Me Made May 2019: It's a wrap

Well, it's the end of another Me Made May! Did you play along? If so, did you enjoy it?

I was focusing on looking at what I have in my closet and what I reach for most, and also trying to either mend or donate things I haven't been wearing. How did I do this month?

I did find that I reach for comfortable dresses most often. And that I don't have too many separates, especially since I don't make pants -- I actually do have one pair of SBCC Pinot Pants but they are only indoor, around-the-house stretchy pants, so I haven't made any that I wear in public yet ;)

I made two new dresses this month, one knit and one woven, both with a loose fit. The rayon Butterick 4948 (pattern from 1997) is going to be a definite favourite in future.

And the New Look 6542 (also a 90s pattern) is comfortable for cooler days, and will be worn again once I trim it up a bit -- stretchy rayon knit means it has grown on me! 

The dress above also met my goal of trying to get some UFOs finished up -- along with another quick vintage top that I finished at the beginning of the month, a Stretch & Sew 345.

I just have two UFOs left now, a stretch velvet top that I cut in January and have currently lost interest in finishing as it's not a summer piece, and a Butterick summer dress that I cut in a lovely crinkle rayon ages ago and must finish up soon!

And because I realized that I don't have a lot of summer tops that wear often -- besides my various Kwik Sew 3559s & a couple of Sorbettos -- I spent a day this week tracing off just some of the many pretty top patterns I have in my stash but haven't got around to making yet.

What's up for June? More stash sewing, some wardrobe maintenance (still one big mending/altering project I haven't finished in May), and matching up some of my fabrics with those newly traced patterns. And tracing off a couple of dress patterns as well! I'm going to try to make a few more everyday dresses since that's what I've been reaching for regularly this month.

I hope you've had fun with your Me Made May and learned a lot about your habits as well.

MeMadeMay and Sustainability Thoughts

One of my goals for this MeMadeMay was to look at what I'm wearing and why, and to think about how I can make my wardrobe more sustainable in terms of fabrics bought, patterns made, etc -- how to use the best fabrics I can for my budget and not make clothes I'm not going to wear.

I've found that I do like almost everything I've ever made, and the few things that I haven't wanted to wear this month are now in line for refashioning/reusing or donating. So it has been a useful practice to pay attention to my sewing and clothes wearing habits!

In addition to paying attention to my own habits, I also read and listen to many things in the area of sustainable fashion. Here are some of my recent favourites.

Podcasts: 

Wardrobe Crisis by Clare Press
This podcast by Vogue Australia's sustainability editor is so good! Clare Press interviews a wide range of guests from fashion designers to brands to sustainable makers to the founders of Fashion Revolution, to name just a few. It really expands the understanding of how wide the push for sustainability is getting.

Conscious Chatter
A podcast "where what we wear matters", this one is hosted by a young woman with a background in journalism and international affairs, and focuses on sustainable brands, consumer habits, and wider issues in the field like women's rights, recycling, international conditions in the fashion world and so on.

Trashmagination by Carla Brown
While this isn't focused on the fashion world, it is a series of very short podcasts on recycling, reusing, and remaking things that are often considered to be trash. There are many references to fashion uses of trash, including events like Trashion Weeks.

Dressed  &  Unravel: a Fashion Podcast
Both of these fashion history podcasts are focused on designers, fashion movements and so on, but they've both looked at sustainability issues in some of their episodes. Plus just knowing how different fashion trends have come about sometimes helps to understand the background of massive fashion issues.

Books:

Wardrobe Crisis by Clare Press 
Rise & Resist by Clare Press
Both of these books by the author & presenter of the Wardrobe Crisis podcast follow on with the same themes -- a look at the fashion industry in the first one, and a collection of essays and interviews with changemakers in the second one.

Overdressed: the shockingly high cost of cheap fashion by Elizabeth L. Cline 
This classic looks at fast fashion and our consumer habits and talks about ways to counteract the rapid movement of trends and buying and trashing our clothes.

