Hooray! I have actually managed all 31 days of Me Made May! I had just enough items in the end. Although I saved my shorts til the end of the month thinking it would be all summery and ended up getting goose bumps! Never mind – gotta love the British weather! I hope you are not getting bored of all these Me Made and Re-Fashioned garments – if you are still with me on this (well done you!) – read on!!
Day 22
Me made – Tilly & The Buttons – Agnes Top
Starting the final week with my last Tilly Agnes top. This one is actually my favourite as I love this jersey fabric I found online. The quality is beautiful and soft – and it has a good weight to it too. In addition, it washes up very well without fading (like other jerseys I have used). It was the end of the roll so I only just had enough for this top. I had to (haha, it was essential!) source some more from Germany – as I want to make a dress too! It’s sitting in my stash as I’m going to try out some dress patterns in other fabrics first – before I cut into this one! But maybe a Sew Over it Heather Dress…
Day 23
Re-Fashion – Debenhams Dress into smaller size
This one didn’t turn out quite how I had hoped! I bought a dress in the Debenhams sale a year ago. It was several sizes too big but it was about £8 reduced from £35 and the fabric was lovely (blue jersey with mini flowers and anchors). I liked the idea of the Peter Pan collar too… I had to re-fashion this dress a lot more than I thought I would including taking lots of fabric off the sides . It was looking fine then unfortunately, I took too much off… and then realised that it was too tight! Oops! I think I got carried away having fun on my overlocker… I think there is a lesson there for next time 😉 Overall it is wearable – but better with a my trusty Fatface cardi!
Day 24
Me Made – jersey dress (pattern taken from previous New Look via Ebay playsuit)
I wore a Cold Shoulder Tunic on Day 10 of Me Made May and I took a pattern at the time as I loved the style. I made this dress from that pattern – but it was before I added the ‘cold shoulder’ aspect. I do like this dress and it does get lots of wear – but I am not quite happy with the shoulders and neckline. I don’t think adding the sleeves to make it a ‘cold shoulder’ style will help so I will leave it as it is. I love the pockets and it’s very comfy to wear 🙂 It’s more flattering with a belt.
Day 25
Me Made – Pleated Skirt from Tutorial by Sewn (fabric by Ikea, cotbed duvet cover)
This is a pleated skirt that I recently sewed up from a beautiful fabric in my stash. I bought the fabric last year from Ebay – it was originally from Ikea and was a cotbed duvet cover! I stumbled across it and loved the print with the cute hedgehogs and rabbits. I was going to use it to make a children’s dress and then I decided I just wanted to make a lovely skirt for me!
I used a fab tutorial from Rosa from Sewn (I have been following her lovely channel for ages) it’s so easy to make and I didn’t need a pattern.
I added a few stitches at the top of my pleats to help them to sit nicely in place. I lined my skirt with some plain white cotton drill to give it some thickness and allow the white to look nice and bright. I added an invisible zip.
I have added a separate page to Dotty Owl for this skirt – so click here to view more photos.
Day 26
Me Made – Self Drafted Summer Poncho (from a Joules version)
I had a beautiful blue (with flowers) Joules version of this Summer Poncho for my birthday. It cost £34.95 to buy and I absolutely love it. However, I realised that the design is really simple… it’s basically a folded rectangle of fabric with a gathered waist tie and cut out neckline front and back. I got this lovely black fabric for around £8 (I only used about 2 metres) from Fashion Fabrics in Bath. I have now learnt how to do rolled hems (thanks to YouTube!) so I hemmed all round. I took too much out for the neckline (oops, the fabric was squidgy!) but it’s fine with a top under. I added the belt in the end (over the ties) – as I didn’t want to do school run with it looking like I was wearing a dressing gown!! All in all though I plan to make some more. It’s very cool and comfy to wear – and a chance to show off a lovely fabric 🙂
Day 27
Re-Fashion – Broken M&S leggings into shorts
I went through the knees of my favourite black leggings last winter. It was annoying as they were so comfy – but that’s what you get for lots of pattern cutting on the floor I guess 😉 I patched up the knees and they lasted another couple of weeks but it was a losing battle! In the end I gave up and cut them to shorts length, hemming them in place. My favourite Superdry summer skirt was always on the short side so not ideal on a windy day!! (For reference, today was a very windy day!) Now I can wear the shorts underneath… They don’t show – but it’s great to have that extra layer on the off chance!
