The last days of Me Made June 11 and a recap

Yes, it’s already the 5th of July. And I haven’t finished off the record for Me Made June ’11. Heh. Here goes, then – the final days!

(Disclaimer: the final week is not the most complete of records. Lets just say it was a rather crazy week for work, and pretty much everything else ended up getting left behind. Sad, but occasionally true. A not-so-glamorous end to a Me-Made month this time ’round.)

23 June

Me-Made items:

• My Mothers Style skirt
• Black merino top with ultra-long sleeves

Where did I wear it?
Just to work.

My thoughts on this outfit:
I must admit that this skirt isn’t one I expected to wear lots – it’s just not really my style. And yet, I quite enjoyed wearing it! The stiff linen type fabric and the lining make it rustle pleasantly while walking. I think I’ll be wearing it again. Although not with this top – two long items together aren’t all that flattering. (I much prefer this top with jeans.)

24 June

Me-Made items:

• Red tartan skirt
• Black merino cardigan

Gaps in my me-made wardrobe:

• Grey merino top

Where I wore this:
Once again, to work. And home again. Exciting, no?

My thoughts on this outfit:
It’s been years since I’ve worn this skirt out in public. And I do mean years. Probably around 9 of them, in fact! So thank you to Me Made June for making me summon up the courage to wear it out again. I think it’s now been resurrected from languishing in the far corners of my wardrobe. I always thought it was too short, but you know what? I don’t think it is, after all! (Although I did get compliments from one of the guys at work on it. Usually my outfits only get compliments from the girls. Unless I wear a shorter-than-usual skirt. Hmmmm. Stereotypes, maybe?)

25 June

Me-Made items:

• Mod Ascot dress

Gaps in my me-made wardrobe:

• Red cardigan

Where I wore this:
Around home, doing some sewing, and it’s been a couple of weeks so I can’t actually remember what I did that day!!

My thoughts on this outfit:
Ok, this dress was another one I wasn’t too sure about. But I took everyone’s good advice (thanks, everyone!) and wore it for a day, in case I got to like it. And you know what? I do like it now. I especially like it with this cardigan over it. Yes indeed. So it’s going to be living in the wearable portion of my wardrobe now.

26 June

Me-Made items:

• Sweetheart Red dress

Gaps in my me-made wardrobe:

• Purple cropped cardigan

Where I wore this:
Finally, somewhere more exciting than work! A miracle!!! This dress got to go on a little trip – it went to the airport, hopped on a plane, and flew to Christchurch. When it got there, it took a taxi to a hotel, checked in, and then caught a bus into the centre of town. (Well, not really into the centre of town any more, as that doesn’t really exist any more and is still all cordoned off. But to the end of Hagley Park nearest town. Where I encountered something that impressed me quite a bit – since the bus depot is, well, possibly not standing any more and even if it is standing it’s completely inaccessible, they’ve created a couple of new depot by simply parking buses up onto the grass of the park, painting them, and using them as bus shelters. Which I thought to be rather ingenious.) Once the dress (and I) were near-ish the centre of Christchurch, we met up with my friend Andrew (who was also down there for work, only in his case for three weeks while I was only there for the night and a day). Then we went walkabouts – we wandered through a bit of Hagley Park (which is truly lovely), skirted around part of the edge of the cordoned-off “red zone” (very depressing to see all the destruction ), walked a bit more, then headed back. Then the dress and I hopped on a bus, went back to the hotel, and parted ways so I could go for a swim in the hotel pool. (Which was delightful, I must say.) So there you have it – the story of a day in the life of this dress. And it didn’t involve going into my office at all!

27 June
No photo today – but then, I wasn’t wearing anything exciting anyway. I was out visiting one of our stores for work, doing some research, so I thought I’d better blend in with the staff.

Me-Made items:

• Black merino cardigan

Gaps in my me-made wardrobe:

• Black work trousers
• Red long-sleeved shirt

Where I wore it:
To the Papanui PostShop, where I hung out for the day, talking to customers and watching how they interacted with the store environment. Then on a plane back to Wellington.

28 June

Once again, no photo. Which is a shame, as today was the first time I wore my Tree Sculpture dress. Along with a cardigan, which wasn’t me-made. And it all got worn to work, then home again.

