MMM'13

It is already June 8th!   I cannot believe it. I'd better write up my reflection on MMM'13.

My goal and hope in participating the group was to get back my creative thoughts through fellow MMM'13 participants.  Given this goal, the best thing I accomplished is that I did write about my creative activities, albeit those in the past. Let’s face it. It takes a chunk of time and efforts to maintain a blog: photos must be taken and materials must be considered.

Another accomplishment is that I got inspired to sew through members of MMM’13. I am planning a new sewing projects. I have had difficulty with sewing projects for so many months. Thanks all for inspiring me!

Although I have not looked through all the photos as of today as there are six thousand plus photos, I was hugely inspired through all that I had seen. I am glad to know there are so many of you out there sewing, knitting, and crafting every day.

So, thank you, Zoe, and all the members of the group. I am looking forward to be more creative.

In terms of my current projects, I have been planning a couple of skirts in a teal green cotton fabric. This idea came to me as I was taking photos for MMM'13. I though I needed a skirt in dark green. I am mildly excited about the project.  I also finished knitting Orkney cardigan. All I need to do is its assembly which involves a bit of inventing. I made a major error in knitting the bodice: I forgot to make button holes. You see, Orkney does not have button bands. That was one of the features I liked in Orkney, yet I forgot button holes. How I managed to deal with my mistake will be another post.

A post without a photo seems sad. So, here is what I put together with flowers gathered from my garden.

Fifth Week of MMM'13

My fourth and fifth week of MMM’13 went rather poorly due to illness and subsequent medical appointments which were too many for me to handle. At any rate, I managed to do one more MMM day.

Day 30

I made this pair of pants in 1984 with one of the first Vogue Issey Miyake patterns, 1257, with black summer wool.  It became too small at waist soon after that, and sat in my closet for a long time, twenty plus to be honest.  I finally removed the waist band and waist tucks last year and replaced it with an elastic band.  I feel as though I now have a brand new pair of pants.

I made four garments in 1980's out of the above pattern: a black shirt, a black wool blend jacket, a white cotton/linen blend jacket, and the black pair I just fixed.  The shirt got rotten long ago, but the jackets are still in good shape.  My 17-year old daughter loves the jackets and wants to borrow from me.   She has a good taste.  Ha, ha. 

Lastly, but not the least, Zoe, thank you for organizing this fabulous event!  I will post on what I learned shortly.

Third Week of MMM'13

The last week started with a temperature typical of New England and ended with the same condition: colder than it should be.  Thankfully, there was a few days with warmer temperature. 

Some of you may already know, but I have knitted many wool jackets and cardigans in the past and I do not pull them all out each winter season.  In the middle of the season, I put some back into the back of the closet and take some others out.  At this time of the year, I do not want to take out more since Summer is coming soon.  Hence, I am wearing the same things over and over again.  It better get warmer next week. 

Day 13

Our radiator was working Monday morning.  So, I wore the same Vogue dress as Day 9 with Jo Sharp's Origami Bolero and a sermon pink wool gabardine coat (RTW) from my younger days: i.e. 30 years ago.

Origami Bolero was fun to knit for several reasons.  The yarns were all so gorgeous, especially Alpaca Silk Georgette.  I have some more in my stash to be made up into a sweater or two.  Also the colors are very nice with subdued hues, very sophisticated in my opinion.  I think what was most striking about this project was the color combinations and stitch patterns.  You would mix yarns with different weight ranging from Aran to sports in the same stitch pattern as if they are of the same weight.  It created interesting fabrics  

 

 

Day 14

Practically the same outfit as Day 4, except for the top under the green Aran jacket.  I was wearing Thia Tee by La Fred I made in 2002. 

 

 

 Day 15

The same outfit as Day 2, RTW black skirt and knit top, but with a long vest on top.  The vest was knitted in 2003/2004, Elizabeth of York Vest from Tudor Roses by Alice Starmore. 

 

 

 Day 16

Finally warm weather had arrived here!  I wore an orange cotton pullover, Jasmine from Kim Harvreaves’ Nector and a pair of poly/rayon pants, Vogue 7301.  I’ve made four pairs of pants/capris from this pattern in 2005/2006.

 

 

Day 17

Me made the blouse, Vogue 7935 blouse view C made in 2005, that I wore on Day 3, and the skirt, Vogue 2558 Montana pattern from years ago made in 2003. 

 

 

Day 18

Me made the jacket, Vogue 1522 Perry Ellis pattern I made in 1986 with very thick black linen, and the top, Textile Studio Monaco Shell 1209 I made in 2003.  The capris are RTW.  I love this printed stretch lace fabric.  The top is backed by light blue stretch knit.

 

 

Second Week of MMM'13

This week went by faster than the last.  We had mostly chilly and wet days with some warm afternoons.

Day 6
Monday's outfit was very special to me and it deserved its own post (the last one).

Day 7

Tuesday was still chilly in the morning and I put on a cotton pullover, a wool cardigan, and RTW cotton pants.  The pullover is Jan sweater from 'A Stitch in Time' by Susan Crawford.  This book contains vintage designs from 1930 to 1959.  I am eyeing on several designs.  I wore the same cardigan last Saturday.  I love this design so much that this green one is the second one I knitted.  The first one was the yellow one.

Day 8

Initially I felt it was still chilly as it was drizzling when I woke up and put on a wool cardigan.  After the breakfast, it began to warm up quickly and I had to change into cooler top.  The tank top and the pants are RTW. 

