Finished projects, "Me Made" items and future plans

The first piece to be finished this week was mum's quilt. I returned it to her on Friday and her first action was to put in on her chair ready to settle down cosily. An old friend returning home.

She found it hard to see exactly where the repairs had been done. Just as I had hoped. It was lovely to see that the quilt was welcomed so enthusiastically.

My cardigan was finished on Saturday. I replaced the orange ribbing strip with this beige shade. It seems to work so much better. I was lucky to find these buttons during the week. They are shell buttons with a printed motif.

The final item to be finished this week was completed only today, Sunday. My blue denim trousers just need a good final pressing before I can wear them. Hot Patterns 1217 Weekender Utility Cargo Pants. These are the third pair I have made.

I have challenged myself to wear a minimum of two "Me Made" items each day as a way of finding out which clothing items I really enjoy wearing. This is based on "Me Made May", an online event which encourages dressmakers to take photographs of them selves wearing clothing which they have made as well as making more projects. One particular collection could see me wearing both my newly completed items. For the moment, Aggie is modelling the clothes for me.

I think the only problem with making this idea public is that I ought to take photographs as a record. Hopefully, I will be able to remember.

The fabric shown here is a two metre length of navy Ponte Roma. During the Moulton Sewing Group meeting on Wednesday, I heard about a shop I had never heard of. Weaverdee is an online site with a base in Middlewich, which is opening as a shop. Travelling to visit mum on Friday, I took a minor detour to see if I could find this shop. It was well worth the visit. The shop sells sewing machines, does repairs and also sells haberdashery and fabric. The ponte roma above came home with me in company with a collection of sewing machine needles. I really enjoyed looking round.

The ponte is destined for one of these tops - shirt 121 from the September edition of Burda Style. I also have the blue floral jersey fabric waiting to be made up into another top. The plan is to get around to making these very soon. Well, as soon as I can get a couple of projects finished. One of these, the MEG block has to be finished by Friday ready for the next meeting. 

September 2018 edition of Burda Style

I have three toiles to complete within the next two weeks. The first is an amended toile for the fitting course whilst the others will be trial runs for the Vogue fitting shells. We have decided to try these as well as working on the pattern supplied with the "Sew the perfect fit" course. The course is really demanding and I find myself learning a lot. It will be interesting to see how these patterns relate to the course.

Meeting deadlines and sewing

It has been a really busy couple of weeks with different projects under way. My hat got finished yesterday and the fingerless mittens will be started tomorrow. Not quite sure which two colours to choose for that design. Orange and white, or perhaps the tan and white. But then the aqua and white would also look nice. Decisions, decisions.

The hat fits snuggly and I am looking forward to being able to wear it in the colder weather. I decided not to add a pompom to the top since I really don't like them.

The two blouses got finished and I wore the collarless one with my new culottes the other day. It was really comfy, though I added a waistcoat since it is somewhat sheer. I really should remember to stand up straight when taking photos. The collared shirt is also ready to wear, though it is rather more formal and I haven't had an opportunity to wear it yet. As you can see from the photo, I really need to wear a waistcoat with it, or a suitable pinafore dress. Another couple of pinafore dresses are in my list of things to make, but they will have to wait for a while since I do have some other items to finish first.

I've cut out a sleeveless top - the Malia top and also the Dolores skirt from the first English edition of La Maison Victor magazine. It was published earlier in the summer and I have been really interested in how they fit.

The skirt will be made in a bright blue floral print, while the Malia top has been cut out of the fabric remaining from my recently completed culottes.

The interesting thing about this design is the gathering of fabric under the bust dart. The crepe de chine I am using should hang really well since it is very soft.

This little piece of felt was made for a challenge for the Pinfold group. I can't share the completed design with you since the owner of that book hasn't seen it yet. This particular challenge is a really interesting one since everyone has such different themes for their books. Each is a sketchbook just eight inches square with a spiral binding. We each get to see the work completed by each member of the group before the book is passed to the next person. I really loved the pages added by Meryl to my own book, but forgot to take any photos before the book was passed to the next person. I should be able to see what they have done next month. I really must remember to take my camera......

Oh, I did complete the alterations to the dress purchased by my daughter. It needed to be taken in a couple of sizes since it really was too big for her. A halter neck, beaded dress with a full lining was quite a task. A really interesting challenge which is now waiting to be worn at her friend's wedding next weekend.