Me Made May - 9th - 20th May

 Oh my, May just goes on and on.  I have worn me mades every day but have missed several photos.  I have also been dogged by the strange lack of focus when using the timer on my camera.  I have taken so many bad photos this month that I resorted to a collage to try and hide my crappy skills.  So, clockwise from the biggest image:
Amy Butler Anna Tunic in grey with grey Nora tee underneath
Sew U corduroy skirt
Pink Lola dress
Floral Simplicity 2246/ Sew Lisette Traveller dress
Gather Patterns Mortmain dress (unblogged)
April Rhodes Staple Dress in spotty black and white

And today - 20th May:  Simplicity 3969 BBW dress

Conclusions and thoughts so far?
I cringe at seeing myself in photos some days.  Why persist in tak?ing crappy pics?  Why not apply some make up first?  Um... um.....I am not sure why I keep doing this but I am keeping on doing it.  Smiles.  How is your May going

Me Made May 14 - the first week

I wrote this post  and inserted pictures, labelled them, and then accidentally deleted the lot last night!  Needless to say, I went to bed in a very bad mood.  So I am beginning all over again.  

Day 1 Portfolio dress 

I wasn't sure whether to take part in Me Made May.  I participated each time and always enjoyed myself, loving the comunity and I have met some blogger friends through Zoe's me-made months.  But recently life has thrown a few wobblers my way and I am very very tired.  And ver very low on free time.  So I have done my own Minnado thing:

Day 3 - April Rhodes Staple Dress

Day 4 - Simplicity/ Sew Lisette Portfolio top and Sew Liberated Skinny jeans

 I decided to do weekly round up posts and see how my month of photos looks at the end.  

 Eagle eyed readers will notice no Day 2 picture.  I just didn't get to take one.  But promise I wore my grey lola dress.

Day 6 - Simplicity 3835 top and Sew liberated jeans

So far, I have realised: May in the UK can mean many different weathers.

And taking a photo a day highlights the varying levels of energy and mood swings!  

Day 7 - Amy Butler Anna tunic.  I have worn this for four years now and
never saw how unflattering it is till now :)

MM May days 22 - 26 and being upstaged

Another catch up for May....lying in bed at 4.00am this morning having been woken by by the neighbours happily and drunkenly shouting, I thought of all my me made clothes that are still in the loft....I bagged lots of summer clothes up when pregnant in the winter and shoved them up there to create space.  Now suddenly it is hot I want them back! Still never mind, I am wearing what is not in the loft.  I have new found love for my Portfolio franken trousers made last summer.  They are practical and cool on a hot day and great for running around in.  (My favourite RTW summer trousers are still in the loft).  I still love my Simplicity 2259 tops - the reason why I haven't made a Sorbetto is that I already had this simple tank pattern.    

Day 23 - Simplicity 2259 in tartan, Simplicity 2245 portfolio trousers

On the way to school, Day 24 - my first ever Simplicity 2259 and portfolio trousers



Upstaged by Rocket Girl



 Little I took the photo below for me, waiting for her big brother to come out of his classroom.  I am totally upstaged by Rocket Girl.  Oh and that is not a picnic basket but the basket that Little I needs to transport the selection of pink tat she HAS to take with her.

 On friday the flickr group theme was water and I tried a shot in the bathroom, the light was so bad it didn't work, plus look who got in on the act? Totally upstaged again.



Upstaged by Little I



Day 25 -  Mariposa tunic

I haven't yet blogged my new tunic - it is another Mariposa by Anna Maria Horner.  I used some echino linen and pink polka dot bias binding.  I am not sure if it is too much crazy pattern or pretty.  I will do better photos and a related post soon so you can decide for me.  Much better to let others make decisions. 

On Saturday  I was pleased to find my summer Simplicity 3964 dress was not in the loft but at the bottom of a drawer.  It is a  great dress to wear on a hot day as it is so loose and made in some lovely Kaffe Fasset shot cotton.  





