May 2013 - Handmade by Carolyn

red

31/05/2013 7:12 am \ 54 Comments \ Carolyn

The photo mini challenge for today, the last day of me-made May is “red”.

min 6C, max 19C, fine and sunny

Details:
Jacket; Burdastyle magazine 08/2010, 113, chocolate brown faux leather, details and my review of this pattern here
Jeans; Burda 7863 modified, purple stretch denim, details here and my review of this pattern here
Top; the loose drape top from drape drape by Hisako Sato, white cotton jersey, details here
Socks, seen below, and also red!; hand knit by me to a 60’s pattern, details here
Boots; Andrea and Joen

In my family’s last day of MMM13, Craig is wearing this shirt, Tim is wearing this hoodie, Cassie is wearing this Tshirt, and Sam is wearing this jacket.

Craig’s shirt; Burda 7767 modified, white linen, details here
Tims hoodie; self-drafted, grey and khaki cotton jersey, details here
Cassie’s Tshirt; self-drafted grey and black striped cotton jersey, details here
Sam’s jacket; Burda7767 modified, navy blue corduroy, details here, and my tutorial for making that welt/patch double pocket is here

So, Me-made May…
Yay! I did it, and it is finished! I apologise for the boringness of my daily outfit posts, I know that a lot of my regular visitors switch off my blog completely during the me-made months; so obviously a lot of people do not like that what-I’m-wearing-today aspect. That’s ok 🙂
I do try to mix my wardrobe up creatively, and and to keep it interesting and keep it real.
I learnt nothing new, but this was my sixth time. Oh I lie, I did learn one thing; that I have more than enough handmade clothes… I repeated only three items this month; namely my ivory curtaining skirt, my calico knitted cardigan, and a plain white Tshirt; of which I have three, so maybe not repeating the exact same one, but still. Hmmm, these are all white-ish items. I cannot escape my love for pale colourless clothing!
I upped the ante by electing to wear exclusively handmade clothing, everything; including lingerie, hosiery and socks, but bearing in mind I have already pledged to do this for the entire of this year anyway, and actually I’ve always pushed myself to the limit in the me-made months. This year I’ve pushed myself way past those limits. I do wonder if it is time for me to let MMM go now.
I’ve always really liked the community of me-made May, and thought it was a brilliant idea of Zoe’s for getting us all together, wearing our handmade stuff and supporting each other.. Which is why I kept coming back, like a moth to the flame 🙂 This year I felt the “community” feel had diminished a bit; probably because the group was just so BIG this year, over 400 participants! While this is absolutely terrific, that so many people are sewing for themselves and proudly wearing their own creations and I absolutely love that and believe that side of it is just fantastic! however… the (tiny and selfish) downside for me is that the we-all-know-each-other aspect was lost just a little bit. I noticed that the group broke up into cliques. I did not get to know a lot of the new participants this year; I admired and commented on a lot of creations, and received far less comments back. I found it impossible to look at every picture, every day, so ended up just sticking to the small group of lovely ladies who were replying to my comments. And look, that is fine. Everyone does what they can, as much or as little as they want to, and that has always been the way the group rolls. But I did feel a little sad that it was a lot less personal that it has been in the past. A side effect of the group getting so big? I don’t know.
Taking the photos is always by far the most challenging part for me, and that didn’t change. I made a personal rule to limit my photo sessions to about one, or up to two minutes tops. Some days I had trouble getting the settings on my camera right for certain lighting conditions, and had to go over time; but having that rule took some pressure off.
I also documented here on my blog what in the me-made category my family was wearing, and on most days someone other than me was wearing something I had made. This made me very happy, and was my favourite part really 🙂
So that is it!
All my daily outfits for this month are in my MMM13 Flickr set here

