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Monday, 6 May 2013

I'm not dead! Murder Mysteries and Me-Made-May



Wow, I was quiet for a while there Hu? Bet you thought I’d poisoned myself with them Pancakes?

Sorry about that, I’ve been so busy being involved with local amateur dramatics group Hook Players, I kinda let the whole blogging thing slide. I was working on the costumes for our latest production Secondary Cause of Death, a Miss Marple meets Pink Panther murder mystery. The reviews aren’t in yet but it all went very well even if I do say so myself!

I promise to give the play a proper post of its own but first I want to talk about Me-Made-May. I wasn’t sure about signing up as I'm not actually sure I have enough garments for the challenge but I thought to hell with it and I sneaked in at the last minute to make my pledge.


me-made-may'13

'I, Vondalin of sometimes-sewing, sign up as a participant 
of Me-Made-May '13. I endeavour to wear at least one 
me-made item each day for the duration of May 2013
 and will post on my blog at least once a week'

So nearly a week in and I’m not doing too bad, just need to keep up with the blogging part…


Day 1
MMM13 - Day 1
These Jeans are my Jean-ius Jeans or as I call them the GFA Jeans, inspired by Patricks Sewing Bee comment – Its Good From Afar, But Far from Good. I had some issues with the fabric I knew the fabric was crazy off grain but what else was I gonna do with 3 meters of denim? So I made them up, the centre front and back seams twist off centre. I don’t really think anyone else has noticed but if you know it’s there it’s obvious, not helped that I also stitched the pockets on non-symmetrical. Other than that (and the poor topstitching) I actually think these are the best fitting jeans in my wardrobe (RTW is awful on me), I’m itching to find time to make more and I think I’ll probably add a little more width through the front thigh as its pretty snug

The T-shirt is based on a Sew U Home Stretch pattern with a self-drafted peter pan collar, I made this yonks ago and really it’s not some of my best work but I think the collar distracts from the poor topstitching. (BTW a lady stopped me in town to tell me she loved it and thought I was going to say it was from ‘somewhere really expensive’ when she asked where I got it, she must have been crazy but it was nice :D )


Day 2
MMM13 - Day 2

These Sailor trousers are the second pair I’ve made, the first pair shrunk so bad over many washes that they have become un-wearable, the pattern for these were made by deconstructing and tracing a pair of cheap Primark trousers. These get worn fairly often and I’m toying with the idea of making a pair in red cord.
This top has a really cute 40s feel to it. I picked it up in a charity shop last summer as I liked the shape but the original colour, a pinky peach flesh tone wasn’t at all flattering on me so I bunged it in the wash with some red Dylon and now I bloomin’ love it. I’m not really sure if this can count as a refashion? But it will probably be appearing again in MMM.


Day 3
MMM13 - Day 3

This skirt is based on the Kasia pattern from the Burdastyle website, this is the very first garment I made from a real pattern, everything made at college and uni was self-drafted from blocks, about 5 years ago.  Pattern sizing was a real head scratcher and as a result this sits on my hips rather than the waist but I don’t mind as it’s a more relaxed feel. You may notice it’s the same fabric and buttons as my sailor trousers, love these buttons and I brought a lot, I defiantly have enough left for another make.
The photos a bit of fun for the Friday theme of water and the planters get pretty thirsty with all the nice weather we’ve been having lately - finally after the crappy never ending winter we had.

Day 4
MMM13 - Day 4

 For the weekend we went to visit Toms mum, a 4 hour drive away, I wanted comfort for the car ride and the weekend was destined to be relaxed involving catching up and dog walks so I opted for my GFA Jeans for Saturday. Making more of these is pretty high on my to-do list but I have a few other things to do first so you are gonna get bored of seeing these.
I brought this tee at the charity shop last week thinking it would be destined to become some pants as it’s a couple of sizes too big but I grabbed it out the airing cupboard and shoved it on whilst we were getting ready in the morning and realised I quite like the relaxed fit. It may still become pants I’m not 100% decided.


Day 5
MMM13 - Day 5


Sunday we decided to head out for a pub lunch, so I decided to make a bit of an effort, OK so not much - I wanted comfort. I paired up my Denim Simplicity 2451, version 1 from January's OLMPs contest, with my comfy blue sweater and bright red tights.
After an hour and a half of driving round what felt like half of Shropshire we had been unable to find a pub either a. open or b. willing to serve food after 3pm on a Sunday, A SUNDAY! We visited Little Chef for sausage and mash. Yum.


Day 6 
MMM13 - Day 6


Today was a bank holiday here in the UK so without work to go to and the sun shining we decided to take a little ride out on the bike, the first of the year for me. I knew today would be a bit of a challenge in terms of MMM, the bike gear is a pretty essential bit of kit and it was hard to decide what to wear… I stuck on my self-drafted kimono tee but unfortunately I didn’t manage to get any decent pics so I will blog about it next time. For now I will leave you with a picture for Tom sunbathing on Bognor Beach. Enjoy x 


beach