I have wilfully neglected my blog of late – it is now May and this is the first real post this year. I have been very busy – just see my instagram feed for evidence but in terms of blogging – must try harder!!
It seems to me that May is a productive and creative time for me. It was around this time last year that I began to really ramp up my dressmaking and started this blog. I wonder if it is more to do with the renewal of Spring or the fact that there are no good shows on TV at this time of year!!
It is also the start of MeMadeMay, which, for those who don’t know, is when the dressmakers of instagram make a concerted effort to wear their handmade creations for the month of May. I only caught the tail end of it last year but I think it is a really positive and creative idea and am already meeting lots of new virtual sewing buddies!
All of this has contributed to a very productive couple of days for me. I made my third Moneta dress by Colette Patterns.
I bought this stunning lightweight jersey from Sew Over It a few months ago and have been waiting for inspiration to strike. I decided on another Moneta dress as it is just so easy to wear, super comfy and can be either dressed up or dressed down. It also has pockets and I love a pocket!
I’m really pleased with how it turned out. The shirring of the elastic at the waist was no bother at all (goodness, if I think how hard it was the first time around) and the twin needles didn’t create the awful tunnelling that they sometimes are prone to. I did use wash-away stay tape and that seemed to do the trick.
I then decided that I would finish off some of the UFOs (unfinished objects) that have been hanging around the sewing room, gathering dust over the past year.
I changed the neckline of my Dahlia dress so that it follows the curve of my neck and doesn’t gape out anymore. This involved unpicking all of the bias binding and regathering the neckline to bring it in slightly. I had to do this twice as I took too much in on the first go and it distorted the plaid pattern too much. I split the difference on the second try and it is much better now.
As I had no cropped trousers in my wardrobe, I decided to make some last summer. I did everything but hem them before the weather turned colder and they were relegated to the UFO shelf. I also realised that they needed to be taken in on the inside leg and front seam as they were just a bit too baggy. I had forgotten that I had already pinned the adjustment when I went to try them on today leading to a game of pin versus foot (the pin won). Errant pins aside, the trousers are now better fitted, hemmed and ready for a sunny day.
I wore my Belcarra blouse from Sewaholic today as well for MeMadeMay. I love the strawberry print cotton – it’s very summery and cheery. I’ve never been quite happy with how the neckline sat though and managed to find a quick way to bring it in which improves the fit dramatically as well as adding extra detail to the front.
That’s quite a lot of sewing in my book! It was really lovely to have an indulgent, creative weekend and the great thing is, there is still one more day to go – gotta love Bank Holidays!
I may have accidentally bought the Ginger Jeans pattern by Closet Case this evening. I may also have printed it, done the PDF jigsaw/sellotape game and cut it all out. I may also just casually swing by Fabricland tomorrow and see what they have in the way of stretch denim…maybe!