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, MMM13, Sienna

Boring black Tshirt

30/05/2013 7:02 am \ 29 Comments \ Carolyn

The penultimate day of me-made May, and I have a post planned to ~~spew out some vitriol~~ reflect on my experiences. Only kidding there. I have no vitriol, of course. Well, very very little 😉 hehe, but seriously, I am going to be throwing a party that it’s finished!!
But ahem, my outfit. I am wearing another sorta new, but not actually new thing, today. I sorted through my Tshirt drawer. And found this batty Pattern Magic top sitting there, sad and unloved and in need of a makeover. I made it a year ago, using bright blue cotton jersey, dyed brown. The resulting colour is a great colour for me, a very dark and quite rich chocolate brown that is almost purple in a certain light.

before

Great colour.
Not such a great top, though.
I wore it a couple of times and each time felt just a bit too… weird in it. The pokey-out bits required pulling into place and arranging just so in order for them to not look Very Weird. Mind you, I’ve nothing against “weird”, but there’s weird and there’s weird, if you know what I mean. There’s interesting, avant-garde, attractive weird, and then there is just plain weird. Don’t worry if you don’t see the difference there, I know what I mean.
But hmm, still a great colour. And there was a fair bit of fabric in it…

after

I half winged it, using my custom-fit Tshirt pattern. I had to piece a new bit in the lower edge of one side, and angled the hem a bit to encompass this, a smaller, pieced-in bit would have looked too bitsy. It’s still a bit bitsy probably, but this was the best I could do! And I do really like that slightly angled hemline. I hemmed the lower edge using the blind hem stitch, only on the outside; so it’s decorative close-up.

The sleeves also had to be pieced to get any length to them, and were stitched inside and underneath the existing narrow hem of the top’s armscye. It has the effect almost of a tank with a little cap sleeve underneath, and then with a longer sleeve underneath that. The sleeve hems are angled too; shorter at the underarm seam than on the outer arm.

Sorry if it’s boring now, compared to the before. The good news is that I will actually wear it now, being no longer, you know, weird.

min 6C, max 17C do not let that sunny blue sky deceive you, it is blinkin’ freezing! and we had heaps of rain this morning!

Details:
Jeans; Burda 7863 modified, ivory stretch denim, details here
Top; my own design, blue cotton jersey dyed brown
Jacket; Vogue 7975, thick woven wool, with silk lining and black braid edging, details here
Socks; handknit by me to a 60’s pattern, details here
Boots; nylon, from Zomp shoes

my family mmm13, Craig is wearing this shirt, Cassie is wearing these handknit socks, and Sam is wearing this hoodie

Craig’s shirt; Burda 7767 modified, green cotton, details here
Cassie’s socks; handknit by me to a 60’s pattern, 2ply yarn, details here
Sam’s hoodie; self-drafted, blue/grey jersey, details here

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, MMM13, own design, top, Wardrobe Refashion

Black tights and striped Tshirt

29/05/2013 6:05 am \ 42 Comments \ Carolyn

So yesterday I mentioned I would need some black tights to see me through winter… well I made some, tout de suite. Nothing like striking while the iron is hot!
I used some lovely fine-knit black merino wool fabric, bought from the Fabric Store in Melbourne during our last visit, and my own self-drafted pattern. Yah, nothing else to say about these really. There’s no doubt I will wear them tonnes and tonnes. I’m making a promise to myself that I will still wear my more colourful and interesting tights at least as frequently.

I also made a new striped Tshirt too; since my old navy and white striped Tshirt has been worn so much it’s had it and is now my PJ top. I decided that a striped Tshirt, like the black tights, is another “need” for my wardrobe. A must-have. I know I know *cringe* must-have lists are a dime a dozen and sometimes appear to encompass everything under the sun: but I believe it takes time and trial and error to work out what really constitutes a must-have for an individual. I think that these two pieces are both must-haves in the wardrobe, for me 🙂
I used my custom fit Tshirt pattern, (the pattern that used to be Burdastyle magazine 06/2011, 120, altered completely beyond recognition), and a white and grey striped cotton jersey from Fabulous Fabrics. I stabilised the shoulder seams with Seams Great, many thanks to velosewer for this :). The raw edges of the sleeve and lower are overlocked, then folded under once and stitched with a twin needle, taking care to have the stitching inside and out appearing within the white stripe.

