Escape to civilization- more meet up awesomeness.

This weekend we went camping. I like the outdoors. I love nature. However I also like my home comforts. Central heating, a hot bath, decent gin and tonic and I’m happy.  But it does do us good to rough it every once in a while and get back to nature, connect with the real world away from TV, phones, internet (do I sound convincing yet?).

I admit it took me a while to get into the swing of it. It’d been a hellish week at work and I had things to sew. Out in the woods I had no sewing machine, no access to my fabric. Plus no internet or phone due to crappy iphone battery life. I am obviously a sad technology addict because at first this made me jumpy.  And I chose this weekend to wean myself off my secret cigarette habit and back on to the nicotine gum.  However it’s pretty hard not to relax when you are surrounded by scenes like this:

It was lovely walking through the woods in the late evening sun and the look on my girl’s faces when two badgers crossed the path about two metres in front of us made me realise that we had done the right thing in getting away for a few days.  A few Desperados and a couple of cans of Kronenburg around the camp fire after they went to bed and I did start to get into it.

Freezing my arse off all night in the thinnest sleeping bag ever took the shine off the whole experience a little bit.  However I soon perked up.  The sun was shining and I’d had a large coffee, and by an amazing coincidence our campsite was just up the road from Brighton, where on that very day another sewing meet up was planned! And I just so happened to have with me a bag of fabric and patterns to swap.

We drove into Brighton where I ditched the family and walked up to the station to meet Claire, (Sew, incidentally) our amazing and highly efficient organiser, and Zora (Read all about it).

I think this is the only decent photo I got, Zora and Claire and the Brighton Pavillion.

We were a bit early so got a chance to browse some of the stalls and fabric shops on the way to All Bar One where we met up with Zoe , Stevie,  Jo and Rehanon. (Which reminds me – isn’t this  the hottest she hulk ever?)  This was a much smaller group than my first meet up in London, but while I loved being part of our massive mob in London it was also really nice to be able to sit with a smaller group and chat.  And once again I was totally blown away by how lovely, interesting and totally inspirational sewists are.  We had a delicious lunch then on to the swap. I have shamelessly stolen the picture below from Zora because I was chatting so much I forgot to take any,  so do head over to her blog here to see her other great pics.

I am ashamed to say that once again I left with way more than I brought.

Clockwise from top left: blue, pink and red cotton(?) from Zoe – after seeing Marie’s gorgeous floral Miette I’m wondering if there is enough here for one?
Floral cotton from Zora – Belladone? or I’ve just downloaded the new Billie Jean dress from Blue Ginger Doll? The purple, green black and white knit was also from Zora, and has been snapped up by my oldest daughter. Purple and green are her favourite colours and I think we’re going to make her a dress together.
Oldest child has also bagsied the purple knit which came from Stevie,  It didn’t originally grab me but it’s grown on me and now I’m thinking that I may want to use it myself so I may end up being evil mummy and keeping it. Or maybe we can both use it, there’s quite a lot there.
The pink and cream polka dot also came from Stevie, and again it’s a grower. I have a few ideas for this. It may end up as a Mathilde.
There are 4 metres of the dark blue that I got from Claire! It is sort of cottonish and shiney and I’m thinking this may be the perfect opportunity to try one of my vintage patterns that calls for way more fabric than I usually have.
Finally the black, also from Claire is woolly woven, slightly rough to the feel and will be perfect for work – a skirt or maybe another laurel.
I also got a little chalk marker thing with all sorts of extra features from Claire that I haven’t even had a chance to look at properly.

And I didn’t even make it to the shops! The family had spent all their money on the Pier and were itching to get back to nature so I said goodbye and headed back. Despite that I feel totally spoilt by my haul.  A big thank you to Claire for organising and to everyone for your amazing company.  I already have my train ticket for the Birmingham meet up.   Come along!

Deer and Doe Reglisse – More sunshine and happy thoughts…

There has been a spate of yellow on sewing blogs recently. It’s not a colour I am usually drawn to.  Maybe the lack of anything resembling Spring for more than a couple of days has made me crave sunshine because looking at these gorgeous creations just makes me feel happy. Check out Jane and Marie’s Miette skirts, Lauren’s pencil skirt with a twist, and I am absolutely in love with this skirt by A Charm of Magpies. Yellow, Dragonflies, stars, what more do you need?

