didn't really care. The only problem was that it wasn't the most comfy outfit. The tights fall down constantly (need to get more in a different brand, in this colour), and, as the skirt is too big it twists round and requires a lot of fiddling with. But I'll probably wear it again anyway! I really wanted to wear it with my red clogs, but it was meant to rain. Next time. 

Day 13: Colette Violet blouse, with Gap jeans and Clarks brogues. Nursery, housey stuff and a 1.5 mile walk down to the new card shop. We got the bus back.

Day 14: Colette Laurel blouse in Liberty, with Gap jeans, Converse and Oasis cardigan. Found a frog in the lid of the sandpit - it has collected rainwater, and a fairly large frog has moved in. I was a bit meh about this blouse. It's too tight at the armholes and so feels a bit restrictive. Plus it's usually a work blouse, and it's very different from what I've been wearing recently. However, as the day progressed i stopped noticing the tightness, and realised that I may not have been wearing florals recently, but it's still the same colour palette I've been wearing a lot! As evidenced on...

Day 15: Grainline pleat front Scout, with Whistles jeans and crochet converse. Oasis cardigan now comes as standard. Small Boy is at private nursery, as opposed to school nursery, on a Friday, so Baby Boy and I have the day to ourselves (read: I get to sew during his naps!!!). Did a bit of work on my trouser fitting. Glad I found these jeans, just to break up the monotony. Otherwise a comfortable and frequently worn outfit. 

Thoughts:

Orange is my summer neutral. I wore that cardigan 4 out of the 5 days (I also wore it day 13 although it's not pictured). Maybe I should sew more in that colour?

I need some sewing trousers. When I'm fitting bottoms (and these trousers have required a lot of trying on), I cannot be bothered to have to wriggle in and out of skinnies all the time, and as we live on the ground floor, we are too exposed for me to sew in my pants! I ended up wearing purple pyjama bottoms when sewing this week as they were quick and easy to pop on and off. I don't actually own a comfy pair of knit bottoms, but I'm thinking something like the True Bias Hudsons would be good - and would mean I could also actually answer the door/pop to the shop in them too. 

Pushing myself out of my jeans and a top comfort zone is worth it. And I need to see what other coloured tights I have! Oh, and I've bought the Brigitte tee pattern and ordered fabric, to make my very own me made Breton style top. 

*Apologies for the lack of links in this post, but I've written it on the iPad, and the blogger app doesn't seem to let you add links, bizarrely. If I remember, I will come back and edit this post another time. [ETA: Links to garments now added]

Birthday Boy and a Special T Shirt

It was Baby Boy's first birthday last week.

I honestly cannot believe that my baby is one. He is developing such little personality and has the most beautiful smile that lights up his face and melts my heart every time. That dimple. And don't get me started on his eyes. And his leg, arm and wrist rolls that make me just want to bury my face in them.

He still isn't really properly crawling, still, he manages to manoeuvre himself around via a combination of wriggling, rolling, moving backwards and turning in circles. He's kind of like a Weeping Angel. If you watch him he doesn't appear to move, but turn away for 5 minutes and when you look back he'll be at the other end of the room, wedged under a piece of furniture.

I know it's not fair to compare him to his brother, but it's inevitable. Small Boy was always good, but somehow Baby Boy is easier. He is so content. As long as he has some company, he'll sit and play by himself. He's a brilliant and extensive napper (let's gloss over the nighttime sleeping, however). And he will happily go to anyone for cuddles, although you can guarantee he'll try to stick his finger up their nose. On our holiday last week he met, for the first time, after a 5 hour car journey: my Uncle and Aunt, my cousin, her husband and 2 teenage children, and he didn't bat an eyelid.

He even likes getting his photo taken, and smiles for the camera! Small Boy detests being in front of the camera. This is a revelation!

The thing that pisses him off the most, as can see from the photo below, is when you don't give him food RIGHT NOW!!!

It's also lovely to see the relationship between the two boys. Baby Boy is getting to be a bit more "interactive" now, and will laugh at Small Boy's craziness, much to his great delight. They have their moments (and I know that'll get much much worse before it gets better) but they really are pals.