29 June

And yet again, no photo. Do you sense a theme for this week yet? Sad to say, it continues on in just this manner. I can’t even really remember today’s outfit, except it included the same pair of black trousers I wore on Monday, as I had to catch a flight to Auckland for work this evening and I didn’t want to have to carry too many things on the plane as I had a huge amount of stuff to carry up there for work.

30 June

Yep, no photo. And even worse – the same outfit as Monday, only instead of the me-made cardigan, I was wearing one I got from a clothes swap. This time, hanging around out at Manukau PostShop in Auckland, doing research.

Which, lets face it, was a pretty lame way to end Me Made June – with an outfit that I didn’t make any part of! *hangs head in shame*

And so, the recap…..
I really enjoyed taking part in Me Made June. A massive thank-you to the lovely Zoe for organising it, and being such a brilliant inspiration!

I found this month easier in some ways than Me Made March – this time, I had access to most of my wardrobe, while in March I was stuck with a small portion of it as the rest was packed up due to renovations. However, in other ways I found it harder – it really highlighted how much I love making summer weight dresses, and tend to neglect the winter-weight parts of my wardrobe. Which is something I really need to correct. I also tend to go for making more ‘show-y’ pieces, and don’t really do staples – those staples I do make, I wear constantly (such as that ever-present black merino cardigan!) so I really should focus on them a bit more.

I kinda gave myself another small challenge this month – to try not to wear the same outfit twice. Which I didn’t always succeed in, but it did push me to wear things that I haven’t worn for ages, and welcome them back into circulation. Which was rather awesome, really.

So, all in all, despite that poor finish, I’m quite happy with how it went. Even though I didn’t manage to keep my resolution of entirely me-made garments, I think I did quite well. And I’m going to be working on some wardrobe staples before the next me-made month, so I’m all set to go next time! Bring it on!

“Bows” wardrobe challenge and Me Made June days 16-22

With some crazy busy times at work, and my mother visiting from Dunedin for a few days, I’m a bit behind in my blogging. So here’s a full week of Me Made June outfit posts, with the latest Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge thrown in as well.

16 June

Me-Made items:

• Black-and-white tartan skirt
• Plum merino tshirt
• Black merino cardigan

Yay, a full me-made day today!

Where I wore it:
To work and home again.

My thoughts on this outfit:
It’s kinda a comfy type of outfit – the tartan fabric in the skirt is heavy and soft and has quite a bit of stretch, so the whole outfit is just warm and snuggly. Good for cold winter days!

17 June

Me-Made items:

• Black merino cardigan
• Unrequited Love dress with self-fabric belt

Gaps in my me-made wardrobe:

• Warm singlet top for under the dress
• Winter jacket (although I’m part-way through sewing one
• Long scarf (although I have been wearing either the one my friend Christina made or one I knitted myself most days this June)

Wear I wore it:
To work (do you sense a theme here yet?!). And then to the airport to pick up my mother when she arrived from Dunedin. The plane was delayed due to the ash cloud that’s been hanging around from the volcano in Chile, so this outfit got to hang around Wellington airport for a while, just chill-axing.

My thoughts on this outfit:
Kimono sleeved dresses in heavy-ish fabrics don’t go well under cardigans with narrow sleeves. So so much effort to get the sleeves over nicely. *sigh*

18 June

Me-Made items:

• Long woolen scarf

Made-by-friends-and-family items:

• Long handknitted charcoal cardigan made by my lovely mother

Gaps in my me-made wardrobe:

• Jeans (I just wanted a jeans day. So I did it.)
• Long purple merino top

Where I wore it:
Out to the Dowse art gallery with my mother, where we saw some cool (although rather small) exhibitions on teapots, recent NZ furniture designs (most of which I wanted to take home with me, so awesome!), and an exhibition on no-waste fashion (various designers from around the world who use different pattern laying and cutting techniques to use every single bit of the fabric). We also went to lunch at Cadillac, a 1950′s style American diner out in Lower Hutt, which my mother loved as they had formica tables, old record covers, and big books of bound newspapers from the 1960′s. (Shame about the food, though. But the venue was lots of fun to look at !) And then hanging out at home with my mother in the evening at our house, knitting and watching a DVD.

My thoughts on this outfit:
I know that those fitted merino tops over jeans don’t suit me. But I was really tired from work last week, and just having a down day and not at all in the mood for my usual dresses. (It doesn’t happen often, but yes, sometimes I’m just in that sort of mood!)