I realised that I need yellow in my life. A yellow dress. Luckily I already had the fabric, a cotton polka dot, and the perfect pattern – Deer and Doe’s Reglisse. I fell in love with this pattern when I saw it on Ginger Makes . That Sonja is a bad influence, before I even realised what I was doing I was clicking ‘Buy’ on the Deer and Doe website.  Then I saw these:-  Alison’s version here,   this on Les petites envies de Mag here, and especially this gorgeous dress on Jolies Bobines  here.  Oh to have half the style sense of these French ladies. (you have to look at the other stuff she’s done too, it’s fantastic) I then knew I would have to bump Reglisse to the top of my sewing queue. (Interesting fact – Reglisse is French for Liquorice.)

I was lucky I chose such a happy colour because I decided to attack this project while my oldest daughter was having her belated birthday sleepover. Her party was cancelled because her sister had chicken pox so I was guilt tripped into allowing her to have three friends over to stay. So four eight year olds. ‘They’ll be okay,’ I told myself.  ‘A few games in the garden, DVD, popcorn. They’ll be so worn out they’ll be asleep by nine.’

I had already cut out the dress- 36 at the shoulders, then 38 everywhere else- so it was just a case of putting it together. I was always put off Deer and Doe patterns in the past because my French is a bit rusty, but the new English translations are fabulous. At no point did I have to sit back and wonder WTF was I doing, which is rare for me. Just as well.

Eight thirty rolls around. Two of them are not talking.  One is crying. The DVD player has stopped working. I can handle this.  I am in a state of zen-like calm.  I have completed the bodice. It fits perfectly.  I fix the DVD player. Give them popcorn.  Job done, back to the sewing. And look at my yoke:

Nine O’clock. Another quick check as I can hear strange noises. There is popcorn trampled into the sitting room carpet. The cats are hiding outside in a state of trauma. I won’t get stressed. It’s her birthday party.  DVD is finished so I herd them up to bed. We can clean up in the morning.  And look, I bound my seams. Very relaxing. Why don’t I do that on everything I make.

Ten o’clock. Hysterical giggling and shrieking. One of them storms out and asks to go home.  I can hear the three year old waking up. Keep calm. Deep breaths. Look, pressing every seam as I go.  Bias binding on the hem. Look at my uncharacteristic attention to detail. Check out the finishing….

Eleven o’clock.  Oh for F***’s sake please Everyone Shut The F*** Up Or I’m Calling Your Parents!!!*

*before anyone calls Social Services I love my children more than can be put into words and I don’t really swear at them or anyone else’s children. But we all think it sometimes, don’t we?

Anyway, I finished. The sun was shining the next morning when I was woken by the same hysterical giggling at six o’clock so I headed outside to take pictures in the garden:

Then headed back inside quickly when the wind picked up. My traumatised elderly neighbour will confirm that this is not the best dress to wear in a breeze. At least make sure you are wearing your best underwear if you do.

You can see the details better inside anyway:

Yes, I know the shoes don’t go, but they looked okay when I wore it with my denim jacket as well.

Shoes off. Flamingo pose.

Shoes on. Lovely flouncy skirt. Very big feet, tiny head.

Shoes off again. Twirling. (When do I ever twirl in real life? Maybe that’s why I do it so much in photos.)

Twirling is fun. At least until you lose your balance and smash your elbow into the door handle.

And shoes on again. I really love the way this dress looks at the back. I didn’t want a fully elasticated waistband all the way round so I just put elastic in the back waistband and left it out at the front. I think it works.

Shoes off. I take all this so very seriously. Even when I’m at 45 degrees.

Some notes on the pattern. The instructions were great and there were absolutely no problems with the construction. I ended up using a really narrow seam allowance in the side seams. It fitted before but I felt it needed a little more ease so next time I may go up a size.  As I said before I only used elastic in the back waistband and I finished all my seams with bias binding. I was in ‘the zone’ when I was doing this so I’m not sure how much extra time it added to the project but I think it was well worth it.
A word of warning if, like me, your knees are not your best asset. The skirt on this is way short. I am five two and I bias bound the hem to avoid losing any length, and it is still a bit shorter than I am used to. When I make it again (and I already have the perfect fabric lined up) I will add a couple of inches.
I was a bit worried that the bow at the front would make me look like I’d stolen the dress from a small Victorian child, but actually I like it.  And the little cap sleeves have grown on me.  I did consider taking them off again but now I like them. I absolutely love how there are no fastenings, this is a big plus in my book. And it really does make me feel happy when I’m wearing it. I think  it’s a definite win. I just can’t wait until the wind dies down so I can risk it in public.