Websites/Actions:

Fashion Revolution
This is the mother ship for questions of sustainable fashion and the call for transparency. Full of resources of all kinds, and best known for #FashRev week and the #WhoMadeMyClothes initiative.

Craftivist Collective
This movement uses craft and stitching as a protest delivery system; their Mini Fashion Statement project in particular looks at fast fashion and the fashion world overall


Do you have suggestions of titles of books or any podcasts that you love listening to that will help me along my learning journey? Is there a great website that you love that talks about this topic? Do you have any go-to tricks to help make your own sewing more sustainable? Please share!

MeMadeMay at the Halfway Point

So it is already halfway through May! I can hardly believe it, just like always I wonder where the time goes.

I've been wearing a few favourites since my last MMMay update. And I've reached for a second wear of some of them already. Here's what I've been wearing:

Left Column:

Stretch & Sew 305

New Look 6299

Colette Moneta


Centre:

Simplicity 1593 vest (over another KwikSew 3559)


Right Column: 

Blue Mystery Dress (no longer a mystery; it's McCalls 7522, in Shelli Segal's 'Laundry' line)

Stretch & Sew 345

Butterick 5388 


I repeated a wear: Vogue 9329 (not pictured) And I also wore another favourite, though unblogged, KwikSew 3559 top twice - it's blue and faintly sparkly.


I haven't been taking photos this year very much; I keep forgetting. So once again most of these are older  pics from when I first made these items. It's kind of interesting that some of them are a few years old but still in regular rotation in my closet.

I've noticed that I am wearing things over again which are comfortable and flattering, and which feel like me when I put them on. The weather has been very variable so I still had a chance to wear one of my favourite colder weather dresses, the purple houndstooth Stretch & Sew.

But I also noticed how many nice pieces I have that I still want to wear. I'll have to get some laundry done and a batch of ironing underway so that I can wear all of my cotton dresses next week!

And I have one UFO now in process, and one fairly large mending project at least moved on to the sewing table, so I feel like I'm on track for my MeMadeMay goals this year.

Are you still enjoying MeMadeMay, if you have joined in? Are you meeting your own goals for the month?

Me Made May: a beginning

Well, it's the end of Week One of Me Made May and what have I learned so far? My pledge was to look at what I most often reach for and what gets worn -- style, fabric, patterns all under the microscope this month!

I haven't made any plans around my wardrobe, I'm just dressing as I normally would, and noticing what I feel best in. So far this week I've worn the following:

Left Column, top to bottom:

Kwik Sew 3559
McCalls 7597
McCalls 7251 (Tracy Reese Plenty blouse)

Centre:

Vogue 9329 (Marcy Tilton)

Right Column, top to bottom:

Simplicity 2927
Colette Moneta
New Look 6602


What have I learned from this? I reach for clothes I feel comfortable in. I like a looser fit, sleeves, lots of knits or softer wovens like rayons or linen blends. Also, obviously I love dresses ;)

It has been cooler than usual in these parts most days this week, so I haven't been able to get away with many lighter dresses unless I'm also wearing a cardigan or tights. But that also means I can wear things like my Vogue 9329 or any of my Monetas.

I still have some of favourites to wear, but have found that dresses that shift around on my body or don't fit quite right (like the beautiful Simplicity 2927 "Carnival Rose" dress) aren't fun to wear even though they are beautiful. Sigh.

I'm still hoping to alter or adjust things that I love but that don't fit right; and get rid of things that I wear that end up not feeling like me at all. Nothing so far this week is that bad!

How is MeMadeMay going for you?

Me Made May 19: a pledge

I didn't really take part in Me Made May last year; I seem to join in sporadically. I think I will join in this year though, for the 10th annual challenge, with a different kind of pledge than in previous years.

I have tons of memade at this point; I can easily wear a different memade garment every day. That's not a challenge any more. What is a challenge is thinking about my memade wardrobe in the light of sustainability. How much do I need? And is my making done thoughtfully? These questions are more of the kind of challenge I'm thinking about lately.

