Well I tried...

May has been a packed month for me and I didn't anticipate the new job at all, So I'm sorry to say I have had to leave Me Made May by the wayside this time. I tried my best but with the weather and the new commute its been very difficult to find ANY clothes to wear to work, let alone me made ones.
My new commute involves 80 mins of walking and an hour of train journey. Try staying cool, comfortable and looking fairly turned out with that!
(I have yet to perfect it.)
I'm currently working on a linen skirt from Clothkits (above but mine is hot pink,) so I can wear it to work, Ironically I spent the day teaching people to put in zips and then came home to do the worst zip ever.
Whatever though, I'm super tired. One day off and back to five days!
I'm loving it though Its so nice to speak to people on a daily basis who love sewing or genuinely want to learn.
Enthusiasm is infectious!
Apologies for the slightly odd update post but not much sewing of my own has been going on this week, trying to just get into my rhythm,

Taking the Seamless Pledge...

Ok, I've been thinking about this for a while and lots of life stuff has been going on recently. 
I'm leaving Uni, getting a job, and we need to be saving for a house. All big scary things and money has got to be saved anywhere possible. Also with the (hopefully continuing) weight loss and stuff I have a lot of clothing that doesn't fit. If I keep going that means wasting a lot of clothing.


After my last big fabric splurge, birthday included I think its a good time to take the Seamless pledge. I am badly addicted to shopping for everything! I need to curb the habit but try to make it fun at the same time. So heres the rules from the Seamless website 

THE RULES:

1. No buying new clothes for the duration of your pledge. By new, I mean any new mass-manufactured clothes.
2. You can buy second-hand manufactured clothes – so be prepared to get to know your local charity shops awfully well.
3. Vintage clothing is a-ok!
4. Anything you’ve made by hand is definitely allowed. Get your sewing machines and your kntting needles out, because handmade is definitely in

So most people tailor the pledge to them and I want to do that so here goes:

I, Stevie Tucker, of Beebee's Vintage Dress will not buy any new clothing until May 14th 2013 when I will re-evaluate the pledge. Except underwear/tights, I will sew and knit my own clothing and thrift where possible. I want to do this for myself and for my life in the future. As an extension of the pledge I will ebay and give to charity any of the clothing I no longer need.

*Deep Breath* I'm glad thats out in the open. I think it will be less of a problem than I anticipate. I am going to have a go at sewing underwear but I don't want to exclusively say I will make it all! 

MMM...Days 7-13

I knew I'd get behind with these posts!
There has already been a couple of miss days because I didn't have time to get photos.

 Day 7: The cockatoo blouse, along with a refashioned jumper to cardi again

 Day 9: (for some reason 8 got skipped but i wore my lisette market skirt) This was my Birthday and I wore a re-fashioned zara skirt, which was taken in, shortened and I replaced the zip

Day 10: Bit of a grotty photo but this was my storybook skirt which does get a lot of wear!
Day 11: A refashioned skirt from a maxi dress I used to have and my mccalls cardigan which is miles too big and I never wear!

 Day 13: (Day 12 also got missed for some reason but I wore my lisette barcelona market top)
A reveal for day 13! Unlucky for some, This was a try at colourblocking with Mccalls 5974. I cut a 16 and it was giant. I didn't like the length so i cut it into a top but to be honest the jersey was so thin and cheap it kind of got abandoned. It still doesn't fit properly and probably won't make an appearance after MMM. However I will have another go at this pattern as its easy, quick and looks lovely on others that have made it!

Birthday Loveliness...

I was a very lucky girl for my birthday and after a few of my own acquisitions bought with birthday money and presents I amassed quite a lot of awesome stuff!

Heres all of it in a lovely big pile!

First up are the patterns I got hot patterns 1089 an awesome jersey top and two Debbie Bliss knitting books!

Now to the fabric... Get ready for the overload!!! There's three cotton interlock jerseys,

 Purple, Yellow and Turquoise

Then a coral t-shirting i got at fabricland for £1 per metre! and a slightly thicker jersey in a yummy orchid colour

 Then two ponte's one in teal and another in a kind of aubergine colour. Then I went and raided C&H's remnants...

3m of this fab viscose and another viscose in brown with cute flowers and a sparkly jersey.

Finally there are my presents from Piemaker! 

a stunning hot pink twill, A pale yellow twill and a lovely blue,

Lastly this amazing Liberty poplin! How lush is this?

 I have no idea what I should make with any of it. Except the pink twill. Any suggestions welcome! I am most certainly a fabricaholic!

Giveaway! Birthday and 200 followers...

Yesterday was my 22nd year on this earth. I had a great day and got some awesome stuff followed by an awesome night out to dinner with my darling man. More to come too, as like the queen I kind of get two birthdays.

As my parents and family all live really far away and my cousin shares my birthday, shortly followed by my brother, we have a group birthday when we get the opportunity to all get together which is great!
I was royally spoiled and that deserves its own post later. But I wanted to celebrate for other reasons. While I was AWOL doing uni work I hit 200 followers! You have no idea how thrilled I was! I am so pleased so many people want to read my blog filled with my ramblings. I know I go on about it but I am so grateful for the friends that I've made and the things that i've learnt since starting this blog.
I wanted to thank you all with a giveaway of three patterns. One entry wins all three!
Just be a follower, tweet or pin  if you want an extra entry and let me know you've done it!

Thankyou from the bottom of my heart for following and interacting I'm so lucky to have you!