Me Made May, and Sunshine!!!!

This is a long overdue post. I have decided to put all my Me Made May pictures on a separate page – here – because it made more sense to me. I will try and post a picture for each day with comments on the outfits and/or thoughts and observations. So far, well some days it has been tough. However, on Monday, sitting on the beach with my girls in the glorious sunshine people watching and feeling a bit smug that I live here but they all have to drive home I realised that not only was I wearing clothes that I had made but so were my girls!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Youngest child is telling the man sharing our table that he smells of ham. Oldest child is having a diva like strop because I brought the wrong swimming costume.

This does not happen often. The clothes thing, I mean – My oldest has always very dramatic (but we love her) and my youngest often tells people they smell of ham. Or peanuts.  Nothing to do with me, I usually pretend she’s not mine when she’s doing it.  Anyway I mostly sew for myself but my original plan when I bought my first sewing machine was to make clothes for the family, to try and save cash and go a bit green. The yellow dress the little one is wearing was made for my oldest when I first started sewing two years ago, from a free Burdastyle pattern that I can no longer find on their site. It has unfinished seams and very dodgy top stitching and does look a bit crap on close inspection but they both love it. The skirt my oldest is wearing was made on one of the rare occasions when I gave in to emotional blackmail and sewed with her. It is just a rectangle with elastic through the top but she chooses to wear it so she must like it.

I was wearing my ‘last days of summer’ maxi dress for the second time in three days.  Which brings me to what I have learned so far from doing Me Made May.

1. I need more me-made knit maxi dresses. They are the most practical item of clothing for the beach when it is warm.  No flashing your pants (knickers) when it’s a bit breezy or you are bending down to pick stuff up, make sandcastles and play with the kids (although the next one I make will hopefully show a little less boobage). You can pull a knit maxi over your swimming costume or get changed into and out of one without exposing yourself too much (I’m seeing a common theme here). And it’s even better if it’s made from a nasty synthetic fabric because it will dry in the sun in minutes. I have quite a few maxi dresses but only one me-made. I need more.
2. I  also need more T-Shirts and vest tops/ tanks. Preferably knit, I have already downloaded Dixi DIY’s summer concert tee  so I need to sit down and figure out what is going on with my overlocker.  Although I have also got my eye on some patterns for wovens – the Grainline scout woven tee, and the new Megan Nielsen Eucalypt tank for example. And Victory patterns Simone. And the Salme gathered top.
3. I really do need some better fitting bras. This feels like an eternal quest,  so I may just bite the bullet and try and make them myself.
4. I look like crap after a full day at work. I know it’s all about the clothes, not me, but still… I need to get up earlier and use my auto timer rather than bribing my daughter to snap a quick pic on my i phone when I get in.

So that’s it – ten days in I have managed something me-made or refashioned every day and learned a few things already. My pledge was six days a week so I’m pretty chuffed. Let’s just see if I can keep it up….

Nautical Cambie, and feeling a twunt in public

The sun was shining, it is Me Made May and today was just screaming out for something girlie.  Something nautical. Something that was still sitting in my UFO pile waiting for a zip and a hem.

No worries, I don’t work Fridays and as my body clock hasn’t quite caught on to this I was up at five thirty hand picking a lapped zip before the school run. I machined a narrow hem as I was running out of time and annoyingly ‘Sorry, I had to finish making my clothes before I could leave the house’ is not considered an acceptable excuse for lateness at my daughter’s school.

I started this dress before I went away at Easter,  Cambie, by Sewaholic, of course. My first. I got the fabric on sale at Minerva Crafts and I think I got the last of it. Anyway I nearly finished but ran out of time and I’m afraid I can’t remember what size I traced but I did my usual small at the shoulders, going up a size at the bust and up another for the waist and hips.  Hundreds have said it before but this pattern is an absolute breeze to sew. And I love it!  The only adjustments I did were to lower the back, because I like a low back. If I was to make this again I would probably make the straps a little shorter. Oh, and I didn’t use the pattern pieces for the full skirt, I just cut rectangles.