19 June

I forgot to take a photo today! But I can tell you that I wore my me-made rust coloured skirt with gold ribbons that I wore last weekend, and my me-made black merino cardigan. And a black merino top under it, which is a definite gap in my me-made wardrobe.

Mum and I walked into town (in the rain – we are strong brave Southern women, and a little bit of wintery rain won’t stop us, no way!) and met my friend Steph and her three lovely children for yum cha. Then mum and I went wandering, and found a super-awesome Trelise Cooper clearance sale, where mum convinced me to let her buy me a couple of things. New Years resolution of no new clothes officially broken. I’m still suffering from pangs of guilt, argh!!!

20 June

Me-Made items:

• Black merino cardigan (yep, I admit it – this is a wardrobe staple all year round!)

Gaps in my me-made wardrobe:

• Black dress trousers for work
• White shirt for work

Where I wore it:
To work. Only a bit different today – my colleague Steph and I were out in one of the PostShops doing some customer experience benchmarking research, so aside from a super-quick trip into the office this morning to send an email I was hanging out in the PostShop with customers all day. Hence the black trousers and white shirt.

My thoughts on this outfit:
I just don’t feel comfortable in this type of trousers and shirt combination. Dresses and skirts are so my natural things to wear! Maybe that will change when I finally get around to making some 1940′s style black trousers…. We’ll see.

21 June

Me-Made items:

• Imitation is Flattery skirt
• Sleepy Secretary blouse
• Black merino cardigan (not worn in photo, but you’ve seen it a lot by now

Where I wore it:
To work. (Exciting, right?!)

My thoughts on this outfit:
I like it! I’d forgotten I had this skirt and that it sits at the natural waist, so it goes well with this blouse. Yay, the first outing for my pillow case blouse!

Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge – bows!

And now, on to 22 June and the latest Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge – bows!

I struggled a bit with this challenge. When combined with the Me Made June challenge, it turns out I don’t really have anything with bows. (I’m not really a bow sort of girl anyway, it must be admitted.) So here’s what I pulled together for it:

Me-Made items:

• Guys and Dolls top
• Imitation is Flattery skirt

Bows:

• Bows printed up the front of knee-high socks (bought over in Tokyo last year – this is the first time I’ve worn them)
• Obi belt made by my lovely friend Nat, tied in a bow at the back

I’ve decided these socks just aren’t me – I’ve had them in my wardrobe for a year now and not worn them, and I felt a bit uncomfortable in them all day. My friend Nat loved them, so they will soon belong to her.

I met my friends Nat and Trees for lunch today so we could take wardrobe challenge pics. Nat gave us these ultra-cute little Hello Kitty figurines she picked up when she was in Hong Kong recently.

Aren’t they adorable? Trees has the red one with the suitcase, and I’ve got the pink-and-green one holding what various people have described as an air traffic controller bat, a frying pan, and a mirror. Who knows what it’s really meant to be, it’s cute either way.

Want to join us for the next Sew Weekly challenge? The theme is ‘item you’ve had the longest’.

Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge – yellow (and Me Made June day 15)

The middle of winter. What better time to have a yellow theme for the Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge!

It’s also the 15th day of Me Made June today.

Outfit Details

• Me-made 1940′s halter dress with Buzzy Bees all over it. Oddly, although this doesn’t have as much yellow in it as other dresses I own, I think of it as my most yellow garment. Perhaps the sunflowers and bees and rainbows make it seem more bright and summery and therefore yellowy. Who knows. *shrug*
• Me-made chocolate brown merino cardi
• Burgundy merino top under the dress (not made by me, sadly)
• Lovebirds necklace by Boh Runga

I wore this to work and home again. Not overly exciting, I’m afraid to say. I did get a few compliments on the dress though – this fabric always makes people smile with it’s awesome retro Buzzy Bees. It made me smile lots too, which is probably why I bought more than 10 metres of it. Eek.

Ain’t that Buzzy Bee cute?!?

I love this necklace. It’s by a New Zealand singer, who designed it in collaboration with the NZ Mint. Two little lovebirds. Cute!

And just because it’s yellow day, here’s some other cool yellow things around my room. (Well, I think they’re cool, anyway!)

Steve and I got these wee guy when we were over in Beijing earlier this year. Year of the Rabbit, and all that.