The wool cardigan is called Rød/Maple Leaves by Marianne Isager in her book 'Japanese Inspired Knits.'  This book also contains several designs I just adore.  The cardigan is supposed to be knitted with intarsia method using yarn bobbins, one bobbin per stripe.  I did not like the idea of having 16 bobbins to deal with every row, and I decided to knit each stripe separately first, and put together by the three needle bind off method.  It took quite a long time to complete, but I am quite satisfied with the result.  I used Isager Spinni in grey and blue shades which was held together with Harmony by Jojoland.  The latter is a self striping lace weight yarn in the shades I picked for Spinni.  For three-needle-bind-off, I used chartreuse green Spinni.  I had to rewrite the pattern for each stripe, which in itself was an interesting pattern reading exercise.  If you are interested in the detail and are a member of Ravelry, you can find more detail here.

The cotton pullover was knit with a super bulky yarn called Samantha, which I purchased at heavy discount from my LYS.   Unfortunately, the yarn is discontinues some years ago, hence discount, and my LYS closed its door last fall.  I am really disappointed with the store closing.  I was spoiled in a way as the store was located in a few blocks from my office.  Sigh.  At any rate, the pullover has very interesting stitch patterns and was fun to knit. 

Day 9

I wore three items of my creation today: The red coat with crazy colorful print lining worn on day 1;  Sounds of Silence cardigan by Irina Poludnenko knitted using exactly the yarn required: Filatura Di Crosa Golden Line Superior and Nirvana in gray; and Vogue 1119 Donna Karan dress in stretch knit.  I made a lot of modification to the dress pattern to fix the gaping armholes, to shorten the bodice, and to shorten the skirt.  It worked out really well, although it cannot be seen much from the above photo. 

Day 10

Again, I wore my red coat.  Under the coat was Blithe tank top by Kim Hargreaves.  I finished it in October 2011 and this was probably the second time I put it on.  What you see in the above is a part of my narrow den where I do sewing.  I am standing between my cutting table, which is too low for the task and I need to do something about it, and the bookcase which is about a foot length to my right. 

A peek at what I am knitting right now.

Day 11



I took advantage of the clear morning to take some photographs of my flowers.  My tree peonies are doing well and the dark pink one is about to bloom (not shown above).  I am wearing a hooded jacket from Classic Elite Yarn's booklet New Harbor.  The original does not have any zipper, but I decided that I want one.  I found a two-way zipper by RiRi. 

Now, it is said that the next several days are going to get colder.  Good thing that I still have my wool sweaters around. 

First Week of MMM'13

The first week of Me-Made-May 2013 was fun thanks to so many participants from all over the world.  There are some serious crafters among them who make just about everything.  Hats off to them!  I am with one or two handmade item a day, maybe three, at most.  Also, to my joy, I saw Japanese participants as well.  はじめまして！  How do you do!

Although I would like to sew something during the month of May, I am not sure how much I can accomplish.  My knitting is likely to take weeks to complete.  So, what I will post on the group will be mostly what I have made in the past.  My craft history goes between sewing and knitting in a almost dichotomous way.  Somehow it is so  hard for me to do both in a week.  Also I did a lot of sewing while I lived in California and North Carolina.  There were not much needs for sweaters then.  Now, living in New England, I've been knitting mostly. 

 



Day 1: Coat and pullover
Yuri Kaneko’s Retro coat from her book ‘Yuriko Kaneko’s Oshare Note’ .  It was sewn with a red silk noil from Michael's bundle purchased some years ago.  I did not have enough yardage and had to do away with the pretty front seam line between the side and front panels.  Also the coat does not have pockets.  This is really impractical for a coat.  I may add them later.  The lining is a Picasso cotton print I bought a long time ago.  It is really fun, but was not sure how I could wear it. 

Love Notes Pullover from Tahki Yarns Spring/Summer Collection Collage booklet.


Day 2: Scarf blogged here.


Day 3: Scarf, Skirt, and Blouse
The same scarf as Day 2.

The skirt was made in 2004, a long time ago, with Burda 9/99 #199.  It was modified to include gores between center and side panels and the length shorten by 14.5 cm.  The gores were cut with cross grain.  I used a wool herringbone in maroon and black, bought in Japan when I was in the early 20's.  This skirt was the result of inspiration I got from an illustration in the then recent Thread magazine.

The blouse is old as well, from 2005.  Vogue 7935 View C, a long sleeve blouse, with a rayon print from Fashion Fabrics Club.

Day 4: Skirt and Jacket

A long bias-cut skirt made in 2004 with Burda 8879 View A, and Norah Gaughan’s tweedy aran cardigan knitted last year 2012.

Day 5: MMM'13 Break
Today, I am summarizing my week's posts.  I see many funky garments posted on the group photo page and I feel jealous.  Looks to  me that my choice of garments got boring and less exciting over the years.  I think it is time that I sew something interesting, rather than practical, maybe not for myself, but for my teenage daughters.  How about that? 

Me Made May 2013

It has been difficult for me to write about my creative activities because I did not feel creative.  I was knitting mostly to keep myself occupied.  I wanted to get inspired but did not have any idea how.  Then, I happened by this Me-Made-May 2013 post.  I thought, maybe.  Then, I saw Great British Sewing Bee.  The show made me realize that I have been missing fun for too long.  I decided.  I've got to do something.  So, here I am.

I, May of May Studio, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '13. I endeavour to wear whatever I made each day or as many times a week as possible for the duration of May 2013.

My goal and hope is to get back my creative thoughts through fellow MMM'13 participants.