Me Made May : Days 4,5,6

Happy Sunday Lovely People, Here's what I've been wearing for Me Made May on Days 4, 5 and 6

Day 4 was my Parisian Skirt (salvaged from a dress) which is now oodles too big. Its a shame and I think I'll have to copy out this pattern again as it looks lovely fitted and its been worn to death. 

Skirt: Me Made

Top: GAP Outlet

Cardigan: Thrifted

Belt: Zara

Tights: M&S

Day 5 was my Tnt New Look top. This gets a lot of wear and was a remnant piece of fabric from Dittto. Apparently I never formally blogged it but its been worn in both Me Made challenges before.

Top: Me Made

Jeans: Boden

Cardigan: M&S

Belt and Necklace: Can't Remember

Now onto today! Day 6. I'm not crazy about this outfit its a bit too boho and not fitted enough for my taste. I'm wearing my Cherry Picked top but I decided to get rid of the collar. Its still to big though and doesn't get much wear. The fabric can be a little static-y too. I teamed it with anthro skirt and my refashioned cardi.

                                           Top: Cherry Picked Blouse Simplicity 2936
                                           Skirt: Anthropologie
                                           Cardigan: Refashioned Joules Jumper
                                           Necklace: Too old to remember

The Cake V Icing Debate...

As were in Me Made May Its impossible to look through your me-mades and not think... I have nowhere to wear these clothes.
My last gripe was having nothing to wear together (See Orphans post.) But I also am jumping on board with Tasia about sewing too much  Frosting = (British read icing) not enough cake!
(I hope you enjoyed the top picture as much as I did HAH!)
I am guilty of this, as is pretty much every sewist I think!
Personally when it comes to real baking i'm"all about the cake!"
(loving the Ace of cakes reference?)

I like "cake" items and tops like the Renfrew and other items like my Liberty wrap dress get worn all the time. I'm a colour block girl (in case you hadn't noticed all that brightness burning your eyes,) I can't live without some kind of bright pop of colour. But just because its plain cake doesn't mean it can't have some jam in the middle!

I think that everyones idea of a cake item is different as we all have different styles. For example. Most people would call a plain little black dress a cake item. I own one and its called my funeral dress... Guess what occasions that comes out? My icing isn't necessarily posh items that are too dressy, often its having too much pattern and not enough plain items to balance it.

Cake items for me are good (mostly) plain colour basics like trousers, skirts and tops with nice details. a plain jersey top would be fine but add sleeve bands or a bit of fabric manipulation and its something awesome!
Just take some of the Hot Patterns, New Look and Kwik Sew examples:

Two Jersey styles with lots of possibilities! Plus most of the detailing looks better when you have a plain fabric.

 Then you've got tops where you can play with the sleeve variations or add details like the cute little buttons on Kwik Sew 3616!

These kind of items that can be made in lots of different ways are what I call the Victoria Sponge of Cake Clothing,
Also good basics have to be made from good fabric for me. I currently have a lot of viscose t-shirt jersey and its just too thin for me! Give me a doubleknit with some staying power and i'd be much happier.

So in my attempt to be sewing more cake in the near future, I am not going to be spending money on cheap quality fabric, (interwebz counts as calculated risk.) plus i'm going to attempt to sew items I know I get more wear out of.
I.e. wrap dresses, jersey tops, functional (over fun) skirts, hopefully some trousers, cardigans etc.
How do you see Cake V Icing?

Me Made May: Day's 2 and 3

Well I said I'd update every three days but as you've seen the first one I only have two to give you today!
All the photo's are messed with in terms of saturation and stuff. But no photoshopping, (hence red face, crazy hair etc is all me! The lights been tricky these last few days and its hard to figure it out!

So here's day 2. I went for my stripy Renfrew. I needed to be comfy as I had a three hour exam which went terribly! So by the evening I was not in the most photogenic of moods.

Here's Day 3. Did you notice the new photo spot? The light was rubbish today so the editing didn't help too much. I'm wearing my TNT New Look top and re-fashioned Mustard Cardi (was once a jumper.) Scarf, Brooch and Purple Jeans are all thrifted. The belt was Zara in the sale.

If I could get the light right I quite like this part of the house as a photo space. Its a shame on every spare wall we seem to have a radiator!

I'd love to know what you think of the new poses/new photo space/outfits!

As I said "At Dawn We Dress Handmade..."

                                                        Happy May everyone!

Its not quite so gleeful as my birthday month would usually would have me, as I have an exam tomorrow worth 10% of my entire degree. (shhh, trying not to stress myself. Too late now.)
But none the less! It is the start of Me Made May 12. This is a challenge and a half for me this time and I'm sure you'll be seeing some quite comical photos of me in me-mades that look like i've shrunk in the wash.
Its all part of the fun. Here is one such skirt. Day one I went for my Sonia Skirt teamed with a modal jersey top that I shortened and took in (clearly not enough.) The cardi is rtw GAP (outlet)
As you can see I went for a bit of a twist on the usual empty fireplace pose. I'm going to use MMM as an excuse to find a perfect photos spot in my house, so keep an eye out if you see an angle you like.
We've moved the living room about a bit and my lovely wingback, inherited from my darling Auntie Karen sits nicely in that corner with the lamp. Perfect for curling up with a book!

I'm not going to post every outfit everyday. I know I freak when my blogger feed explodes around a me-made-month! I'll try and do one post per three days but i'm sure i'll end up doing catch ups!
Happy Me Made May Everyone! x