Me Made May 2015 week one

Well it's more like week one and a half now. Running a little behind with this post 

Day 1 

I wore my version of Sewaholic Minoru jacket. I should really blog about this as I made quite a few changes and spent a lot of time making it. I wear it quite frequently. I'm also wearing a SBCC tonic tee. First time trying this pattern but there will definitely be more of these. It's a free pattern too so definitely give it a try.. 

Day 2 

These jeans started life as massively big flares that were so long I needed to wear enormous heels. So I never wore them. The fit from the knees up was actually very good so I altered them, shortened and skinnified them. 

Now I wear these a few times a week. Need to try gingers again 

Day 3 

Skipped a day. We were away for a few days with friends. I don't have many casual weekend clothes made by me suitable for the beach on a wet bank holiday weekend in Ireland. 

Day 4

The famous Deer and Doe Plantain tshirt pattern plus bonus freaky hand 

Day 5 

Back to work :( 

In Manhattan trousers from SBCC.i have blogged about these previously. 

Day 6

I love this dress. I based this on the Dixie DIY ballet dress pattern but hacked the front bodice into a faux wrap. Sadly this is started to show signs of wear at the waist but I can always make another to replace it. 

Day 7

Lazy pyjamas day. Found these in The Pile of UFOs. I originally started these about 2 years ago and based them off a burda magazine trouser pattern. Why? I have absolutely no idea. Halfway through I decided they were awful and into The Pile they went. They resurfaced and funnily enough they weren't that bad. I had added pockets which hung open and were very annoying so I just sewed them shut and hemmed them after chopping 3" off the bottom. 

Day 8

My black skinny jeans and newly finished sleeveless Sewaholic Granville shirt. 

Day 9

Black skinnies again 

I think we may be starting to see a trend 

Day 10

Skipped a day 

Day 11

A Sewaholic day

Sleeveless Granville shirt and black Hollyburn skirt 

So I'm on target. Only skipped 2 out of 11 days so far. I did wear me made underwear most days as well but I ain't gonna be photographing that. You can thank me later! 

Thanks for reading 

Me Made May 2015

I, Carole of www.thepatternhack.blogspot.com, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '15. I will endeavour to wear at least one item of me made clothing at least five days per week for the duration of May 2015'

I'm very excited about this. My first time joining in with MMMay!!

Why only five days? Most of my me-made clothes are made with work in mind, and I don't make many clothes for the days I'm at home doing housework. I was hoping to have knocked up a few pairs of ginger jeans as well but I'm having fitting issues. I think I'm the only one as blog post after blog post of gorgeous ginger jeans keep appearing. But I have more denim for another attempt so hopefully before MMMay is finished. 

Watson Bra

So I have been on a bit of an underwear making binge over the last few days. I have made a few pairs of knickers - fehr trade Lacey thong, Seamwork geneva, ohhh lulu grace pants. Then I got to thinking about a matching bra. Wouldn't that be nice?

So many gorgeous Watson bras from Cloth habit have been popping up on my blog reader and Instagram, so I decided to join the fun. 

This is my muslin, made up in 36 C. The fit is pretty good but I'm going to try 36 D as well to see which is the most comfortable

I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out 

I even managed to do the pointy bit in the middle though my edge stitching is shite. 

This is a great pattern, quick to make with fantastic instructions and sew along. There will be many more. 

Seamwork Geneva 

Ohhh Lulu Grace Pants

Fehr Trade Lacey thong 

Making my own underwear is strangely addictive so I'm off to make some more 

Thanks for reading 

Simplicity Cynthia Rowley 1688

A few weeks ago I saw the Coco jacket that Kelli from True Bias made. I had a family celebration coming up and I fancied something similar in cut to wear. Well I actually fancied flying over the New York and stealing her jacket, love the fabric that she used. After googling the Coco jacket pattern and realised that Simplicity 1688 had similar style lines, rounded front neck edges, three quarter length sleeves.

I made up View A using some cerise crepe that I bought in Dublin last year and it's lined with some cream and black polka dots mystery fabric which I think came from Abkahan fabrics in Liverpool.  

