May 2020 – Broad in the seams

May 29, 2020May 29, 2020

Marsala Merino Pembroke

I cut out this Cashmerette Pembroke and sewed it up over the course of a couple of hours last night, after many months of thinking how nice it would be to have a merino turtleneck in exactly this shade (a perfect match for my marsala linen Zadie Jumpsuit)

This Marsala Premium Merino from The Fabric Store has been burning a hole in my stash and was purchased in anticipation of being used on the winning pattern from my ‘perfect merino turtleneck throwdown‘ back in April. I got some great feedback from Jenny from Cashmerette about some changes to the pattern for my next version, but since that required printing out a new version of the pattern (I never trace), I just went ahead and made exactly the same version as when I toiled the pattern.

I sewed a pretty ‘straight-from-the-packet’ Cashmerette Pembroke I sewed a size 20 at the bust, grading out to a size 22 by the hips. Although there was a lot of wrinkling in my previous version, this merino is a lot heftier and I like the end product a lot more than I did my test version.

Sewing knit necklines is my nemisis, so sewing on a turtleneck is the perfect way to skip that headache. I can definitely see myself making at least another couple of these in a few different colours, especially since I think they’ll be perfect for layering under summery linen makes.

May 17, 2020May 17, 2020

Nullarbor Cami

Nullabor Cami — A rayon Nullarbor Cami and tencel Glebe Pants

Today we’ve released our Nullarbor Cami and Dress Pattern for pre-sale!

Leila and I have got lots of patterns in the works right now, and this cami top and dress is one of them. There’s 3 views in this pattern: a cami cut on the straight grain, a bias cut cami and a bias cut dress and the great thing is that the pattern takes so little fabric!

I made this bias cut cami from 1 metre of a 150cm wide remnant! I’m also planning to make a bias cut dress which will only use 2 metres of 150cm wide fabric for my size.

The cami has bra-friendly straps, if you care about that kind of thing and I’m keeping my eyes open for remnants of fabric, whereas before I really thought there wasn’t much I could do with a metre of fabric!

I just popped together an email newsletter for the Muna and Broad subscribers, and they’ve received a discount code to get the pattern. Sign up here to get the code!

May 17, 2020May 17, 2020

Week 2 of MMMayPlus2020

I think my main takeaway from week 2 of Me Made May is how much my indecision about shoes slows down getting dressed in the morning. Since I’ve been working from home, I haven’t fundamentally changed the things I wear but not having to choose shoes that are the right fit for my day ahead removes a huge burden!

A couple of days this week I felt that I didn’t even have the time to head outside my front door and snap some pictures (usually takes me about a minute if that’s an indication of how slammed for time I felt), so I took some even quicker snaps in my cane chair (which I sit cross-legged in as my work-from-home desk)!

A couple of days this week, I wore some forthcoming Muna and Broad patterns that I’ve been sewing up over the weekends and evenings in order to ‘wear test’. The Nullabor Cami is a forthcoming pattern which uses 1 metre of fabric for most sizes! There’s also an option for a bias cut dress, which uses 2 metres of 150cm fabric at my size (which i’m thrilled about)! The shirt is one of the view available in our forthcoming Waikerie Shirt pattern- I love that I’m slowly building a collection of patterns in my stash that I can use to make the relaxed natural fibre clothes that I wanted so desperately to buy but which weren’t available in my size.

I’m not sure if May will see me return to the office- this could create some logistical concerns for my outfits, both in terms of my no-outfit-repeat pledge, and my indecision with shoes!

May 10, 2020May 10, 2020

Week 1 of MMMayPlus2020

My aim for Me Made May this year is to keep track of my outfits and not repeat an outfit. I’m hoping that this will help me identify items I wear a lot, gaps in my wardrobe and new combinations of my existing clothes.

MMMay2020 — Above, Willandra Pants and a hacked Torrens Box Top, both Muna and Broad patterns

I started off on day 1 with grand plans of sketching each of my outfits. This plan quickly evaporated as I realised that I was going to be very busy coordinating things for FatSewing.Club!

I also moved photo location from inside my dimly lit sewing room to outside the front door of my apartment. I take about 30 second each morning to take 2 or 3 selfies using the front camera and timer on my cell phone, and usually don’t get around to posting the photo until I take my first tea break of the morning. This means there’s not much time for anything special (and often I don’t even bother to put shoes on.

OnTuesday, we launched the new Willandra Pants from Muna and Broad, and it was great to be able to share more pictures of them (since I was wearing them a lot before we got in to May as well). The hardest time I had was getting photos over the weekends, as I usually wear a variety of me-made outfits which change throughout the day, depending on what I’m doing.

On Saturday I started sewing while I was still wearing my pyjamas (a PaperTheory LB Pullover in black sweatshirt material and blue Glebe Pants that just didn’t really work in my wardrobe), and then moved in to outfits appropriate for quick try-on sessions with the green cami (above) that I was working on.

So far, it hasn’t been a challenge to dress in me made clothes, especially because I’m working from home where I don’t need to take in to account the temperature of our generally frigid office, or a clothing and shoes match which is appropriate for walking to work (and aforementioned cold office)! All in all, it’s been a nice distraction to spend a little bit more time thinking about my me-made outfit for the day ahead!

May 6, 2020May 6, 2020

Maai Design Willandra Pants

These Willandra Pants in deep-stash tencel from Maai Design is my third pair of Willandra Pants.

I actually won this tencel in a giveaway over a year ago, and I was so excited when it arrived and I waited and waited for the perfect pattern came along, and in the end I pushed away my thoughts about ‘pants shouldn’t be light colours’ (after all, my most worn pants are natural coloured linen Glebe Pants)! and cut in to this gorgeous fabric.

Fabric Use:
I think I had won about 2 metres of this fabric, but it was a very generous cut of fabric. I know I can squeeze a pair of these our of 2 metres of 150cm wide fabric (but I might need to piece together the waistband rather than cut it on the fold), so I’ve got enough of this fabric left for a wee scrap-buster project.

I’m using Me Made May to take daily outfit photos and I’ve pledged to wear no repeat outfits for the month. I’m excited to use the challenge to explore pairing my pants with different (and perhaps surprising colour combinations)!