MMM'12 Days 24-27...the summer continues.

Day 24.
Another version of McCalls 6503( see here for others) This time sleeveless,radical break with tradition there methinks,in a viscose type stuff with ruffle trim down front , fabric covered buttons and bound buttonholes.Go me! All the usual below items.Cardi from shop.

Day 25 and,due to laziness,day 26 also.
 1970's peasant top in broderie anglais,my all time most favouritist of all maxi skirts in cotton sateen with double ruffle,me made undies.The skirt and top combo is actually my "Not the Royal Wedding" ensemble of last year.

Day 27.
Yet ANOTHER McCalls 6503 hitherto not mentioned.This is the same as my denim version but this time in a  cream abstract floral pattern on a RAF blue background cotton poplin.No scratchy zip with this one either...yay!!!
Petticoat,etc.

More YAYOM

George and me.

If you don't want to see a middle aged has been trying to discover herself through the medium of digital photography in an orgy of narcissism then please by all means blog hop away and I won't be offended.

For the record I am quite enjoying YAYOM and, although I am still unconvinced that I am remotely photogenic, I quite like the following which are only some of my submissions to the Flickr group.

Garden.

Stairs.

Wrinkled feet.

Path.

Me (warts and all)

Walking.

Posterized!

Move.

MMM'12 Day 23 ...a day in the garden.

Spot the ridiculous middle aged has been!

 Well it was so hot here even the cold bits were hot... absolutely glorious.I spent the morning doing some gardening and the afternoon and evening drinking tea,knitting,drinking wine,eating olives,more knitting and just looking,listening to the birds and appreciating it all.

Even Damson looks aghast at my hat!

 As far as me-mades go I just wore the white jersey Butterick pattern top again together with a me-made apron from curtain fabric and me-made knickers.

Somehow it seems to be a hands on hip day today...

 Last year when I joined the me made challenge it was almost a point of honour to wear something different each day but this time around I don't feel as if I have to prove myself.I have worn what I want to wear and if it means repeating myself then so be it.

Wicket looking thoughtful.

One of my borders.

 I seem to have lost it with sewing at the moment but it was a perfect afternoon to sit outside and knit.I have almost finished the back to my current knitting project.It would be nice if I could get it finished in time to be able to squeeze it into MMM'12..... but possibly doubtful overall.I don't feel as if I have made anything recently although I suppose I have helped to make this garden.

 Anyway, a perfect end to a perfect day....a glass of wine/cup of tea,olives and knitting all partaken outside on  a warm,balmy  longed for summers evening with the perfume of Lily-of-the -valley in the air.What more could you ask for?

MMM'12 Day 22 ...IT'S SUMMER !!!!

Day 22.
Full of eager anticipation at a cardigan and thermals free day!
Dress,petticoat and undies all me made.

 Well the long awaited summer warmth made an appearance today and what a difference to EVERYTHING it made...I even managed to smile.I wasn't totally convinced last night that it would actually feel summery today ...but it did!
I also managed to visit  my son today who is at university in Scruffy Badger's home territory and,unlike Scruffy Badger (see here),I managed to completely avoid the Olympic torch relay that was going on there ,and instead my son and myself walked down the towpath of the Kennet and Avon canal to a pub for lunch.

 Birds were chirruping ten to the dozen,may flies were flying,fish were doing their stuff in the watery depths and all was warm and sunny and delightful with the smell of blossom wafting on the gentle,WARM breeze.

 So joyful was it to leave the house without a coat,wellingtons and at least three changes of dry clothing that it made you feel like skipping in the gorgeous sunshine down the path!But I did not.I restrained myself.

Anyway,I wore another version of McCalls 6503 this time in a polka dot cotton and it was more comfortable than the denim version although this one also had "zip issues" admittedly slightly less scratchy though..but still niggly.I did manage to get three compliments today wearing the dress about how nice it looked ...all from men too including my son so that can't be bad.Might just make another one.

MMM'12 Days 17 to 21...

Day 17.
Yet ANOTHER long skirt...and yet another version of the Butterick jersey top plus all the usual underneath stuff.
I look rather badly ironed too...again.

Well here we are with most of MMM'12 done and dusted with just another nine days to go and it looks like we might (BIG emphasis on the might)just get some summery weather this week...temperatures will soar in to the mid to high 20's apparently although I will remain a devout non-believer until I am being treated for sunstroke.

With the thought of sunshine filled days ahead I actually managed to make the effort and, from the plastic bag that I had dragged out from under the bed at the start of the month,removed all of my summer skirts and ironed them in eager anticipation of the possibility that they might just get an airing.

Day 18.
Shortened version of my maxi skirt and top in a swiss dot voile.I did change into another me made top later as I added my red crochet cardi to keep warm and the collars of both top and cardi looked awful together.

The past few days however have just been a continuation of winter where I live with gloomy grey skies dominating so I have not only just carried on wearing my thicker winter stuff but more or less the same wintry stuff.Comfort,warmth and slobability have been my by-words recently with all ideas of style and pzazz out the window.

