FO:Sludge coloured top - Burda Raglan Shirt 02/2013 #127

This top first appeared in MMM13 and is a top that I started during a quiet patch in the Wedding sewing.  I had a short period of time where I couldn't do much on my sister's dress until she had tried it on.  She very kindly, at my request, bought the February issue of the Burdastyle magazine for me as my local WH Smiths doesn't stock it. I had had a flick through on previous trip, and dithered about it, but I kept thinking back to this top and a couple of variations in the magazine.



I used a slinky, olivey sludgy grey viscose jersey which I bought in Goldhawk Road towards the end of  2011. I think I had a little over a metre but it was very wide and managed to squeeze the top out of it. During this quiet patch, I cut out the top and gathered the appropriate section of the sleeves.



Wedding sewing picking up again, so this was put to one side for sometime. It was a reasonabley quick sew taking a couple of evenings . I started sewing it on my overlocker - I sewed one sleeve piece onto the back, and then reverted to sewing the rest on my sewing machine and just finishing the seams on the overlocker. I was a bit nervous about making an mistake with the blade down and the jersey was so slinky I felt I couldn't control it through the machine properly.  I ended up sewing most of the seams with tissue under the fabric to stop the sewing machine eating it up.

I sort of followed the Burda instructions, known for being on the incomprehensible side. By which I mean that I did what I thought I should do, read the instructions, thought 'oh good, done that bit then', and moved on. The neck was a bit more tricky. I read and reread the instructions and then used Melissa from Fehr Trade's instructions for putting on a neck band as described in her post about the top she made from this pattern. 

 

I never know at this point, whether to do the top stitching of the neck band with a zigzag or straight stitch.  The neck is wide enough that it doesn't need to stretch over my head, so maybe next time I'll try a straight stitch.

Youngest took this picture which explains the dodgy angle

I had noted from Melissa's post and a couple of other people's that it was very long in the body and sleeves.  I really like long sleeves, so thought I would wait and see on the length of the body.  Having done everything except the hem I tried it on and was initially very disappointed.  It made me look a bit frumpy and matronly (Ohhh, Matron!!). I then showed it to Husband, who took one look at it and said 'there's something wrong with the length'. As soon as I tucked the hem up and had it at hip length rather than top of thigh length, it made all the difference.  That difference was roughly 10cms, possibly more. If you look at the picture below, the original length would have been to the bottom of the back pockets.

not sure what I am doing in this picture!

I have worn it a lot, although it was mostly covered up during May due to the miserable and pretty cold weather that we had. I recently packed away my winter wear for a couple of months, but I will be keeping this one out to tide me over on cooler summer days.

When I joined Rachel and all the other sewists for the epic London meet-up, I found another bolt of the same stuff (or possibly even the same one) and nearly bought some more. Instead I found some brown and sparkly striped jersey knit especially to repeat this top for the autumn. Look out for the next one (with my record it could be some time!)

Me-Made-May round up #5

The last round up of  MMM 2013!

May 28th:

Fleece Renfrew.  Miserable day weatherwise. Top worn all day to include family trip to the cinema. Husband and I saw the new Star Trek film and the girls saw Epic. The afternoon included a fab coffee at South Street Pantry, and a pretty dismal chinese buffet.

May 29th:

Fleece Renfrew (no picture). For the evening I changed into a new un-blogged make to go to a Private View of an exhibition at Mall Galleries.  Thomas' cousin Barley, and his girlfriend Ellie graduated from Wimbledon College of Art last summer, but this is the first exhibition we have manged to see apart from his degree show. It was fantastic to see their work in a proper gallery space. We went armed with a cheque book, but all the ones we liked were already sold! After the gallery we went for dinner at a small tapas place called Andalucia, on Panton Street.  Many (ok, 16) years ago this was the wine bar where Husband and I met!

May 31st

Stripey Lydia top (no picture). In fact I wore the same outfit as May 9th, minus bright red accessories.  Worn to lounge around and relax at my sister-in-law's amazing house on the north Norfolk coast.

 I have no major thoughts on the month really. I realised that I wear my me-mades quite regularly anyway, without out having to think too hard about it. I have made a lot of tops over the last couple of years which has held me in good stead and if the weather had been better there would have been more variety!  I love looking at other peoples pretty dresses, but to be honest for my lifestyle of being a busy SAHM my wardrobe needs to be more on the practical side, and that seems to be what I have made - so far! I stuck to my pledge of 3 items a week - the hardest thing was remembering to take the photos. Thank you Zoe, for organizing these months - it has been great fun and I have enjoyed following your own challenge this time round. How I wish I sewed when I was pregnant!

I also realised that I am very behind in blogging my makes recently - I have at least three if not more items to blog about fully, which I shall endeavour to do in the next couple of weeks.

Me-Made-May round up #4

I have been a little better this week at documenting stuff:

May 22nd:

Still  unblogged Burda top, worn with a skirt I bought in NZ. It was made by the sister of one of my friends. She was starting a business selling skirts, so I thought I would support her endeavors. The skirt is a little big now, so am thinking I might change it some how - maybe shorten it and /or straighten it and take the waist in.Worn all day, then to pub quiz in evening.

