MMM#16 catch up and a little bit of sunshine

So I have to admit to not doing very well on the MMM challenge since last time I checked in with you all. I have been wearing my owl pj bottoms last week.

This material was left over from a dress my husband made me for a bet in Germany, (It's actually a great dress and has been worn on more than one occasion), it had been waiting for a project to come to me. I finally decided after sewing pyjamas for everyone else in the household I would make some for me. I used Lauren's pattern from her Learn to Sew book and was pleased with my contrasting pockets, I am the first of us to have pockets in my homemade sleepwear. I could have made the elastic an inch longer but it's OK and I love them anyway.

I have also pulled out a top which while I didn't sew it I did refashion it from a dress that didn't fit anymore. I don't have any pictures, I will have to work on that. It was a dress I bought for a wedding years ago and then I had children and it never really fitted again but I liked the fabric so I chopped it up a bit. I am not sure it entirely counts but it's all I've got this week. Now the sun seems to be out I will try and be a bit more MM next week.

As the sun has graced us this weekend we did a spot of den building in the garden.

It's not quite finished but everyone was feeling a bit tired, we had to clear around the base of the tree before hauling the branches over from the uncut log pile. But it was a lot of fun and the three smalls enjoyed it a lot.

Enjoy the sunshine. I'll see you soon.

Procrastination. . . and some MMM#16

Today is all about not doing the washing up. I washed the same dishes every day for the last week, it's really boring! So instead I have sorted out a present for madam to take to her first pre school party tomorrow and wrapped it and also wrapped a present for oldest son to take to his sleep over tomorrow. I have played on Pinterest and watched some crafting TV. I know I really ought to do the house work but it's such a nice day.

I thought I would also mention my second MMM day which was yesterday when I wore a tunic I made with fabric I bought in London last year at Knit and Stitch, well actually I think it may have been on Goldhawk Rd after Knit and Stitch I can't quite remember now.

It was my first (and only) invisible zip and I used the Willow Tunic from Serendipity. I LOVE her patterns. I own three but there are many more I would like to add to my pattern library at some point.

As I mentioned before I don't have a mirror to show you the outfit but I wore the tunic with some dark grey skinny jeans my MIL bought me last year from Monsoon, black ballet shoes and a bracelet I made several years ago which happened to match the fabric perfectly.

This is an old picture I took when I made the tunic. It's not the best picture.

I was pleasantly surprised in the playground as I had lots of compliments from people and I did enjoy being able to say I made it when they asked where it came from.

How is your sunny Friday going?

MMM 16

I hesitantly joined in with Me Made May last year and it was a lot of fun. I haven't made an official MMM pledge this year but I am going to attempt a two to three times a week goal. I say this as most of my made clothes are summery and the weather just hasn't been playing ball recently.

The other issue is we don't have a mirror, last year we had a full length mirror in the bedroom and I used this for pictures but since moving we just have one small bathroom mirror. This doesn't effect the wearability but it does mean I won't be able to share the challenge with you pictorially.

Today I am wearing the skirt I made last year from the bags of fabric I was gifted by a school Mum with a long length purple jumper with 3/4 sleevs, faux fur body warmer and a necklace that was a free gift from Amazon for messing up on an order.

The skirt is this one.

This was from last years MMM. It's quite a heavy fabric that was I understand used as tunics for some costumes made by the mother of the lady who gave me the fabric. I loosely used the Tilly and the Buttons pattern from her book but just in shape, I scrapped the waistband and put in a lapped zip on the side. It is one of my successful hash ups, I decided in an afternoon I was going to make it and wore it on the school pick up, I had lots of compliments and I still love it now.

So that's me for today. I'll be back later in the week with another update.

I look forward to reading about what you have all been up to.

Renovation in progress. . .

I haven't been about much recently as we are mid mess. Renovating is time consuming and really dusty. I should of course know this from my childhood as lots of it was spent playing in the dust with putty and off cuts of wood. However after spending almost six months with a cooker, sink and one half cupboard I am quite excited at this.

It's all a bit chaotic still as I am not sure where to put things in my new found space, and I envisage things will be moved more than once, I need handles and tiles, paint and a floor but you know I am just happy with cupboards for now. At one point I did actually open and shut my friends cupboards in her kitchen just because I hadn't had any for so long I felt the urge to.

All this work means I haven't done much crafting, also the fact that we had to move all the kitchen stuff out into the living room so the new units could be stored in the yellow room while we fitted them gradually means I can't actually reach my table but it's getting better.

So that's what I have been up to. How about you?

RAOK - March

I was thinking of what I would do this month for my RAOK as nothing had really sprung to mind so far. We had a big a clear out and I boxed up lots of bits for Fiji as a work mate of my husband is collecting items to send to friends and family put there but that didn't seem quite right as this was something we would have done anyway and my challenge was to do something we may not have done normally. I made a cushion, bag, skirt, bracelet and necklace for the PTA but again it didn't seem quite enough. Then while we were out today I managed to slip it in.

We were at a National Trust property completing the Easter Trail and had popped in the shop for ice cream. A man was asking about getting cashback or a cashpoint so he could get some money for his son to do the trail but he was told their was no cashpoint and no cashback option.

On a whim I gave him the money, he tried to protest but I just asked him to please take it but to do something nice for someone else when he could. He said he would, thanked me and took his son off to the start of the trail. Both the shop managed and cashier were taken aback by this but hopefully it might make them think of doing something for someone else one day.

I don't usually have a lot of change so this is not something I would normally be able to do but I am pleased that today on such a beautiful day I was able to complete my RAOK this month and make a little boy happy.

I hope everyone is enjoying the lovey weather this weekend. We certainly are.

Frozen fever

As the handful of you who visit on a regular basis will remember we went to America last summer to see some of my husbands family. And of course to shop for fabric. And I have slowly been working through our haul, various pj's for children and husband, skirts and dresses for madam and shirts for the boys. There is still a fair bit left and all the stuff for me that hasn't been used yet.

Yesterday during preschool I traced off the pattern for another free pdf dress, this is a cross over dress I found on Craftsy which goes from age 2-6. I traced off age 4 and hoped it would suffice. During naptime I got cutting, I decided after months of wondering what was the perfect pattern for Anna and Elsa I would just cut and hope. As it's reversible I choose a fabric I wasn't sure I was going to use that came in a bundle for the reverse, it's Michael Miller print. I actually really like it now. The pattern I had was very easy to make, similar to the Squashed Peas and Carrots one if you have seen that. And it didn't take long at all. I top stitched all around when closing and the thread ran out, luckily I had some very, very similar to finish off with. It doesn't photograph that well flat but she wanted to wear her 'Skellington' skirt today. (Which you may have read about before).

The front of the dress, looks like any A.line dress front really.

The back cross over part of the dress. Here you can see our Michael Miller lining, the Kams on this side are a matt green to coordinate with the fabric. 

She is very happy with the dress and so am I. More stash used not that you seem to see the difference in the pile. I may need a sewing marathon to get through it all.

How is your week progressing?

Labour of Love

When our friends asked us to be the only Godparents to their son we couldn't have been more flattered. And on a crazy whim I suggested that they asked all their guests to bring a piece of fabric and I would make a blanket for him as a memory of the day.

I went home with lots of fabric and no plan at all. A year and a half later and I have finally finished. It's by no means perfect, I have a lot to learn, but it was made with love.

So on to the next project. :)