So my focus this year is to figure out whether I'm wearing and enjoying my already existing wardrobe of memades, what garments/fabrics in my stash are keepers and which to pass on, and to make some decisions about the kinds of fabrics I'll buy in future -- thinking about what things my wardrobe needs and how I can fulfill that in the most sustainable way I can. 

I hope everyone who is participating remembers that according to Zoe's original manifesto, this challenge isn't intended to spark a sewing frenzy in order to wear something different every day or to take daily photos if you don't want to. It's a way to get to know your me made wardrobe better. I hope it will help me do so this year!

Thoughts on Me Made May

I didn't join in on Me Made May this year -- obviously -- for a few different reasons. One was simply that I knew I was having company for two weeks and would be offline for much of the month! (and it was glorious)

But another is that I now wear about 70% Me Mades all the time, so didn't feel that I needed to push myself this year. I know, you can sign up with a challenge shaped to fit you, but I didn't think of anything interesting or inspiring enough to get me going back in April. Also, I am finding more and more that I'm feeling overscheduled and overcommitted to so many things -- I need to take a break and not challenge myself right now! 

And I have to admit, thinking of taking all those photos exhausted me just in contemplating the month. But now that I have a new phone that can actually take decent pics, and I know the year ahead is looking a little less busy, I think I'll get back to blogging more regularly. Just not on anyone's schedule but mine ;)

I've still enjoyed seeing Me Made May posts and love the initiative. It's great to see enthusiasm for handmade clothing and fashion. So if you're participating, thanks for the inspiration! Maybe I'll join in again in 2018...

photos via Unsplash

 

Floral McCalls 7351, a Fabricville Special

It's the end of MeMadeMay, and it's been a month I've enjoyed. Even if I didn't take many daily photos at all, I was wearing me-mades and enjoying others' participation. I realized that I wore most things only once, with only a couple of tops making a repeat appearance -- and I still have things that I haven't worn yet. So I don't really need this month to get me wearing more of my own makes, but it has helped a lot in pinpointing what I reach for most.

And that's usually a dress, and usually colourful.

All photos taken in the lovely Shakepearean Gardens in Stratford

What can I say? If I have a style at all, it would have to be described as fairly eclectic. I like one-off outfits that don't really match with each other ;)

Please visit the Fabricville Blog to see more about this pattern & fabric!

My latest dress is a shining example of this. It's my latest project for the Fabricville Bloggers Network, and it has been delayed somewhat - ironically - by my trip to Chicago and the Pattern Review Weekend! But I powered down when I got home and learned a lot of new things with my first ever shirtdress, McCalls 7351. It helped that McCall's is hosting a Shirtdress Sewalong - lots of tips and support on their blog and the FB group associated with it.

I am really pleased with this dress! It fits well - I used size 14 at neck and shoulders and graded out to 16 by bust & waist. I do feel like it's a teeny bit big at the waist but it is super comfortable so I can live with that! :) Next time I might make it just halfway between 14 & 16 -- a modified size 15, if you will, haha.

I love the way the neck fits and the flowiness of the skirt. It's a really lovely thing to wear. It's drafted well and it includes pockets, always a plus in my books. I had the perfect buttons in my stash, I was so delighted to finally use them!

I decided that this would be my year of shirtdresses, and chose this pattern to start with as it came recommended for beginning shirtdress sewists on PatternReview. I received it from Fabricville along with the beautiful cotton - an exclusive print made for Fabricville in three colourways, and quite irresistible!

The dress was straightforward, although I did make a few changes to the construction process as I went:

• Instead of attaching the yoke as in the instructions, I used the 'burrito technique', or as it is called in my trusty Readers Digest Complete Guide to Sewing, the 'couture technique'. It worked great and the yoke looks lovely all enclosed. 

