Yesterday my Moda blouse got an outing, it now has a reprieve.  I wore it untucked over a navy straight skirt but with the addition of a leather belt. Almost as you see in the picture, but I hope a little more life like, although that can’t be guaranteed these days.

I also finished the first of the Summer School dresses for grand-daughter Carrie, who is seven in two weeks time she tells me. Boring as they usually are, I tried to make hers unique by giving it a heart shaped pocket. This is partly because it is fun, but also because Carrie has already had two open heart surgeries and is such a brave little darling that she certainly holds all our hearts I thought a little badge of honour wouldn’t go amiss. Buttons are little daisies and I made gingham bias binding for the collar. I didn’t have a pattern but as full skirts aren’t encouraged I put in a little lower waist band and a four front pleats, the back has an inverted centre double pleat and that’s it. Not much to say about school dresses is there really?

We are now officially one quarter of the way through the me-made wardrobe year. I am amazed at how the time has flown by. I have made 25 items. 19 for me and 6 for the littlies. That is an average of 8-ish items per month, but January was by far the most productive month and March the least so. This could be because [a] I now have enough ‘me-mades’ to be able to say that I have worn my own handmade garments every day. Some days everything I wear has been made by me [other than tights or shoes] [b] these months are the coldest months, so it is a time that is mostly spent indoors, although paradoxically March was colder than December, January or February, but by that time I had quite a few items already made,but really the main reason that production is slowing down a bit is that I have now got to grips with the machine, feeling almost a fondness for it whereas before it had the shape of an ogre to me, I had come to much prefer hand sewing.  I am now  concentrating on finishing in the couture sense. There comes a time when just being able to put a garment together is not enough. It is only the beginning, then you have to address the issues of individual fit and finish. For those who have no paint to watch drying, and knowing my fondness for lists, here is the list of me-makes so far this year;

For me; 8 blouses;    3 skirts;       4prs. briefs;   2 bras;   1pr.socks [knitted] 1pr.lounge trousers [jersey]. [19]

For littlies; 1 coat; 2 School pinafore dresses; 1pr.School trousers; 1 shirt; 1 School Summer dress. [6]