Me Made Everyday - week one

Clothing worn on Saturday 29th September

 The photos seen to the right hand side of this page show the details of the clothing worn from Monday 24th September until today. (Monday 1st October). All the items of clothing noted are pieces I have made over the years.

I have tried to take photos of each day's clothes, but haven't bored you with this here.

It will be interesting to see which pieces I wear the most and which pieces I could really do with making to augment my collection.

My current plans include making more pairs of trousers, including a pair of jeans or two. I only have ready made jeans purchased over the past few years. These don't fit me particularly well, hence my interest in making my own wardrobe.

Over the past few days, the only day when I haven't worn more than one piece of "Me Made" clothing was Thursday. I was attending a workshop organised by NWCQ and wasn't keen on getting my pale blue pair of Cargo Pants messy.

I managed to nearly complete the block for the MEG Heritage Quilt Challenge. This had been put off for far too long while I prevaricated over making a version I could live with. The book being used for this challenge details the beautiful quilt designed and made by Pauline Ineson. It was rather sad to realise recently that Pauline died earlier this year.

It seems rather naughty of me not to feel that the original design is one I could live with or make exactly as detailed in the book.

The almost complete block - just the background to be added

My chosen colour scheme is dramatically different to the subdued hues used by Pauline Ineson in her silk quilt. My own is stubbornly cotton since I intend this block to see quite a lot of use if it does, in fact, become part of a full sized quilt. I didn't manage to complete the block ready for our meeting on Friday since I wasn't able to find the correct colour for the background until the following day.

The yellow was found at Sew Simple, the quilt shop at Lady Heyes. I had travelled to Frodsham to visit World Textile Day. A really interesting annual event which I try to get to whenever it arrives in Frodsham. Since I knew I wouldn't find the fabric needed for the block, I visited Lady Heyes on my return journey.

After buying my fabric, I explored the other shops. In one "Antiques" emporium, I found six metres of Cambric. A gorgeous fine cotton of some age. I washed it when I got home and ironed it before winding it round my least favourite quilt ruler.

The fabric must be quite old, since it was slightly stained and had this stamp printed in one corner.

The photo above shows a single layer of the fabric sitting on my dark coloured ironing board. I have plans to make a white shirt out of this fabric. It will be so soft and comfortable to wear.

Cambric wrapped round my unloved quilt ruler, acting as a board

Last Monday, I knew I would quickly run out of calico. There was only a couple of metres left to make up the toiles I needed to work on. So I travelled back to Weaverdee to buy another ten metres. That may sound excessive, but with the fitting course still under way, I know I will need to have plenty to hand.

 This calico is slightly thicker than the fabric I bought from Ikea a couple of years ago. At £2.99 a metre, I felt it really was well worth buying.

Completed cushion covers

 I finished off the second of these cushion covers during the week, adding the cording around the edge and filling both cushions with 20 inch cushion pads. They are now waiting inside a plastic bag to keep them clean.

Ah well, the last two toiles are waiting for me to sew them together. These are the Vogue Fitting Shells for the trousers and dress. Then there is the first version of V9057 needing to be cut out. This will be a trial run for the Marcy Tilton / Katherine Tilton Craftsy Course, "The Artful T-shirt".

Challenges and other projects

Recent makes have included this double sided apron. This was a challenge from the recently formed Moulton Sewing Group. The main fabric and pattern were provided, each member of the group just had to make and decorate their aprons. This was mine. The side I consider the "front" is grey and has crows appliqued to the pockets and a label stating the name of the group. The second side is blue.

As you can see, the pockets have a black feather printed using one of my thermofax screens. The main label is exactly the same as that on the "front". I drew out the original design and then copied and printed them onto cotton before stitching them in place. The apron is the Artisan Apron by Janet Clare. It has a crossover back which means that once put on it does not shift position. Rather a useful design.

I eventually got around to altering the sleeves on my silk blouse found in a charity shop. This has now been washed and is waiting to be ironed ready to wear. I have kept the inner layer of the sleeve for now, and will decide later whether or not to cut this away. The original sleeve had a double layer which was impossible to iron. It obviously had been intended to be a puffy sleeve, but the construction meant this was impossible to achieve once the blouse was washed. I'm happier with this design, but may need to adapt the cuff still further since I am not certain whether it is going to be tight enough around my arm.

Another thing I am working on at the moment is a pair of cushion covers. The machine embroidered pieces were discarded by their owner at the Sewing Group last week since she had merely used the pieces as an experiment. I felt they were too nice to throw away, so claimed them and used furnishing fabric from my stash to turn them into these cushion covers. The Group will be having a stall at a Craft Fair in a couple of months time, so they should find a new home quite easily.

The first cover is almost finished. It just needs the cord applying around the edges. This second one is pinned ready to sew together. The piping around the images uses some silky lining fabric I had in my stash which happened to be a useful match. The thread, furnishing fabric and cords all came from my various stashes.

The cord I will use is slightly darker than the furnishing fabric, but has a gorgeous sheen which should look good when I finish applying it. This will be attached by hand. I just hope that the person who discarded these pieces likes them once I take them to the Sewing Group's next meeting on Wednesday.

As usual I am prevaricating. I really should be getting on with a pair of trousers which I cut out last week. A light blue denim, I really could do with getting these made since I am rather short of decent trousers. I really need to get on with making another toile for the fitting course I am doing. This one should be finished in time for my next meeting with Eilene. Then there is the challenge from MEG. I really need to get on with making a quilt block for our next meeting later this month. It is a traditional block and I know I am putting this off because I really don't fancy making a traditional quilt....... There are ideas beginning to form in my head turning this first block into a more contemporary style without changing the design. It will be interesting to see if I can make that work. I know I would feel happier if I can.