Me Made May 2022

 

So, right, going to try this again.  Fingers crossed I actually follow through this year.  

I, Altered Zed, pledge to wear Me Mades at least three times a week during May 2022. I will also use this month to do any repairs/alterations/finishing on at least three WIPs/UFOs.

Zed

Me Made May Maybe

 In spite of good intentions, I have once again failed to keep up with any sort of blogging.  I don't know why,  at least not in general.  This past year was more than a bit crap all round and it was hard to keep motivated for anything (and, have to say, so far this year is not great either).  So that's an explaination for the past year, other years? Eh, probably an number of underlying reasons, but I expect the best one is that I prefer to reading over writting.

 I did feel more than a bit envious in November and December when everyone was doing year end reviews of their makes.   I was actually fairly productive in 2020, but so much of what I had done was completely undocumented.  I promised myself to do better about that, with either blog posts or at least a quick Instagram pic. (oh yes, I did set up an Instagram account~mostly so I could see all the Me Made May posts!) but here we are in May and I have no posts and only 5 Instagram pics.  Three of which are not related to anything me made (unless you count the fact that those three were all taken in/from the studio).

 Going forward, I'm going low-key with my participation in Me Made May.   I haven't made a formal pledge but, if I actually wear anything other than ratty t-shirts, elderly yoga pants and rapidly disintigrating RTW acrylic cardigans, I will be sure to document the occasion!

 My current makes are totally and completely boring and not easy to photograph.   But in the spirit of what I hope to achieve going forward, here's some less than stellar photos.

  This is a photo of all three projects I'm working on.  Two tops and a petticoat.   Muslins of course.  Mind the petticoat started as a muslin for a skirt and morphed into what I hope is an actual useable petticoat to use under big skirts.  Because I like a big skirt 😁   The muslin on top is my, 3rd(?) go at making the '40s Style Blouse from Gertie Sews Vintage Casual.  I think this one works and I plan to cut out a wearable muslin soonish.

  This one is my second try at the New Look 6598.  I was thinking I'd have to do a full bust adjustment* (and probably one for a "prominent tummy" too),  but found that the wearing ease (something like 5 inches) and playing with the dart and seam allowance size, gave me the room I need.  I will figure out the whole full bust adjustment thing for myself soon, I just didn't want to do it first on a top where the only front bodice darts were from the hem.  None of my (many) drafting/alteration books addressed this situation.  I do think I should do one more muslin of this one to see if my last few tweeks actually work before I cut into my fashion fabric  (which is now probably considered vintage 😆 ).

All that said,  I've been working with nothing but white and off white for months now, I started the experiment that became the petticoat back in January and worked on that for about 6 weeks straight.  (BTW, if I ever again decide to make something like 740 linear inches of ruffles in fabric that frays if you look at it sideways, someone please take my sewing tools away!)  Not the best thing to be doing when the usual view out the studio window was something like this.

Even though my view has more colour now,

I'm still feeling the need to work on something with a bit more interest.

I'm going to use one of these to make that big skirt experiment that started that whole thing with the petticoat!

* If anyone had told teenage/early 20's me that I would one day need to make adjustments for a "full bust" I'd have laughed them out of the room!

Liza

 

Me Made May Week Four

June already????  May just seemed to fly by.  Or maybe it's losing about a week and a half to "other people's stuff " (not my favourite way to take up time). But, it is what is is.  It did mean a few more oportunities to wear me mades though. 

A quick dash out on the Friday to get a few essentials (pain killers and snacks) on a cool day said t-shirt and jeans.  However, this great cardi over top raised the whole outfit up several levels.  This is a project I started last August, Chocolate and Pistachio (link to Rav project page).  I'd finished it fairly quickly except for the buttons. I struggled to find what I wanted and eventually went with some I found in a quilt shop in the city.  But, as can be seen here, they're not a great match.  They looked like a pretty good match in the store. Reason #683 why not to shop at night.  No way to get a look in natural lighting. Sigh.  I'm on the hunt again and will swap out when I find something better.

Aside from my button issues, I do love this.  I bought the pattern (Carabe) back in May of 2014 and got the yarn (Malabrigo Rios) for it about the same time.  No idea why I didn't start it right away, but I guess everything in it's time, yes?

The next time I went out it was to do a move out inspection, so jeans were the order of the day again, but nothing said I couldn't pair those with a nice top, right?  So here is my first go at the Split Neck T Shirt.  This project pre-dates Ravelry (or at least pre-dates my membership) and I have no notes.   I think I used Misti Alpaca's Cotton which has since been discontinued.  This has held up remarkably well, though it's looking a little rumpled here.  Most photos for this week were taken after wearing and after a few days in the time out corner of my closet.

