Me Made May Week 2

I had a much better week of documenting my daily wearing of Me Mades this week and am mostly managing to stick to my pledge (hooray, pat on the back for me) and I’m really enjoying it!

My realisation after week 1 that I didn’t wear much colour or many prints hasn’t really altered, that’s obviously just what I like to wear. I obviously subconsciously made an effort though and broke up the grey, black and blue with some stripes! Got to love a good stripe even when they need matching at seams…..

So, here’s what I’m sporting in those pictures from left to right:

TOP ROW

1. Gloriously comfy cuffed version of the trousers from Beginner’s Guide to Dressmaking in heavy drapey viscose jersey and t-shirt version of a new pattern coming later this year (see a dress version of it in week 1).
2. A colour blocked wearable toile in denim effect jersey and grey marl jersey of another new pattern that’s currently in development that will have a lot of versions. The more I work on this pattern, the more ways I come up with to make it. As a designer I love to really fully explore the potential of one pattern rather than constantly churning out new styles. I think this is heavily influenced by my experiences of working in the two extremes of the fashion industry, I wrote a bit about that here.
3. A good old striped Walkley vest – a versatile wardrobe basic, teamed with an a-line version of the Tapton skirt in a heavy denim effect jersey. This skirt is so comfy and just so flattering, I can’t believe I don’t wear it more. It was nice to give my legs an airing that day too.

BOTTOM ROW

1. A half fail this day – I only managed a me-made long sleeved top and vintage Levi’s dungarees as I spent most of the day climbing around in the MIY Workshop window installing a new exhibition of thread art by Brighton artist Michelle Abbott.
2. My beloved and well-worn refashioned shirt dress that I made for last year’s The Refashioners and me-made leggings.
3. A hacked version of the Fulwood dress with lengthened sleeves and the CF and CB pleats moved to the side seams in double stripe viscose jersey, super comfy. And those leggings again.
4. Finally, that striped Walkey vest again, this time teamed with those super comfy trousers again from Beginner’s Guide to Dressmaking. Oh and me-made head/alice band.

I was trying to be a bit more adventurous with my hair too last week and have started making some alice bands and pushed the boat out with a plait. I keep toying with the idea of a fringe, it happens occasionally. I find that if I don’t act on it the idea eventually goes away again! I’ve had one before and I do like them, but I’m just too hair-lazy to keep up with the maintenance they demand.

Anyway, enough about hair, here’s to week 3!

My Favourite Thing for Simply Sewing Magazine

I was really happy to be interviewed for Simply Sewing’s feature called “My Favourite Thing” for this month (issue 14).

It’s on the back page and you might recognise one of my shirt refashions for Portia’s The Refashioners project last summer. I chose it because as well as being really pleased with how it turned out, it’s a project that brings together a lot of my interests and values.

Hope you enjoy reading it (click on the image and it will open full size in another window)!

Not Just Double Denim, TRIPLE Denim Refashioning!

I don’t like to do things by halves. So, when Portia invited me to take part in her fabulous “The Refashioners 2015” project I offered to do not one, but two projects! My first one, the formal bib shirt dress was on Portia’s blog last week.

This week, see how I turned these 3 lovely specimens…….

……into this denim fest!! Read how I did it here.

A Refashioned Dress Shirt

I love men’s traditional formal dress shirts those with the bib fronts, I think that bib section is crying out for a bit of textilian magic and have had ideas buzzing around for a long time, so what more perfect excuse than the Refashioners?!

I was so happy when super creative refashioner extraordinaire Portia asked me to take part in her project and this one is up on her blog today.

I used one of the patterns from my book “The Beginner’s Guide to Dressmaking” as a starting point, read all about how I did it.

Refashioners – My Getting Shirty Projects

Date updates!

My projects for The Refashioners 2015 Get Shirty project will be on Portia’s Makery blog in the next 2 weeks. Teaser shots below!

This one will be up first on Tuesday the 18th August…..

…..then a bit of the old denim stuff on Tuesday the 25th.

Have you been getting shirty and joining in with a bit of refashioning? You should there’s this amazing prize bundle on offer for whoever comes up with the best one. Get those scissors out……

The ReFashioners 2015 – I’m Taking Part

My last series for Sewing World magazine was all about refashioning, so it was fitting when my Instagram buddy Portia Laurie asked me to be a part of her bi-annual project the Refashioners. I must admit to being just a tad flattered when Portia asked me, you’ll see why when you see who all the other participants are (I think it’s safe to say I’m in pretty good company there)!

You can find out more about the history of the project on Portia’s blog here. This year it’s all about shirts and we have all been challenged to make something new out of a shirt or shirts and write a blog post about how we did it. This will result in a post from one of the participants every weekday for the whole of August (you can also follow the progress on social media by using #getshirty).

Here’s a sneaky peep at one of my transformations from Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

Sneaky peep inside #therefashioners2015 #getshirty

A post shared by ✂️Thoughtful Sewing & Making✂️ (@thatwendyward) on Jul 30, 2015 at 2:56am PDT

 

The first of my transformations is going to be on Portia’s blog on Friday 14th August. I’m sort of excited and nervous at the same time!

In addition to keeping you busy reading about the amazing transformations by the participants, you can get involved this year too. Portia has organised an amazing prize package for one lucky winner.

So, are you going to join us? I look forward to seeing what you come up with…