We were literally going "poos, bums, wee" to make Small Boy smile here! The things you do!

Which brings me on to the point of this post. I won't lie, I blatantly stole this idea for this from Girl Like the Sea, but it is such a lovely idea, and a great momento. Small Boy designed and decorated a tshirt for his brother's birthday. And, as you can see, one for himself too.

I loved the idea when I saw it on Tara's blog and so when I was considering what to give Baby Boy for his birthday (because he needs precisely nothing), I thought this would be a nice way to get Small Boy involved. He has really been showing a considerable interest in drawing and colouring recently, and in letter formation, so the timing couldn't have been better.

In another life I would have made the tshirts, but time got away from me, so I ended up buying 2 cheap white tees from Mothercare. Do you know how difficult it is to buy white tshirts for babies? They didn't need to be white, but they did need to be light coloured, and I didn't see any pale solid coloured tees either.

I ordered these pens from Amazon, and they were perfect, with a good range of colours. I got Small Boy to do a couple of practice runs on the "design" first. Sometimes his drawings tend to look a bit, ahem, unintentionally inappropriate. He was dead set on putting Nessie on there because he'd been learning about her at nursery, but I managed to persuade him that the drawing of the 2 boys, plus a rainbow, and a sun was enough. Which is why he has Nessie on his t-shirt. We held off from writing Happy Birthday, as I wanted it to be a tshirt he can wear again.

Small Boy on the left (in orange), Baby Boy on the right (in red). It makes me so happy.

The actual drawing was tricky as the fabric had a tendency to pull as he put pressure on the pens. I ended up having to hold sections taut as he drew, so it's a bit scrappier than it might be otherwise, but it all adds to the charm, I think. On a more stable fabric, like cotton, I think this would be less of an issue.

Nessie, in Loch Ness. I spelt the word out and he wrote it. He had some help with the "S"'s, as he struggles with the formation of them.

In terms of making it permanent, a quick press was all it took. You also have the option of leaving it for 24 hours. I did both, just to make sure. I've only washed it once so far, but the colours held up really well.

On the back. "A monster".

I can't say that Baby Boy was delighted with the tee, because, well he's one and has little appreciation for anything he can't eat, but he looks very cute in it, and Small Boy was chuffed to bits with the achievement. Unfortunately the weather wasn't too warm on Skye, and the tshirts are paper thin, so both are wearing long sleeved tees underneath, but they still look pretty cool!

He may be good at a lot of things, but he's rubbish at selling the product!

Since I've clearly not put enough photos in this post, I'll leave you with this. I've taken a photo of Baby Boy every month since his birthday, and pulled them together into this collage. It's so much easier with a decent camera phone and instant access to social media, neither of which I had 5 years ago, but I really wish I'd thought to do the same for Small Boy.

Completed: Ultimate Trousers

I did it. I made a pair of trousers, and I am so damn pleased with them and myself!

I've wanted to make trousers for, well a couple of years now, but never plucked up the courage. Finally, I bought the Sew Over It Ultimate Trouser pattern earlier this year when it was on offer. It seemed like a good place to start, and there are so many gorgeous pairs out there in the blogosphere. Given that they only have 4 pattern pieces, they aren't too intimidating. Really the only thing that scared me was the fit. I knew that, unlike on other garments, if the fit wasn't right on trousers I would never wear them. Me Made May finally gave me the push to get going.

There were kind of 2 stages to making these. Firstly I muslined them. According to my measurements I cut a 12 at the waist grading to a 10 at the hips and legs. The muslin was huge. I took out about 1.5cmfrom the waist (on each side), grading to about 1cm at the hips and thighs to nothing at the knees. This solved most of the issues. The fit around my bum and legs was good, however there was still a bit of excess fabric at the crotch.

This is after I pinned out the excess. The back looks OK but you can see the "frown lines" at the crotch at the front.

I had posted some of my fitting photos to Instagram, and at this stage the feedback seemed pretty good, plus I got it into my head that I could get these finished to wear on holiday. So I ploughed ahead and cut into my fashion fabric. After I sewed them all together and inserting the zip (several times), I tried them on, and they looked awful. They were still too large and I thought they looked like clown trousers. I called it quits, put them in the cupboard and went on holiday.

