Me-Made-Outfit of the Week

Me-Mades:

Breton T-shirt

Navy Cropped Trousers

Swallow Jacket (never formerly blogged)

Pants

Vest (which I took with me and put on after dark)

So my new life as a self-employed something-or-other seems to involve having quite a few coffees here and there with people vaguely connected to stuff I'm involved in. Most of these 'meetings' are basically with creative friends or creative people that would become friends if I had time to go for a coffee with them (which evidently I now do). But some have genuinely been meetings that will directly or indirectly help my work situation, and Thursday's meeting in London was one such occurrence. 

But being me, I sandwiched that meeting in-between two of the other kind of meeting! To facilitate the easy transition between meetings and venues I wore the above outfit. In the direct sunshine it was hell-of-warm, but outside of it it was nippy so I needed a layer-able outfit. I rocked my me-mades with a cheeky anchor neckerchief to give off a French seaman look! Ever the professional... 

Refashion Friday Inspiration: Monochrome Cartoon Bib T-shirt

It's Friday, so you know what that means: another injection of Refashion Friday!!!!! As hopefully you've come to notice, each Friday I post about refashioning/upcycling/remaking unwanted clothing into new, wearable and fun garments. Usually it's a dose of inspiration (like today) that may inspire your own projects; occasionally the Refashion Friday posts are a more involved tutorial or 'how-to' (all of which can be found on this page).

Source: soteitei.blogspot.com via Zoe on Pinterest

Like another recent T-shirt creation, today's idea is not one I can't entirely lay claim to! I found this fantastic child's dress by 'So Tei-Tei' via Pinterest and fell in love with its unusual bib detail. By the way, Cecilia creates children's sewing patterns and has this and many others for sale on her blog. The original dress is made from woven fabric but I decided to reinterpret the style from unwanted men's T-shirts to make a super-wearable adult version.

I re-cut the front and back body pieces from an unwanted black men's T-shirt and harvested the original neck ribbing to reuse. I used another unwanted black T-shirt to cut the sleeves (which have gathered sleeve heads to give the garment a touch of femininity) and the bib section. The edges of the bib section were pressed under 1cm to aid application. I cut a narrow bias strip from an unwanted white T-shirt and pressed it in half to form the contrast piping. If I'd had some, I would have used pre-made bias binding because the jersey bias was pretty fiddly and difficult to get perfect.

After pinning the living day-lights out of it to keep the bib and bias in position, I topstitched the whole bib section down in one go. You could use a contrast colour for the bib, even using a woven fabric (which would be easier!). I added six bold buttons like the original inspiration once the T-shirt was constructed. I think the monochrome colour palette and strong styling gives this T-shirt a cartoon appearance. My only regret about this creation is that I didn't make one for myself!

Lace Vest/Camisole/Singlet and Adjustable Strap Tutorial

Here's another variation of the free vest/camisole/singlet pattern that I wanted to share with you. It's a very different look to the basic solid jerseys or the T-shirt refashions I've put on here recently. Today's offering is a far more sexy affair!

The front and back pieces have been cut from delicate champagne-coloured stretchy lace. The flat elastic that finishes the top edges and forms the straps has a really lovely soft feel and a little gold stripe running along it giving the garment an extra hint of luxe. Before it got too chilly I wore this vest to sleep in and it felt really special. If you wanted to make a slightly more modest version, you could put a solid jersey layer under the front lace piece, but still keep the back lace only. 

To see some other peoples' versions of the free vest pattern, check out my pinterest board! 

Another way to take this basic pattern in a different direction is to add adjustable straps. Leah from 'Journey to Couture' was sweet enough to leave me the link to her fabulous tutorial for making your own adjustable straps (pictured below). What could be fancier than adding such a useful and professional detail to your own vest creations?! 

(image source: 'Journey to Couture' tutorial)

Thanks Leah!!!

Me-Made-Outfit of the Week

Me-Mades:

Navy Spotty Ceylon Dress

Red Lace Applique Bolero Shrug

Pants (knickers)

Umm, so Autumn happened yesterday. Long sleeves! Boots! Tights! Anyways, Summer was a massive disappointment and you know what you are going to get with Autumn, so bring it on. I decided to wear my navy Ceylon dress because the curtains it's made from offer a fair amount of warmth. It's also a good option when I want to look more dressed up than usual but with little effort. I'm not entirely sure about the shrug with it though. The front curve of the bolero kind of mimics but also hides the curved yoke of the dress. But it's nice to find an outfit to wear the shrug with that looks good with the applique side rather than the plain side. 

Happy Autumn/Spring everyone! 

Refashion Friday Inspiration: Contrast Collar Sleeveless Shirt/Blouse

This blouse maybe one of those creations that looks better on a body than a mannequin, but you get the idea. It's a super simple denim shirt remake with some subtle features and proportions that aim to transform the original masculine, boxy garment into something more feminine and sexy. 

