Grand Opening of my Little Shop! Teachers' Appreciation Gifts

I have been giving handmade upcycled bags to my kids' teachers for the past few years. They were popular with the teachers and I still see them using my bags year after year. These are the ones I have made so far for this year:

Some of the teachers have encouraged me to set up a shop to sell my handicraft. I have sold my handmade handicraft via friends/colleagues before but I have never set up an online shop until now. So I decided to set up a small shop on Facebook and see how it goes. These one of a kind, EcoChic bags are made with upcycled clothing and home furnishings.

Drum roll......

The Grand Opening of ByLovenicky little shop!!!!!!!!!

If you have time, check out my little shop on Facebook and let me know what you think! 20% off on all purchases until June 23.

More stock will be added as I 'sweatshop' myself away each night after the kids have gone to bed! :-)

Me-Made-Made 2017 final post: May 30 and 31 outfits

It has been a great Me-Made May 2017 challenge. Thanks again to Zoe Edwards for organizing this. Here are my outfits for the last 2 days:

May 30:
I'm wearing a me-made lace dress, a me-made pearl necklace, a pair of thrifted red leather pumps and a thrifted blazer. I don't get a lot of special occasions to wear this lace dress so I'm trying to make it more casual looking with the blazer. But I think the necklace makes it formal again.

May 31:
I'm wearing a me-refashioned chiffon tunic (from a scarf),  me-made stretch woven pants, a thrifted scarf and thrifted ankle boots.

So what I have learned from this challenge is that I still have loads of me-made clothes that I haven't worn for this challenge! Time to purge the closet!

Summer outfits challenge - 14 pieces to 30 outfits

One of the things that the Me-Made-May 2017 challenge has informed me is that I have way too much clothing in my wardrobe! In order to simplify my wardrobe, I'm trying to see if I can work 14 pieces of Me-Made/Me-refashioned/Me-tinkered clothing in a full month of outfits. the objective is after this challenge, I should have a good idea on what summer garments to toss/donate from my massive wardrobe.

I rummaged through my me-made clothes and here is my 14 pieces to 30 outfits challenge for June 1-30. I have chosen:
- 5 tops
- 4 bottoms
- 3 dresses
- 2 toppers

All in all, only 1 top (the thrifted black beaded tunic) is NOT a Me-Tinkered garment.

This summer challenge will actually include a road trip for a week. Let's see how this will work in June!

Me Made May 2017 Outfits: May 25-29

The Me Made May 2017 Challenge is almost over! Here are the outfits for the past few days:

May 25:
I'm wearing a me-refashioned silk shirt, me-altered jeans, a me-made necklace, thrifted merino wool cardigan and thrifted red patent flats.

May 26:
I'm wearing my me-made stretch cotton shirt from the Wardrobe Sudoku Contest, and me-made baby blue jeans, a me-made necklace and thrifted ankle boots.

May 27:
It's a bit cool but I was determined to wear one of my cotton voile sundress. I'm wearing a me-refashioned cardigan, me-made sundress, thrifted leggings and thrifted red patent flats.

May 28:
It's not very hot but since I would be doing indoor activities, I am wearing a me-made red linen sleeveless top I just made last week, a me-made linen blend maxi-skirt, a thrifted scarf and thrifted flats.

May 29:
I'm wearing a me-made maxi dress, me-refashioned scarf and a me-refashioned cardi.

2 more days to go!!

More Summer Garments! A Red Linen top

I'm not sure if other sewists do this. I'm quite lazy when it comes to changing the threads on my serger. So when I want to sew something, I always look at what colour threads are already threaded in the serger and then proceed to make something in that colour.

The serger has been threaded with red threads for a while, and I have been making red garments. So to continue with the red trend, I made myself a sleeveless top with the same red linen blend that I used for the cargo shorts I made a few days ago. This top is based on my stash pattern Butterick 5364 which I have used previously.

I used a size 10 because of how 'blousey' this pattern is. But I had to enlarge the armhole as the  size 10 armhole is too tight for me. I also added side slits this time to make it easier for me to sit down without wrinkling the bottom half of the top too much. I didn't use the facing pieces in the pattern but instead used bias tape to enclosed the edges. I found the facing pieces too cumbersome and too warm to wear on a hot, sticky summer day. I sewed a short line of satin stitch right on top of the side slit to stop the slit from splitting from wear and wash.

I'm pretty happy with this top and I can't wait to wear it. Now what else can I do with the remaining red linen blend fabric?

The review of this pattern is at PatternReview.

Me Me May 2017 outfits: May 21-24

Here are the outfits for Me Made May 2017 from May 21 to 24.

May 21:
Furniture shopping with the family. I'm wearing a me-refashioned yellow lace skirt (from a table cloth), a me-made shell necklace (from a shell I picked up in the South of France) and thrifted ankle boots. I don't wear this skirt often because I think the shape is not flattering on me. I'm going to refashion it into something else.

May 22:
Visiting an outdoor National Historic Monument with the kids today. I'm wearing a me-made cardigan jacket, me-refashioned ribbed knit top (from a turtleneck to crewneck) and a thrifted belt.

May 23:
The weather is getting warmer. I"m wearing a me-refashioned denim shirt, a pair of -me-made stretch woven pants and thrifted shoes.