A day in the city interacting with other people called for something a wee bit dressier.  So, RTW black top and slacks glammed up a bit with Vodka Limeade and accessorized with a me made mask.  This cardi is one that was featured last year as well, so I won't go on about it. I will just note that the yarn is very soft (baby alpaca) and it's got a tendency to shed and pill a bit.  It's not to bad as yet, but I think I should be looking about for a de-pilling tool.

Latter in the week, a day of running about and meeting up with repair people suggested going casual again, so t-shirt and jean capri's but with a cute cardi thrown over to keep from being too casual.  I don't know for absolute certain, but I do think Lyin' Eyes here was my oldest UFO.  Best I could figure out, I had started it in the summer of 2006 and finally finished it this spring.  It's very cute, but OMG what a pain it was to finish/sew up.  I now know just how important it is to have a selvedge edge on a patterned piece.  No wonder it was in the bad knitting box (I didn't remember why, think I blocked it out).  That said, I did finish it, with much encouragement from the folks in the 2020 Project Challenge thread.

 

The yarn is Worsted Cotton and pattern is the Eyelet Cardigan from Blue Sky Alpacas. It's interesting to note the pattern says it was published in 2010, but I found an old blog from 2007 where I was talking about this project.  

I'll have one more post (later this week hopefullly) for the final few days of the month and, perhaps, a bit about what sort of progress I made on my other two goals.  Those are a whole lot less photogenic and are going to make me think.  Probably why I haven't said much about them yet.  

Until then, stay safe.

Me Made May Week Three

So, we're most of the way through May already.  This month is moving much, much faster than April.  Or so it feels that way to me.  I'm posting way late this time. I was originally aiming for the Friday of the week following~not the Friday two weeks later!  

Anyway, on with the show.  I met my goal of wearing Me Mades this week, but just.  I am finding that I have fewer wearable me mades than I really thought.  I must push myself to finish more items.   The first thing up for Week Three is Stash Buster (Rav Link to my project page) a Cassis from Thea Coleman/Baby Cocktails.  This was the perfect thing for a trip into the city on a cool, but dry day.

This cosy cardi featured in last year's Week One.  In fact I think it's the exact same outfit (gah! I'm so predictable).  The one change for this year is a new accessory, a face mask. 

It's actually a Me Made as well.  I debated including it, but well, this is our new reality isn't it? I've made about a dozen of these, I took ideas from a couple of online patterns to put together something that a) I had the materials here in the house for and b) weren't unnecessarily complicated.

The rest of that week was spent hanging about the house, which considering it was not the most pleasant weather, wasn't a bad thing.  I spent time working in the studio (making more masks for one thing) so something warm and easy to move about in was the order of the day.  Me Made May pushed me to look past my flannel pj and my t-shirt and yoga pant routine.  This outfit was just as comfortable and warm as those options, but looked much smarter!

Love Me Again ,which was one of 2020's first projects, started in January and finished in February. I knit it from Berroco's Ultra Alpaca (one of my favourite yarns) in Cyclamen.  I should say the colour is a lot less pink and more red-purple than these photos make it look.  I can not get a good colour picture of this yarn.  Actually, rarely get good colour rendition in my photos.  Pretty sure it's me not the camera in the tablet though.  As shown here, that day I wore it with a RTW t-shirt and leggings.  

This is a pattern I've made before, the Neck Down Hooded Tunic from Knitting Pure and Simple.  My first run at this pattern is below in Week Two.  I don't often make patterns more than once, but this is a really good basic, straight forward knit (and see, useable hood!).

I made this as part of the 2020 Project Challenge on the British Banter discussion board or Ravelry.  One of the challenges was to make a pattern you'd done before, but with some change(s).

So, longer and with a high/low hem.   Love the sweater, but after  few wearings, I'm less thrilled with the high/low hem than I was originally.  I regularly forget I'm really, really, really short.  This is just too long, it flaps around just above the back of my knees and it's weird.  I'm thinking I'll be ripping back the longer bit and re-kntting so both halves of the hem are the same length.  The whole thing will still be longer than my orginal version of pattern, I'm just going to get rid of that high/low thing.

I have been working on/towards my two other Me Made May goals, but that's probably a post for another day.  Until then, stay safe.

Me Made May Week Two

Still not managing to get to this by Friday, but that's okay I guess, need to remember to be gentle with myself.

So here we are looking back on Week Two.  I made my goal of wearing me mades twice.   I had to do another run into the city on a less than lovely day early in the week, but it no one but family was going to see me, so comfy and casual was the order of the day. So I reached for jeans and a hoodie that I've had for some time.  

This was the featured item on Week Three of 2019, but back then I had a lot I couldn't remember about it.  I knew the pattern, but not much else. Since then I've been doing some deep digging into old blogs and found a post on this from September 2008(!).  The pattern is  the Neck Down Hooded Tunic from Knitting Pure and Simple. The yarn is Marjaana from Schaefer Yarns (now, sadly, out of business) in the Mary Breckinridge colourway.

