More MMJ - 18, 19, 20 and 21

The days just seem to go by so fast with MMJ posts to catch up with. Thank you to those of you who commented with your thoughts on MMJ and blog posts. It was fascinating to read them.

Day 18

Up and out early to take Little I and T to tennis club. This will be funny to anyone who knows me in real life as I am a very unsporty person with great uncoordination and yet here I am - tennis mum. Who would have thought it?

In the afternoon it was T's school summer fete and funny weather. I wore Simplicity 2259 - this was the first one I made and I wear it a lot. It is quite a light fine cotton. As it was chilly I wore charity shop gap jeans and boots. I needed to wear something with lots of pockets for holding the kid's coins at the fete. The fete was good fun the bouncy castle was bouncy, the cake stall was full of fairy cakes with sprinkles on top, and I found a great bargain of a set of wooden painted coat pegs on a board for 20p. I will be putting it up in our new house to encourage coat hanging up.

Day 19 - Sunday

This is the only day of the week when I don't have to get up and be somewhere early! I was so tired. I snuck back into bed three times but Little I and T kept finding me. Honestly - these children - I mean they wanting feeding and everything!

I wore a stripey pink and white t shirt made using the Sew U Homestretch

t shirt pattern. I gave this shirt a scoop neck and three quarter length sleeves. I don't think it is particularly flattering on me but it is comfy and good under other things! However, I thought it would look nice with this

old pink cardigan and the photos showed me it looks not so great! The t shirt sleeve bunches up under the cardigan. Bleurgh.

Day 20

Not a great photo to show detail of my top. But look I am shockingly out of my house! It is an Amy Butler Anna Tunic. This was the first Anna tunic I made and the neckline is a bit high. I have made two more since then and have lowered the neckline on them both.


Here is an old photo showing the tunic slightly better. I love this pattern. It is really easy to follow and can be made to different lengths to give different results. I didn't line this tunic as per the instructions but just bias bound the armholes instead.

Day 21

Me Made Simplicity 2259 floral top and Me Made skirt from Built by Wendy

I hope this outfit would in magazinespeak be subtle muted neutrals, not dull and boring.


Little I was determined to join in. Please note the shoes...they are ebay Keds bought at easter but I hadn't blogged them yet. They are quite comfortable, with a quilted inner sole and have lovely spotty trim and spotty wedges. And even better they were only £5! They have hardly been worn. I love them as I like wedges, and I like spots. I tend to fall over in heels. (Even without any alcohol)

7th June and 8th June

Day 7:
Me Made Simplicity 2599 top, tate skirt - an outfit I am comfortable wearing. It got too cold by lunch time though and I had to swap my skirt for some trousers. The top is so nice to wear as it is made from some cotton lawn, really light and lovely, originally blogged here.
Verdict: I could wear this every day. (Though that could get boring and a bit smelly) I find it almost impossible to be sad in this top.

Day 8:

I am trying to wear some of my unworn me-mades that languish in the back of the wardrobe. Me Made stripey vest blogged here and refashioned denim dress. Scarf made by my mum about ten years ago. I have never worn this dress. I bought it last summer in a charity shop and shortened it and made patch pockets for the front. Every time I try it on I am worried the poppers will pop open as I wear it. It is so cold that I put jeans and boots on underneath. But that may change if I get warmed up!

Verdict: The vest is a great staple, especially for wearing underneath other items. The denim dress? Unsure, ask me later.

14th March

Nautical necklace from Tatty Devine via Lovely Sarah

14th March. Gone nautical - me made t shirt, me made Tate skirt from Sew Hip Magazine very old H&M red cardigan.

I would like to wear this outfit with some bright pillar box tights but haven't found any yet. Shopping tips?

Last night - 6pm we went to fly the kite until we got too cold. T is jumping up and down below the kite to try and catch it.

Finally if you are able to access radio 4, go and listen again to today's Woman's Hour, they had a great piece about the 70th birthday of polyester. There is a great interview conveying the excitement of second hand clothes shopping. The following discussion includes the chilling thought that polyester will not biodegrade. And the timely reminder that the only way to tackle waster in clothing is to change the way we think about shopping and disposable fashion.

8th March

8th March - Mad March Hare jumping. Me Made T shirt (Sew U Home Stretch), Me Made Tate skirt, refashioned cardigan.

See what Me Made March is doing to me? After dropping T at school I stopped the car in a country lane and set the camera on the roof. Little I watched in amusement as I jumped up and down. Partly I was just excited by the lovely sunny days we are currently having.

I also discovered an extra bonus of the pockets in this cardigan - I can fit two hen's eggs in each pocket when collecting eggs.

7th March

As mentioned in the last post I found this lambswool cardigan in the charity shop. The buttons on it were not very nice, they just made it look tooW.I., formidable-bosomed old lady. I didn't have 9 matching buttons in the stash so I decided to try mismatched buttons. I like it better than expected. It is really tricky to get a shot of all the buttons in detail.

Me Made Tate denim skirt, re-fashioned-ish cardigan. Very old Boden sale boots from back in the day when I had a disposable income (a distant memory now).

A rare outside shot as a very rare event occured today - I went out for coffee with a friend and no children, so I had an assistant photographer with age in double figures! Look, I am blinking in the sunlight like a troglodyte emerging from hibernation.

4th March

4th March - I refashioned this shirt from the XL polo shirt pictured above. I found the shirt on tuesday when I took a bagful of donations to the charity shop. I liked the colour of the shirt, it's a deep red.

I cut the shirt using the Sew U Home Stretch T shirt front and back pattern pieces as a size guide. I cut out the sleeves and ran a gathering stitch along the top before putting them back in as slightly puffed sleeves.

I added lace, changed the buttons and sewed the front neck piece back in as a yoke. It still needs a bit of tweaking as the front neck comes a bit too high for my liking.

The skirt is one I made in December, using the Sew U skirt pattern, I sewed the facing onto the outside and added bias binding and two tabs with buttons. I had originally hemmed it very badly and lumpily so last weekend I re-hemmed it using some grosgrain ribbon, with a much smoother result.

At the time of making, I didn't put in any pockets as I thought it would spoil the line of the skirt. I wish now I had and am considering unpicking the side seam o fthis skirt and the sack dress to put in pockets. I love pockets!

traffic jam/car park skirt

I love this new skirt! I made it from a kit by Clothkits.(http://www.clothkits.co.uk/) I remember my mum making clothkits toys and clothesin the '70s and now they have been relaunched by a new owner. This skirt was designed by People Need Plates - I was calling it a traffic jam skirt but my son pointed out it is a car park pictured on the skirt. I proudly wore it last friday while driving on the M6 - felt very apt.
It was really easy to make as the skirt pattern comes ready printed on the fabric and the kit contains thread and zip. You just select your size and get going!
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