Me Made May Week 1

Well the first week of Mays been a bit of a mare hasn't it? I think we've seen most of the seasons and a lot of different types of weather! So without further ado here's what I wore for the first week!

P.s I tend to do these roundups so I can see the issues with my me made wardrobe and for those of you who don't have instagram! Also all pictures are mirror selfies using my digital camera because my phone camera is naff.

Day 1

Dress pattern - newlook 6390

fabric - craft cotton company

I really really love this dress and I feel all kinds of fabulous in it but BOY! Did I miss judge the weather on this day!!!  It looked this it was going to be a sunny toasty day so I did the school run only wearing a cardigan and I was FREEZING! So glad I had tights on at least.

Day 2

Jumper pattern , prima magazine

fabric , adam ross fabrics

This was the day we had awful rain, and one of our brollies broke as we left the house. Needless to say the walk to school left me soaked and I couldn't get warm all day! The next day I 

ended up with a sore throat and a snotty nose.

Day 3

Jumper pattern - tilly and the buttons coco top

jumper fabric minerva crafts

I felt so rotten on this day. I was pretty impressed I stuck to my pledge and didn't just end up wearing a onesie. I still had a nice day though because my sister and brother in law popped over to see us before they went off on their big American adventure!

Day 4

Dress pattern - tilly and the buttons lilou dress

Fabric - abakhans 

This was another pretty cold day so I wore my tape measure dress with tights and a cardigan to keep me warm. I love this fabric and I really want to use one of the other colourways to make another dress. 

Day 5

Dress pattern - simplicity k1418

Fabric - Carboot

This was our first proper sunny day. I've been trying to help lil man gain confidence on his bike so this dress ran up and down our road a few times! Its a great dress and one of those rare occasions where I hemmed it to the right length. The thick hem also means that the hem is heavy so it doesn't blow up.

Day 6

dress pattern - bodice from 2nd gbsb book with circle skirt.

Fabric - gift from friend pin_n_tonic [similar here]

This dress is one of my oldest makes and its starting to show. A lot of the lace is starting to rip but I still love it!!! Note to self make another! 

This dress was worn for yet more bike riding practise and Rikkis Nan and Grandad coming over. By this point I'm already sick of the warm weather ! ITS TOO HOT!

Day 7 

Dress pattern Lilou Bodice with box pleat skirt

Fabric craft cotton company

I wore this for a day in the sun at Rikkis Mum and Dads where I spent most of my time sat in the shade drinking lots of water trying to stay hydrated! We had a lot of fun playing in the garden and Rikki proved himself to be quite the hula hoop master!!! I didn't burn apart from on my back a lil smidge so I'm counting that as a win. I did wonder if the dress was a bit short but I wore it with a slip and I soon got used to having my legs out. I love the fabric and it makes me want to have a wardrobe full of Hawaiian print dresses.  

And that's it for week one! 

As much as I love the sun I'd forgotten how much it makes me struggle with my hay fever and sleeping at night. 

With regards to me me made's I'm finding that I do wear lots of them but I still have a few rtw items that I fall back on and should probably try and recreate. For example my black cardigan. 

How are you doing with me made may?

And how are you coping with the weather!!!?

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx

Personal Style - Am I just playing dress up?????

As a kid I loved dressing up. I think most of that stemmed from me living in my own little world. 

But recently I filled in an online survey and it asked me to describe my personal style.

Am I? 

-modern

-vintage

-trendy

.....

...

..

. 

The list went on and I found that I couldn't find a category I fit into. And with me made may starting I began thinking more and more about what I wear. 

Which worried me a bit. Surely at the age of twenty five I should have a "style"? Instead I think I'm still playing dress up, sometimes I wear vintage inspired looks, sometimes I'm in something rock and roll and a bit goth. And at least 80% of the time I'm in some sort of jumper and jeans combo trying desperately to stay warm on the school run. 