• I watched a Professor Pincushion video to help me understand how to attach the front bands. I really mean it when I say I've never made a shirt dress (or any kind of button down shirt) before.

There's not that much more to say about this pattern, as it went together logically and step by step. It's a solid one! It took me quite a while - a few afternoons and nights working on it, going slowly - it seemed like a lengthy, drawn out process while doing it, but I love the result. I am sure the next time I make a similar dress it will feel much easier!

As to my summer of shirtdresses...I've already cut and been sewing away at my next one, the Sally Shirtdress by Serendipity Studio, a pattern I picked up at the pattern swap on PR Weekend - thanks to whoever let it go!

Me Made May, Part 2 (with moving pictures)

My second update for #MeMadeMay2016! I have been terrible at taking photos of my outfits this month, and apparently I've also been terrible at updating here or on flickr or social media at all, really.

The only thing I have been good at is wearing Me Mades every day this month.

Over the last 10 days, I've once again worn some old favourites, mostly dresses, but also some new ones, like my True Bias Sutton Blouse and my red Jalie Eleonore pull-on jeans -- both of these went to Chicago with me for the recent Pattern Review weekend (more on that soon). I also wore the Colette Moneta, the Maria Denmark Kristen Kimono tee (again - it is a staple) and 2 Kwik Sews - the rose tunic and my reliable fave black tee, KS3559.

In my normal non-travelling life, I've worn the Fabricville Agatha Christie dress, my red floral McCalls knit dress, an old make - a New Look shift dress, and last but most certainly not least, last spring's New Look floral frock. This is a favourite because it is so extremely bright and cheery, it fits well, and I love the distinctive collar.

I also love it because when I am wearing it, I don't exactly blend in. This was especially in evidence one day this week when, in one of those frequent weird #twinnings, a large number of coworkers showed up to work in black and white, prompting a photo session. See if you can pick me out...

Me Made May thus far

I've been consciously wearing Me Mades every day this month so far...but haven't really been taking pictures of my daily outfits, except for the newest item of course! 

I'm enjoying going through my closet but just can't rustle up the energy to take new photos every day. Added to that, I've just had a terrible haircut which I am hoping grows out quickly, so that kind of adds to my photo resistance!

In any case, Me Made May this year has been a chance to view my own makes and decide what I feel like wearing, what I don't, and get a sense of what I usually reach for first. It's been really helpful that way. One definite lack in my wardrobe is me-made bottoms - I have a few skirts, and I now have 2 pairs of pants - one that is only for house wear (my SBCC Pinot pants) which are stalwart weekend wardrobe picks, and now my new Jalie Eleonore pull-on stretch jeans...soon to be debuted here.

Other than that, this is what I've been wearing so far, all with links to previously snapped photos:

Pinot Pants

Zsalya top

Kwik Sew rose tunic + Jalie Jeans

Maria Denmark's Kristen Kimono Tee (a definite go-to)

Sewaholic Cambie

No pattern elastic waist skirt - made from a thrifted remnant & never blogged

Butterick retro flowered blouse

Purple soft cardi

And my newest Sutton Blouse!

How has everyone's Me Made May been going? I have been enjoying other posts and pictures, and hope that it's been fun so far for all particpating.

Me Made May 2016 Pledge

And it's time for Me Made May once again! I almost didn't sign up this year, but at the last minute I decided that I would -- as long as I don't have to take a daily picture I am in :) I like to photograph some of the things I wear and then post a round-up weekly so will attempt to do that again this year. If I can.

One of the things that I am aiming for this year is to examine my me-mades, now that I have so many more than I used to, and figure out which ones I actually end up wearing most. I have so many patterns and so much fabric in my stash, I'd like to figure out what my most-likely-to-be-worn projects might be and make those things next.

So here is my #MMMay16 pledge... are you taking part too?

'I, Melwyk of MagpieMakery and @sewmelwyk at twitter, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '16. I endeavour to wear at least one me-made item each day for the duration of May 2016, and to use MMM to identify the me-made pieces that I gravitate to this month, to help me make better sewing choices ahead!'