My complete collection of Golden Hands craft books, from the 1960′s-70′s. I found them at the Opportunity for Animals op shop a while back for the princely sum of $20 for the 18 of them. How could I say no? My arms got rather tired carrying them a few blocks home, though.

Ain’t this tape measure cute? My lovely friend Claire gave it to me for my birthday a few years back. It makes me smile.

Want to join in the Wardrobe Challenge next Wednesday? The theme is bows!

Me-Made-June days 13 and 14

I’m breaking my trend so far this Me Made June and only posting about two outfits today, as tomorrow it’s Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge day, which these days seems to require a post all to itself. (Oh my gosh, so many posts, so little time!!) (Want to take part in the challenge tomorrow? The theme is ‘yellow’ – go on, be brave and join us!)

13 June

Me-Made items:

• Yellow-and-brown checked dress with matching belt
• Brown merino cardigan

Gaps in my me-made wardrobe:

• Grey merino top (worn under the dress)

Where I wore this:
To work. But a little bit more interesting today, as I was at work in Wellington in the morning, then flew up to our Auckland office in the afternoon. I took the opportunity to release a Bookcrossing book on my way through the airport as well – hopefully it’s found a nice new home!
I hadn’t met most of the people in our Auckland office before – when I’ve been up to Auckland for work in the past it’s been for research so I’ve been out visiting customers and PostShops instead, and had never set foot in the actual head office up there before. So it was nice finally being able to put faces to names.
After work, I went out for dinner with my lovely friend Lills. We had tapas at The Library Bar – an awesome place that’s all done up like an old library in a decaying manor house, with walls of books, mis-matched comfy furniture, chaise lounges, old standing lamps with fabric shades and tassles, and floral carpet and wall paper. My type of place, yes indeed! And it even has chocolate fondue on the menu for dessert, with fruit that’s been marinated in liquour to dip into it. Yum!

14 June

Me-Made items:

• Floral dress with matching belt

Gaps in my me-made wardrobe:

• Short pink cardigan (I really do need to do something about this me-made cardigan lack soon – Me Made June is clearly demonstrating how I need to make several more in different colours!)

Where I wore it:
As usual, to work. Only in Auckland today. Auckland style is quite different from Wellington style – I feel somewhat conspicuous when I’m up there in my vintage styles and my pink hair, whereas in Wellington it doesn’t seem out of place at all really. Hmmm…..
And after work, this outfit got to hang out in the Koru lounge at the airport with me while I read the newspaper and ate lamingtons, then got to fly back to Wellington and come home and hug our kitten Roxy.

Me Made June days 9-12

Time for the next four days of Me Made June!

9 June

Me-Made items:

• Black floral dress

Gaps in my me-made wardrobe:

• Long black merino cardigan

Where I wore this:
Just to work, and out for lunch with some of the ladies from one of the projects I’m working on.
The great thing about this dress – I ran into work today, so it was bundled up in my bag, and because it’s a lightweight wool crepe, it doesn’t wrinkle. Love it!

10 June

Me-Made items:

• Black ‘vegetable’ dress

Made-by-lovely-friends items:

• Crochet scarf, made by the lovely Christina. I’ve been wearing this nearly every day this challenge, so thought I’d get a photo with my outdoor jacket etc on to show it off.
• Hand knitted fingerless gloves (sadly hidden behind my back – oops!)

Gaps in my me-made wardrobe:

• Red waist-length cardigan
• Winter jacket (although I am working on this)

Wear I wore this:
To work. And lunch with my friend Andrew at Meow Cafe (where I released a Bookcrossing book). And to get a haircut.

I had a lovely lady stop next to me while I was waiting to cross a street on my way to get my hair cut – she complimented me on my “skirt” (I had the jacket buttoned up due to rain) and my hair, and how well they went together. It made me smile lots. Thank you, lovely lady!

11 June

Me-Made items:

• Skirt (made out of thermal-backed curtain fabric, in fact. I made this years and years ago – this is the first time I’ve worn it in probably about a decade, as I found it packed away in a box recently. Note: don’t make things out of thermal-backed curtain fabric – although the insulation properties sound excellent for winter, when you wash it the thermal backing sticks together and you have to pull it apart.)

Made-by-lovely-family items:

• Purple hand-knitted wrap woolen jersey, made by my lovely mother

Gaps in my me-made wardrobe:

• Black long-sleeved merino top

Where I wore this:
Around home while sewing, then out to dinner at a lovely Thai restaurant with Steve.

