MMM - Day 11 and a new Tiramisu

Day 11 of Me-Made-May was a reasonably warm day in Nashville and I was able to take this dress out of my suitcase finally!

This is my second Tiramisu, my first (blogged here) was reasonable successful when first made, but over time has stretched and stretched and now is not looking so great. Still comfy as heck but I don't really leave the house in it too much now.  The fabric has a lot of looseness to it and when it stretches, it doesn't bounce back. Aaah, the things we learn from fabric choice.

My second version I made a little differently. I cut a size 35 bodice but with an inch off the bottom. I also took just over an inch off the depth of the waistband (since I am a shortie). This fixed some of the fit issues I had on the first version. Instead of following the pattern marking, I draped the bodice on to get the bodice to sit right. I also ended up running in the side seams by about 1.5"and now, finally, I am happy with the fit.

Also as before I omitted the pockets, whilst I love pockets, I didn't want to add them, stick my hands in them and stretch the dress out of shape.

My best improvement this time was my choice of fabric, a high quality cotton rayon with a small amount of spandex.  I think the spandex has really helped the fabric to keep its shape rather than stretching indefinitely.

With these changes I am now really happy with this pattern, I love the swooshy skirt and the flattering neckline, plus the dress can easily be super casual or dressed up.

I hope you are all enjoying Me-Made-May!

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MMM - Days 6-10

So far Me Made May is going well but I am definitely learning my wardrobe shortcomings and where I need to focus going forward.

MMM is also really good for getting me to blog some of the items I haven't previously blogged as I didn't feel they deserved their own posts.

So, onto what I wore and some things I have learnt so far:

Day 6

Skirt - Kelly skirt 

Top - Coppelia Cardi by Papercut, to be blogged soon 

From prolonged wear, I have realised this skirt is still too big around the waist and I really should have used a stiffer interfacing to stop the waistband stretching further. I have already altered this once and am not super keen to pick it apart again...hmmm hot wash perhaps?? BTW - the picture is taken at our gorgeous B&B we stayed at in Kentucky, a historical mansion. 

Day 7

 

My Lorna Suzanne cardi blogged here.
I love this cardi, although the collar means I can't wear it with any of my Banksia tops as collar on collar looks weird. The three quarter sleeve also limits wearability. I still love the pattern though.
Psst...check out the brekky, yum-o, this is what we got served in the morning at the B&B!
Day 8

Top - Colette pattern Sorbetto Skirt - BurdaStyle Denim skirt
I love this skirt and wear it loads, it seems to go with everything and makes a nice change from jeans.
Day 9
 

Skirt - Kelly skirt again from above Top - Hole-y moly Banksia
Day 10
Ok, so this day I kinda cheated! We went to Mammoth Cave on this day and the caves are really cold, so I wore long cargo pants and a thick jumper, not made by me at all, but practical and warm. I didn't pack for super cold weather and so didn't really have any much warm with me, besides what if I got my nice me-made things dirty? So we walked a lot and exhausted when I got to the hotel I changed into my Pjs which I remembered I did make! Not previously blogged as I didn't fancy posing on the internets in my jammies, but you get the idea!

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Finished Lorna Suzanne Cardi

Finally after ten months of knitting, I have finished! I didn't knit this exclusively, but I stopped and started so many times it took me ages. I am so happy with the end result though, it has some great details. I think if I had knitted it more constantly it would have only taken a couple of months, but I was also knitting the Emilie (not yet finished), and I made a couple of hats, gloves and a couple of scarves. My Ravelry name is Sundar if you wanna go check them out and/or friend me!

This pattern is Lorna Suzanne by Ellen Mason, knitted from the bottom up but all in one piece. I love that there are no seams to sew up at the end. I used Cascade 220 bought overseas last year. It knits up beautifully, is super comfy to wear and not scratchy at all.

The fit is true to size - I knitted a straight 38.5, my usual size and the sizing is perfect.

I learnt a few new techniques with this one, grafting (for under the arms), a better way for picking up stitches for the collar and button bands and how to block effectively.

The only thing I could improve for next time is my cast off of the collar, it is a little firm and I had to steam it like crazy to get the collar not to curl!

I love this new addition to my wardrobe, I hadn't worn it before as it isn't winter in Brisbane yet, but took it with me on my USA trip and the weather was perfect for it this week!

Now on my needles, the Emelie and the Miette. I started the Miette this week and it is progressing quite quickly so I am hoping to finish this in a lot less time than the Lorna Suzanne as my Ravelry queue is getting out of control! 

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MMM - Days 2-5

So rather than do a weekly roundup as I don't know where I will be or if I will have Internet access I thought I would just post whenever I can.

Day 2

Colette Sencha blouse with jeans

Day 3

So this is how I look after 20 or so hours of travelling from Brisbane to Chicago - terrible! The top is my oversize top previously blogged here, it is super comfy for travelling.

Day 4

Sightseeing in Chicago in yet another previously unblogged Banksia.  This MMM is really getting through my unblogged items, yay!

Day 5

The "bean" sculpture in Millennium Park - very cool. Me in the same Banksia as yesterday and Burdastyle denim skirt.

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MMM - Day 1

It has begun! Me Made May '13 that is.

Short and sweet, here is my previously unblogged Burda Style top with Simplicity skirt 2698.

And now the back...

Are you all off to a good start too?

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