May 25th:

Still unblogged fleece Renfrew worn with in Pebble skirt (pre-blog).  The last time I wore this skirt was last Me-Made-May.  I was unsure about it then as it was too big and I didn't like the whole look of the ensemble I wore. However, since then I have washed the skirt (It is made out of upholstery fabric and had only been dry-cleaned. A bit of a pain for and everyday skirt) and it has shrunk slightly, both in the waist and the length - this is good so far, but I need to be careful in the future if it continues to shrink! Saturday shopping and last minute present buying for Husband's birthday.

May 26th:

Denim Portfolio dress. Worn to go to the Henry Moore Foundation for my Mother-in-law's birthday treat.  Lovely day although a little hot given that I had 2 layers on on underneath and had taken a merino cardi as well! (It had been hailing two days previous to this!)

The weather like last year, is not conducive to summer wear so quite a lot of my me-mades are still in the drawer under the bed waiting until the weather improves. I made a conscious effort to wear the skirts this week, as I felt looking at my previous round-ups that I was living in my jeans and getting a bit dull,What am I wearing today?... jeans and a top....

Only a few more days to go!

Me-Made-May round up #3

I haven't done so well on documenting this last lot:

May 15th:

Dodgy neckline

New unblogged fleece Renfrew in Navy. I made the three quarter sleeves in an attempt to copy a RTW navy jumper that is slowly dying. It is not great, there is something wrong with the neck.  I think is is the top stitching for the neck band being a bit tight. Also the three quarter sleeves are not long enough - the top of the arm band seam hit just on my elbow and is just the wrong length, therefore somewhat annoying. Worn for everyday stuff, and then to pub quiz in the evening.

May 17th:

Refashioned dress worn for Husband's Grandmother's funeral.  We were told not to be too sombre, so I decided to finally get round to modifying this dress that I have had for some years:

Bought in late '90's, love the material, not the style anymore!

I shortened it and changed the neck. I may do a separate post on it. This is the only picture I have at the moment:

Lovely meal after funeral with Husbands cousins

I know I wore something else that week, but I have no idea what or when! (I think I may have missed something out from my previous round up and put the green Renfrew in the wrong round up  - Hey ho!)

I'm very glad I am not doing this every day - I'm really not sure I would be still going at this stage if I were....

Me-Made-May round up #2

Here is the second installment of my Me-Made May round ups.  The weather is still pretty inclement and changeable which makes MMM a little tricky.  I realise that so far most of my me-made items are tops that I generally wear with jeans and because of the weather, most of them cannot be seen as I am swathed in cardi's to keep warm...

May 9th: Stripey Lydia top.  This is too big and a bit stretchy. I am am still considering the hack job I mentioned in my post about this top! I started off wearing it with a belt, as you can see in this picture. Unfortunately this made the bottom flare out in a rather unflattering way, so I ditched the belt part way though the day. Worn to have a hair cut, then spent the rest of the day emptying out the PTA cupboard at school, sorting everything out and then putting most of it back in again - but at least we now know what is in there and can get to it!

May 10th: Myimage cowl top.  Worn with my lovely new Fly shoes that give the appearance of being in heels but feel like they are flats - best of both worlds! A general being at home getting everything done kind of day.  I altered this top slightly after I had made my Renfrew last year.  When I made this I wasn't sure how to finish the hems so I just overlocked them. After making the Renfrew with it's hem bands, I thought I could used them to finish this off better. I found just enough jersey off cuts to make narrow bands for this top, which make it look better and stop the hems from rolling up.

May 13th: Autumnal Renfrew: Worn with jeans - again. Worn to my pattern making class and shown here with my daughter-made apron that Eldest made for me for Christmas.

Here's hoping the weather improves - the sun is out, lets hope it warms up too!

Me-Made-May round up #1

I actually signed up to Me-Made-May a bit late (as in May 2nd).  Here is my round up of the first few days - I have said that I will wear Me-Mades for 3 days out every week as I still do not have enough variety of clothing to see me through a whole month everyday. Here goes:

May 2nd: Unblogged top made April 2013. Worn with jeans all day.  Action shot of me preparing lunchboxes/breakfast first thing in the morning (best of the bunch taken by Youngest)

 May 3rd: Burda Twister top.  This picture shows exactly why I have decided to give this top the chop - full on bra & cami strap display.  I don't feel comfortable wearing this top, although I received several compliments on it. Quite by chance one of my friends was wearing  RTW version that day too. Worn all day whilst preparing cakes and jars of jams and chutneys for out Primary School Cake and Jam sale in our local town. Also worn out for dinner that night.

May 4th;  Portfolio dress. Worn for shopping on Saturday morning and sneaky olive eating once home! Worn with RTW long sleeved T as it was not as warm as first appeared.

That's it so far. With the weather warming up I shall unpack my summer clothes and have a little more choice available. I have lots ideas for makes, just need to get on with making now...

Me-Made-May 2013.... I'm in

Finally got round to posting my pledge today, only 2 days late and wearing me-made whilst I do it:




I, TamsinWP of Pimpmycurtains.blogspot.com, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '13. I endeavour to wear an item of me-made or me-refashioned clothing at least three times a week for the duration of May 2013'

I am not going to post every day I wear my me-mades, but will do a weekly round up and try and get involved with the MMM13 flickr group this time round.

I hope it's OK stepping in at this point. I had meant to do it last weekend .... I also hope that weather is improved from last year - I seem to remember being quite cold last May!