Once back, last week I had to force myself to go back to them. I knew if I started on another project they'd never see the light of day again. So, I started by taking in the excess at the sides again - this time taking about an extra 1cm off the side - I only took this off the right side though, as I couldn't bear the thought of unpicking and redoing the zip. I think that part of the problem might have been that I didn't maintain the 1.5cm SA when adding the zip - somehow, at some point it went off track. But it's not just down to that. Perhaps I just didn't copy my previous adjustments onto the paper correctly? In order to further tweak the fit, I took the front and back darts in a smidgen (about 3mm on each dart). I then confronted the crotch issue.

Altered side seam, plus altered back dart

I did a bit of reading around the subject but just could not figure out the problem - did I have too much of a crotch curve or too little? - so I decided to approach it systematically. I started by straightening out the curve, which effectively added more fabric to the area. This didn't look any worse, but it didn't look any better either.

The next day, I did the opposite and scooped more out of the original curve. This looked better. I scooped a little more, and did a happy dance. It looked so much better! You can see below the different stitching lines I tried.

The red line is the original stitching line. On the right is the straighter curve I took. The far right is the curve I was happiest with.

In all honesty, it still feels like there is a bit of excess there. I don't know if there truly is, or if I'm just too used to skinny skinny jeans and stretch fabrics. Of course I need ease to be able to sit down. However if I am to do any further alterations here, I think I will need to do them to the pattern piece, so I have left these trousers as is.

After I added the waist facing, suddenly there appeared to be gaping at the back. I don't really understand this, as it did look fine before I added the facing. So, with the facing intact, I took them in at the CB seam. I did this by unpicking the stitching holding the waist to the facing, and the underfacing, just for a couple of inches - enough to release the CB seam allowances, I then took the CB seam in by about 1cm and did the same for the facing. This isn't too precise, but it more or less works. I then resewed the seams I'd unpicked. It still feels like it's gaping a bit, but actually the trousers are very comfortable to wear so I may leave it as is for any future versions.

Finally, there are still some further adjustments necessary to make them truly perfect. I can see that the side seams, particularly on my right leg, are pulling to the back, and the hem is skewed. I don't know how to describe it but you can see it in the photo below. Basically my leg isn't in the middle of the trouser, and the trouser hugs my leg at the front and sticks out at the back? There must be a technical term for this. Anyway, my gut feel is that I need to do some sort of full calf adjustment here to make this sit better. The leg isn't too tight, but clearly the distribution between the front and back pattern pieces are off. However if I'm completely wrong on this, feel free to jump in.

You can see a slight excess of fabric at the crotch. It also looks like there is some twisting on my left leg. I'm not sure if that's really there, or is just how I'm standing here.

Some excess fabric under the bum, but I think that's just "sitting down ease", right?

And in order to make them perfect for me, I need to add pockets. Casual trousers without pockets are not practical.

The fabric is a linen look cotton from Remnant Kings (this is the navy, it also comes in beige and grey). I love the slightly slubby look to the fabric, which I think lends itself to a casual trouser. The polka dots make them a bit more interesting, however I am finding myself struggling for solid tops to wear with them. And after a second day of wear, the fabric has bagged out a bit.

All in all though, I am delighted with these. I love them. I am super proud of the fit I have achieved - for the first time ever, I have supremely comfortable trousers that do not need fiddled with, and pulled up all the time. I am really pleased with my pattern matching. I am happy with my invisible zip. I am just overjoyed that I have finally crossed that imaginary trouser boundary, because do you know what? It wasn't actually that difficult! And now I have all sorts of trouser pattern researching to do, and a million different variations to come up with, because I have absolutely been bitten by the trouser bug. And I want more!

Me Made May 15 - days 1 to 10

I did mean to do a weekly update, but we were on holiday, and didn't take the laptop, and then, well, I forgot. Anyway, if you are really keen, I'm posting daily on Instagram.