This has been a great wearable (it's even survived an accidental run through the washer and dryer-thanks for doing the laundry kids-not!).  However, in doing photos for this, I came to realize it's starting to show it's age.  It's not past wearing, but maybe it's time for it to be an "at home only" garment.

I spent the rest of this week at home and the temptation to just live in sweats and/or pj's right now is really strong.  Having my goals set for this month really helps with movtivating me to actually get dressed!   This next outfit is still, technically, just jeans and a t-shirt, but it's a step (or two) up from what I have been wearing.

RTW jean capris (the weather was better this day) and a Split Neck T Shirt for Women , another Knitting Pure and Simple pattern.  I have quite a few of their patterns, I find them easy to follow and they make good, simple basic garments that will fit me with few (if any) changes.  These patterns were my introduction to top down and seamless knitting.  What a revelation that was!

I've actually made this pattern before, so I knew to make just a few changes.  First was to add an inch or so to the length (I just tried it on and kept knitting 'till it looked right) and I added an extra ridge to the garter stitch neckband (personal preference).

In an interesting aside,  this is one of the projects I swatched for during Me Made May '19.  Oh and the yarn used here is Denim Cotton Recycled from Lang Yarns in Petrol.

So that's the Week Two review, I've been focusing some on my other goals the last week or so and hope to have something coherent to share on that soon.

Me Made May Week One

Doing this one a little late, had hoped to have the weekly summaries up by the Friday following each week, but that didn't happen.  Oh well, such is life.  I met my goal of wearing Me Mades twice a week though, starting right on May 1st.  We were still in self-isolation, but I had to do a thing for work (handover on the doorstep) and thought P.J.'s were not the right look.

First up, is my version of  the Loop Pullover from Knitscene Spring 2013, worn with RTW plain black capris.  I actually swatched for this project during Me Made May 2019.  I knit it Bergereine from Bergere de France.  It's an interesting yarn, surprisingly heavy and it does tend to wrinkle, guess it's the cotton content?  I did leave off the i-cord decorative trim at the neckline.  I found, on my garment at least, the neckline sat very low and the trim would have ended up in an unfortunate place.  Not sure if that's a function of my technique or something that happened as the pattern was sized up.  Not a big deal, I'm still pleased with the final product.

This outfit is what I wore for my first trip back out into the community (which was weird after two solid weeks at home).  It's the Schoolhouse Tunic from Sew Liberated worn with a RTW tank top and denim(ish) leggings. The fabric is some bargin bin 100% unknown fibres (I'm thinking a cotton/poly blend) from our fabric discount chain.  This was my first finished make in 2020, actually finished on January 1st.

I've made this pattern before and worn that version to shreds.  The first one I made I went by bust measurement and made the 18/20 thinking a little loose would be okay.   It wasn't, I ended up taking in the side seams a fair bit.  When I got to doing this version, several years latter, I couldn't remember how much I'd had to alter, so just did my typical "jump in with both feet while flying by the seat of my pants" (awkward and potentially dangerous position I tell you) and made a straight 14/16.  Over all fit is much better, but I do think I need to see about a FBA to get this one to fit just right. Again, happy with the overall result and willing to wear it even if I was originally considering it a potentially (un)wearable muslin.

So that's week one.  Hopefully week two will see a better posting timeline and perhaps some movement towards the other Me Made goals.

Me Made May 2020

                                          Insert Me

                                    Made May 2020

                                      Banner Here

So, I've been thinking about this since Zoe (the mastermind behind the concept) posted back mid-April about this year's event.  This is such a strange and stressful time, I did wonder if taking on something else was a good idea.  But, as I thought about it, I came to agree with Zoe that maybe a little bit of "normal" is just what's needed.  Oh and a reason to get out of my pj's before noon isn't a bad idea either.

I did enjoy participating last year, even if I never did get around to sharing the last week or so.  Real life got in the way and by the time things had settled down, it felt just weird to be posting about it.  I hope nothing similar happens this year, but keeping in mind the watch word this year seems to be "gentle", I'll be gentle with myself if it does.

So with that in mind, my pledge for Me Made May 2020:

I, Altered Zed of Zed Designs, pledge to:

1. Wear at least one me made garment at least twice a week

2. Evaluate my wardrobe for gaps or garments that need replacing

3. Make and document one new garment (sew or knit)

thoughout May, 2020

Oh, and in keeping with the gentle, I won't be worrying about how all my posts look.  This one is a good example.  I'm working from the tablet and still really struggle with a number of tasks.  Normally I'd do final edits from work, but we're currently self-isolating, so that won't be happening any time soon. Cross fingers that I can at least get photos into posts, even if I can't manage to get the banner image to work.