Calligraphy

I learned another new skill this week: Calligraphy at Tea and Crafting.

This is my second workshop there, I learned to crochet last year, and am happy to say that I have been doing it ever since.

I just love Copperplate Calligraphy, and I tried to teach myself in the past. Like all worthwhile endeavours, it takes practice, and I just didn't put the work in. Then my pen ran out of ink cartridges, and... you know how it goes.

So I tried again, this time with the help of Suzie of A'Laise. Her elegant branding and fun personality were a delight, and we got lots and lots of writing done. The sample above, was my final page of the night, although Suzie was the one who wrote my name!

I'm definitely inspired to keep practicing, and am so looking forward to buying more supplies from Suzie's beautiful online shop.

Me Made May '16: what I wore

Week 1

Sun 1 May

Entertaining

White floral skirt (altered to remove lace from the hem), long sleeve teal t-shirt (dyed from bright blue), Ruby Tuesday Cardigan

Almost counts as a complete me-made outfit because I have altered every piece.

Mon 2 May

Gardening

Brown Cashmerino Jumper
This is so old now that it is really not suitable for wearing out of the house.

Tue 3 May

Work

Grey Flannel Dress

Wed 4 May

Work

Megan Dress

Thu 5 May

Work

Chiffon Top

Fri 6 May

Work

Sashiko Birds Dress

Sat 7 May

Activities for kids

Green Sprig Top

Week 2

Sun 8 May

Gardening

Ruby Tuesday Cardigan

Mon 9 May

Work

RTW
Tried on B&W Stripe Skirt but it needs shortening, and lining.

Tue 10 May

Work

Liberty Mimi Blouse
Felt frumpy all day.

Wed 11 May
Work
Ashton Shawlette, as scarf

Fri 13 May
School run
White dress
Felt way too conspicuous and ordered denim coloured dye to change the colour asap.

Sat 14 May
Kids activities
Miette II

Week 3

Sun 15 May
Gardening
Mustard T-shirt and Cardigan

Wed 18 May
Work
Wool pinstripe skirt
I really want to reduce the hips and peg the hem to give it a proper wiggle. But there are so many seams, and I spent so long taking them in when I first made it, that I am really unmotivated. Maybe next year.

Fri 20 May

Home

Silver pin dot t-shirt

A proper wardrobe staple. Right fabric with the right pattern.

Sat 21 May

Child Birthday party

Pink Liberty Sweatshirt
Silver pin dot t-shirt

Week 4

Sun 22 May

Gardening

Yellow Spot Shirt

Mustard Cardigan

Tue 24 May

Work

B&W Skirt

Wed 25 May

Work

Camel Cashmere Skirt

Fri 27 May

Tea party

Zig zag dress

Sat 28 May
Gardening
Ruby Tuesday Cardigan
Dyed teal t-shirt

Tue 31 May
Home
Miette Cardigan

I was not very motivated to wear my me-mades this year. There were a lot of days that I was grateful to skip. I don't know if I have higher expectations of clothes that I have made, but there are so many items where I want to tweak the fit. When I do, I like it much better.

I have been sewing less than usual and my machine needed a service, which I successfully sorted out myself (I think). I didn't finish any projects this month, but I did have an intensive session of making very useful alterations.

Photos are very useful, but I didn't take a daily outfit photo. The effort of setting up a camera, downloading and posting photos was more than I was interested in. Especially because I wasn't feeling great about my outfits in the first place.

A lot of my me-mades do not fit with my personal style, particularly on work / weekdays. I reach for a dress almost every single work day, and I have a collection of dresses which I love. I also wear them most days off. Separates are not very "me".  The problem here is that I am a stingy fabric buyer. If I like something, and am not buying for a specific pattern, I often only buy 1m of it, which limits me to a skirt or a top. I am slowly getting over it and trying to buy 2m at a time. I also need to stick with buying solid colours in the fabric store. All of my makes with solids/neutrals are wardrobe staples while I have tired of my prints.

The weather in May is always variable. It is bright and sunny but cold, and sometimes rainy. We even had some snow! The gardens are blooming so we all fall into the trap of wanting to put our winter things away, but not having warm enough weather to wear summer clothing.  Luckily I have a few RTW things that are made of summer-looking fabrics, but in a heavy weight.

Alterations

There are so many of my makes that need tweaking/altering, but I only got motivated to do so in the last week of May. It did give me a boost to finish off the month stronger than I started.

Here are the things that I altered:
Navy pin-dot dress: shortened hem by 4.5cm. Reduced girth of cummerbund to account for weight loss and enable wearing at high waist/under bust. Still struggle to find the right occasion to wear this: too formal for home, too casual for work, not pretty enough for garden party.
Black & White Skirt: Shortened hem by one band. Lowest band is now black. Still unlined so can only wear with bare legs.
White dress: Hooray! Dyed with Dylon Denim Blue. Came out a bit too dark but I'll leave it out on a few sunny days in the hope of fading. I unpicked the hem before dying because the 100% cotton thread had shrunk so I need to re-sew.

Note to self: get pictures of these changes when worn.

Not worn this month

Stride Socks. Actually, I wear these around the house all the time, but they are painful to wear inside shoes so I never wear them out.
Not cold enough: all cowls/wool scarves/wool jumpers/wrist warmers.
Not warm enough: Linen shirt dress, beach dress, cowl top, Sorbetto dress, Garden skirt, Red skirt, martini skirt, Cambie dress.
Red bow dress. Terrible oversight! Mainly due to having to wear it without tights, which is only acceptable to work in June, July and August. Plus my office is coldest in those months. But I will pledge to wear it to work this week.
Dahlia Dress. Frumpy. I do wear it in Winter with a cardigan/jumper over the top, but I have 1000 other stretchy dresses that are way cuter.