Just to remind you, my challenge was to wear me made every day of May, with 8 days wearing handmade bottoms (dresses, trousers, skirts, jeans all count as bottoms, although I don't actually have handmade versions of all of those things...). The reason I picked eight was that it equates (roughly) to 2 per week. I didn't stipulate 2 per week though, because I (correctly, as it turns out) anticipated that I wouldn't manage any handmade bottoms last week. An outdoorsy type holiday does not generally lend itself to skirt wearing, and while I am happy to be pushed out of my comfort zone on this challenge, I did not want to miss out on any running and jumping about on beaches. Also, I didn't want to be miserably cold! 'Cause, you know, it was my holiday too!

Let's get on with the roundup. Just so you know, I've also decided to record the RTW items I wear, so I can see what gets most wear. It has become apparent after only a few days that I really am a creature of habit! For context, I've also decided to give a bit of a summary on what I was doing each day, although this may dwindle a bit after this week, given it will mostly turn into "playing with children, doing housework".

Day1: Unblogged Simplicity 3835, worn with Tu jeans, Boden cardigan and Converse. Keeping my favourite stuff clean for holiday!

Day 2: refashioned polo shirt (was a Maternity refashion, which I shortened and took in a bit more), worn with Gap jeans, same Boden cardi as yesterday and Converse. Travelling in the car to Skye.

Day 3: Grainline Scout Tee in Atelier Brunette, with second hand Country Casuals cardigan, Gap jeans, Topshop necklace and Clarks brogues (although, here I'm wearing my slippers!). We went for lunch to my Uncle and Aunt's house (we holidayed near their house). Small Boy photobomb.

Day 4: Double Linden. Quilted Linden sweatshirt, over an un blogged Linden tee in black jersey. Gap jeans, Sainsbury's scarf and wellies (gift). Jumping for joy on Coral Beach. This is officially my most favourite photo of me, ever.

Day 5: viscose pleat front Scout tee that has not photographed well! Gap jeans. It was pouring on this day, so I also wore a jumper, hat, scarf and gloves!

Day 6: Metallic Linden sweatshirt with random RTW tank, Gap jeans, converse (again...yawn).The other me-made is this squishy boy who turned one!!! He is wearing a birthday tee, which was decorated by his older brother. I'll post his tee separately. We went for lunch at a van hire place, ate 2 birthday cakes, went to a medieval graveyard in the middle of a river, drank champagne. You know, the usual first birthday activities. 

Day 7: True Bias Sutton blouse with Tu trousers, Clarks brogues and a Boden parka. I think the Country Casuals cardi was under the jacket too. My Uncle and Aunt babysat, and we managed a Michelin starred lunch, followed by a mile long walk to a lighthouse (yes, in those shoes).

Day 8: Metallic Linden sweatshirt over my Atelier Brunette Scout. Gap jeans, wellies, Boden parka etc for a day of dinosaur hunting. Fossil museum, followed by hunting for (genuine) fossilised dinosaur footprints at Staffin Bay. We didn't find them.

Day 9: Poloshirt refashion again with Gap jeans and converse. Basically the exact same outfit as day 2. Travelling home.

Day 10. Burda Anda dress. This is actually a Maternity dress, which I was planning to refashion, but I thought I'd see if I could wear it as is. I think it looks OK, and general consensus on IG agreed! Clarks brogues, tights. First day of "bottoms". Unpacking, doing washing and we went swimming. Small Boy swam by himself for the first time ever. I have no make up on here, which is very apparent.

So, thoughts after the first 10 days:

• As expected, if I want a more complete handmade wardrobe, I need to make some trousers and/or jeans. I did attempt to finish a pair of Ultimate Trousers before the holiday but time got away from me, and I'm still not comfortable the fit is right. I will go back to these.
• I am also lacking some basic jersey tees. I found it difficult not wearing my favourite and most worn RTW tee on holiday, which is a long sleeve Boden breton tee (similar here. Mine is about 4 years old). I've been trying for ages to find my perfect breton tee pattern, but I think I may have finally found it in the Tessuti Brigitte Tee. Now to find fabric.
• I wear the same jeans and Converse all the time, although there were 2 different pairs of Gap jeans in there. It might be time to consider branching out. See Ultimate Trousers. I also fancy both the Named Alexandria trouser and the recently released Papercut Guise pants.
• Today, day 10, I felt weird wearing a dress. I am so in the jeans, converse and top rut that I have spent the last year in. Having said that, it was a very comfortable dress, and it was nice to wear something different.
• My hair is looking awful these days! So frizzy and it never sits right. I definitely need a good haircut!