This tutu is a prime example of how I change my clothes from day to day. One day I might be in a tutu and heels the next day I might be in jeans and one of my raglan jumpers.

In fact the only constant seems to be that my clothes are always handmade!

So maybe that's my style? Me made????? 

On the plus side at least I'm not keeping up with the trends and putting mountains of clothes in landfill. And I seriously doubt I'm ever going to get stuck in a style rut!

So do you have a style?

Do you want a signature style?

Or do you just like playing dress up?

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx

VEGAS BABY!

Okay so I had planned on posting this yesterday and then trying to get back to the usual schedule and some more crafty stuff this week , but lo and behold lil man decided to do a nice sick on the carpet yesterday and I got nothing done.

Anyway I thought I'd do a lil blog post outlining some of the things I wore whilst I was there, But to be honest theirs less pictures than I thought there was so you'll have to believe me when I say I wore a lot more handmade stuff.

Okay so this is us when we got dropped off at the airport, yes I am terrified. I hate flying with a passion. I was all about comfort on the way there so I wore jeggings, my Hawaiian print crop top, a white mens shirt and my grey cardigan. I wanted lots of layers and the cardigan was perfect for snuggling up in when the aircon was on and using a pillow when I wanted a kip.

This is us on the 12 hour flight to vegas. FYI at this point i had snuck off to the toilet and removed my bra and was just wearing the crop top with a shirt over the top! I cannot recommend this enough, no uncomfortable underwires or scratchy lace. It definitely made me feel more comfy although I felt really weird removing my bra on a plane!

I also had to wear my hat on the plane so it wouldn't get crushed. I was going to leave it at home but it was so HOT I'm glad I had it so I didn't burn my head!

This is one of my African wax print dresses, I took all of them on holiday and wore two. I was a bit worried the lined bodice might be hot but I actually think the double layer protected me from the sun. Rikki could feel himself burning through his tshirt one day but I didn't have any bother. 

This is a little white number I picked up in newlook!

This is my wrap skirt and my off the shoulder top. I wore this to the most expensive breakfast me and Rikki had and felt like a Parisian movie star. The breakfast was lovely but the waiter thought I was a bit weird because I ordered two croissants and a muffin? [Rikki had an omelette and smash browns] he put my plate down and was like "and a big plate of bread for the lady?" do Americans not eat bread for breakfast? And technically its not bread its pastry and muffins which is basically dessert.

This was my £25 pound swimming costume from newlook which I loved wearing but has already started pilling [sobs] and considering my struggle to find good swimwear [post here] I think a strongly worded email might be in order. 

This is another bargain from newlook, I wore this during the evening to go zip wiring down freemont street. NOT A GOOD OUTFIT CHOICE! I had the whole thing up around the tops of my thighs and was trying to make sure I didn't flash my bum to whole way down! Not helped by the harness I had to wear. In my defence I didn't think I'd be doing the zip wire that night or I'd have worn jeans...... or full pants........ 

This is another african wax print cotton dress, I wore this for a day of seeing the other end of the strip and visiting hooters....which was less fun than I thought it would be? I thought it'd be like a southern bar with country music and stuff and it was a bit dull to be honest. Although the shorts they wear are TINY. Rikki however always the gent told me he didn't think the girls were anything special. What. A . Babe.

This is us at the top of the effiel tower in vegas, it was a pretty dull day that day and we actually had to come down because it was raining but I got some great pictures before we did!

Things I also wore but didn't photograph

Kimono Cardigan

Corset topped dress

African wax print dress Purple

Lace croptop

Hawaiian print tie shoulder dress

gingham Lilou dress

Halter neck simplicity parts

I was pretty pleased with everything I packed, I had a change for the evening and I felt quite stylish all the time!

In other news! I'm planning on getting back into the grind as soon as the child is feeling better, My house is just about recovering form the wedding and post honeymoon chaos. But still needs a big clean which I'm hoping to do later.

