Me Made May 18: The halfway point

Hey there folks. Hope you’re having a nice week. I have Me Made May halfway point recap and navel gazing post for you today. Apologies to those of you who follow me on Instagram and have seen all of these photos before.

So, this month I have worn:

1st – nothing me made

And we’re off to a strong start. This was a decorating day, so I was in paint covered clothes for most of it.

2nd – jeans, blue and white striped tee with blue Blackwood

This was only put on briefly to pop to my mum’s house to collect her step ladder to do the cutting in portion of painting.

3rd – jeans, black scoop neck ballet tee

I properly left the house! I went to Ikea for some new sewing room bits and pieces. I’ve manged to drag out this sewing room refurb for far too long. I’m still not finished but I’ve only got the woodwork left to paint. I’d hoped to do in the evenings after work this week but it will probably get left until the weekend.

Anyway, I wore RTW jeans and a freshly sewn t-shirt (I have a sewing station set up on the dining table). I made it using my t-shirt pattern hacked from the Dixie DIY Ballet dress pattern. (Very simply, by tracing the shoulders and armhole and then pivoting the bodice out slightly to give a bit more room at the bust but to still be fairly fitted and then flaring the side seams out below the bust and over the hips.) But while I was cutting the t’shirt out I overlaid the Southport dress bodice and copied the scoop neck from it onto the t-shirt.

I think I made the neckline a smidge too wide and I probably should have made the neckband a tiny bit shorter to keep things a bit more snug but I still really like the t-shirt. It’s still unhemmed in the photo because I was still sewing it while my mum was on her way to pick me up. Well, and my cover stitch is trapped in the spare room behind the contents of my sewing room.

4th-7th – Nothing Me Made

I was living my best #hermitlife so I spent a fair bit of time in my favourite oversized men’s* jogging bottoms (the best PJs). I also got my first period in over a year (I have PCOS), so I spent a couple of days on the sofa with a hot water bottle feeling sorry for myself. Particularly as one of those days was the hottest day of the year. I found myself reaching for a RTW oversized flannel shirt I have on those days for some reason. I have a flannel Archer already cut out because I already knew I love a flannel shirt.

While I was in my self-pity sofa nest I bingewatched the two seasons of Project Runway that are on Netflix and fell in love with it. Does anyone know if there’s anywhere I can watch the rest?

*Should that have an apostrophe and have I put it in the right place??

8th – Ballet tee dress and grey blackwood cardigan

My first working day of Me Made May. Yaay…. I went for a comfy outfit to ease myself back into work. I love this dress. It’s just a t-shirt dress but the metallic flowers on the fabric make it feel that little bit fancier.

9th – Ogden cami, jeans and navy cardigan

I work from home on Wednesdays so don’t usually get properly dressed but we went to the cinema in the evening so I had to. I love my two Ogden camis and have plans for several more. This one was from the leftover fabric from a Sew Over It Penny dress and I may cut one out of the leftovers from my first Penny dress too.

10th – Winslow culottes, cream lace top and pink Blackwood

Today was a Helen’s Closet lovefest with both Winslow culottes and a Blackwood cardigan. The top is RTW and it is past it’s best so I’d quite like to make something similar to replace it. I find lace really tricky to buy though as I’d like to feel it first and I don’t really go many real life fabric shops.

11th – Jeans, Ogden cami and Blackwood cardi

My other Ogden cami and my most worn Blackwood cardigan. I love these two together.

12th & 13th – Nowt

I did technically go out as I went for a run but I don’t count that because I have plenty of activewear that fits me fine so I don’t need to try to make any. Plus, I don’t have expensive tastes with exercise clothes so it would be waaaay more expensive for me to make it than it is to buy it. I did buy the Avery leggings pattern though but more with regular clothes leggings in mind.

14th – SOI Penny dress and cropped Blackwood cardigan

The weather at the beginning of the week was beautiful here so out came the summery clothes. I really love this cardi with this dress

15th – Bibi skirt and Ballet tee

And yesterday I wore my Bibi skirt from Tilly and the Button’s latest book and my first Ballet tee. The skirt is another thing that’s still unhemmed. Though it is fused in place with Heat n Bond Soft Stretch hemming tape that I bought after seeing people rave about it on Instagram. It seems to work really well and still has plenty of stretch. I’m looking forward to seeing if it makes the coverstitching easier.

This has hands down been my most popular outfit on Instagram. Which is funny because it’s the one I’ve felt least comfortable in.

How’s it going?

Slightly better than expected. Because I’ve gained weight loads of my me made clothes don’t really fit me anymore. I think I’m going to have to do more repeats this year than last but that’s okay. I’ll try to style things differently if I can but the point of Me Made May for me is to reflect my actual wardrobe so I don’t mind a few repeats.

Spotted any gaps?

I have a pair of knit shorts I’ve had since 2004 that are my favourite thing to bimble around the house and garden in when it’s warm. I cant think what you’d call them, they’re just a loose fitting jersey short with an elasticated waist and contrast binding. Any sort of loose or flowy knit shorts would probably fill the gap. I also used to have a pair of jersey culotte* style shorts that I love for warm weather but I outgrew them. (*To me, culottes means shorts that look like a skirt. Not wide legged cropped pants.)

The main other thing I’ve noticed is that I could do with more solid coloured makes. I’d like some white or cream tops to go with my patterned bottoms. I have a few metres of white viscose in the stash that I’d like to make a couple of tops from. I’ve also got a couple of black knit tops in progress that I was batch sewing with the scoop necked ballet tee.

Other than that it’s just trousers and jeans. Which I keep saying I’m going to make and never do. Fitting is hard.

Learned anything else?

It wasn’t part of my pledge but I wanted to try to think more about the me mades I don’t wear this month and see if there’s anything I can do to fix that. I have a couple of dresses that I don’t really wear because they’re a bit too short so I’m thinking of cutting them into tops and rehemming them. I have a pair of Winslow culottes (palazzo pants version) that are too small that I thought about using Helen’s elastic back hack on. The neckline of my pineapple Scout has also frayed and I think the fabric is too delicate for a binding really so I’m thinking of chopping the shoulders off and making it into an off the shoulder top. I still have leftover fabric so I thought I could sew on a shirred band as I’ve seen a few RTW tops like that recently.

I haven’t had any epiphanies yet but there’s still time.

Right, that’s enough waffle from me. I hope you’re all having a great Me Made May if you’re taking part.