Days 19 and 20.
The usual long skirt and petticoat combo,with 1970's peasant top made in broderie anglais (wish I had made sleeves slightly longer) and crochet cardi in a cotton that makes it look like a dishcloth.Comfy though.Plus knickers all me made.

 If the weather does warm up I just won't know what to wear first...sunglasses perhaps to shield my eyes as the suns rays bounce back from my pallid lower limbs.

Day 22.
Just for a change a long skirt( but this time one classed as "summery" and newly ironed) plus top in broderie anglais that has irritating sleeves that need to be altered plus
all the usual underneath stuff.

Rag Market Rendezvouz.

Marie and Winnie haggling

 Saturday was an exciting day for me because I made the two hour train trip to Birmingham to meet up with two other delightful blog-chums,Marie of A Sewing Odyssey and Winnie of Scruffy Badger fame who had kindly invited me along for a fabric buying extravaganza.Having missed out on the last bloggers assault on the  Rag Market, and it being one of those places I have always meant to go to but never have, I thought that I just could not do anything other than go.

Some of the delights on offer.

 Whilst the market is not devoted entirely to stalls selling fabric or haberdashery there is certainly more fabric there than I have seen in anyone place for a long time....and it is all so inexpensive at an average of £2.00 a metre you just can't go wrong.Needless to say money was soon changing hands at a great rate almost like one of those feeding frenzies sharks are known to indulge in.

 What can I say other than if you can get there then go and make like a shark....there are so many bargains just waiting to be snapped up you would be silly not to.

Tofu and Aubergine stir fry in a Black Bean sauce with steamed rice...yummy.

 Having exhausted ourselves and not having anymore free arm space for carrying yet another bag we had a great meal at Cafe Soya a Vietnamese and Chinese restaurant.

A paisley print soft cotton lawn,cream jersey and polyester chiffon.

What can I say other than sublime food plus excellent company together  with the gratuitous acquisition of yet more fabric can only result in a perfect day.Even the gloomy,although thankfully non-rainy, weather did not get in the way although it was a shame that another blog-chum Debbie,of Minnado's House,could not make it due to an outbreak of "The Lurgy" among the little ones.At least it provides an excuse for us to all do it again with Debbie once the Lurgy has departed.

 I by no means purchased the most fabric but the total weight of my pile was about eight and a half pounds and the total length is twenty one metres.Should keep me going for a week or two.

My pile of "stuff"

 Thank you to both Marie and Winnie for a truly delightful day.I really had so much fun and can't wait to do I it again sometime if I should be lucky enough to be invited.

I was also very lucky to scoop this little collection in a patterns and notions swap...including five gorgeous little pink buttons with cats on...purrfect!

MMM'12 Days 13-16.

Day 13.
Crochet slippers.Pattern from "Crochet!" by Marie-Noelle Bayard in King Cole Bamboo.Going slightly baggy now but I still like them.Wicket being coy in background.

 Well MMM'12 continues apace but not seemingly my enthusiasm.Quite why I don't know. Perhaps it is the rather chilly and unprepossessing weather that we have had so far since the start of the month.On Tuesday I went out with Sue-who-Knows-stuff in the afternoon and we endured torrential rain,strong winds,one massive clap of thunder,hail stones and freezing temperatures interspersed with bouts of occasional sunshine.By the time I got home I was so cold I just sat huddled under a quilt by the fire.No wonder I haven't heard the cuckoo yet.I think they must have arrived,taken one look, turned around and headed straight back to Africa.

Day 14.
Favourite high waist trousers and vintage pattern jumper as before with equally favourite ruffled apron.

 Last years Me -Made challenges I really enjoyed and they fired up my enthusiasm but, whilst  it is not a strain to dress in something me made as I do that anyway, with this particular challenge I have come to the conclusion that I have made all the wrong things and that I don't overly like the clothes I have available to wear.I think that this just fits in with the feeling of "meuh" that Mommy en France was talking about and that I can identify with at the moment.If I get out one of last years me -made's somehow this year it feels all wrong and I just take it off again as what looked right twelve months ago is vaguely laughable now...the results of a misspent winter gorging myself on Turkish Delight.

Day 15 crease free and Day 16 with minimal creases.
High waist trousers (Vogue 1062) in a brown crepe,McCalls 2599 in a Georgette type fabric from charity shop,flower brooch,undies (and I used the bag too) all me-made. 

Increasing wrinkle acreage combined with an expanding waistline and the ravages of the earths gravitational pull on my sagging middle aged corpulent flesh are going to have to produce a radical re-think of possible future makes.I need a new style I feel more appropriate to...to... to...age?wrinkles?
Anyway,so far this week I have a  limited contribution,In fact I wore exactly the same on days 15 and 16 as I just grabbed the first thing yesterday morning which just happened to be the pile on the floor at the bottom of the bed,As I seem to have discarded it in a tidy heap it wasn't too wrinkled plus the previous day I seem to have not dribbled any sloppy food or liquids down my front so it was good enough to wear again.

What I will wear today I still haven't decided upon but it is going to have to be of  thermal and waterproof nature as,you guessed it,it'scold and wet out there!