A vintage outfit!

A couple of months ago the lovely ladies at SewCrafty asked if I'd do a hack of their shift dress pattern and sent me some gorgeous materials to do it with. However my version did not work at all so I threw it in the corner and sulked for a while.

And then I came to my senses and realised that I wanted to do something with the altitude bird cotton that SewCrafty had sent me so I decided to refashion it into something that I would actually wear. Enter this vintage summer blouse pattern from 1982 (apparently this is the year that I sew the 1980s!).  I hummed and ha-d over what size to make and luckily I had decided on the size 12 because when I got it out of the packet this size had already been cut out. I'm not sure where I bought this pattern from, I'm going to guess it was part of a job lot on eBay but I guess I'm lucky that my size remained in tact.

I'm not really a fan of ruffles but they've been popping up everywhere this summer and I thought the ruffled version of this looked cute without being too OTT so I gave it a go. Although I used some little flower buttons from my stash so I wasn't exactly trying to move too far away from the 'cute' factor!  The ruffles were made from some scraps of a cotton linen blend that I had in my stash.

I want so many versions of this top! I've been searching for a good shirt/top pattern for ages and this might be the one! Although I wish it had a sleeved version as in it's current form, it's only good for summer. However hopefully we've got months of summer left so I can enjoy this for a while.

The shirt was worn on holiday with a new pair of Megan Neilsen Flint shorts.  I seem to have become a little bit obsessed by this pattern.  Personally I think this is a super cute look and is also giving off more 1930s vibes. I made the shorts from a scrap of denim that I had in my stash, that I think my mum donated at one point, and some scraps of stretch cotton.  I also used 2 vintage buttons also from my stash. Basically, these were a great stashbuster!

I used red topstitching on the denim and navy topstitching on the waistband and for the button holes. I have done a lot of topstitching recently and I think it adds a really nice detail but maybe it's time to give it a rest now!  I'm actually wearing these shorts as I type, since the weather in the UK has decided that it's properly summer.  I hope you all have a lovely weekend in the sunshine!

Me-made-may final round up

So having sworn that I was going to document me-made-may on the blog, May rather got the better of me.  I did take photos (mainly) which I put on instagram, so here a little late is my round up!

 Day 11. A rtw leather skirt and my liberty Mathilde blouse. While I love leather skirts, wearing this now scarce rtw item in my wardrobe reminds me why I sew! I fits so badly.
Day 12. Sew Over It Alex shirt and Mia jeans!
Day 13. A new Flint and Flora jumpsuit hack. More details will be coming soon.
Day 14. Mia jeans and plantain t-shirt.
Day 15. Sew over it ultimate wrap dress (unblogged) I like the concept of this but it needs a number of adjustments which I find frustrating when I wear it.  It's starting to become apparent how I have started blogging only a fraction of the things that I make!
Day 16. I forgot to take a picture but I wore my Jade skirt and a sutton blouse
Day 17. Flint/flora jumpsuit again

Day 18. Sew Over It Vintage shirt dress
Day 19. A Jade skirt and 1980s jumper, actually wearing these made me realise that both should go to the charity shop as the skirt is too short and I don't like the fabric of the jumper.
Day 20. Nettie dress (unblogged and unphotographed)
Day 21. I didn't manage to get a photo and I don't remember what I wore
Day 22. Super colourful ultimate trousers and a bronte top.
Day 23.  New Alex shirtdress (blog post to come)
Day 24.  Deer and Doe Belladone to do my doctoral viva!
Day 25. Deer and Doe hacked Belladone top and ultimate trousers
Day 26. Lady skater dress (unblogged) to celebrate passing my doctorate thesis and viva!

Day 27.  Flint trousers and new vintage top (blog post to come)
Day 28.  Alex shirtdress
Day 29. No photo
Day 30. Flint trousers and Angelica top
Day 31.  Worst photo of the month!  Vintage maxi skirt and lace Belcarra top.

Right so that's May wrapped up for another year!  This was definitely the year where I've struggled least to pick something to wear every day.  I love all the basics that I've made and love that I've managed to fill some (but not all) of the gaps.  Having a handmade wardrobe is great and the longer I sew, the more pieces that I think fit with my style and are well constructed and I find this immensely satisfying.  I hope you all had good me-made-mays.  

Me Made May Days 1-10

I contemplated not blogging about Me-made-May this year as I'm doing daily photos on instagram but then I realised that even if no one else reads these posts as they are repetitive, I love having my previous years documentation of what I've worn each May and the reflections of my style, life and the weather that they represent.  So without further ado, here's what I wore at the beginning of May 2017.

Day 1

My Mia jeans, stripey Dolores top and owl jumper for a walk up Boxhill with my sister and a friend.  A lovely bank holiday start to the month.

Day 2

Refashioned Galaxy dress and vintage jumper for a day at work

Day 3

 Vintage jersey dress, belt donated from my mum and RTW cardigan for a day at work and dinner out with friends.

Day 4

I failed to get a photo but I wore my ultimate trousers for a day in uni

Day 5

 Ultimate trousers and embroidered top for another day in uni and dinner with a friend.

Day 6

 

A Saturday spent fabric shopping makes me look this happy!  I wore a Sutton blouse (unblogged) and my spotty woollen skirt.  This photo was taken approximately 5 mins before I spilt food over me!

Day 7

I wore my new Flint trousers and my vintage coat to go visit an exhibition and the Crossrail garden at Canary wharf.  I have been wearing this coat all week, I'm glad I got a photo with me wearing it.

Day 8

Pleather circle skirt, I love this skirt but the fabric was pretty crappy quality so it's looking fairly battered now. Liberty Mathilde blouse and rtw cardigan. Even with my vintage coat, I was freezing today. Temperatures were distinctly un-spring-like! This may be why I look quite so grumpy in this picture, although I suspect it's more a sign that I needed to go to sleep!

Day 9

African wax print vintage shirt dress. This may be one of my favourite things that I've made. Its got some of my favourite colours and is nice and bright while still being smart enough for work.

Day 10

My Flint trousers with a thrifted top and cardigan. Just warning you now, these trousers are going to feature a lot this month. I'm in love and am already working on 2 other variations! 

Anyway, life got super busy again so sporadic blogging will be resumed. Follow me on instagram for (slightly) more regular updates, I'm @almostahippy. Have a lovely weekend folks.