I modified the pattern to include facings around the back neck and the front edges. The pattern has the lining that comes right up to these edges and I thought a neater finish would be achieved with facings. I also added some shoulder pads and a pleat in the back lining piece.

The front edges tend to curl out which is a bit annoying. Not sure what is wrong. Is it cut off grain? Is the interfacing too heavy? I would appreciate any advice. 

Up next ..... I am currently trying out the famous Ginger Jeans pattern. I have made up the high rise skinny leg version which looks good standing up but I find the front digs into my stomach when I sit down. Think they might be a bit too high so going to try lowering the rise an 1".

Thanks for reading 

Play dough recipe

Hi ya  

Slightly off the usual topic but this is more for my reference. I found this recipe for play dough ages ago somewhere on the internet. Now everytime my boys ask me to make some play dough, I'm off searching for the scrap of paper with the instructions. So to make life a little handier I will share it here and then we can all use it. 

That's

1 cup of flour 

1 cup of warm water 

2 tsp cream of tartar 

1 tsp oil 

1/4 cup of salt 

Place all ingredients in a saucepan and gently heat until it all starts come away from the sides of the pan and into a ball. 

Remove from the pan and knead for a few minutes. Simple! 

Leave it plain or add the food colouring if your choice. We have fun mixing up colours. We have even made it black with gold glitter. 

Hours of fun for them and maybe a bit of sewing time for me. 

Thanks for reading. 

SBCC Manhattan Trousers

Hey folks ! 

I made Trousers! I finally decided to throw caution to the wind and attempt the item of clothing that strikes fear into the heart of many a sewer. I really need some trousers in my wardrobe. I have two pairs of trousers suitable for work but neither of them are a great fit. I pretty much don't even look at trousers or jeans anymore when I am shopping RTW. I am just about 5 feet tall with short short legs, big hips and thighs and a swayback that means all trousers usually gape at the back in a very unattractive way. 

I had the Clover by Colette, Manhattan by SBCC and Thurlow by Sewaholic in the stash. I thought the Manhattan would be the best place to start as I seem to fit the petite curvy model that SBCC design for. 

I made up a muslin in cotton sateen ( I really don't like cotton sateen, I always  feel like it is clingy and attracts all the fluff)- anyways I started out with size 12 and 27" inseam. The fit wasn't bad at all. AMAZING 

It need tapering in along the outseam and inseam, probably ending up more like a size 10 everywhere except at the widest part of my hips. I also took in the centre back seam to remove gaping here. 

The pattern was easy enough to follow along with except the fly instructions. I think the pieces for fly facing and fly extension are mislabelled which left me a bit muddled up. Beth from SBCC messaged me on Instagram and she is going to look into it. 

I made up my final pair in a grey and blue wool ( I think) check fabric that I got in Michael H fabrics in Dublin. I'm really pleased with how they turned out. Even managed pattern matching 

They are a few wrinkles in the back which I'm not sure about, I don't think this style needs to be tighter but are these wrinkles too much or are they needed ??? 

Overall I am very pleased and have plans for more. Navy and black to start with. Then who knows maybe even Ginger Jeans! The thought of have jeans that actually fit is very exciting. 

That's the Anise Jacket from Colette as well but I think this post is long enough already. Maybe some other day. 

Thanks for reading 

The cutest thing I have ever made!

Trying out posting from my phone as it is months since I posted anything at all. I have been sewing quite a bit but find blog writing and photos a bit of a chore. That said I think keeping a blog would be a good way to keep track of my sewing.

So this is an outfit made for my niece. From Burda magazine 09/13 dress waistcoat and leggings in size 74. 

The dress is made from chambray from Truro fabrics. The dress has a yoke bodice and a gathered skirt. I left off the pockets and added some cute stripy buttons down the back 

The waistcoat was made from an old grey jumper of mine , lined with red jersey  from an old maternity top. I added pockets made from the sleeves, using the ribbing from the bottom of the sleeve. I embroided a cat's face onto one of the pockets. Cute !!!

Lastly a simple pair of leggings. The original pattern had a back yoke and side seams, but I removed these to make it easier. 

So there we go, the photos might not be great quality but some photos are better than none