Suzy Patterns: Design Inspiration

The main inspiration behind the next design for Suzy Patterns is the 1950s, the sea and the summer! All elements I adore.
Even though the first years of my life were spent far from the sea (inner Germany to be more precise) I moved to southern Portugal when still a child and remained there until I moved to the UK. Hot weather and the sea were natural and somehow mundane things. Popping to the beach at lunch time for a quick swim or after work was very normal and summer was always from May to September, uninterrupted.

Lazing on the beach with constant trips to the sea for a refreshing swim were a favourite of mine. And I loved the feel and taste of sea salt in my skin.

My parents are not "yacht" rich but I was lucky to have some friends whose parents were and those day trips out to sea were fantastic. On a hot day (proper hot, like at least 30 Celsius. No nonsense talk about 20 Celsius being hot ;)) feeling the wind as you travel by boat and diving in the cool sea water is beyond description.

(Sigh) Now I live in the UK where I am very, very happy but I do miss the hot weather and the sea. And I love to bits my other half but he's with the nonsense crowd of "20 Celsius is so, so hot";). There's no convincing him of Summer holidays anywhere southern of UK.

I decided to bring all these memories, inject some vintage elements I adore and create a pattern for the Summer. I've had delays: had to change design elements 3 times (once quite dramatically), my full time day job is reaching crucial deadlines and key staff has left, meaning many days working 8am to 8pm. I am also organising my wedding and the date for that is fast approaching. Saying that I am hoping I can pull it in time for Summer. Wish me luck!

Me-Made May: Week 3

Me Made May is going so quick and I'm quite happy with how the challenge has been progressing. From the wearing of me-made items perspective only though. Keeping up with the photography challenge is another story.
Monday the 14th, the theme was Eyes and I'm wearing my Late Summer Sorbetto.

Tuesdays' theme was silhouette. Well, the problem with taking a silhouette photo is you can't really see what I'm wearing. For you info, I'm wearing my 1940s New Years Day Dress.

Wednesday was a very difficult theme to photograph successfully. Well, not to difficult. I did think of a variety of night time shots that would make it look amazing. But middle of the week staying late for a photoshop was not an option. I made do with the photo below, even though it's quite poorly. The theme: Long Exposure and the My-Made item my Minoru Jacket again.

Thursday theme was technology but after a 12 hr day at the office, the only technology I had in my hands was my car. Wearing my Colette Ginger Skirt.

Finally Friday and 1st time this year wearing my zebra pumps (hence the socks). Theme is shoes and I'm wearing my Maroon Clovers.

On Saturday another awkward theme: something orange. Well, I lounged around relaxing on my Lounge trousers.

Sunday I did a lot of gardening work and wore my Colette Violet Muslin. No photo I'm afraid.

Many thoughts on this challenge but I don't like leaving something in the middle so will carry on till the end of the month, when I'll share them with you all!

Hope you all have a great week ahead!

Me-Made May: Week 2

Week 2 of Me-Made May has been successful outfit wise but I did fail to do the photography challenge and indeed to take photos at the weekend. Boohoo!!
Day 7 brought us fruit (which I should eat more of). Eating grapes with my Colette Violet muslin. This is a recent make and not blogged about. I used fabric remnants and some not very good interfacing. I'll blog about this when I do a version with a proper fabric.

Day 8 theme was a bad habit! Well, I confess I have bad eating habits! I eat particularly bad during the week. In this case here I am shoving nachos with cheese down my throat on my very comfy Lounge Trousers. And you're welcome to tell me off for not eating properly, I deserve it!

Day 9 was about someone you love. I convinced my F to take a photo with me. Wearing my Leopard Antoinette (which was a success at work)!

Day 10 and the theme was Childhood Memory! Every time I go to Portugal I have fun digging through boxes of old stuff looking for things that will bring me a joyful memory. I was ecstatic to find (and remember) a book called "Helena Makes Dresses". OMG...that is me (but I'm called Suzy). Below, the cutting of the fabric and me wearing my Burda 7441 Trousers.

Day 11(and the last documented) was to be something blue!! I sort of cheated and wore my Navy Beignet! Enjoying some late evening sun in the garden.

