Me Made May '15 Round Up

I'm a bit late with my round up - I blame the children for getting ill after the half term holidays had finished!

This was my first time joining in with Me Made May. I haven't got the biggest handmade wardrobe, hence my pledge:

'I, Amy, of sewnintheattic.blogspot.co.uk, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '15. I endeavour to wear two garments made, adjusted or refashioned by me each week for the duration of May 2015.'

I really enjoyed the month. I got to wear all my casual makes and a few of the RTW items that I had adjusted/altered to fit me. I did find it a challenge, but I met my pledge  - phew! Here are some of the photo's:

Top row from left to right - RTW altered top (elasticated hem which I chopped off and re-hemmed, taking in the sides too and RTW skirt which I took in on the waist; Blue modified Simplicity 1620 top; RTW altered top (as 1st photo).
Middle row - RTW top with elasticated waist which I chopped and hemmed with lace; Zigzag Colette Moneta dress; Floral Simplicity 1717 A-line skirt.
Bottom row - Blue Colette Moneta dress; Stripy Maria Denmark Kirsten Kimono Tee; Blue modified Simplicity 1620 top.

The only part of the month that I'm a bit disappointed by is the record of it all. It was quite a busy month for me at home and I probably should have taken more pics of me and posted to instagram. But I didn't, so there we are! So some of the repeats of garments, and a few other RTW items which I have altered I haven't got a record of, so you'll just have to take my word for it! Currently I'm managing a blog post every 3+ weeks, which is not really where I want to be as I have quite a few unblogged garments queuing up. I also like to gather my thoughts before I write too, so I don't know how some of you bloggers manage to be so instant, I'd like to be like that too! Last week the kids were home with me and we enjoyed the half term holidays with little day trips and activities. One highlight was St. Lawrence's Wood, at Hartshill Hayes Country Park in Nuneaton - the bluebells were out, the sun was shining and the kids were little angels!

St. Lawrence's Wood at Hartshill Hayes Country Park

Another highlight was visiting to the Herbert Art Gallery in Coventry to look at the Story of Children's TV. My two boys were probably a bit young for it (3yo), but slightly older children would love it, especially if you all go with a grandparent too, as we did; there was much reminiscing about shows like Andy Pandy, Thunderbirds, Sooty and Sweep, Blue Peter, Play School...I wish I'd had a bit more time to explore, but the boys like to whiz round at the moment!  

On the left - a couple of photos from the Children's TV exhibition.  I loved Play School - used to watch with my mum and we always had a cup of hot chocolate!
On the right - One of the Shaun sculptures from London - my two don't do posing for photos!

Finally, at the end of half term, we spent some quality time visiting family in London. We planned a 'three's and under' sightseeing trip round London - a first for our kids, but not their cousins. On Saturday we took overground and underground trains from Woodford to Tower Bridge and walked over the bridge and past HMS Belfast (which we will definitely visit when the boys are a bit older). We found a couple of Shaun the Sheep sculptures along and over the Thames too. Then we hopped on a river bus and cruised up the Thames to Westminster Bridge. A spot more sightseeing - taking in Big Ben, Parliament Square and Westminster Abbey. With four children three and under this was quite an undertaking! We finally headed back to my sister-in-laws for a well deserved BBQ and a glass of fizz!

On the Sunday we went to the V&A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green. If you like Dolls Houses, they have a fantastic collection, along with many childhood toys and I did find a few sewing related items too! The museum is, of course free, and it's well worth a visit if you're in the area and have young kids as they have free activities including an indoor sandpit! 

Excuse the terrible photo's! The quote on the left says it all really!

The kids also started to get ill over the weekend and I had a child at home for the first three days back after the holidays, so I'm a bit behind with cleaning duties (haha, when am I not behind on this kind of stuff!)! But I did make a few things in May - Zigzag Moneta and a stripy Kirsten Kimono Tee. SOOO loving that Tee pattern. I also treated myself to an overlocker (serger). Which helped with the speed of these makes! I've just taken pictures of them for the blog - I'm trying to be a more organised blogger! I might get round to writing up the Spring for Cotton post one day too!

Ok, back to MMM stuff. I did find the month challenging because I don't have that many makes, and a couple of items I've recently spent making were more occasional wear. And even though it was my husbands birthday at the start of the May and then my brother's, there were no fancy dinners outs, just evenings in with friends and family, so nothing I dressed up for. Maybe this month I will get to wear them more. Although as I type, the summer has kicked in and so now I feel like I need to make a summer dress/ skirt/ top and my wintry makes might be redundant until October!

It's been fun seeing all the photos and reading many of your round ups about Me Made May and I already know that I will be taking part next year AND making more of an effort to document and record it.

If you have any suggestions for summer top patterns please send them my way!