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-the home of Simple, Speedy Sewing.

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Meri Blouse is a traditional dress worn in the Pacific Islands, originally introduced by missionaries I've heard. I made these four for a concert at church for some New Guinean ladies. The pattern cutting is very simple with little fabric wasted. And
To finish Me Made May, here's my favourite make of all time, worn by the lovely Emily. It's 5 metres of Ikea upholstery fabric, patternmaking uses subtraction cutting methods (google Julian Roberts, he has lots of free resources). As you can see from
What can I say? I'm in no danger of running out of handmade clothes for Me Made May (last count- more than 50 items in my wardrobe) but they are getting more...unusual. This flatpack shawl (it is a flat shape with armholes) was a college design proje
I made three of these dresses, because they look more complicated to make than they really are. This is black linen with a bit of sashiko stitching - cool to wear in summer or over a tee shirt when the temperatures go down. #memadewardrobe #sewers of

Recycle a man's shirt into a dress...

Out op-shopping, I found this huuuge men's shirt that looked like it'd never been worn.  It's big - I'm talking Biggest- Loser-before-shot-size big.

 

A little elective surgery  -  I cut off the sleeves and took the sides in. Knowing how to take in the side seams on a garment is a useful thing.  Try it out on your Clothesline pattern garments,  if you prefer a closer fit. 

Here's how...

  1. Try garment on inside out.
  2. Pin excess fabric - a bit like in picture at right, but don't pin in so close. (Clothesline patterns don't have buttons like this shirt to help you get in and out of them.)
  3. With pins still in place, carefully take off garment to be certain you can get in and out of it OK.( ie don't make the waist so skinny that you can't get it over your ample bosoms!)
  4. With an ERASABLE marker, draw lines where pins are.
  5. Remove pins and stitch along drawn line.
  6. Trim seams to 1.5cm wide.
  7. Zig-zag finish seams.
  8. Think to self - "Boy, that was easy, I'm not scared of altering clothes any more." 

 

For this shirt dress, I put a rolled edge hem on the armholes and also sewed in a couple of darts along the bust line for a better fit.

So... that's how dejected Biggest Loser shirts get born again. Give recycling a go - it's eco-friendly and a fun and creative skill for the new recession.