12 June

Me-Made items:

• Denim skirt with orange inset (although I wasn’t planning on wearing two me-made items the same this month (aside from underwear and cardigans) I made an exception for this skirt – we held a clothes swap party this afternoon and it’s just too hard to try things on when you’re wearing a dress!)

Made-by-lovely-family items:

• Orange hand-knitted wool wrap cardigan, made by my lovely mother

Gaps in my me-made wardrobe:

• Once again, long-sleeved merino top, this time in purple

Where I wore this:
Around the house baking cupcakes, doing housework, and then hosting a clothes-swap party with lovely friends this afternoon.

Things I learnt over these four days:

• Vintage styled hair isn’t all that scary – I’ve started learning to do it, and I can see this getting a lot easier with practice. Fun!
• A little bit of mascara really does ‘finish’ the look for the day, it seems. Who would have thought it.
• My mother has made me a very large number of hand-knitted jerseys. Thanks, mum! They’re great for wearing around the house in winter.

Scarves wardrobe challenge and Me Made June day 8

This Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge was all focusing on an accessory – scarves. Admittedly, this one pushed me outside of my usual wardrobe bounds – although I own a scarf or two, I never wear them, mainly because I have no idea how to wear ‘em!

I’ve had this little black-and-white polka-dot scarf in my wardrobe for, oh, maybe 4 years now. And I’ve never worn it. Sad, I know. One of the girls I worked with at the time wore one like it to work one day, and it looked so cute on her that when I saw this one, I bought it. But I’ve never summoned up the courage to wear it. Which is a bit silly, really, since it’s only a scarf, and to the best of my knowledge scarves don’t bite.

Since today is also part of June, here’s the outfit details for the Me Made June part of the challenge….

7 June

Me-Made items:

• Charcoal grey pencil skirt

Made-by-friends-and-family items:

• Handknitted wool fingerless gloves

Gaps in my me-made wardrobe:

• Black shirt
• Winter coat (although I’m part way through making one of these at the moment!)

Where I wore this outfit:
To work! (Yes, exciting, I know.) And to meet my lovely friend Teresa for lunch and a wardrobe challenge photo taking date.

My thoughts on this outfit:
Although it’s not my usual style, I quite like it. I think I’ll wear it again, even.

Learnings from today:

• Scarves aren’t really scary at all. And probably aren’t all that complicated to wear. With a little practice, I think I can even incorporate them into my ‘normal’ wardrobe!
• When making pencil skirts always line them. The narrowness of them makes them cling lots to tights in winter otherwise.
• Turns out, wearing a little bit of mascara makes me feel a lot more dressed up! Thanks to Me Made June, I’m making a bit more of an effort.
• I need to get up 5 minutes earlier to do the mascara thing, otherwise I end up having to get a bus to work instead of walking. Oops.

Today Teresa and I wandered down to the waterfront near Queens Wharf. We took the photos outside Shed 5 – one of the old sheds that has been done up into a fancy restaurant. (I went there once a few years ago for a work event – quite nice inside, as well.) I love the shade of blue they’ve painted the building – isn’t it pretty?!?

Next week’s Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge is yellow – join in!

Me Made June days 5, 6, and 7

June 5

Me-Made items:

• Red 8-gore skirt
• Black merino cardi

Gaps in my Me-Made wardrobe:

• Pink silk/merino singlet top

Where I wore this outfit:
Around the house, doing some gardening (in a misty rain, no less! The result of which being that this skirt it now in the wash with garden mud on it, oops). And Steve and I decided to walk to Kilbirnie (the next suburb over, about 25 mins walk away) for a late lunch, just because we could.

My thoughts on this outfit:
Whoever said pink and red don’t go together? I hate to tell you, whoever-you-were, but I disagree. And wear them together on a regular basis, just coz I can.
I made this skirt probably around 7-8 years ago, and it’s still going strong! The pattern was from a UFO that I inherited – I think it was from a skirt that my grandmother was making my auntie, and it was a lot longer than this. I finished off the skirt the pattern was still pinned to (long, chocolate brown, and too small for me so someone else now owns it), and liked the pattern so I used it to make myself this skirt, and left off the waistband so it was the right size for me. Yay! (Wish I knew where I’d put the pattern after I finished with it…. I’m sure it’s around here, somewhere, in an envelope…..)