Day 26 - Simplicity 3964 - note door is shut to keep out those upstaging kids



Happy top

Here is the dyed duvet top - I am so pleased with how it came out. It is much, much better and I feel I have learnt a lesson here - I no longer feel like a huge tent when wearing this top so maybe a big white top just makes me look bigger?? I cannot tell you how much happier I am - when I first wore this in its white incarnation I felt grumpy and fat - wearing it grey I feel happy and not fat - I know this is ridiculous but there you go - it is true! It is in fact a bit scary how much what I wear can affect my mood, I am obviously very shallow.

I have been uploading my Me Made May images over on flickr - I have missed a couple of days out when I was wearing repeats of previous days. There are some great and interesting discussions going on in the group - I love this group - what am I going to do when May ends?? (well, of course I do have a list of things to do)

Me made catch up

7th May - I said at the beginnning of this challenge I would wear two MM items on fridays - just to up the ante for me personally, so here it is da-dahhh, me made red t shirt and tea cup skirt. Love the skirt and the t shirt was really comfortable.

8th May - not so successful - I wore my duvet cover top and while no-one did scream "OHMIGOD she is wearing a duvet cover" the whole big white tunic was not comforatble as I kept thinking I was wearign a nursing smock - I really did. I also sewed the sleeves too tight so I plan to take them out, re make some new ones and dye the whole ensemble a darker colour. The circles are embroidered on so they should still show through to some extent. I also felt kind of huge in it, and as if I looked possibly pregnant, lookign pregnant when you are not is not a good look.

9th May outfit and T had to get in on the act. I love this picture - me trying to be a serious poser and him larking about. I have to accept I am never going to be a serious poser! Anyway outfit was Amy Butler tunic and Gap charity shop jeans. I tried the tunic with the matching

belt but think it just made me look lumpy...hmmm...sack of potatoes springs to mind. Am off now to clean my sewing machine as I have had some trouble s with the poor old thing.

Me Made May

4th May outfit Clothkits car print skirt, brrrmm, brrrrmmmm - it was sunny but cold so I am having to think how to wear my skirts without freezing. Look at me - doing my housewifely duties!

5th May outfit - me-made t shirt with ruffle trim. My first t shirt attempt. It now boasts chocolate icing stains and paint stains so I am considering applique to cover these or dyeing it a darker colour. I thought the stains were very faint till I glanced in the mirror in the M& S toilets ( very exciting life I lead) and saw them,

Here is 6th May outfit. Amy Butler tunic in grey with added pockets - it's cold here so I am wearing it with leggings, long sleeve t shirt and cardigan. I really like it but think it's a tad too short - am going to try and let down the hem after today.

An unexpected benefit of this challenge is it is making me get out of my "jeans with everything" rut. It's very easy for me to just wear jeans especially with a little kid to chase after. I am starting to feel more like my old self which is odd as I hadn't realised how far I had travelled away from that person. Check out the Flickr Me-Made group - there are some amazing creative people out there - it's great fun to see what they have come up with and inspiring too!

Me Made May

Over on Flickr there are some great pictures in the Me-Made-May group pool. I am in awe of the wonderful garments people are making.

So anyway, the first day of May and I was sooo tired...it was a very long and unusually busy week and I was tempted to wear pyjamas all day but insteadpulled myself together and wore this ruffle top (Simplicity 2599) with charity shop Gap jeans and an old cardigan. We had some little friends round to play in the morning for a belated brithday get together as Little I was three on thursday. Then I spent part of the afternoon digging up nettles in the garden. Aaahh, the unrelenting glamour...

Then day two I wore my much loved dress from Simplicity 3835 (Built by Wendy) Too cold to wear it on its own so I added my skinny jeans from Gap (Gap again, is this a pattern?) via Ebay. I realised I need to do something about my photography if I am going to carry on with this challenge. Hopefully it will improve by the end of the month. I hope to manage to brush my hair too.