Me Made May & Old Clothes

So how was Me Made May for you? I enjoyed myself, and realized that Me Made May is no longer a project that is a challenge, in the sense that a high enough percentage of my wardrobe has been handmade that I wear some of it nearly every day anyhow.

It did point out that I'm lacking self-made trousers, shorts, etc. But then I'm not really all that interested in making them, due to both the fact that I rarely wear pants and that I don't want to spend time fitting them even if I did make them!

So sartorially, May was quite interesting :)

One of the  things I found when sorting through my closet was that I could remember making each item -- when, and how, and what else was going on while I was making it. Clothing as a mnemonic device bringing the past to life...

I've already talked before about the pattern that I've owned the longest, and my regret that I don't still own the dress I made from it (yes, the first pattern I ever bought was for a dress. Pretty much still in the same habit!) But this month I looked at which garment I have actually owned the longest.

It turns out that my sunflower sundress (Simplicity 7177), made in 1990, is the item that has the longest pedigree. Would that be considered 'vintage' yet? ;)

It's very 90's -- flowy, long, shapeless, and covered in sunflowers. But the polyester faille is a hardy fabric, and this dress is so cool and comfortable that I still wear it, though these days only around the house in summer. It was the first "real" dress I made and wore regularly. It was the summer of my first year of university and my mother was teaching me how to sew properly.

This dress has pockets, a gathered skirt, and buttons on the bodice, all totally new to me. We sewed it in the evenings after my dreary day job, and so it took a while, but it was enjoyable and it's a great memory of spending time together. When I wear it I think of those hours learning from my mom.

What about you? What is the oldest piece of Me-Made clothing that you still own? Do you still wear it, or just keep it for sentiment's sake?

Me Made May: Part III

Nearly done with May already! I've been having such a great time sifting through my closet this month, as well as wearing the couple of items I've finished up in May. Lots to think about in my handmade wardrobe now.

This week I wore a mixture of dresses and tops, whatever I decided to wear that day. I also finished 2 dresses, one as yet unblogged, so wore those, of course!

Here is my last week of Me Made May's outfits --

 

Left column, top down:

Butterick 5923

Zsalya by Kate & Rose -- once again I was fortunate enough to have a theatre opening to wear this dress to -- it was the opening of Hamlet, which, though sounding cliched, is my favourite Shakespeare. It was wonderful.

New Look 6299, as yet unblogged

Centre: my cheerful I.T. Dress! (Simplicity 1419)

Right column, top down:

Kwik Sew 3756 top

New Look 6217 yellow top

New Look 6095 grey dress

I hope everybody else is having a lot of fun with Me Made May as well. It's been really nice seeing everyone's style this month.

Me Made May: Part II

For this second Me Made May roundup, I did catch a few photos of myself in my outfits! Though I did have the entire week off work, so my outfits were much more casual than usual. I went with the theme of tops that I've made for myself. Actually, I didn't really have a theme, so much as a "these are my comfortable clothes" kind of week ;)

Here are the tops I wore in this week of all kinds of weather -- mostly clear but a couple of clear and chilly days, still!

Vogue 8495 OOP

Maria Denmark Kristen Kimono Tee

"Vintage" Butterick 5716

My standard: Kwik Sew 3559

A cooler day & an (unblogged) version of KS 3559

Vogue 8514 - which I always wear "backwards" now

New Look 6217, 2nd version

Simplicity 3790

Unblogged Sorbetto - just realized
I wore the exact same outfit last MMM!

There are a few more shirts that I've made that I could have worn this week as well -- it's so astonishing to me to see so many things I've made myself in my closet. Much more than I'd first thought.

I have also finished a new dress so will be wearing that this week and blogging about it shortly, too!

Me Made May 2015: Part 1

I've been playing along with MeMadeMay this year in a low-key way. I've been sorting my closet, looking at what I have, and don't have, and trying to wear some of the things that don't get as much airing.