How are you finding Me Made May this year, if you are taking part? Are you fed up yet, or still enjoying it? Any epiphanies?

Completed: Kit the Boy Doll/SHB Sewalong

Gah, I'm slightly panic blogging here, desperately trying to get this in for the end of April deadline for SHB Sewalong.

Cutest sewalong badge ever!

So, the SHB Sewalong (SHB = Small Human Being = infant) has been hosted by Cation Designs, amongst others. The premise is simple: during April sew something for your wee one. The only rule being the little one has to be 1 at the very most. Still in utero is fine! I am literally scraping this make in in 2 senses: 1, I only just finished it before the deadline and 2, Baby Boy is only under 1 for another week.

Hey, there!

This project is pure nostalgia for me. The doll is a boy doll kit, from Clothkits. My mum was a big fan of Clothkits in the 70s and 80s so my sister and I were often decked out in their stuff, and we owned several of the ragdolls. If you're not familiar, the company sells kits to sew stuff*. Human clothes and rag dolls. The pattern is printed directly onto the fabric, so you just cut round the pieces and sew them together. I really, really wish I'd had the foresight to have some photos to show you of me in Clothkits garments, or even just with the dolls, but I'm not that organised. Next time I'm at my parents' I will see if we can dig any out and I'll do a follow up post.

* They also sell fabric and patterns.

Kit's body comes pre-printed with pants and vest, socks and shoes.

In 2008 Clothkits was resurrected and I seem to be on their mailing list for some reason. I recently received an email with an offer on the ragdoll kits. Cue trip down memory lane, and an impulse buy of boy doll kit, called, approriately, Kit. Boys can play with dolls too, right?

I decided to make this for Baby Boy's birthday, as I thought it would get more mileage that way. Small Boy definitely has designs on him, but since he (Small Boy, not Kit) starts school this year I thought he might grow out of dolls sooner. Either way, both will enjoy playing with him for a while.

The kit came with thread, shirring elastic, poppers and the preprinted fabric which makes the doll, jeans, shirt, waistcoat, pyjamas, hat and bag. All in the most fantastical 70's prints you have ever seen. So far I've made the jeans, shirt and waistcoat. I didn't have time to finish all the garments.

Pre-printed fabric

Helpful labelling included.

The instructions were... variable. Some were really clear, others clear as mud. Even with (handdrawn) diagrams, it wasn't always obvious what they wanted you to do. However, I changed the construction on a few things anyway to make things simpler. For example, the instructions have you handsewing on the legs and to close the body. I machine sewed these, which admittedly doesn't give such a good finish, but I think it will be sturdier. With the clothes, they instructed you hem in the round, which I think would have been tremendously fiddly, so I just hemmed everything flat to start with. And speaking of hems - they ask you to turn 0.25cm, then another 0.25cm to hem. Seriously? Er, no thanks. I overlocked the raw edges to an approx 0.5cm seam allowance and turned once.

70's digital watch included as standard.

In the jeans I used 1/4" elastic from my stash rather than shirring elastic, which seemed faffy. I used a 3 step zigzag to attach it to the wrong side. And on the shirt I used velcro rather than the given poppers, as it will be much simpler for little fingers. Annoyingly I only had black velcro on hand.

I love the detail they've included.

Shoes are so cute!

So, this is absolutely not my best sewing, but it's absolutely passable for children. I enjoyed sewing it, but sewing dolls and their clothing is not something I want to do too often. That said, it did occur to me it might be nice to make him something a bit more modern: a t-shirt and sweatshirt maybe? As Kerry said on Instagram, it's a good way to use up scraps. So, you never know. There might be more doll sewing on the horizon!!!