Remake and mending

Such a gloomy morning today. It is our first proper rainy morning since school went back. Windscreen wipers on, anoraks for the kids. Despite his anorak, T looked soaked by the time he got to the school gate. He is of course at eight too old to carry his bumble bee umbrella, though Little I was happy with her lady bird one. "Everyone will think I am a giant insect". I noticed one of his friends with a smart rocket patterned bottle green umbrella. Not too toddlerish at all.
Anyway I am feeling a bit cheesed of with the rain and ensuing gloom. Do other people feel fed up with all the detritus and mess around? I am no great shakes at house cleaning but sometimes a big clear up makes me feel much better. Over the course of the summer holidays things got more and more chaotic here.
I have been fixing and mending, I was so fed up by the mess everywhere in our house, that I decided to tackle The Piles....first up the school uniform pile. Little I starts school in January but we had been given a pile of old school clothes (a year ago!) which I had dragged out from under the bed to see what was there. Added to her brother 's old school sweatshirts and PE kit (t shirt, shorts and plimsolls), plus my summer car boot haul, she only needs me to buy the grey socks and black shoes. Hurray for other peoples' cast-offs. I have to make her a PE drawstring bag but have promised to find some pink fabric. So, I decided to sort and name it all now so all we need to do in the Christmas holidays is buy the shoes. As it is named, each item goes in a shallow plastic box under the bed so all the school stuff is in one place. I have been sewing name tapes in which is apparently a rare and archaic act these days. I like sewn name tapes though, apart from anything else they are re-usable, so in the longterm save money. Once I sat down in front of the tv with my pile of clothes and name tapes it only took two evenings to do.

Then I tackled some of my mending pile, first up was my Portfolio top.

I had made it from Simplicity 2245, view C and a limited amount of stash fabric. I have been wearing it but felt it was just a bit too short for me though so I added a contrast band in brown and white polka dots from the scrap pile.

Next up...my 3835 tunic top had a large and getting rapidly larger hole in the lower centre front. I sliced the bottom five inches off below the hole and then reattached it without the hole. Sorry no before photos to explain what I did. I had worn it out in the summer with the hole which horrified my friend's clothes conscious eight year old daughter. She will be pleased to know I have mended it.

I added purple cord to cover the seam and to give the top a bit more ...something...structure? The purple cord was the cord I had taken from my bumble bee cardigan refashion.

Finally to cheer myself up today I am wearing this new pendant. I made it with Little I and her aqua bead set.

Okay, more clearing up to do... more photos to follow. Hope you guys are feeling more cheery today.

Memade March

Round up of Me made March:

I enjoyed most of March though it was blighted by having a cold, and an eye infection. I missed about three days of photos but did manage to wear something Me Made each day. Taking a daily photo made me more aware of my moods and energy levels

• I put pockets into my sack dress


• fixed the wonky hem on the red button skirt pictured top.


• I took apart and resewed my duvet top giving it bigger sleeves.


• I am really glad that I had the impetus to do these little adjustments which made the clothes much more wearable.


• I am coming to not mind (not quite at liking yet) my own image in photos although I did crop off my head some days as I just couldn't share the bad hair, no make up, under eye bags.


• There were a few of my clothes I didn't bring out for March as they are too summery


• I tried a bit harder with different tights and boots which was fun


• I couldn't keep up with Flickr this time


• I could really do with a pair of shoes to wear with skirts, hmmmm, thinking about this one

• I do have a good collection of Me Made clothes but am lacking trousers

31st March - Me Made Simplicity 2245 top, Me Made Tate Denim skirt

Me Made March Catch Up and a digression or two

I need to do a Me Made March catch up here. Some crappy photos. Some bad hair. Sorry about that. Thursday 24th - Me Made top from a duvet cover and using Simplicity 3835, charity shop Gap jeans, Boden sale cardigan

Friday 25th March - Me Made nautical t shirt and refashioned cardigan, charity shop Gap jeans

Saturday 27th March - Me Made top from Simplicity 2245, stash fabric, another pair of charity shop jeans, Boden sale cardigan

No photo for Sunday but I did wear my me-made table cloth top.

Monday 28th March - Me made Amy Butler Anna tunic, very old Zara cardigan, those charity shop Gap jeans again

Okay here's the digressions:

The eagle eyed amongst you may notice in the last photo that the map has moved.

Little I is very interested in her alphabet so last week I finally cleared out the craft cupboard and then on sunday I put up the alphabet poster I had been searching for in the craft cupboard. I love this poster. It is by

Jan Pienkowski one of my favourite children's illustrators (I've loved his silhouette illustrations since I was a child - I cannot think how else to describe them). If you have small kids I recommend his website (in the previous link) if you go to "fun and games" he has some fab printable colouring pages. And if you read the "About" page you get a brief glimpse of a fascinating career.