Buoyed by my success in completing it and realising that I love love love this dress more than I can put into words I decided it was time to bite the bullet and take it outside for some pictures. I stuffed my gorillapod and my camera into a bag and headed for the beach.

I had a conversation with Katy of a Sleek Silhouette about photography at the meet up. We were both wondering a) how other bloggers manage to get decent pictures of themselves with no one else to take them?  b) how to do it without looking like some weird self obsessed freak? and c) how you manage to do it without feeling like a complete arse?  I notice that Katy has clearly managed to overcome at least some of those problems as she has done a great photo shoot outside for her latest stunning make.

As you can see from my efforts I have succeeded in overcoming exactly….none of those problems.  I gave it a shot though:

Camera, what camera? No, I’m just walking on the beach (and waiting for you all to feck off and stop staring) …
Oh, that camera. Who put that there?
If I stand here and put the camera really close then maybe no-one will notice me…
Right, they’ve gone, quick! Smile….
Nautical – that means boats. Look, a boat! I’ll stand by it. Please don’t look at me like that Mr Dog Walker, you’re making this really difficult….
And the back….
And the side….Can I go now?

To say that I wasn’t very comfortable with this photography lark is an understatement. It did get easier though. I will persevere. I also took a couple of shots indoors as the sun was so bright it is quite hard to see the actual dress in some of those pics. Note how by this point most of my make up has slid off and I am looking decidedly windswept. I have also stopped caring.

The zip doesn’t actually show when I am standing normally but it looks crap here, especially at the waistband. I think my hands on my hips made it pull apart. And I had no idea my feet were that grubby – sorry.

Oh well, No Fear No Shame – I have felt a Twunt and done it anyway. That deserves a treat or two.

Stash busting fish and beach huts – Laurels 1and 2

I am ashamed to say that after all my best stash busting intentions at the beginning of the year I now have much more fabric now than I did when I made those pledges.

So what went wrong?  Mostly the London Sewing Meet Up.  I took quite a bit of fabric to swap and got rid of all but one piece.  I also brought loads more back. From the swap, plus my freebie from Abakhan, plus the stuff I bought.  The look on Mr T’s face when I wheeled my over flowing shopping trolley through the door was enough to make me realise that I had some serious stash busting to do this week.

Of course I already had the perfect pattern. Colette’s Laurel, with the added incentive of a competition.  Having seen all the wonderful versions already out there I don’t for one second think I will win anything.  Check out the pictures on Flickr.  I love Rachel’s, and Scruffy Badger’s,  and Kim has made four!  It did however help me make the decision to use that pattern and make whatever fabric I had work, rather than dithering for ages about which pattern, which fabric, etc etc etc…

So first up- I pulled out a scrap left over from our hall curtains. Beach huts! I live by the sea, we have beach huts.  And yes, I am that cliche – a Londoner who moves to the coast and decorates their house with seaside stuff.  Remembering Marie’s gorgeous beach hut skirt, I decided that it was something I could use.  Probably less than a metre though, so I’d need something else to match it with.  My blue sparkly denim from the meet up caught my eye.  It’s a very subtle sparkle, not in your face glitzy. Sparkly like the sea (sort of?)  And the red twill from the same place. Yep, I had a plan.

It came together amazingly easily.  I cut a size 4 at the shoulders, 6 everywhere else, and ended taking a bit more off the shoulders to narrow them. I would like to say I was scientific about my customising  but actually I just printed out the pattern, stuck it together then chopped it up making sure I lined up the different sections on the front and back and remembered to add a seam allowance.  I made the sleeves shorter and wider and the skirt a little more A-line for no better reason than I wanted to. I found that I needed to take in a couple of inches all the way down the centre back seam and was still able to get away with no zip.  So here it is, Laurel no. 1:

For Laurel no.2 I used a metre long piece of Michael Miller Goldfish cotton I got ages ago from SewBox when inspired by this corset on Burdastyle. It has been sitting in my stash for over a year and needed to be used.  I decided to pair it with some black cotton left over from my Macaron dress.  Again I just printed the pattern then cut it up and added seam allowances. Then I sewed it all together.  Again no zip needed.  This time I decided to get a bit fancy. First I added the ric rac, again from the stash. Doesn’t it remind you a little bit of fish scales? (Get her,  trying to make like she thought it all through   )  It still needed a little something so I cut a couple of fish from the remaining scraps, interfaced the backs and stitched them on the back shoulder, just above the hem and then on the front.  A while back I found this amazing clear thread, I think it was in a box of stuff from my grandmother, an obsessive quilter.  It looks a bit like fishing line,( how appropriate!) and meant I could sew them on invisibly. I did the same thing to try and hide where I’d blatantly failed to pattern match on the back seam. Why didn’t I just cut it from one piece of fabric? Duh- I already knew I wouldn’t need a zip. Finally my daughter decided it needed sequins so we destroyed a belt of hers that no longer fitted and after sticking them on with wonder tape to get the right positions I stitched them on with the same invisible thread to look like bubbles.  This is what we ended up with:

A little OTT compared with my usual stuff but we had fun and I will definitely wear it. It was nice coming out of my comfort zone and trying techniques like applique and sequins and it has definitely encouraged me to make more effort with embellishments .

I love this pattern.  It’s so easy to chuck together and I have plans for more including at least two tops.  I may even get another dress finished before the competition deadline tonight.  The most difficult bit of these projects was getting photos. My camera is still out of action so apologies for the crappy iphone pics.  The pattern itself is a breeze, and now I’ve figured out the basic adjustments I needed to make it fit me the possibilities are infinite.

As I was sorting out my pictures for this post I remembered a really interesting post by Debi of My Happy Sewing Place on sewalongs and contests that made me think about my own motivation.  I don’t seriously expect to win, I have only been taking my sewing seriously for a short while and there are loads more deserving sewists out there who have made fabulous interpretations of this pattern. I’m still going to post my pics though, in the spirit of sharing ideas. (And you never know ) However without the contest it would undoubtedly have taken me a lot longer to discover this fabulous pattern. Actually I don’t know if I would have bothered at all as it’s not a style I normally go for. Now though I can see myself making loads.  It has also motivated me to just get on with sewing instead of faffing about making endless plans, and encouraged me to start seriously attacking my ever growing stash. And best of all is seeing what everyone else comes up with and discovering fabulous new and inspiring  sewists.

‘The’ London meet up

Yes, I was there!  That’s me, the one in the stripey Elisalex and the stupid grin, not quite able to believe how lucky I am to be surrounded by so many cool people. And what can I say that hasn’t already been said by most of the other 40 or 50 sewists who attended? I could report that despite appearances I have conclusive evidence that certain sewing bloggers actually stamp on puppies, steal ice creams from children, torture kittens, shop lift from charity shops and elbow old ladies off the pavement into oncoming traffic. I’d be lying though. Sewists really are as lovely as everyone says.

There were so many great moments – being complimented on my new stripey Elisalex by Elisalex herself and Charlotte from By Hand London! Chatting to people I felt I’d known for years like I really had known them for years, despite having never spoken to them except via our comments boxes.  Lizzy’s dopey koala story.  The food.  I could go on and on and on. Despite nerves I had possibly the most fun you can have sober and fully clothed. To be honest I would have been happy just to sit back and people watch. Everyone looked so fabulous in their me made clothes.  It would probably seem a bit sad to anyone else but I found myself getting ridiculously excited at being able to identify Roisin’s (But it can’t be from Dolly Clackett…) Elisalex,  Amy’s (Sylkotwist)  Simplicity 2444 and Alison’s (Another little crafty creation) Cambie. And anyone who thinks that sewing is the domain of granny types should just check out the photos:

Amy (Almond Rock), Sally (Charity Shop Chic), Katy (Sleek Silhouette), and me.

Katy, Karen (Did You Make That), Sally, Amy and Jane (Handmade Jane)

Guest of honour Lizzy (Sew Busy Lizzy) and our wonderful organiser Rachel (House of Pinheiro)

Thank god for Digpal Singh, the amazing photographer organised by Rachel who took all of the above. There are more here. I did take some pictures but when I got home I found my SD card was playing up – I lost half of them and I can’t transfer the others on to my computer so I only have a couple from my iphone.

Goldhawk Road was amazing but I was a bit overwhelmed and bought a lot less than I thought I would. Which was probably for the best.  A few metres of black cotton lacey stuff. Eyelet? I am still a bit crap at identifying fabrics. I also got some sparkly denim (I know, but there is method in my madness).  A couple of metres of red twill for a blatant copycat Miette skirt and some turquoise and black wool suiting that Emma (Vintage Ink Fairy)  spotted in the remnant bin. We both got enough for a pencil skirt for a  fiver each!  I was almost tempted when I saw Katy’s  prints, and Amy found actually found horses.  I managed to hold back but only because it was chiffon which I am not quite ready to tackle.

