Hooray for week 2 of Me-Made-May! As before, I have worn some items that I have sewn from scratch and others that I have re-fashioned…. some are more refashioned than others (so not a drastic alteration) – but then, there are a lot of days in May!

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I’ve made it through week 1 of Me-Made-May! I have worn some items that I have sewn from scratch and others that I have re-fashioned. I am normally behind the camera so have had to be brave and have some pictures taken (mostly by my 6 year old hence the slight angle)… I thought about photographing the clothes on hangers – but I think you can get a better idea this way, so here goes…

Click here to see lots more information and pictures…

I’m so excited to be taking part in Me Made May this year! I wanted to participate last year but hadn’t really sewn or re-fashioned enough garments. However, I’ve counted around 22 items in my wardrobe this time around – so I should be ok – although I may need to be inventive later in the month! Here is my pledge – it’s live – so no backing out!!

I am hoping to photograph all the items I wear so fingers crossed for weekly updates for the duration of May!

I have really enjoyed getting into dressmaking in the past year or so and I also love to purchase items from charity shops and bargain rails for the purpose of re-fashioning. So I’m really excited for the challenge… 🙂 Watch this space….. Here we go…..!

Click on the button above for more information about Me Made May.

I thought (while I am posting my Tilly & The Buttons dresses anyway) that I would do a quick post to show the Agnes Tops which I have made in the past…

My favourite is this version with the runched sleeves and lovely bird fabric. The fabric is so beautiful that I have just bought some more from America! I added 2 more lines of elastic per sleeve (either side of the original row and slightly shorter) as I prefer a softer runching. I also added some cuffs in the same fabric… I wear this version so much – and miss it when its in the wash!

This pink flamingo version was my first attempt… It was too wide for me (I have since used a smaller size of the pattern as my shoulders are narrow) I got round this problem by adding some elastic into the neckband (and this gathered the fabric up) and sewing a hemband. It’s not ideal but meant that my top was wearable – hooray! Again – it has extra elastic added to to the sleeves…

This green version was a ‘hack’ partly due to me not having much fabric but also because I liked the drape and wanted to try something softer… I think it works well. I tried to bag out the sleeves but in the end I unpicked it and left the raw cut edge. It just didn’t hang right any other way!

Scroll down for lots more pictures of all versions. I have also made a black one which I wear all the time – I am sure I will make many more – oh and a dress hack, I really want to try that… did I mention I love sewing!!

As planned I am so happy to have finally made up my Tilly & The Buttons Cleo Dress with embroidery on the pocket! It was so much fun to sew up and came together very quickly. I was also impressed that it didn’t use much fabric – which was a bonus for keeping the cost down.

I added an extra couple of inches to the length of the mini version and cut a size 10. I was unsure on this style as to whether it would be flattering for me personally. I did find that it hung down from the top and didn’t give me a waistline…. however, I decided to add a little scrap of fabric to the reverse of the dress (front – under the bustline and back – in the area for the small of the back) and this gave a runched effect which was more flattering I think. Scroll down for pictures…

Overall – a lovely pattern to work with (as are all the Tilly & The Buttons patterns) I have worn it constantly and I know I will make lots more variations 🙂

I have teamed it up with my homemade Tilly & The Buttons Agnes Top…