Finished, Fixed & Farewell - Me Made May Successes

May was a whirlwind of sewing. Two bank holidays, an afternoon stitching session at The Stitchery and lots of snatched hours in the lighter evenings led to lots of sewing for me, and I've been busy.

I took part in Me Made May on Instagram because I've found that to be an enjoyable and easy way to participate, without committing myself to 'proper' photos on the blog. That's been fun but the most useful and impactful aspect of MMM has been my additional pledge to clear my 'Cube of Shame' aka my pile of mending, restyling and unfinished sewing. Here's a round up of what I achieved:

Finished!

1. I got this wax print cotton from Helen of Grosgrain Green in a swap last year. I love the green but it's definitely a bonkers print, complete with pink glittery dots. Last summer I started making a gathered skirt then somehow lost the momentum with it. I was nearly all the way there too, all I had to do was sew on the waistband, add a zip and hem it. I used Gertie's Dirndl Skirt Tutorial as the basis, adding a wider waistband and side seam pockets.

It's definitely a wild fabric but it actually matches the original vision I had, so I am really delighted. It's perfect for summer but as summer seems to be pretty slow in coming around, it also brightens up cloudy, dull days too.

Fixed!

Inside of dress with newly-stitched side seams and addition to facing

2. I let out the bodice side seams of this vintage dress to maximum capacity as it was too small. I re-stitched just beside the original overlocking and had to add a bit of extra fabric at the armhole facings as the facing seam allowance was smaller than the dress seam allowance. It's not neat - but it works, and you can't see it from the outside

Scissors pointing to rip

3. This 40s/50s vintage shirtdress is another favourite. The fabric is pretty faded and fragile and has already been mended in several places, by a previous owner and by me. This time I used fusible interfacing to reinforce an underarm rip (see above, pre-fix) and was also introduced to good quality woven interfacing by Cassandra at The Stitchery, where they sell it. I'm converted - this stuff is gorgeous and well worth buying.

4. Reinforced holes in the knees of my jeans. These are Gap jeans, actually now about 8 years old

5. Fixed a hole in my husband's jeans (this was a bonus as they weren't even in the cube of shame but I was feeling generous)

6. Overlocked the seams of my leopard print Colette Crepe wrap dress, which had previously been pinked but the fabric proved to be a bit unravelly. I also sewed the facings down a bit better. I don't wear the dress much but don't feel ready to get rid of it. Not least because the wrap style is a forgiving fit!

7. Sewed a skirt button back on (again, not strictly in my pile, but related)

Farewell!

8. Stripy 50s shirtdress - I never wore it because the neckline wasn't my style. In an attempt to make it more contemporary, I shortened the sleeves and planned to use smaller buttons. I tried cutting off the collar to reshape the neckline but it wasn't working because there was too much fabric. I salvaged a bit of fabric, the buttons and zip, and the rest went in fabric recycling.

9. Wool dress made from gorgeous turquoise and black houndstooth lambswool - Too small, even to refashion into a more wearable skirt so off to the charity shop. I'm gutted though, that fabric is so beautiful and it was lined. Wah

10. Brown pattern dress - now a bit small and I dunno, I wasn't feeling it any more. I think it looks better in the photo because I was always aware that it was made from a slightly faded duvet cover. Off to the charity shop. Now I've re-read my original blog post about how much I loved it though, I feel a bit sad!

11. Red skirt from fabric I bought in New York (can't find the blog post) - I loved this skirt but it was always a bit small and now with a bigger waistline, no chance of fitting. Was going to charity shop it but I think I'll salvage the fabric to make something else, probably a toddler dress or similar.

So that makes a total of 11 items dealt with throughout the month. There were 2 skirts I didn't get around to altering but overall, a good result.

I'll share my newly sewn garments in a separate post since they deserve a spotlight of their own.

How have you found Me Made May? Did you make any similar pledges?

K x