Friday 2 June 2017

My Maiden Me-Made-May.

I like blog posts with photos. So here is an outfit I sewed for a friend`s 80s themed  party a couple of years ago that I did not blog about. I also did not wear this  for  MMM17 . The suit is made out of taffeta and sounds as loud as it looks !! 

I just finished my first ever MeMadeMay made possible by joining Instagram. Prior to that trying to actively participate was too hard because loading up photos to Flickr takes a long time but Instagram is so easy. Take a photo on your phone or iPad and then load up on the app.
I have unofficially joined in past years by wearing my home made clothes and checking out the flickr or instagram or whatever social media MeMadeMay was on so I was very happy to be a part of this huge , incredible movement celebrating and encouraging home sewing.

Another unrelated MMM17 photo . This is my ( incomplete) collection of button front shirt patterns. I have made most of the patterns. Can you tell I like sewing shirts ?

So here are my deep and meaningful thoughts on MMM17 and wearing home made clothes in general.
It is rare that I don't wear something home made on a daily basis.
It is rare that I wear all home made clothes though.
I feel strange when I don't wear something home made ( incomplete perhaps ?) but that sounds a bit odd.
I managed to wear something different everyday and only repeated my orange cardigan ( I did wear RTW jeans and trackies on multiple days ) twice.
I still had a couple of jackets , a skirt and several shirts/ tops that were seasonally appropriate that I did not wear but  could have worn for MMM17 .
A combination of loving sewing, sewing for a loooong time , keeping my home mades and a stable weight over my lifetime means I have a lot of home sewn clothes.
Perhaps this means I have too many clothes but apart from the blue dress on day one and the suit on day 31 and my brand new Burda tie front shirt all of the clothes have been worn many times so perhaps I don't have too many ?
Lots of my clothes I wore are very old ,like even over 10 years old but I still enjoy wearing them.
I did a little clothes cull though as a result of MMM17. The blue dress on day one went as well as a matching jacket and a scarf.
MMM17 made me get out of bed earlier so I could get a family member to take a photo.
I am terrible at taking selfies !
I again enjoyed looking at everything else people had made.
I don`t know if I will officially join in with MeMadeMay again but I sure had fun completing the challenge.
Happy Sewing everyone.

The little photo I have next to my blogger name is actually this photo of a Kookaburra sitting in ( an old ) gum tree next to my old home. I thought there might be one person in the universe to wonder  what the strange blogger photo is all about. 
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11 comments:

  1. Congrats on celebrating MMM17, and enjoying the things you have made. I hadn't noticed the bird pic before(l eavesdrop on your blog frequently to see what you are up to) but I know that old song about the old gum tree- thanks for the memory! And of course the pic- we don't have those in the US so I didn't know what we were singing about.

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    1. Thankyou ! We used to sing Kookaburra sings in the old gum tree all the time at school. I just love the birds so much . One got trapped in our greenhouse once and I was quite nervous about catching it to release it. They have very large beaks ! But no I think it realised I was helping it and was very quiet. Compare that to the parrots who got trapped and used to sink their sharp beak in my fingers and would not let go even after I had taken them outside and opened my hands to release them !!

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  2. You did very well with MMMay17. Unfortunately I did not see all your posts due to something in life cropping up. But what I did see was all very nice. I don't know how you manage to keep garments 1o years though - you must look after them well.

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    1. Sarah I admire how dilligent you are to liking , commenting etc to everyone's posts. I don't know how you do that !!! But you are very kind and nice to do so but do look after yourself and don't worry about that. I am gentle on my clothes. I take my work clothes off and change into around the house clothes, I hand wash knits etc. But I also keep clothes I think longer than others would and have to be remind myself it is OK to chuck them out. By 10 years shirts are getting damaged but jeans usually only last a few years at the most.

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  4. Hi Janine, I'd like to follow you on Instagram. Could you please let me know your Instagram name? Congratulations on completing MMM17. It's quite a commitment.

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    1. Hi Anna , I will leave a comment on your blog !

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  5. Hmm. I made a comment yesterday but don't see it. The puffed sleeves, the shiny fabric, the big shoulders.. so 80's. I'm glad you said it was for a party ;) I had a dress out of shiny, flocked taffeta and I called it Russell. I'm impressed with your shirt pattern collection and that you've made them all!

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    1. Haha! I used a really old burda pattern for the jacket. I didn't worry too much about the sewing because it definitely was for a party so it was lots of fun to sew. The big gold and pearl buttons I had used on a jacket for myself and I paid a bit for them so was glad to recycle them. The taffeta is flocked too ! It is John Kaldor and I found it as usual from the op shop. It would have been very expensive fabric I'm sure originally and I wondered what the original owners had in mind.

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  6. Congratulations on your maiden MMM. I gave it a miss this year, but may try out Instagram for next year.
    80s taffeta! Everyone could hear you coming. Our Year 12 formal was a festival of taffeta. It's amazing we could hear the music that night.
    I had an almost identical outfit to yours, in the same colour in the 80s. Mum made it for me to wear to a wedding, and I can remember the cost of the fabric - $21. Thanks for the memories!

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  7. Congratulations on completing your first Me-Made-May! I LOVED following you and seeing your beautiful handmade wardrobe. What a sweet story to go with your sweet Kookaburra photo. :)

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