June 6

Me-Made items:

• Long denim shorts
• Grey hand knitted cardigan/jacket – actually made by my lovely mother, who is an awesome knitter, but I figure a Me-Made challenge should extend to made-by-friends-and-family as well!

Gaps in my Me-Made wardrobe:

• Purple long-sleeved merino top

Where I wore this outfit:
Being a public holiday yesterday, I wasn’t intending on wearing this outfit anywhere at all! It was only because of Me Made June that I dragged these shorts out, since I have no Me-Made trousers at the moment and couldn’t bring myself to wear non-me-made jeans around the house when these shorts would do fine. But, since it’s winter, I had to pair them with long socks. Which, lets face it, isn’t the best look in the world unless you’re a wanna-be skatie type. So, this outfit was intended to be worn purely for lazing around the house, reading, sewing, gardening, and housework. Unexpectedly, it also got taken on a little drive, to the storage unit so I could grab a few wintery things out (including around 4 metres of gorgeous forest green wool/cashmere blend fabric that I’d forgotten was in there, yay!), and to a shop to purchase two pillow cases and some gardening stuff. Oh, and to the supermarket. So yes, this outfit saw the light of day, even though it was never meant to!

My thoughts on this outfit:
Note to self – take a lesson from Dita von Teese and don’t dress sloppy, coz you never know when you’ll be out in public! Eek! (Although the purple fuzzy slippers are a good touch, don’t you think?!)

June 7

Me-Made items:

• 1950′s style dress

Gaps in my Me-Made wardrobe:

• Red cropped cardigan
• Black long-sleeved merino top

Where I wore this outfit:
No where exciting – just to work. (With black heeled knee-high boots, that is. I leave a selection of high heels under my desk at work as I walk in most days, so photos taken at home are in my ‘walking’ shoes. Which aren’t quite as glamorous, but have you ever tried walking 4km to work in high heels? It’s not so good for the shoes. Or for you, but the shoes are the main reason I don’t do it, sad to say!)

Thoughts on this outfit:
It’s been a while since I wore this dress, and I’m not sure why – I’ve always liked it. It’s a bit longer than many of my dresses and I have moments of feeling slightly frumpy during the day because of it, but they quickly pass and I go back to loving it and especially loving that the skirt is long enough to not be too much of a hazard in Wellington winds!

Learnings from the last three days of Me Made June
Channel Dita von Teese and don’t wear a sloppy outfit around the house just coz you think no one will see it. Because as soon as you do that, you will get unexpected visitors. Such is Murphy’s Law.

Me Made June days 2, 3 and 4

Yay for Me Made June ’11! So much fun, and a great reason to break out some of those garments that I’d pretty much forgotten I had. (Also a good way to identify those gaps in my me-made wardrobe. My list of things to make is growing rather rapidly!) Back in March I took part in the me-made challenge and had a lot of fun wearing lots of me-made summery dresses. Now it’s June, the challenge is a bit harder, as it’s winter and it turns out I like making summery dresses more than I like making winter garments…. Hmmmm…

But now, days 2, 3 and 4 of my Me Made June challenge.

Day 2

Me-Made items:
Bookish Willow dress with matching belt
Black cardigan for when it got cold (not worn in the photo)

Gaps in my Me-Made wardrobe:
Burgundy merino long-sleeved top
Half slip (worn under the dress to stop the cotton clinging to tights)

How I feel about this outfit:
I totally love this dress and have ever since I made it. This was the first time I tried layering a merino top under it and I was pretty happy with how it worked out (although it did make it seem more school uniform like that wearing it without an undertop does). One of these days I think I’ll make it up again in a winter-weight fabric…..

Where I wore it:
Nowhere exciting, just to work for the day.

Day 3

Me-Made items:
Christina skirt
Bamboo-wool cardigan (actually made by my lovely mother, but I figure mother-made things count for me-made June as well, right?)

Gaps in my Me-Made wardrobe:
Grey merino top. Turns out I have no me-made merino long-sleeved tops, despite the fact they’re pretty much a daily staple in my winter wardrobe

How I feel about this outfit:
I love this skirt – it reminds me of my friend Christina. Now that I see the outfit in this photo though I’m not 100% sure about it – the jersey is quite baggy and it kinda emphasises my pot belly. Hmmm. Maybe I won’t wear this combination again…..

