Day 3 and 4

Well one post a blog does not make but we've been away for thew eekend catching some sun, playing with some monkeys and watching the tigers at Longleat Safari Park.  We have a caravan so we towed that baby to the Caravan Club site almost on the park and spent 3 nights caravanning to our little hearts content.

Anyway enough of all this chitter chatter, what have I been wearing?

 

So here (above) we have Thursday's outfit.  This is my current favourite dress and the photograph is also enhanced by Teddy our Toy Poodle.  The dress was made recently for a '70's/'80's fundraiser for the local allotment society.  I cut it out on the Friday night and sewed it up in an hour and a half before wearing it out on the Saturday night.  Its McCalls 6552 and the fabulous fabric is a Pucci inspired cotton print from Stone Fabrics.  Stone Fabrics is one of my favourite places to shop.  They have a great selection of all sorts of different dressmaking fabrics.  I make my family holiday in the area once a year so that I can visit the shop in person.  The rest of the time I have to console myself with their fabric club and quarterly samples.

Oh dear, oh dear.  I can only apologise for Saturday's ensemble.  Saturday's Me Made item is a skirt made from my own skirt block.  We all know that a personal block is made to measure to our own true measurements.  Here is a short picture essay on why not to eat ice cream, cake or biscuits after making your own skirt block ... oops!  Until this picture was taken I laboured under the misconception that despite putting on a whole stone since I made it, it actually hid my enlarging tummy.  In fact so convince was I that I paired it with a very form fitting vest from the White Company ....  Still, where's the fun if you don't keep it real hey?  Talking of keeping it real, the building in the background?  Yep, its the toilet block - I gotta give you the good scenery ain't I ;)

And lookey, lookey here!  A gratuitious shot of me holding a tarantula!  This really was a life long ambition and I thought that holding a tarantula would cure me of my phobia of spiders.  The tarantula was absolutely beautiful but I'm fairly sure that next time there's a humungous house spider in the bathroom I'll seal the door and leave the house until the menfolk return.  You'll find me hiding in Costa Coffee eating cake - oh talking of cake, no, I'm not pregnant, that fat tumtum is cake, chocolate, wine and icecream, probably in that order.  I loved eating it all but, man, I gotta lose it now!

But, hey, I held a tarantula!!!

Me Made May 2013

Well this has been sitting here useless for some time so what better way to get it going than Me Made May 2013.

I've not taken part in a self stitched month before but it has occured to me recently that its been a very long time since I wore an outfit that was entirely "bought".  There's usually something that I've made.

For my participation in the blog I'm going to include things I've made for the children.  This will be the biggest challenge since I rarely make for them selfish seamstress that I am ;)

So here is my pledge

'I, Nicola of Sewvival, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '13. I, or a member of my family, endeavour to wear an item of self stitched clothing each day for the duration of May 2013'

Here is a pic of day 2 - day 1 to follow since I'm a bit late to the party :)  Grey ponte 3 part yoga pants from Silhouette patterns.  Really easy to make up particularly if you have an overlocker.  I cut these out with the rotary cutter and then just overlock them together - can be done in an hour and a half.  there is no "head shot" today because I'm feeling rather fluey and the head shot would, frankly, take down the blogosphere.

Looking at the picture, which was expertly taken by my 11 yr old son, I can see that I still don't have the fit quite right on these.  But its such an easy pattern and they're so suitable to throw on in the morning for the school run or to walk the dog with that I'm happy to spend several iterations to get the fit right.