The weekend was glorious but way, way to busy and I suffered from on and off migraines! I did not fulfil my photography challenge but I did wear me-made items! On Saturday I briefly wore my Leopard Minoru and on Sunday I wore my Renfrew muslin to do some gardening!

Hope you all have a fantastic week!

Suzy Patterns Guest Post

Just a quick check in to let you know I wrote a guest post on Suzy Patterns on the wonderful blog Sewing  and Style Den. Check it out, I hope you enjoy it!

Me-Made May 12: Week One

Me-Made May 12 has begun! I knew from the start that the first week would be my most difficult and it certainly was.  You might recall this is my first Me Made/ Self Stitch challenge and I decided to combine it with a photography one. The problem with the first week is that I spent it in Portugal on holidays, and planning me made wardrobes plus photography challenges when you rushing around sightseeing or visiting family is not easy.
First day was a semi fail. I wore my Leopard Antoinette Dress but F took the photo. I spent the day in Evora visiting my brother and spending time with my 2 nieces and nephew. Busy, busy!

Second day was easy as the theme was "What you wore today". I wore my Love Fabric Skirt. Admittedly, the photo could be better but after the journey up north to visit my brother, F managed to trigger his allergies and we were mostly house bound.

Day 3 was clouds day and I was in luck. There are times in the Algarve when you cannot spot a cloud in the sky. F took this photo, whilst we were enjoying some sun in the terrace. I'm wearing my Navy Beignet. It was also the only photo not taken with a point and shoot. 

Then things got bad. Day 4 was "Something green"and I had a wicked idea for it. Instead I woke up with a sore throat, body aches and fever and literally stayed in bed all day. Funny enough my pyjamas were green (though not me made).

Day 5 was to forget and I suppose I could have dragged myself out of bed for a photo but I couldn't. 

Day 6 and the sore throat and body aches are gone (snotty nose remains) and I'm back in UK. Wearing My Lady Grey and very tired.

I really look forward to take decent photos of my challenge, feeling better, getting back to sewing and pattern drafting.

Sin or no Sin

I had planned on having this post ready to go up on Thursday last week but unfortunately managed to strain my subscapularis muscle (big one under the armpit) last weekend meaning my arm has been really sore and painful since. It is slightly better now and I even managed to do 20min of sewing on my Colette Violet muslin. And speaking of that did you notice anything sinful and shocking about the photo?

I know the topic of tracing vs cutting sewing patterns has been exausthead on the internet but I needed to put my thoughts down and document the moment I stopped tracing and started cutting.
Actually it happened a few months ago, but then I decided to only cut patterns from the big companies, like Vogues and McCalls. I would continue to trace Colette Patterns, as they are ultra cute and precious and they have to be preserved... then the above happened! I've cut a Colette Pattern!
All tracers out there might empathise with that moment when you're raring to start a new project and pull the pattern out to trace and decide to do something else/ leave it for later, etc. I'm in there right now, I do not want to spend time tracing. Whilst there is some level of impatience going on here, I feel this does not have an impact on the fitting and sewing of the garment. I still plan on doing a muslin to check fit and take my time ensuring the project is beautifully sewn.

So I'm being very pragmatic about this!

I would trace a pattern to:

• Preserve the original in case I change size (if I change size I probably would change style)
• Preserve the original to sell or donate to someone else (not really a priority)
• Preserve the original to make for someone else (not in my plans)
• Preserve it to make millions in many years time when it's a vintage rarity (Ah! Someone else would make the millions as I will probably be dead).

However, tracing a pattern does not:

• Make me more productive in my sewing
• Ensure I achieve a perfect fit
• Ensure the fabric selection is appropriate
• Ensure it is beautifully sewn and finished.

There we go, so why do it? Makes perfect sense to me, but why do I still feel a bit guilty?

A Green Linen Antoinette

I want to share with you the beautiful Antoinette Dress Esz made. Isn't it a beauty?

Esz was one of my pattern testers and I am forever grateful to her for helping me suss out sizing issues. I think she did a fantastic job and especially love the fact she used lace for the sleeves as well. You can read more about this make and see more photos here.

And if you don't follow Esz's blog I strongly suggest you race over to Kittys Drawings and subscribe. She makes gorgeous clothes and is gorgeous herself!