Where I wore it:
To work, then to farewell drinks for my friend (and now former colleague) Deb at The Library cocktail lounge.

Day 4

Two photos for today, just so I can show you the back of the skirt.

Me-Made items:
Denim skirt with orange inset at back. This was the first skirt I made back when I did a pattern making course while I was learning to sew. It was the tuille (I never can spell that…!) and it fit well so I finished it off and kept it as a skirt. I love that it still fits me, about 12 years after I made it.
Black merino cardigan

Gaps in my Me-Made wardrobe:
Surprise surprise, yet another long-sleeved merino top. I really do need to make me some of those asap….

What I think of this outfit:
This black cardi is possibly the most worn item in my wardrobe. After all, it’s a cardi, it’s black, and it’s short enough to wear with 1950′s style dresses. Need I say more? Now I look at the photo, I’m not convinced by the long socks with the ultra-high-top black Converse sneakers. But what can I say – it’s the weekend. I can’t be bothered with dressey shoes on the weekend!

Where I wore it:
Around the house for some sewing time and some housework time. On a walk to Kilbirnie (the next suburb over the hill) with Steve for a late lunch (but mainly just coz we felt like getting out of the house!)

It’s quite interesting reviewing outfit photos for Me Made June. I’m picking up things I like and don’t like that I’ve never picked up while just looking in a mirror. I have a feeling that if I keep doing outfit posts, I’m going to end up with better styled outfits! Which seems to be a pretty good reason to do it, really. (And hey, if you’re all bored, you can just skip the outfit posts, right?!)

Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge – corporate gothic

Another Wednesday, another wardrobe challenge! This Wednesday – corporate gothic. You know, just for those of us who work office jobs yet still occasionally want to channel our inner goth.

In case you’re wondering why my hand looks weird, I was holding a pen as I was planning on going for the ‘secretary’ look in this photo. Clearly, that didn’t work so well.

Outfit Details

Made by Me:

• Black dupion silk skirt
• Black merino cardigan (not worn in photo)

Made by lovely Friends:

• Cupcake and bead necklace, made by the lovely Trees

Other stuff:

• Black silky shirt by NZ designer Blanchet, purchased off TradeMe
• Black underskirt with lace trim, got at a clothes swap from a friend
• Black lacy tights
• Black patent leather high heels

Sadly I had to keep it somewhat toned down today, as we were running a couple of focus groups with customers at work. Oh well, it’s still a bit more gothic-y than my usual look these days!

My lovely friend and colleague Steph took this photos after we finished up the evening focus group we were running. (Thanks, Steph!) That’s my rather messy desk behind me. Yes, I sit on a Swiss ball at work. And yes, those piles of paper on the floor are there because I’ve run out of room on both my desk and the empty desk next to me. *sigh* Filing is clearly not my forte.

Today was also the first day of Me Made June. Turns out I don’t really have any me-made black tops, hence the Blanchet skirt. I did have a black cardi (me-made) over the top, but I wasn’t wearing it for the focus group. I need to go and add ‘work shirts’ to my list of things-I-need-to-make…..

Next week’s wardrobe challenge is scarves. That could be interesting – it’s not an accessory I usually wear! Eek!

Me-Made-June, Join Me!

Some of you may remember Me Made March, that I participated in a couple of months ago. The wonderful Zoe from So, Zo What Do You Know, instigator of these me-made events, is at it again, this time with Me Made June ’11. Yay!

Not all that surprisingly, I’ve decided to sign up again. After all, I’ve been filling my wardrobe with me-made clothes, so I should use the excuse to wear them, right?!

Here’s my pledge for the month:

I, Kat of http://macskakat.wordpress.com, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-June ’11. I endeavour to wear completely me-made or me-refashioned clothes each day for the duration of June 2011, with the exception of exercise gear, winter coats, and socks/tights.

I’m planning on doing what I did back in the March challenge, and just posting each week with the week’s worth of outfits. Thankfully this time I’ll have full access to my wardrobe – in March the renovations were still well underway and most of my clothes were packed up in boxes, which made it a bit trickier!

There are still some gaps in my wardrobe that need filling, though. I still haven’t gotten around to making any me-made jeans (or any trousers, for that matter), winter coats or hoodies. I may need to do something about some of those pretty soon……!