Day 28
Me Made – Tilly & The Buttons – Agnes Top
Hooray for a last minute half term break in Devon! Did I mention that the lovely Devon air makes my hair go frizzy!!
Yet another Agnes…. I used black star fabric for this one. It was supposed to be ‘designer’ jersey from EBay but when I received it the quality wasn’t great. I was going to make a dress and pre-washed it. I dried it on a drying rack and it ended up with big dents where it stretched out of shape on the corners of the rack (it was really thin). I could only make a top in the end with the areas not stretched out of shape. So an Agnes it was! It’s soft to wear and looks lovely but annoyingly my top has a little hole in it after a couple of washes. I guess next time I’ll be more wary of ‘designer fabrics’ going cheap. It’s so hard to judge the quality when buying online!
Day 29
Re-Fashion – Fat Face Shorts – lace added
I bought these shorts from the bargain rail in Fat Face a couple of years ago but was never 100% happy with them. They were comfortable and a good fit but they were a little longer than I would have liked and looked plain. They do have a slight spot pattern on the denim but were still not right…. I wanted some Superdry denim shorts with lace last year but they were expensive and too short on me! So I added some lace to my Fat Face shorts instead. I was worried to do this to perfectly good shorts but the gamble paid off as they are now my favourites! I added lace to the bottoms and around the pocket areas front and back. As you can guess, the weather soon got colder and I reached for my full length jeans, ah well!! My vest top is from Sainsbury’s and for once the straps were the right length on me – so I didn’t need to take them up!
Day 30
Me Made – Sew Over It Ultimate Trousers (Shorts Version)
I’ve been looking to make this pattern for a while and I got talking to another sewer who said it was easy and great to sew up… so I treated myself to the pattern on my birthday. I thought I’d start with the shorts version as they used less fabric. Despite making a toile I still don’t think the fit is right. They are quite a bit too big – even after I took an inch off both sides. They’re also not as comfy as I had hoped, so I’ll be making them again with a stretchier fabric next time and in a couple of sizes smaller. I also have my eye on the Chataigne Shorts by Deer & Doe – they are soooo pretty, especially with the scalloped edge! I’m going to try those too! (If they work out well I’d like to adapt them to trousers for the winter…)
Day 31
Re-fashioned Fatface Skirt / Me-Made Mini Messenger Bag / Me Made Blue Heart Pendant (Enamelling)
Extras as it’s the last day – hooray!
I bought this skirt on Ebay a couple of years ago. It is from Fatface and I liked the colours. However it was a very odd length on me (I think most likely because I am short!) I solved this by cutting off a chunk from the bottom – I managed to save the original hem (it was the days before I had my trusty cover stitcher!) so I’m pleased that the result is a lot more wearable. The sun went away – so I’m back to wearing my tights!
My bag is one that I use all the time for carrying a couple of essentials. I made it a few years ago and have used it a lot. Mostly for holidays and school runs when I need to travel light. You can find more details and versions here. I treated myself to a BPA free A6 Memobottle the other day and I love it – it fits in this bag a treat. The only downside is that it looks like I’m drinking Vodka on school run!! Haha! I’m joking, the design is awesome 😉
My pendant (added to a silver chain) was one that I made on holiday earlier this year. I got to try enamelling and I loved it! It’s a heart design with little flowers – and very special to me as my girls helped me make it 🙂
That’s everything! Phew! I made it through 31 days… for the next few days I will be enjoying taking a break from having my picture taken (whilst poorly, in the rain, with goose bumps, too early in the morning etc etc) and mostly wearing ‘Ready to Wear’ – although, it wont be long til I’m back in my Me Made and Re-Fashioned clothes as they are the ones I mostly reach for these days. I have loads of plans for more makes and re-fashions in the future. I think I am a little addicted now and always feel good wearing my own creations. I have lots of patterns and fabrics in my stash… I’m sure I’ll be adding some more items very soon to Dotty Owl – so if you’re reading this – thank you for staying with me through all these clothes and watch this space! 🙂
Dotty Owl 