We completely took over the Cedar Village  and the food was was fabulous. I love Lebanese and totally stuffed my face with bread, dips and the most fabulous salad.  It took me by surprise when we were then asked if we were ready for the next course!  Next course?!  I have no idea where I put it all, but it would have been criminal to waste it.

After lunch was the swap. I couldn’t believe how much people brought – I got several bits of fabric and a whole bunch of patterns and even as I left I was still being encouraged to take more.

This lot is just a sample of what I came away with. I’ve been after the Gertie Butterick one for ages and after seeing this version by Tanit Isis I am desperate to try it. I’ve also seen some great versions of the Lisette dress, and the vintage pattern is gorgeous.  A big thank you to whoever donated these patterns, you have made me very happy. The denim with the gingham trim and cherries is from the lovely Nicole (Nicole’s Needles) and I love it. At the moment I’m thinking Cambie, but I may change my mind.  The blue is from Amy (Almond Rock) – definitely a skirt.  Anyway thank you to both of you. The green wavy stripe stuff was actually in my goodie bag from Abakhan along with a selection of pretty blue buttons.  A maxi dress, maybe? They and Minerva crafts   very generously provided a whole load of freebies. I already get a lot of stuff from both of them so the goodie bags were much appreciated.

So thank you to Rachel and Janene (Oobop) for organising and being as lovely in real life as I’d hoped, and everyone else I met for being charming, friendly, interesting, stylish and generally all round fabulous. I met a whole bunch of amazing, talented people, had a damn good laugh, ate fantastic food, swapped some stuff and came away with some excellent goodies. Now I just need to sign up for the next one.

Meet Up, Mad Men and Me Made May

First up – the London meet up. How cool was that?!  To be honest I am still coming down and when I do I will post about it properly but  I just wanted to say that you were all right. I had no reason to be nervous. Every single person I met was friendly, interesting, lovely and totally cool!  Aren’t sewists just the best? And a big thank you to the fabulous Rachel for her fantastic organisation, she really is a star. Can’t wait until the next one.

Right, next – the Mad Men challenge. I finished my dress – Yay!  But now my camera is refusing to let me see the photos. So I had to bribe my eight year old to take some with my iphone. And she does love a crazy camera angle, so these are the best of the bunch.  My inspiration came from this blue floral number worn by Betty in series four:

(picture from Tom and Lorenzo)

Mainly because I already had fabric and a pattern in my stash – Butterick 9269 from the early 60′s, that I have already made up once before so I wouldn’t need to do a muslin.

Okay, this is where I confess that I have only ever seen about five episodes of Mad Men. I can appreciate that it is good television and I did enjoy the episodes I watched.  I just prefer my TV viewing to have a few more murders. Or aliens. Or both.  I do love the clothes but that was not enough to hold my interest.  Maybe I should have persevered?

Anyway, in theory this should have been easy, and apart having to juggle sewing with small ill child (better now, yay!) it was.  The fabric was a bit of a pain. It is something called ‘microfibre’ which I now know means ‘slippery as feck and frays like a bastard’.  It was also quite thin and see through so I lined it with a white cotton sheet.  I took the side seams in a bit as my last attempt had a bit too much ease. I also tried to be clever and do a low back, which ended up making the whole neck gape. I fixed it with a couple of pleats in the front neckline. When I was researching what to make I noticed that a few of Joan’s outfits had this detail so I figured I could get away with it. The pattern is quite interesting in that there are little gathers at the sides of the front and back bodice instead of darts, which I quite liked. And the bit that looks like a waistband is actually a belt but I didn’t have a buckle so I used hooks and eyes for now.

Well here it is:

I’m so graceful (NOT)

It was interesting making up this pattern again because it did allow me to see just how far I’ve come with my sewing.  I still have a lot to learn but it’s nice to be able to look back and see how much progress I’ve made. I think I’m getting there.

Finally -

‘I, Jo, of The Amazing Adventures of Taracat, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ’13. I endeavour to wear at least one self made garment each day for the duration of May 2013, but I am allowing myself one day a week off if I need it.’