I'm also embarking on the fun task of changing over EVERYTHING! boy is that fun! I got so aggravated by the tesco website I just ordered myself a new clubcard in my new name!

I've also started knitting a baby quilt because we know someone else who's having a baby. I mean seriously people you can just netflix and chill you don't have to "netflix and chill"

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

Hawaiian Print Crop Top

If you've all finished laughing from my last post I'd like to give you an excuse for another giggle.

I made a stripper top. But I'll get to that in a minute.

So I eeked this crop top out of the left overs from my tie shoulder Hawaii dress. And its lined using an old pillow slip, because well I'm a classy girl who uses what she has! and the lace is thrifted off the bottom of an old dress? top? something?

The fabric by the way was by the craft cotton company!

Anyway the pattern is from the third great british sewing book, its one of the hacks. But I added a bit to the front so I could have a button band.

Which is why its a stripper top. Because as it turns out my button hole foot does not like sewing through six layers of fabric, so instead I used press studs. Which seamed like a great idea until I realised, as I was removing it by pulling apart the front to a rhythmic "pop, pop, pop" that this is how strippers remove their stage wear. To a rhythmic "pop pop pop" and of course the hoots of drunken men!

So yeah I'm classy and apparently I now have easy access to.....well....... stuff............ 

But yeah stripperness aside the fit is pretty good. Its a bit short for my liking but I'm told that exposing ones tummy [omg can you tell I love with a four year old? Tummy? TUMMY for gods sake!] anyway I hear its the new thing! 

Oh look at me being all fashionable and stuff!!!!! 

No idea why I look so miserable on these pictures? I'm actually very pleased so this face must be related to something else? Maybe I was thinking about the ironing?

Anyway In a slightly new feature I'm going to show you not only what I've made but two ways I've styled it! I know right! Aren't I the best! Which means if you have a burning desire to make a crop top we can dress the same and be twins! 

So look one! this one is actually what I wore a few days ago and now it might be my flying to Vegas outfit, mainly because I can wear this top bra-less and a long haul flight with no underwire seems pretty blissful to be honest.

Blue skinny jeans - mine are Newlook but similar here

white shirt - Pretty sure mine is a george at asda mens one? but similar here

crop top - handmade

This is the slightly more summery look and I'm thinking of packing it for Vegas. Now normally I wouldn't wear shorts this tight and well short on the internet or ya know in the real world, but someone on instagram said my legs looked "amazing" and its given me quite the confidence boost! [I swear I'm basically Heidi Klum now]

Anyway 

Slouch cardigan - Handmade , my own tutorial can be found here! 

Crop top- handmade

shorts - cut off levis! [pretty sure this pair was my sisters and that one summer my mum took all of my sisters jeans and cut the legs off, but I might have just imagined that! Either way these jeans are nearly as old as me!] Similar here

Shoes - Matalan, similar here 

Anyway so yeah I'm loving this as a tourist look, minus the heels! Actually I've seen a pair of red Hawaiian print trainers in the nike shop in free port and I'm pretty tempted, although to be honest I'll probably just pick up some low top converse wannabees from primark!

Let me know what you thought of the style ideas!

Much Love

Frankie

xxx 

OWOP Day 1

Today's a bit chilly so in wearing the second of my simplicity 4070 dresses (which I'm lovingly calling my Robert dress) and doing some layering!! 

Apologies for the picture , it's pretty hard to get a decent shot! So we have: 

• Robert dress

• red cowl neck jumper (hand me down from sister in law)

• worlds thickest red tights (possibly pretty polly) 

• boots (Car boot)

• ring , Claire's accessories

So that's how I've styled it today, I'm hoping it's less chilly tommorrow otherwise I'll be spending the whole week under jumpers and you won't see the dresses! 

 

Accessories wise I've opted for a chunky ring! 

Happy owoping 

Much love

Frankie 

Xxx