The original denim was re-cut using a standard fitted blouse pattern. There are bust darts and darts that bring shape to the waist in the front and back, all of which create a curvy silhouette. As with almost all of my shirt/blouse refashions/remakes, the original hem has been retained, accept this time I've gone for a longer length which would look ace with leggings or capri pants. 

I've cut the armholes so that a lot of shoulder is showing, which I feel is a really sexy feature. The small contrast Peter Pan collar in ditsy floral Liberty print was self-drafted and applied to finish the neckline to bring some cuteness without (hopefully!) being too juvenile. Maybe it's because I grew up in the 1990's, but I feel the contrasting combination of faded, tough denim with delicate, feminine florals works well. I added a ditsy floral sash belt-tie to emphasise the nipped in waist even more. 

Handmade Hen Party!

Last weekend all my favourite women in the world congregated in Brighton. The reason for this pleasant occurrence was my hen do! With a month until the Big Day, seventeen women came to celebrate over two days. With a distinctly handmade, crafty and stylish flavour to the weekend, I thought the readers of my blog might be interested in what went down... 

After many of the 'hens' congregated at my flat we went for a blustery walk along the seafront and popped into 'Platform', a two week event organised by my mate Sarah Rock Cakes to feature and sell the work of ten of the most talented local artists, photographers, print-makers and designer. 

We then headed over the road from 'Platform' to Super+Super HQ to meet up with the others.This is, of course, the place I share some desk space though on Saturday we weren't there to do some work, we were there to get our craft on! The Super+Super girls offer all sorts of hen do options. We chose to do screen printing. 

We started out creating stencils on brown paper. I'd printed off a lot of stencil designs during the week to add to the pile of other starting points Super+Super already had and the hens could either use one of those, a combination or those, or totally free-style our own designs. 

Most of us chose to use the existing designs as a starting point so we traced these onto tracing paper. We then flipped the tracing paper over and used the pencils to rub over the lines so the designs transfer onto the brown paper.

Some of the designs required a bit of help from the printing expert Georgia to turn into printable stencils. It was fun to see all my friends who comprise of different occupations including accountant, graphic designer, scientist, solicitor, jewellery designer, theatre producer, communications manager, librarian, wine importer, journalist and full-time mum among others, all getting creative and doing the kind of things most of us hadn't attempted since our school days. 

If we look a bit miserable in these photos, I promise we weren't: we were just concentrating hard! And yes, there was one craft knife-related injury! 

When the brown paper stencils were ready, we headed in smaller groups to the basement to get printing. The anticipation was pretty high, as you can imagine! 

With pinny donned and canvas tote bag in position on the printing table, the stencil and screen were placed on top and the printing ink was introduced. A couple of pulls and the bags were newly adorned with our images.

Interestingly, the three women in attendance who have had children all made their bags for their kids or for carrying their kids belongings. The hens who don't have kids all made them for ourselves!   

All the bags came out really well, even after the introduction of cava and wine into proceedings (although we did instil a strict 'no wine until you're done with the craft knife' rule). And we had the best cake I may have ever tasted which was a lemon curd sponge home made by Amy, one of the Super+Super girls. I haven't stopped thinking about that cake since Saturday. Home made cake never fails to blow its shop-bought counterparts out of the water, don't you find?

No strangers to creative endeavours, Kirstin and Rehanon (pictured above) made some fine specimens. But one of my favourites was Scientist Ruth's simple but powerful design (pictured below). What more is there to say?!

Printing veteran Michelle drew a design so inventive that I'll be surprised if she doesn't get stopped in the street and asked where she bought her bag (pictured below). 

My own design (pictured below) was a simplified version of a stencil I found online. I also managed to get a couple of extra swipes in and put my design onto some emerald coloured jersey fabric I happened to have stashed under my desk upstairs. I hope to make a T-shirt or vest top with it soon.

Just as I thought we were wrapping up the proceeding at Super+Super to move on to the next bit, the ladies surprised me with two absolutely wonderful gifts. One was a fabulous photo book packed full with photos from nights out, holidays, parties and special times I'd had with my various hens from the 1990s until recently. I can't tell you how much that book means to me. Capturing some of our dodgiest haircuts and outfits, that book will never fail to delight!

The other gift is equally wonderful: an incredible necklace handmade by Kirstin which includes the date of the hen do. Since Saturday I have only taken the necklace off to sleep! It's so awesome and special and it'll help me remember the time all my favourite women came to play.

After heading to our digs, debating what to wear and applying alarming quantities of make up and hair spray, we reconvened at the stunning Art Deco Brighton Ballroom. There we were treated to a delicious three course meal, wine and a fantastic cabaret and burlesque show.     

The handmade quality of this section of the weekend is limited, but I did wear my self-made leopard rockabilly dress and the lovely necklace made by Kirstin 

At 11pm the central tables were cleared and a DJ began to provide us with tunes for making shapes to.

