Me-Made-May 2015: Days 25 – 31

… And just like that, all 31 days of May have gone by, and with it a whole month of celebrating me-made clothing! This week saw me keeping to my pledge (well, for the most part) and wearing at least one me-made garment a day for 6 out of the 7 days of the week.

Monday, 25 May 2015

A repeat of my Lindy petal skirt on Monday, I didn’t manage to get a picture of it as I was running late and… I had worn the exact same outfit pairing a couple of days before so I wasn’t too fussed about documenting it.

Tuesday, 26 May 2015

I whipped out my denim pleated pencil skirt for one more last hurrah before the end of the month and paired it with a black RTW shell top. (I really need to start making more of these generic tops)

Thursday, 28 May 2015

Way back in September last year, I sewed up a wearable muslin of By Hand London’s Sabrina dress, and due to all the fitting problems I had with it, I ended up hacking a lot of it up. (I was also a little too intimidated to attempt to remake the full dress pattern again – if you’ve been a regular reader, you’d have seen my hack of the Sabrina dress into a crop top here and here.)

The result is this dress I wore on Thursday, it’s got princess seams that are part of the pattern(still a bit too big in the bust) and a waistline seam that isn’t (from when I removed length from the bodice). It’s wearable, but it’s not my favourite because of the fit and the crummy $2/m fabric I used to make it. I can’t wait to get round to making a proper version of this dress so I can upcycle / bin this one!

That being said, if anyone has any tips from removing bodice length from a princess-seamed dress with no waist seam, PLEASE share them!! I would love to find out how best I should go about doing this!

Friday, 29 May 2015

Fridays at my office are casual business wear, and since I was already in a holiday mood for the long Vesak day weekend, I decided it was time to bring out the party workwear – the Itch to Stitch Emily Culottes. I mostly resisted wearing my pair earlier on in the month because I had gotten it into my head that the broadcloth I had used tended to crumple very easily (and crisply) and would leave lots of butt creases on my behind – a big no-no for client meetings!

As with the Sabrina muslin I wore on Thursday, it seems that it was all in my head (I tend to do that a lot). By the time evening rolled around I had realised that the fabric wasn’t creasing as crisply as I remembered and that any wrinkles that set in were quite soft and looked just like they were worn in from a day of wear. These culottes will definitely be joining my work wardrobe rotation!

Saturday, 30 May 2015

Back to the good ol’ chevron skirt for the 2nd last day of MMM, plus a bright hot pink blouse for good measure. I guess my dog got sick of me wearing the chevron skirt because she’s clearly not impressed with it…

Sunday, 31 May 2015

This By Hand London Flora dress has been one of those projects that I started 3 weeks ago but has been left sitting on my sewing table while life caught up with me. But in view of the impending Indie Pattern Month and the indie dress pattern competition running in the first week, I took some time out to finish it off yesterday and this morning, and promptly wore it to church not more than 15 minutes after I had finished pressing it.

I’ll have a post with more information on the Flora dress coming up tomorrow (plus an entry to the Dresses category of Indie Pattern Month) so be sure to come by tomorrow if you’ll like to read about that!

As a bonus, I spent a lovely Sunday afternoon in my brand new Flora taking in one of Singapore’s best attractions like a tourist – the two conservatories at Gardens by the Bay. Here are some iPhone snaps to entice you guys to come visit my sunny (and very, very humid) island!

All in all, I’m really glad I took the time to participate in Me Made May this year! (Thanks Zo!) I’ve gotten to meet some really lovely people both here and on instagram through MMM and have learnt a lot about my style and preferences. Here are my biggest take-aways that I will definitely be keeping in mind when I choose my next sewing projects:

1. I NEED more white button-up shirts and generic black A-line or pencil skirts for work. I have only one court-appropriate me-made garment (a black skirt)!

2. More tops! Some shell tops would be great and suitable for both work and casual wear – I’m thinking the Sewaholic Pendrell pattern view C? Also I could benefit from a smart looking cardigan / blazer that is comfortable for long hours in the office – the Grainline Morris blazer in black ponte knit anyone?

3. More dresses! I have way too many skirts, it’s time to make some dresses!

4. Sew all the knits – this month I fell in love with knit garments and how easy they are to whip up! There are a couple of Kitchy Coo Lady Skaters in my future, you can count on it!

PS. Am I the only one who has been buying patterns left right and centre? With all the discounts going on for Indie Pattern Month, new release sales and Memorial Day / Queen’s Birthday sales, I’ve found myself buying and researching new patterns every other hour! I’m currently deciding between True Bias’ Hudsons and Named’s Alexandria Peg Leg Trousers for a pair of woven slimline trousers for casual wear – if anyone has any input / recommendations for that do drop me a comment below!