Me-Made-May ’13 – Week Two

Two weeks down! And a whole one this time, yay!

DAY 6

The dress is me-made. It’s Sewaholic’s Renfrew top, to which I added length and a (woven) peter pan collar. I also omitted the sleeve and hem cuffs.

I wore this outfit to work then to millinery class in the evening. It was very comfortable, even to bike in (yay knits!), but I kept having to check whether the collar wasn’t being too wavy. I realised after taking off my cardigan because I was too hot after biking that it was the cardigan that stopped the collar from laying flat and that the dress actually looked way cuter on its own.

I also wore my Minoru jacket and the same shawl as every day of Week 1.

DAY 7

Tuesdays are a day off for me, so I was able to wear a me-made short skirt. I also used the same bag as on Day 4, but no jacket or shawl because the weather was quite warm.

I was quite overdressed and my shoes were not the most sensible ones because, though I had planned to go to my shoe making class  in the evening, a sudden thunderstorm stopped me from going and I eventually only ran a couple of errands and did my laundry.

The shirt I’m wearing is vintage and I made a few repairs to it and replaced its buttons. An ex-neighbour who had bought it in the sixties gave it to me when I was about thirteen I think. Oh, and the cardigan was found on the street by my mother! I told you she always made the craziest finds! 😀

DAY 8

My favourite outfit of the week! I made this dress years ago following a blouse pattern (from this French book) that was meant for wovens. I didn’t know anything about fabric choice at the time so I used a knit. The result was catastrophic at first, but (I don’t exactly remember how) I managed to not only salvage it but to make it into one of my favourite dresses.

I also wore the same jacket and bag I can’t believe I’m still mentioning, but hey, no shawl this time! I wore this outfit minus the hat to go to work (you really can’t wear a hat on a bike, ask me how I know), then in the afternoon with the hat to go for a walk and run errands.

About the hat, I made it during a beginner’s two-day training in millinery a couple of years ago. It’s a one-piece wool felt with hand-molded brim.

I find it quite easy to wear with its bowler hat look that is softened by the pleats at the brim. Kind of like a feminine version of Professor Calculus’s hat. 😀

DAY 9

May 9 is a holiday, so I got to stay at home the whole day! I wore my new T-shirt and it was very comfortable.

DAY 10

The skirt is me-made. I sewed it a long time ago and I lost weight since, so it had become a little too big and I hadn’t been able to wear it the last few months. Me-Made-May finally gave me the push I needed to alter it so that I had one more wearable garment. I still like it, but I’m not used to unlined skirts anymore, so I didn’t find it as comfortable as my other skirts as it kept riding up a little, especially on my bike.

It’s still very useful because it’s so simple it goes with practically everything. What’s funny though is that while wearing it I was convinced it was knee length and a little frumpy, but on the picture I see it is much shorter than that!

Other me-mades worn on Day 10: my trusty jacket and shawl. Oh, and I got a new haircut (not me-made)!

DAY 11

It was Saturday, so I sewed at home, then I went for a bike ride (during which I got rained on), then a walk with my boyfriend. I wore this cardigan I knitted recently and a vintage handmade dress I love. These are two pieces I never would have thought to combine had it not been for Me-Made-May and I’m very happy with the result.

I also wore, can you guess it, my jacket, shawl and bag! 😀

DAY 12

The skirt and cardigan are me-made and I wore them at home, then to bike (under the rain again 😦 ) to my father’s for a family meal. I knitted this cardigan more than a year ago yet I had never worn it before that day. I find it very cute (look at that lace pattern!), but a short-sleeved cardigan in wool is not really the best idea in the world! It’s too warm to be worn in Summer, and I thought a cutesy cardigan wouldn’t look very nice with long sleeves underneath so I couldn’t wear it in cold weather either. But Me-Made-May helped me bite the bullet and finally at least try it with a long-sleeved T-shirt underneath and, well, it doesn’t look that awful. It’s not as cute as without the tee, but at least now I can wear it, so I consider that a win! And it was actually very comfortable to wear on a cold (but not so cold) day like Day 12. Enough warmth on the body but not too much warmth on the arms.

Do I need to mention I also wore the usual jacket and shawl? I didn’t think so.

See you next Monday for Week 3 (and before that for other stuff 🙂 )!