I’ve actually finished something new & worn it on Day 29. It started as this:

And finished as this:

I spotted the skirt through the open door of a charity shop.  It’s a Liberty print from the ’80s or ’90s.  The fabric is cotton lawn & very fine. The skirt wasn’t my sort of thing but there was lots of lovely fabric in it.

I cut off the waistband, undid the hem & seams and washed and ironed it.

The tunic is made from two rectangles & tucks make it the right size & shape.

I used a plate to get the front neckline shape & the button placket is just a cut in the front as far as the waist & then turned back on each side.  The buttons came from an old blouse long since recycled.

No pattern required.

Day 1 with Joey

New Look blouse 6598

Day 2.  Dress New Look, fair trade hand crocheted cardigan from People Tree

Day 3. Dress Vogue 1171 from 1950. Taken at Trent Lock, Long Eaton on a glorious summer day.  My favourite dress.

Day 4. Dress Vogue 2671 from 1933.

Day 5. Another version of New Look 6598.

I am enjoying trying to chose my me-mades each day.  I have a few more things to choose from this time so it’s a bit easier than September.

I loved Self Stitched September 2010.

I wore some of the hand made clothes that had been languishing in the back of my wardrobe.  Ok, some were hopeless but others looked better than I thought – taking a photo & looking critically really helps.

It also helped me focus on what I really needed in my wardrobe - I made too many smart things for my rather scruffy life.

Anyway, here is my pledge:

I, Norma of Rosy Rag Patch sign up as a participant of Me-Made-June ’11. I will endeavour to wear at least one self stitched or refashioned item each day for the duration of June 2011.

Roll on 1st June.

I  decided to turn it into a blouse for every day wear & turned to Vogue 2634(adapted). I’ve made this pattern up at least half a dozen times in various guises.

 There wasn’t enough fabric for conventional cutting out so I cut everything singly & cut the back into 5 pieces so that I could use the edges of skirt panels.Back view

I needed to use the hem of the skirt to get the length but had to use the inside to avoid too faded a look.  This led me to the leftovers from a not very successful linen dress – made about 15 years ago – I used it for flowery strips to cover the hem edge & then cut bias strips for the armholes & collar trim.

Front View

There’s hardly anything left from the skirt now & I’ve got a blouse to wear over jeans or jodphurs for everyday wear.

The leftovers

My tea cosy was looking a bit sad – my grandmother made it about 30 years ago & it had been washed so often the fabric was beginning to fall apart.  I thought I’d have a go at making another.  After a few attempts this was the result:

There are now several of them on display in Fusion, Park Place, Horsham (lovely new cafe).

I’m thinking of egg cosies next.

This shirt was not much bigger than I am. I think it’s easier to use a very much larger shirt because you can just cut lay out a commercial blouse pattern on the cut up pieces & of you go. My way is trickier but fun.

This is the shirt before I did anything.

Cutting off the collar.

Starting the shaping.  I used a dummy to help with the shaping but I had to keep trying the shirt on to check it looked ok.

Next, I cut down the double turn back cuffs to size.

Shortening. Done at an angle to make an interesting shape at the bottom of the shirt.

More shaping.

I cut some of the fullness from the sleeves, finished the edges with bias binding cut from an old sheet and changed the buttons.

And here it is:

Front view.

Back view.

I added a side placket for press studs & hooks & eyes because I think that was how dresses were fastened in England until after the Second World War but I think zips probably look better.

I am looking forward to wearing this in the summer.

There are lots of other versions on Flickr.  Just follow the link on the right hand side of the page.

Sarah very generously gave me a stripy cashmere sweater that a previous owner had more or less felted.

I cut off the sleeves & the top of the sweater just under the armholes and finished the edge with a fairly wide zig zag stitch.

The wavy edge became the bottom of the neck warmer & looks rather like a frill. 

It goes with my new (to me) coat and I can cycle without the ends of a scarf drifting out into the traffic.

I had to make two toiles because the bodice needed a lot of shortening to fit me and I made the mistake of not checking I had done all the alterations correctly.  Bad!! Even if I used up all the seam allowances in the bodice I couldn’t have fastened it.

Lesson: always make a toile. 

I made the toile from an old duvet cover & it looks pretty strange because it has huge checks.  Anyway here it is:

The 1940s Swing Dress - just for practice

I like the style.  This is the fabric for the real thing:

Fabric for the 1940s swing dress

It’s cotton & it should be something more flowing like rayon or silk but it feels a bit floaty so I think it will come out ok.

Use the link to Flickr for more photos - mine & others.

I sew for lots of reasons:

• Some things are cheaper if you don’t count the hours of work;
• There will be no one wearing the same clothes as me (they probably wouldn’t want to either, but that’s another matter);
• It cuts down how much I have to worry about people working in near slavery to make things for me;
• Could it be greener? I hope so, but I’m not sure – maybe depends on the fabric;
• The excitement as a garment, bag or quilt emerges;
• The sheer pleasure of trying on the finished article (usually!)

Happiness is making something.

Anyone else like to add anything?