The next day some hens had to leave early but we were then joined by Mumma E, and my mother and sister-in-law to be. Hangovers were soaked up by piled of sandwiches, scones and cakes at the Metrodeco teashop. Say hi to Mumma E!

I can't emphasise enough how nice it was to be with these lovely women over the two days. Thanks to them I'm looking forward to the wedding more than ever because we will be altogether again with even more special peops. 

The State of (Sewing Pattern) Independence

Christine Haynes, Chelsea dress

Something that particularly enrages me is that concept that mass-produced products are inherently and unquestionably 'better' than the equivalents made in smaller quantities or by alternative means. The desire to dispel this myth is a common thread that runs through all my current endeavours; whether that is providing a platform for crafters/designer-makers to promote and sell their handmade wares with Brighton Craftaganza or developing sewing patterns, providing inspiration or sharing knowledge to help those interested in creating/recreating their own wardrobes.

Colette Patterns, Lily dress

I could probably write a whole essay on this topic if provoked, but simply put: it can be argued that most societies (in the First World at least) perpetuate the idea that large companies, often corporately owned, produce the best products or services we could get for our money. And with this message being pushed to us from all angles from a disturbingly young age, it's easy to fall into the belief that the sheen of mass-production equals quality in all respects. But if we think about it for more than a minute, we can often finds ways that this belief falls apart.

Dixie DIY, Summer Concert tee

Take sewing patterns, for example. Most of the sewers on the blogosphere use commercial sewing patterns from 'the Big Four' at least some of the time. We are used to their format and we know what to expect from them when we buy them. They are easily available and often quite cheap to buy. However, the growing proliferation of smaller, independent sewing pattern companies are proving that they can compete on some of these aspects, as well as offering us much more than the Big Four can in a variety of other ways. 

DIY Couture, Romper pattern 

Independent sewing pattern companies can often respond more directly the the requirements of their customers and they usually have a closer connection with them. For example, if you were having difficulty with one of the construction steps in a Colette Patterns pattern, you could email them and someone would most likely get back to you before the week was out. If you'd like to make a suggestion for future Sewaholic patterns, you'd easily be able to email Tasia and start up a conversation. Who would you contact at Vogue patterns with either of these topics? Would they bother to respond? I don't know. I'm not trying to criticise the customer service of these big companies, I'm just highlighting the faceless-ness that goes hand-in-hand with their businesses.

Grainline Studio, Maritime shorts

Plus the production models that the independent pattern companies implement in comparison to the high-volume Big Four also allow for (arguably) more interesting designs and niche ranges. The 'independent's' can focus on specific body shapes: Sewaholic cater for pear-shaped figures, Suzy has the petite market in her sights, Megan Niesen has some great maternity wear styles, and it's only a matter of time before taller, plus-sized and full-busted women have a specific independent company focused on their requirements, if they don't exist already! My goodness, there may even been some soon specifically for men's wear!

Hot Patterns, Riviera Hello, Sailor! pants

And whether you're a fashion-forward kind of chica always with an eye on the trends, or you prefer clothing with a more retro/classic/rock/sporty/girly/country/insert-your-own-adjective-here look, there's probably an indie range with your kind of bent. The Big Four can't easily compete in this arena because they rely on selling large quantities of the same design, so more innovative and less mainstream styles probably wouldn't shift the units they need to. 

Make Bra, pattern #2610

I find the variety of the actual products a joy as well. For example, so much thought and planning has gone into the presentation and packaging of Papercut Patterns that just owning one is a pleasure before you've even begun your sewing project. Wiksten has the genius to create both paper and downloadable PDFs of her styles so the consumer can decide what format and price point works best for them. DIY Couture has even done away with the traditional sewing pattern and instead presents the styles in easy to follow instructions and diagrams to help you recreate them. It is nice to be able to financially support these endeavours and innovators directly. They also invariably enrich the online sewing scene so much more than the Big Four by putting time and love into fabulous and informative blogs and even offering some patterns to their followers for free!

Jaime Christina, Mission Maxi dress

There are so many independent pattern companies and happily more seem to be springing up all the time. I have included links to many of them in alphabetical order in this post, and illustrated it with some gems from their ranges. A more comprehensive list of independent sewing pattern companies can be found on 'A Good Wardrobe' blog here, which I thoroughly recommend you check out. 

Megan Nielsen, Banksia top

I'm not suggesting that we all stop buying patterns produced by the Big Four, I'm just trying to encourage sewers to perceive the independent companies as being at the same level as, and in some areas above what we have come to accept as the traditional format for consuming the patterns our sewing projects start from. 

Papercut Patterns, Milano cape

Ohhh Lulu, Betty High Waist panties

Sewaholic Patterns, Lonsdale dress

Sinbad & Sailor, Raven shorts and Dove fitted T 

'So, Zo...' Patterns, vest/camisole/singlet pattern 

Suzy Patterns, Antoinette dress

Victory Patterns, Chloe dress 

Wiksten, Tova tunic