What I've been terrible at is taking photos. So I'm going to catch up on two weeks of photos here, in a collage/montage of the Me Made items that have thus far made it out into the world. At least for the first 2 weeks of May!

First, the skirts -- for the first 5 days of May I wore skirts, only one of which I wear regularly. Here they are:

From left to right:

• brown elastic waist skirt, never blogged - not really a pattern (made with thrifted fabric so see-through that I lined it and gave it an elastic waist for a quick make. There was just enough for a trapezoid shaped skirt)
• Floral New Look 6977
• Brown floral microfibre New Look 6843
• Blue hand embroidered Simplicity 9825
• Pencil skirt! (this New Look 6128 is the one that I wear a lot)

And the following days, I wore dresses. Many, many dresses.

Left to right:

• mysterious floral dress, unblogged as of yet
• my brand new Cambie!
• yellow NL 6602
• knit NL 6936, a stalwart 

Left to right:

• mysterious pink unblogged dress
• Starry night Simplicity 1699
• Vogue 8755
• Black McCalls 3926
• Vogue 9022 

Fortunately for the clothing rotation, we had a couple of really chilly days this month in which I was able to wear warmer clothes, including the red Vogue above, and this KS 4026 which I forgot to add to the photo as it is in the laundry room!

So the first 15 days were very dressy. Now with a couple of days off I've been wearing a few of my more casual outfits. More info later!

Some more sewing happening around these parts so a couple of newer makes will be showing up this May, and will shortly be blogged as well. One surprising thing I am finding is that I have many more handmade pieces than I'd realized. It's been a busy year!

Me Made May 2105

I can't believe it's May already! How did that happen? The last two weeks have simply zipped by. I've almost missed joining in on Me Made May! I participated last year for the first time and really enjoyed it. This year I'm not going to be taking daily pictures -- I didn't like that part so much, and since it is not a requirement I am dropping it :) But I am planning on doing this:


I, Melwyk of Magpie Makery, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '15. I endeavour to wear one me-made item each day for the duration of May 2015


I am also hoping to finish a couple more of my half-made outfits that are currently languishing in my sewing room and wear them before the end of May! We will see. It is fun to go through your own "me made" wardrobe and see what's there that you don't actually wear much, or find the places that you are lacking me mades! 

Happy May!

Me Made May, final wrap up

Here I am, finishing off my MeMadeMay in June! I was so busy this weekend -- working, going to baby showers, and so forth -- that I didn't have time to tie it all up. The good news is that I did wear all Me Mades for the rest of May and these first two days of June, too, for good measure :)

Monday: Grey New Look linen dress

Tuesday: Mustard yellow skirt, blouse & obi

Wednesday: Mild animal print dress

Thursday: Bright blue Vogue tee

Friday: Maria Denmark tee + the best shadow ever ;)

Saturday: Vogue pink woven tee, very old and unblogged!

I've really loved participating in my first MeMadeMay this year -- although I found taking pictures to be a bit of a chore, it was fun looking at my wardrobe and putting it together differently. Even people who are not sewists were interested to see what I would show up in each day. 

I also "met" a lot of new online sewing enthusiasts through twitter and flickr during the month, which was fun. Seeing everyone else's photos really builds the enthusiasm for making new things in new ways. Combined as May was with Sewing Indie Month, I feel like I've had a sewing overdose this month (in a good way of course) and it has been pretty much all I've thought about! 

I've learned that I'm missing some elements of a wardrobe -- mostly pants -- which I don't/haven't made. And I've learned that some styles look better on me than others -- a benefit of all that photography! It was certainly interesting to spend the whole month thinking of one's own sewing output.

Thanks go out to Zoe at So Zo, What Do You Know? for hosting such a great project and making May very entertaining indeed.

