#mmmay16 – Me Made May and the versatile wardrobe

Me Made May is an event created by Zoe from So Zo… ‘What do you know?’ to encourage people to wear the clothes they make, whether this is through knitting, crocheting, sewing, weaving, etc.  It’s designed to motivate crafters to celebrate their achievements and confront any perfectionistic thoughts which may be keeping some garments in the back of the wardrobe!

There’s no pressure to wear something everyday, or to charter your progress through social media.  The challenge is an individual one set by you.

I didn’t officially sign up this year (mainly because I didn’t read the post properly to see that you needed to add a comment to sign up) but went along with it anyway.  The challenge I found with #mmmay16 was that I have made a lot of summery dresses and May in the UK this year has been quite cold at times!  I did set an achievable goal – to wear something me made on a couple of days each week in May – but I found that the most versatile garment in my me made wardrobe is the knitted cardigan I made 3 years ago in double knit weight yarn!

cardigan

 

The second garment I wore the most was the top I made as part of #miymarch16 for the knit material day.  This top was great as I could layer it up depending on the weather!

Other items I wore was the dress I made during #miymarch16 and the wrap skirt, which was good for the warmer days of the month!

This challenge has made me reflect on the type of garments I make.  I can see that although it took a good couple of months to make my knitted cardigan, the pattern was a good one and I wear it a lot.  Also, I have tended to stick to simpler patterns with easy to use fabrics which are more suitable for hot summer days in my dressmaking experience.

As a result, it looks like I need to diversify my dressmaking challenges.  here are the ways I am going to do this:

  • Make more tops in knit materials
  • Make more tops in specially selected materials
  • Make more items for all year or in particular Autumn, Winter and Spring
  • Learn to make fitted trousers
  • Make more knitted cardigans!

It will be interesting to take part next year and see if there’s any progression!

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Crafting with Family – March

It’s been a while since I have posted and my post is all about a craft meet up two months ago!

Mum’s house is quite a good meeting point for her, my sister and I to meet up.  We managed to meet up in March and here’s what we got on with:

applique in progress

Having purchased a lovely new Singer sewing machine recently, my sister put it to the test by having her first attempt at appliqué!  Not one to be daunted by a challenge, she decided to appliqué a friend’s name.  A very impressive feat, going around all sorts of twists and curves when you’re still adjusting to a new technique and how your new machine works!

cushion

The great part about this bright and colourful cushion is that it’s all made from remnants.  The main cushion is made from an ex-display curtain from a department store, with the money going to charity.  The letters were cut from a swatch book, which had been picked up the same way from the same store.

I didn’t embark on a sewing project this time, but I did finish the second sleeve to a short sleeved cardigan I began two years ago!  It’s now at the sew up stage before the neck band and button band are tackled…

doll progress

There’s the progress of my mum’s doll, which she began in our February meet up.  It’s coming together now it has a head!  She wasn’t able to progress with it that weekend, but she did hem up someone’s new net curtains by hand!

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Read more about the article My college of handcraft
My craft studio

My college of handcraft

Hello!

Welcome to my blog.

The goal of this blog is to charter my journey through my own rather roughly laid out ‘craft school’!

Last year, faced with yet another temporary job coming to an end, I decided to apply for a part time position instead.  Sure, not the best option when you are renting, have no savings and your boyfriend is due to finish his PhD in the next year!

Okay, so this may turn out to be a financial mess in the end!  But on this occasion, I have decided to follow what I want to do and enjoy, rather than opt for financial security.

I write this blog for those who look back at their education and wish they had studied something else.  I enjoyed my education, but I’ve never learned to do any textiles or crafts- any of my hobbies- in an educational setting, and that is what I am focusing on now.

Since September, I have been going to some glass fusing and ceramics classes for fun.  Neither are my forte, but it’s fun to try something new and something I really couldn’t afford to do at home (or have the space for)!  I am very lucky to live nearby an adult education centre which puts on classes which are affordable and although it is a outgoing expense, it is a fraction of the cost of going back to college to study – and a lot closer to home.

From January, I have been extremely lucky to be a part of a free machine embroidery class.  It’s a technique I have always wanted to get round to but never have.  I’m hoping to follow these sessions with a creative textiles course after Easter if it runs.  The stitching class is a real boost to my inspiration at the moment.

I have a lot of extra space to fill in my ‘craft working week’ so this blog will charter the gaps between my official classes too.  This may include putting what I learn in short courses into practic or undertaking my own challenges.

Besides learning new techniques and setting up projects, I will be looking into the entrepreneurial side of hobbies as businesses (well, I believe the government likes all courses to have an enterprise module included!), so I will be tracking my endeavours with my recent little start-up: Clobber Creations.

In the next blog, I’ll be letting you know how I get on tackling some unique birthday gifts for my dad.  In the meantime, I am following/taking part in the #miymarch16 event by @thatwendyward and @dressmakerssocial which involves a themed photo on instagram a day!

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