For the neckband; instead of a vertical or bias striped band, this time I decided I wanted the clean look of a plain white band. So carefully cut the strip and folded and basted it so the band is the exact width of the white stripe. The thinner grey stripe appears just inside the fold.
I attached the neckband using this method, and topstitched the seam allowance down to the body of the garment afterwards.

min 9C, max 20C, sun, cloud and a smidge of rain today!

Details:

Tshirt; self-drafted, khaki and white striped cotton jersey

Skirt; Burda style magazine 10/2010, 136 modified, (the Karl Lagerfeld skirt) black suiting mix, details and my review of this pattern here

Tights; self-drafted, black merino wool knit: my tutorial for drafting your own custom fit tights pattern is here

Shoes; Django and Juliette, from Zomp shoes

in my family’s mmm13 today; Sam is wearing this hoodie, and Cassie is wearing these handknit socks.

Sam’s hoodie; self-drafted, blue/grey cotton jersey, details here
Cassie’s socks; handknit by me to a 60’s pattern, 2ply wool, details here

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, MMM13, own design, Sienna, tights/leggings, top

Paprika legs

28/05/2013 6:38 am \ 31 Comments \ Carolyn

I have made some new tights! and now I have paprika legs. You know, paprika, the hot n’ spicy stuff.
I like the idea of hot spicy legs 😉 you see, my initial impulse was to go with “oompa loompa” legs, but it seemed a little… er, silly? Ridiculous? Too close to the bone?! I prefer the poetry of paprika!
Taking part in me-made May has once again taught me that I have plenty of me-made clothes. So much that I really don’t need to be sewing fripperies for myself. I am going to devote myself from now on to sewing two types of things: challenging sewing, for fun and self-fulfillment; and replacement or maintenance sewing, making essential things that I actually really need.
This is part of the latter.
The colourful RTW tights and leggings I was wearing last year and the year before have finally gotten hole-y enough to be embarrassing and are now retired to become pool-socks. You know, when stockings get old you use them to put powdered pool chemicals in, tie off and then sit them in the swimming pool. So the chemicals can dissolve slowly without getting hoovered up by the creepy crawly.
I bought this rich burnt orange polyester knit last year, specifically for tights when the time came.
I used my own self-drafted pattern, and the piece was big enough to squeak out two pairs. So I made one pair from each of the “sides” so one pair is marginally darker and redder, and the other pair is lighter, a bit more “pumpkin” than red. The differences are very slight. The pair I am wearing here is the left-hand “redder” pair. I figure I will wear these exclusively until they get a hole, and then I can start on the reserve pair.

Verdict: well, the colour is bright but I LOVE it, and think it will fit in beautifully with my autumnal colour scheme. I think cheerful tights will always have a place pepping up the sombre drab neutrals, the blacks, charcoal and browns that are the backbone of my winter wardrobe. So these will be useful.
Now, I just need a black pair, and I think I will be all set for a me-made, warm legged winter…. 🙂

Details:
Tights; self-drafted using my own tutorial for making custom fit tights, rusty orange polyester knit
Top; half of a self-drafted twinset, leopard print knit, details here, and see this twinset styled in 6 different ways here
Dress; the gathered hole from Pattern Magic, charcoal fabric, details here
Shoes; Francesco Morichetti, from Zomp shoes

in my family’s me-made efforts today; Craig is wearing this shirt again, Cassie is wearing these hand-knit socks, and Sam is wearing this shirt…

Craig’s shirt; Burda 7767, striped cotton with yellow facings, details here
Cassie’s socks; knitted by me to a 60’s pattern, 2ply wool, details here
Sam’s shirt; Burda 7767 modified, navy and white check fabric, details here

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, MMM13, own design, Sienna, tights/leggings