Me Made May, Update 4

It's already time for another #MMMay14 update! Here's what I wore this week:

Monday (centre) -- it was a holiday weekend here and I wore my new Polly Top 
Tuesday (right) -- wore my Starry Night dress
Wednesday (left) -- wore my new Pencil Skirt with red accessories!
Thursday (top) -- wore a black dress I made a long time ago + sweater as it was really chilly again!
Friday (bottom) -- wore a tank top I made from suiting fabric
Saturday -- stayed home all day in my lounging clothes and totally forgot to wear something Me Made!! My first lapse this month :)
Sunday -- wore the Polly Top again

This has been great fun so far and I still have a few items to wear this week that haven't seen the outside of the closet in a while...

Me Made May, Update 3

It's already time for the Week 3 roundup for Me Made May -- this month is flying! Here's what I wore this week -- I didn't include today (Sunday) because I stayed home all day sewing & relaxing and the only me-made I was wearing was my slippers - boring! 

As for the rest of the week:

Monday: my new Maria Denmark Kristen Kimono Tee

Tuesday: last year's New Look 6602

Wednesday: New Look 6936, in greens

Thursday: New Look 6936 again, in a wacky pink print

Friday: Chilly morning, so my warmer Vogue 8634 top

Saturday: a floral Sorbetto 

Looking at all my pics from this month's project, I'm starting to realize that I'm a bit all over the place with my choices -- I think I need to go through Collette Patterns' recent Wardrobe Architect series to work out my best silhouettes and colours and stick to those. I feel a bit like a kid in a candy shop when I see all the cool patterns and fabrics; I should decide on what is actually good for me at this point :)

Me Made May, 2nd Update

Well, it's the end of MeMadeMay, week 2. The weather here is so changeable! I went from wearing my sweaters last week to a sundress today -- not complaining though :)

It's been fun realizing that I have plenty of choices each morning. And that there are new outfits in my closet just waiting for me to discover them. Here's the rundown for this week:

Monday: New Look 8643 skirt and a refashioned blouse that is also incidentally the first thing I ever blogged about!

Tuesday: Kwik Sew 3658 green tshirt

Wednesday:  Boo :( Sick day. Only my slippers were me-made.

Thursday: Vogue 8755

Friday: Yellow Sorbetto, never blogged -- it was my trial attempt before my first "real" one. I removed the front pleat as I didn't have enough fabric for it, and added sleeves. Decided to finish it to make it wearable.

Saturday: Recently made New Look 6217 top

Sunday: My oldest me-made item: a sundress I made 23 years ago! I only wear it around the house now, especially on warm days like today. Like when I'm hanging up the wash ;)  It's Simplicity 7177, by the way.

That's it for this week's roundup -- I had better get back to the sewing table so that I can blog about new things as well!

Me Made May, 1st update

I'm taking part in Me Made May for the first time this year, and I'm mostly sharing updates on my daily wear via Flickr and/or Twitter. But I'll be updating once a week, Sundays, right here on the blog with some of the things I'm discovering through participating in this project. Here's the brief first update for you --

Thursday: Simplicity 2474 cardigan

Friday: KwikSew 4013

Saturday: Vogue 7155 (never blogged, PR review here)

Sunday: Vogue 8514 

(I'm wearing Vogue 8514 backward according to the pattern design, but it both fits

 better and looks more flattering this way. The shoulders sit more comfortably with

 this top  "backward" as well -- this is the only way I actually wear it now)

I'm finding that taking pictures is the worst part: I don't like photos of myself very much, plus I don't have a nice camera so can only get blurry snapshots most of the time...I feel like other sewing bloggers have nicer photos plus they are doing much more interesting things than simply going to work! ;)

But I am also finding that I am enjoying looking at my closet and realizing how many things I have made. Plus seeing myself in them helps me realize what I like best and what I think I look best in. And it also reveals that there are some fixes I need to make! I am noticing that I don't make many "bottoms", either skirts or pants, usually going for dresses or quick tops. I'll have to see what the rest of the month reveals.