Sometimes tidying up has its bonuses, I now have an idea of what is in the cupboard. I had forgotten we own sun print photo paper, a box of old fashioned wooden pegs for dolly making and many coloured lolly sticks.

Digression two - the Boden cardigan was bought when I went to a Boden end of line sale a couple of years ago when I still bought RTW clothing. If you get the chance to go to one it is funny and a good people watching experience. It was in an exhibition hall and clothes were on tables, in boxes and a few on rails. It was kind of like an upmarket jumble sale for middle class, middle aged women. We got there an hour after it opened and almost all the kid's clothes had gone. If you are especially small or big you can get some great bargains. There was a make shift communual changing room where you tried on clothes and tossed the unwanted into cardboard boxes where staff would put them make out the front. While I was there someone had put her own clothes down only to find they had been shoved into a box and taken out front for selling! I tried on lots of things but bought my mustard cardigan and have worn it so much since it was a definite good buy. I saw quite a few women I know vaguely from toddler groups or school run and do you know the weird thing? Boden's relentlessly jolly marketing kind of irritates me - they are a bit of a cliche and their prices are way out of my range - but all the women trying on dresses, tops etc looked really good. The Boden clothes seemed to fit and flatter middle aged women so I guess they must know what they are doing.

23rd March

I am taking advice from the comments left on the last post. We have slowed down here. I put the UP dress away. And the sewing machine.
We have made "prototype one" of a water clock. It worked but was not big enough. We now need more empty bottles to make what I told by T is to be the test model.
I have done some (for me) exciting online pattern shopping. More to follow in another post about that.

We made a cafe in the living room. Some fabric from the bags I bought back from Devon makes a perfect pink and white tablecloth.




"You like coffee? Milk?"


Yesterday's MM March outfit is below.

In the background Little I is getting busy with the tub of mud and water...

Me Made top based on Nano Iro pattern.

I made this top as part of a sewalong last year. It originally looked different with a dark brown neckband. But I felt it looked too much like a shepherd's costume in a nativity play and the brown and ochre combo made me think of Captain James T Kirk in the 70s Star Trek series. So I changed it around and altered the neck adding bias binding made from the remnants of my ruffle top. Then I never wore it. It is light cotton from Kaffe Fssett and is too thin to wear much in colder weather. It has languished in my cupboard until today. And I have to confess it is a good top to wear on a warmish day. It is comfortable and just easy to wear. I didn't take my photos till 4pm and one criticism is that this fabric does crease. I also didn't get the neck binding quite right and it doesn't lie flat. But I got a couple of compliments on it.

21 March and a catch up

This is a hydraulic climbing system. You have to work out a sequence of pressing buttons to make the "things" climb. This exhibit clearly demonstrates how differently my brain works from my son's. He can figure it out, I am clueless, in a kind of foggy, cotton wool head way.

On Sunday morning we went once again to this place. (Can you tell I have an annual pass?) This exhibit which T is working on shows how materials can be sorted for recycling. It is very clever, but to my mind it also demonstrates the repetitive futility of processes - as soon as you think you have completed all stages you have to start over again, and again, and again. What is it that children like so much about repetition and adults don't? Anyway I don't want to get too metaphysical and make you have to THINK, so quick let's get back to clothing.

17th March - Me made Amy Butler tunic, ebay jeans and ancient Zara cardigan. Apologies for over exposure. And somehow thursday got missed off last week.

19th March - Me made t shirt, Me Made Tate skirt, H&M cardigan

20th Me made Simplicity 3835 top but no photosorry I was too busy putting balls into machines in the museum (again and again and again).

21st March - Me made Simplicity 2559 top, charity shop trousers.

Slow Sewer Spring Dress

I finished my 3835 dress about a week ago and have worn it twice over jeans - I love it - it is very comfortable and easy to wear. I am not sure if the rest of the world likes it but never mind. It is an Amy Butler fabric and with the large print I had some doubts about whether I would look like a giant toddler in it but hopefully the back darts create enough shape to save me. I am also not used to wearing large prints but the yellow and grey colour scheme won through for me, it is fairly muted so doesn't scream "BIG PRINT".

I did struggle with this dress as I wrote in an earlier post because I initially tried to put in a neckband and it felt too tight for me so I finally scrapped that idea and put in elastic.

At this stage of life (yes, that sounds like I am 70 years old) I need easy to put on outfits that I can chase my kids round in with ease. So this dress fits that bill nicely (though I may still dream of something more tailored!)

I would like to add that in a new bid to overcome my naturally sloppy tendencies when sewing I have been trying to slow down and enjoy the process rather than trying to rush to the end result. I have been using french seams where suitable and I am hoping these more carefully made garments will last longer. My grandfather ran a dress making business and I sometimes think he would be furious if he saw me cutting badly, sewing wonkily, not pressing seams etc. so I am now a seam pressing, careful cutting Slow Sewer.