May 24:
It's cool in the morning and much warmer in the afternoon. I'm wearing a me-refashioned jacket (from a pair of men's jeans), me made baby blue jeans and a thrifted scarf.

It's getting warmer and warmer. So I will probably be able to wear all those me-made sundresses soon!

Refashion: Women skirt to Girl Jeans

My daughter has all of a sudden shot up almost 5cm in height this past month. So I needed to make her some new pants for school and play.

I thrifted these 2 women long jean skirts at my local thrift store for $5 each. One of those skirts had a stain on it but I can easily cover it with some applique. The reason I like using 2nd hand denim is that they have already been washed, shrinken, broken in. The fabric is soft and durable at the same time - excellent for kids' clothes:

I used one of my daughter's current too-short pants as a guide and made a pair of jeans that is longer
and wider.

I also used some remnant red linen fabric from my previous project to make a heart-shaped applique for the side pocket. Since the serger was already threaded with red threads from the last project, I simply cut a pocket shape from the jean skirt and serged the edge in red.

The length of the jeans skirt was just a tad bit short of the side length I wanted for my daughter. So I cut a piece of remnant red knit, encased a piece of elastic inside it and serged the whole thing to the top of the pants as the waistband.

I hope my daughter likes it! If so I'll cut the other jean skirt and make another pair of mama-made pants for her. There are still lots of remnants from that first skirt that I can make lots of accessories!

More MAGAM Merry May projects - Red linen Cargo Shorts

It's a 3 day weekend this weekend but I still sewed something! Between forest hiking and visiting National Historic Monuments with the kids, I hid away from them for just enough time to make some new shorts.

I used my tried and true Butterick 5044 that had been tweaked for my body. I made View A in size Small. The red linen blend fabric has been in my stash for years. It's a brilliant true red which I love. The only change I made was to position the side pockets higher than suggested by the sewing pattern.  I used an existing black shoe lace in my stash for the waist tie.

Surely one can always use a pair of linen shorts for the hot and sticky summer! The temperature right now is still in the mid-teens Celsius so I'm not wearing these shorts yet. But I can't wait till I will be able to wear them!

Me Made May 2017 Outfits: May 18-20

Here are my outfits from May 18-20.

May 18:
Today is super hot and humid! I'm wearing a me-refashioned top (from a men's shirt), me-made linen cargo pants, a me-made necklace and thrifted shoes.

May 19:
The temperature suddenly dropped 20+ Celsius! I'm wearing a thrifted top, me-made silver knit scarf, and a me-made long skirt.

May 20:
I'm going hiking in the nearby forest with my family. I'm wearing a me-refashioned merino wool sweater (from a huge XL men's sweater) and a me-made hat.

We are very fortunate to be a very short drive to a nearby forest. My kids love going there.  All over the forest there are these white Trillium flowers that thrive on the forest ground. They are the symbols of my province.

Me Made May 2017 outfits: May 14-17

Here are my me-made and me-refashioned outfits from May 14 to 17.

May 14:
It's Mother's Day! I'm wearing a me-made dress, me-refashioned scarf, thrifted leggings and boots for a lunch with my family.

May 15:
I'm wearing a me-refashioned black dress and a me-made jacket that I made for the Wardrobe Sudoku contest.

May16:
The temperature is creeping up to the high teens. I'm wearing a me-refashioned jacket, a me-refashioned silk tunic.

May 17:
Today is super hot and humid - getting ready for a rain storm. I'm wearing a me-refashioned cardi, a me-made cotton sun dress and thrifted red patent flats.

Me Made May 2017 outfits: May 9-13

Here are the Me Made May 2017 outfits from May 9 to 13.

May 9:
Here I'm wearing a me-made white tweed jacket, me-made denim jeggings and thrifted red patent flats.

May 10:
Here I'm wearing a me-made stretch woven cotton shirt, me-made gold brocade skirt. Very office appropriate!

May 11:
I'm wearing a recently me-made cotton floral tunic, me-made charcoal jeggings and thrifted mary-janes.

May 12:
Today I'm wearing a me-refashioned jean jacket (from 1 pair of men's jeans), a me-refashioned glittery sweater skirt, and a me-refashioned green chiffon scarf (as a belt). Daytime Glamour! :-)

May 13:
It's not raining so I can bring out the white jeans! Here I'm wearing a me-made grey sweatshirt tunic, me-made white slim jeans and thrifted ankle boots. 

Me Made May 2017 Outfits: May 6-8

Here are my Me-Made May 2017 Outfits for May 6, 7, and 8:

May 6:
I was going to a Confirmation celebration at the church today. I was wearing a me-made wool dress and a me-made chiffon scarf, as well as thrifted ankle boots.

May 7:
It was still cold so I wore my me-refashioned red cashmere jacket, me-made grey stretch woven pants, a thrifted black top, thrifted scarf and a pair of thrifted patent leather pumps.

May 8:
I'm wearing a thrifted merino wool cardigan, a me-made fabric remnant scarf, and me-made red stretch woven slim pants.

I can see a trend in my outfits. I almost always have something red in the me-made outfits. It is my favourite colour so my wardrobe is full of red garments!