Sat, Sun, Mon

27/05/2013 4:51 am \ 21 Comments \ Carolyn

Saturday: meet my evil twin… can you guess which is me and which is she?? No, I didn’t think so 😉 I got a question in the Flickr group, do I have a body double… um, no?! and I only have one of this dress too…!
I admit my photoshopping skills are pretty horrific, a strip in the middle of the photo appears twice but hey, it’s my first composite! and anyway, it should be all about the handmade clothes, right? I thought this the best way to show both of the items that I wore today.
Today I wore my mustard bandage dress, and looked like the lefthand version of me all day. I took that photo at around noon. Then in the evening we were going out so I added my ivory trench coat and took that photo at about 5pm. I am “glowing” a bit more in the left one, but that is hardly surprising given the difference in the light at those two times!
So, I looked like the right hand version from 5pm until midnight.At that time I turned into a pumpkin.

min 8C, max 23C, fine and sunny

Details:
Dress; Burdastyle magazine 09/2010, pattern 122, mustard coloured ponte, details and my review of this pattern here
Coat; McCalls 5525, ivory drill with satin lining, details here and my review of this pattern here
Socks (not seen), handknit by me to a 60’s pattern, details here
Thongs; Havaianas
Boots; Sempre di, from Zomp shoes

Today in my family’s MMM13, Cassie wore this shirt, and Sam wore this jacket…

Cassie’s shirt (I originally made this for me, but it looks a lot better on her, so it has migrated to her wardrobe ;); Burda 7767 modified, details here, and my review of this pattern here
Sam’s jacket; Burda 7767 modified, details here and my tutorial for making the welt/patch pocket here

Sunday: sartorially, I have another bout of couldn’t-give-a-toss-itis. Meh.
The good news is that yesterday I learnt how to write a link in flickr descriptions, so now my descriptions look much more neat and tidy, with the links directly back to the original garment post, which is a much better arrangement. So, now I have a word document saved with the code written on it:

whereby ADDRESS is the
web address of your post that you are linking to, and TITLE is what you want
the link to say. Looks so much cleaner now 🙂

min 12C, max 24C, fine and sunny

Details:
Tshirt; self-drafted, refashioned from two old childrens’ Tshirts, details here
Skirt; my own design, refashioned from a pair of old Burda 7863 corduroy jeans, details here
Shoes: Enrico Antinori, from Zomp shoes

I am the only member of my family wearing me-made clothes today…

Monday, Monday… Busy busy busy but not too busy, which is a very good kind of busy to be!

min 13C, max 22C, fine and sunny. And windy!

Details:
Skirt; lace with coffee silk lining, details here
Tshirt; self-drafted, white jersey, details here
Cardigan; self-drafted, black snakeskin-look stuff, details here
Sandals; Misano

and Craig is wearing this shirt and Sam is wearing this hoodie…

Craig’s shirt, Burda 7767 stripe cotton with contrasting yellow facings, details here
Sam’s hoodie; self-drafted, details and my tutorial for making the hood here

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, MMM13, Sienna

my home town

24/05/2013 6:31 am \ 14 Comments \ Carolyn

The theme for today’s mini photo challenge in me-made May is your home town, so ta da!!!! I walk past this view nearly every day, but my photos will attest to the fact that I usually position my camera to not include the city, if I can. I dunno, a city skyline rarely looks very attractive to my eye. I prefer nature. See, I still got a bit of tree to frame my picture!
See that medium height, square white building to the far right, with sorta “castellations” at the top corners? I can vividly recall that being the tallest building in the city. It has a revolving restaurant, then called Highlite 33, at the very top … can you guess which floor that was? haha! When I was about twelve, my parents took us to dinner there once, for some special occasion. It was pretty swanky back then. My brothers and I were utterly fascinated by the revolving floor, and observed tables inching past windows, goggle-eyed. I remember a toothpick being placed surreptitiously by a window, and cries of glee when we came around to it again. That toothpick was greeted like a minor celebrity at our table.
It’s now inexplicably called the C restaurant. The food critic for our local paper completely ripped it to shreds in a review a few years back, which was a minor scandal and hugely entertaining for everyone. Except the owners, probably!
My outfit: I like the look of blue denim and chocolate brown together. I put the tights on first, and they are so cosy and warm I didn’t want to take them off! so just picked things to complement them. The heels are wearing pretty thin now, so after winter I’m going to transform them into footless leggings. That’s the beauty of sewing stuff yourself… you can improvise and keep a thing kicking on like this!

