A Belated #memademay Week 2 Round-Up

Slowly catching up on these posts…

Above is my second version of the Seamworks Wembley Cardigan, as yet unblogged. It’s in a lovely, dragonfly print (of course in navy blue) from Guthrie and Ghani. Slightly warmer weather forced me to finally get my legs out. I’m still loving my Tilly and the Buttons 70s Clemence skirt.

And once they’re out, they tend to stay out! On the left is my eternally-smile-inducing Snooker table skirt, Colette’s Ginger. On the right is my always useful Tilly and the Buttons Delphine skirt. It does require constant ironing on the downside though… Rubbish, dark photo sorry.

My day off on Thursday required something more casual: another ancient Sorbetto and my Seamworks Oslo. The finish is better on this Sorbetto, but it’s too short and too tight across the bust. It’s gone! Zumba at the gym called for another cosy Seamworks Astoria on Friday afternoon. Love these!

And finally Saturday required my Seamworks Akita in this lovely, pear print. Another great Seamworks pattern, they certainly cater to my tastes 🙂

Reflections:

I certainly get my money’s worth out of my Seamworks subscription!

I continue to weed out some earlier makes. I’ve come a long way in terms of finish and I really can’t wear some of these any more. See below…

I get so much wear out of my MeMade skirts. I’ve avoided making any recently, but feel totally justified to now make more, should I feel the inclination 🙂

I still need more memade tops! They’re far less weather-dependent than bottoms…

Also to hit the charity bag this week was my BHL Elisalex. Sad to see this go and my alterations did help, but the finish is just rubbish inside which totally puts me off wearing it. And on the left I got rid of another leftovers top (Simple Sew’s Cross-Over Back Top I think). I think you just have to except that leftovers can go either way…

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A Belated #memademay Week 1 Round-Up

Whoops! Not sure where the first three weeks of May went, but here’s my much belated week 1 round-up…

The start of May here in the North West of England was frezing, so out came a few of my warmer #memakes: a lovely, snuggly Seamworks Astoria and a Tilly and the Buttons Coco dress. Love both of these, definitely keepers.

Work on Tuesday and Wednesday required something smarter. Much though I’m pleased with the finish of this Simple Sew Jackie O Jacket, it’s really not a great fit on me. I’m keeping it for now, but time will tell on this. It was a good, practice make at any rate. However I still love this adjusted RTW jacket and it always gets so many compliments when I wear it. This was so worth all that effort of unpicking and darting last Summer.

My day off on Thursday required something comfy: time for another Tilly and the Buttons Coco Dress. Another favourite :-). Back to work on Friday I’ve paired my Seamworks Oslo Cardigan with very old Colette Sorbetto. Much though I love the fabric and ribbon detail on this, the finish is woefully bad and as such it’s the first to be dumped! Not so my Oslo though, love how this almost feels like a jacket for work.

And finally, for a meal out with a friend on Saturday evening, I donned my new Seamworks Wembly Cardigan. This one is fast becoming my favourite #memake to date 🙂

The second part of my pledge this year was to have a non-sentimental clear out of my #memakes. As already noted above, an old Sorbetto bit the dust, but also the following:

An old, Coco top: these two fabrics just didn’t seem to go together well in terms of weight making it always feel a bit ‘off’. I also got rid of this ‘leftovers’ top: I loved the front fabric and that feature zip, but the fabric at the back was plain awful! It’s gone!

I think I must have done so much de-cluttering of late, that I’m becoming more hardened at it and far less sentimental than I’ve been in the past 🙂 I also think my finish has improved no end, so some of my earlier makes that don’t quite cut it are on their way out too. Now I’m back with it after a couple of mad weeks, I’m looking forward to catching up with how everyone else has been getting on 🙂

Officially Heading Towards Middle Age

To be honest it’s been sneaking up on me for a while now. The early years of my 40s passed by in a bit of a blur, but this last one has been trickier. It starts with that stubborn bit of spread around the middle sector which a couple of other bloggers have commented on recently. As I actually like exercise and eat fairly healthily (most of the time) a little bit of Christmas/ Easter / holiday indulgence usually shifts itself fairly naturally with a bit of time, but since I hit 43 it’s not going anywhere fast! Grrr…

My favourite hobbies have always been a bit ‘middle aged’, and I’ve always found it impossible to resist the raft of sewing magazines that come alongside them. But recently I’ve found myself gravitating towards the somewhat ‘older’ publications of Good Housekeeping (oh, how my younger self would have scoffed) and Prima (well, it does come with a free sewing pattern) and away from Grazia and In Style. Yes, I’m not ashamed to admit that fashion articles on how to incorporate a bit of Kate Middleton’s style or how to dress ‘beautiful at any age’ are suddenly more relevant than how to work a cropped top (heaven forbid) or conquer festival style (err, wellies and a good waterproof…).

But last month I officially embraced my middle ages by joining my local WI. Oh, yes indeed! My husband found this simultaeneously hilarious and horrifying. Anyhow, the next monthly meeting is their annual fundraiser, so I’ve been beavering away on my donations. Keen to increase my gift repertoire I attempted a new pattern for a Tie Wrap Glasses Case, which featured in Love Sewing Magazine (issue 25). I thought this would be the perfect gift for females of ahem, a certain age, but also useful for sunglasses for younger members.

This was the perfect project for using up pretty scraps and some fat quarters that I’d had for far too long. The pattern was really straightforward, but I must admit I found getting a bit of an assembly line going really speeded me up after the first one. I’ve never used batting before, so despite this being a pretty simple pattern, I felt I’d learnt something new too. I also found it daftly enjoyable matching the fabrics up together. Anyone else get a small kick out of this? 😉 Even the off-cuts in my bin were pretty, but I’ll spare you the photos… I managed to run up six cases over two short afternoon sessions and then used some smaller scraps to make some very, very simple lavender stacks, which again hopefully will have universal appeal.

I imagine there are some pretty skilled seamstresses amongst the WI members, so I’m hoping my contributions pass muster… Fingers crossed they sell!