Me Made May catch-up: Week 2

Eep where has the time gone! We're into the final week of Me Made May 2013 and I have been TERRIBLE about keeping up with blogging about my outfits each week - opsie! I do apologise. However, I have been photographing my outfits and keeping a bit more up to date with posting them in the official Me Made May 2013 Flickr group so all is not lost. My pledge was to wear me-made garments at least 3 times a week. Let's see what week 2 looked like...

Day 7

 

Sewaholic Pendrell blouse - I love the print on this top, but the puffed sleeves do make it a little bit tricky to wear underneath a cardigan so it's best saved for warm days. Also, because my fabric is fairly stiff, they do stick out quite a bit so I sometimes feel a bit costumey in this top. Saying that, I do love it and I really like how it looks with these trousers and is nice and smart for a day at work.

 

Day 10



 

 

I managed to get to Day 10 before my first repeat - here again is the first skirt I made, the Sewaholic Crescent skirt. Apologies for the slightly unfocused picture, I have no idea what happened! I love this skirt. It is perfect for work on any day but, as here, I often find myself wearing it on casual Friday. Does anyone else hate "casual Friday" or is it just me?! I find it more of an effort to decide what to wear on these days than on any others. It is most confusing.

 

 

Day 11

 

Onto my third Sewaholic pattern of the week - my second Renfrew top. I have not blogged about this before as it was pretty much the same as the first! This is sewn in very thin (and very cheap) jersey which doesn't do it many favours but I do like the colour and print and it works ok with a top underneath. This day I was flying up to Glasgow so it made a nice and comfy plane outfit.


Day 12

Day 12 does not count at all towards my Me Made May campaign - it was the day of the Glasgow Women's 10k so I spent most of the day in my running gear. Here I am just after crossing the finish line looking rather soggy as it was a very wet and windy day! The weather obvious worked in my favour though because I ran my fastest time yet despite the Glasgow hills!

That brings us to the end of week 2...week 3 coming soon! Are you taking part in Me Made May? Are you managing to keep up with your pledge - or even exceed it?

K xx

Me Made May round-up: Week 1

Hello and happy May Day bank holiday to everyone who has a bank holiday today (I was going to say to everyone in the UK but I think perhaps Scotland does not have this day off...or did I make that up?!). It's a beautiful sunny day which is glorious, although I was not feeling so pleased about it when I went for a long and very hot run in it this morning (10K if you're interested, in preperation for the Bupa Women's 10K in Glasgow next Sunday, eep!). But now the running is over and I have no plans but BBQing and chilling for the rest of the day, I am ready to embrace the weather! I hope it's lovley where you are too.

Right, so, Me Made May! This year I have pledged to wear me-made garments at least 3 times a week. I will be doing a weekly round up each weekend (yes I missed the ball this time but hey ho, since it is a bank holiday today counts as a weekend!). I have decided to used calender weeks (Monday to Sunday) rather than counting each 7 day week from 1st May as my brain is easily confused and it's easier to keep track of things this way. So without further ado:

Day 1

 

 



 

Apologies for the overly bright photo, it was impossible to get anything better in the morning sun! Here I am wearing my Sewaholic Minoru jacket and (also Sewaholic) Renfrew top. Slightly boring outfit, but I struggle with work wear! I wear these two garments all the time, they are comfortable and practical, what more could I ask for.

 

Day 3

 

 

Casual Friday today - sporting a Colette patterns Sorbetto top. I haven't worn this top much recently, but I enjoyed wearing it and I think it will be brought out more often in future, especially during the remainder of Me Made May!

 

Day 4

 

 

Wearing my Sewaholic patterns Crescent skirt. This was one of the first garments I made, and still remains one of my most loved and most worn. I am plotting another crescent skirt or two in plain fabrics as I think it would make a great wardrobe staple. Oh and yes - that is the world famous Birmingham rag market in the background!

 

On Saturday Marie and I went on a reconasance mission to Birmingham in preperation for the meet up we are hosting along with Claire on 15th June (not long now - are you getting excited!?). What were we doing you may well ask - well, we mapped the rag market - quite literally!

 

 



Yep we've compiled a visual representation of all the best fabric and notions stalls to help you out on the day. Can you tell we're excited? I had to get a picture of Marie and I with the results of all our hard work so we asked a young Chinese couple to take a picture of us...

 

 

 

I think perhaps in retrospect I should have explained to them that we would be posing with a peice of paper and making silly faces because they looked extreamly confused and kept asking "Are you ok?" "Is that your pose??". Much hilarity was had. There were sillier pictures but my camera has a habit of randomly deleting pictures and so we have been left with the sensible one - probably for the best!

 

Oh and in case you were wondering, I didn't buy a single piece of fabric during my trip to Birmingham - I was so proud of myself. I am committed to my stash busting challenge and this weekend I have started work on the first of the three garments I muct complete before the meet-up. I am determined to succeed!

 

What are you up to this long weekend - do you have any sewing plans or will you be out enjoying the sunshine? Or are you at work (boo!)? 

 

K xx

 



Yorkshire dales and British yarn

Hello everyone, and happy May! It's been a beautiful day here today and I'm feeling rather cheerful! This could also be partly due to how much I have enjoyed looking at everyone's day one Me-Made-May outfits on Flickr. I am amazed by the variety of outfits as well as all the great backdrops that everyone has used for their photographs. There will be a round up post from me coming at the weekend, but it's clear already that I am going to have to up my game!

Last weekend me and Mr.KK went away for a long weekend in the Yorkshire Dales. It was great to get away and although the weather was mixed (sunshine, rain and hail all within an hour!) we still had a lovely time. I do love the countryside. We spent our time walking in the dales through fields and field of lambs of various ages and daffodils a-plenty - it all felt very springlike!

We stayed in a small town called Hawes and on a wander through I was delighted to spy a knitting shop - so of course we had to pay a visit. The shop is called the Knitting Basket and it stocks a great selection of yarns, including a number of locally spun and British yarns. Having spent the weekend surrounded by sheep, I felt it was only right to purchase some local yarn!

I came away with two skeins of blue faced Leicester yarn in the 'owl' colourway (of course!). This yarn is so beautifully soft, and was spun locally in Yorkshire at the mill of the West Yorkshire Spinners. I love the fact that I can show you a picture of the breed of sheep it came from - take that cheap acrylic "wool"! I can't wait to use it - I think it would make a lovely scarf.

For a while now I have been thinking more about the yarn I use in my knitting, what it is made of and where it come from, as a result of reading the blogs of wonderful people such as Roobeedoo, who is an advocate of independent British yarn companies, as well as going to a workshop run by the designer Erika Knight who has her own collection of 100% British yarn. I think the main thing that put me off is the cost - I thought it was so much more expensive - however a bit of research tells me that this is not necessarily the case. True, it may be a bit more pricey than your £1.50 ball of 100% acrylic, but you certainly get what you pay for (i.e. actual wool!). I am coming to realise that quality is so important. If I am going to spend time making something I truly love, then it is important to use good quality materials. That's half the joy of making your own garments - you know what goes into them and where it comes from.

A bit of googling has revealed that so many more yarn companies than I realised have British yarn ranges. For more information and an exhaustive list of smaller British yarn companies, check out The British Yarn Guide. I can't promise that I will only and forever more use British yarn from now on, but I will definitely be thinking a lot more about where my yarns come from and going for quality over quantity!

Do you try and use British or local yarns in your makes? Can you recommend any good companies or stockists?

K xx