min 8C, max 23C, fine and sunny

Details:
Dress; Burda style magazine 06/2011, pattern 102, purple/brown rayon, details and my review of this pattern here, and see this dress styled in 6 different ways here
Cardigan; the fitted cardigan, knitted in Jo Sharp soho cotton, colour Sapote, details here
Tights; self-drafted, jersey printed to look like distressed denim, details and my tutorial for drafting your own custom fit tights here
Shoes; Francesco Morichetti, from Zomp shoes

the family’s MMM; Craig is again wearing this shirt, Tim is wearing this jacket and Sam is wearing this jacket…

Craig’s shirt; Burda 7767, blue linen, details here, and my review of this pattern here
Tim’s jacket; Burda 7767 modified, beige corduroy, details here
Sam’s jacket; Burda 7767 modified, navy corduroy, details here and my tutorial for making that welt/patch double pocket here

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, MMM13, Sienna

pink jeans

23/05/2013 5:49 am \ 23 Comments \ Carolyn

Thursday: I think I’m super strict with my colour palette. Bright colours scare me a bit and while I like them in theory, in practise they freak me out and I just have to isolate them, visually; counteract a garish colour by drowning it in neutrals with the rest of my outfit. Or, should that be, showcase? a garish colour by pairing it with “invisible” neutrals? Hmmm, is either, or both more accurate? I don’t know!
So, pink jeans. I love them, and have worn them a lot since I made them last year, but I’ve noticed I will only wear them with neutral tops, most usually white or ivory. Fortunately I have plenty of these 😉
I’ve just looked at these jeans when they were new, and boy have they faded! They used to be soooo bright!

min 9C, max 22C, fine and sunny

Details:
Jeans; au bonheur des petite mains, strawberry pink cotton denim, details and my review of this pattern here. And many thanks to shams for the pattern 🙂
Top; my own design, made from an old pair of cotton pants, details here
Tshirt (under); self-drafted, white cotton, details here
Thongs; Havaianas

today Craig is wearing this shirt, Tim is wearing this hoodie and Sam is wearing this shirt…

Craig’s shirt, Burda 7767 modified, blue linen, details here and my review of this pattern here
Tim’s hoodie; self-drafted, details here
Sam’s shirt; Burda 7767 modified, crinkly gingham, details here

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, MMM13, Sienna

grey, grey and grey

22/05/2013 8:06 am \ 21 Comments \ Carolyn

Wednesday: and I’m getting pretty tired of taking a photo of myself every day for me-made May, but it’s not long to go now. She says through gritted teeth. Oh look I know, self-inflicted and all that. I know from past experience that photo burn-out is par for the course around about now and at the end I will be glad I saw it through, and it is only one month out of the year, so…. hangin’ in there.
I’ve mentioned before about the back view of a garment or outfit being neglected and barely ever seen, in spite of the fact that they are sometimes more interesting. This Pattern Magic top looks kinda bland from the front, but I think the back is kinda cool…

btw, while my photogenic companion often does sit nicely beside me most of the time; she sometimes manages a photobomb just as the timer is ticking down.

min 10C, max 24C, fine and sunny

Details:
Top; from Pattern Magic 3, grey marled jersey, details here
Skirt; self-drafted, grey non-stretchy knit stuff, details here
Leggings; from Pattern Magic 3, charcoal knit, details here
Sandals; c/o Misano