Me-Made-May 25-27

Day 25

I was in a sad mood and really tired - I fell asleep at 18:30 and missed my pole class! I wore a dress I made a few months ago for the first time. I love this dress - it's pretty crazy (sheer floral/tiger print/Indian headdress nylon!).  I don't want the first online glimpse of it to be a photo I take in my bathroom mirror... So no pic... Because of the sheerness of it I wore it with my new green leggings.

The day wasn't completely bad though. My parsley sprouted!!! I was so happy I was actually jumping up and down with excitement. I never imagined parsley ever making me so happy... ;) After buying the seeds a year ago I finally googled how to grow parsley and the stuff I read said it is one of the hardest herbs to grow and that it can take about 6 weeks for the seeds to germinate. So I was pretty discouraged and almost changed my mind about planting the seeds. But after just one week I have this!!

I may have put too many seeds in the container... the packet had about 2000 seeds. Why so many?? So I sowed a good amount of them... I have no idea what I'm doing, I'm not a gardener...



Day 26

This was a great day. This is a dress I  never wear because it has been in my "to fix" pile since last summer. So I finally shortened the straps. Still need to take in the bodice a little. I met my friend Marko for coffee. I had to use all my powers of persuasion to make him come to the gym with me afterwards. I feel much less silly working out if I'm not alone.

In the evening I met up with a couple of my friends to drink play darts. We used to work together last year. It was a really fun night! Szandi - is leaving the country next week so it was kind of a goodbye for her :( I'm gonna miss her!

This is a dress I made a few months ago. I think I haven't blogged about it yet. I made it from a basic sloper. There are little scallops all around the hem. The fabric has a bit of stretch so I didn't bother with a zip - I left a kind of slit that closes with a hook and eye at the  top. It doesn't stay closed all the time though so I may need to find a better solution.

I wore:

• Red and white striped dress - self drafted
• Grey shorts - very modifed Burda mag pattern
• Blue striped top  - self drafted
• Turquoise bikini - self drafted
• Black scalloped mini dress - self drafted
• Green leggings - self drafted
• Blue striped jacket - Burda 7757

Day 27

I went swimming in the morning. It's so nice to start the day in the water but OMG am I tired... Too little sleep.

Another long Sunday at work. There was a stag party group staying. One of the group came down this morning to check out - with a mask. They all had masks made of the groom's face!!!

I wore:

• Turquoise bikini - self drafted
• Scalloped polka dot dress
• Lavender petticoat
• Blue striped jacket - Burda 7757

Grrrr!!!

I just went to the sewing machine store to buy an overlocker. To buy the one the man has been trying to sell me all week. So, I go in, say I want to buy it, and the salesman said THEY DON'T HAVE IT IN STOCK! Arrrrgh I am so mad. I wanted to smack the guy. I was so looking forward to spending hours with my new machine the next few days. Monday is a public holiday.... It seems like every second week this year is a public holiday. It feels like Hungary added about five more of them to the calendar... I am not a fan of public holidays.... He said the earliest they would have it is Wednesday. And maybe not even then.

I looked up another store which has the machine in stock but it is outside of Budapest. A town on the very edge of the city. It's about 1 hour to get there by bus... I am kind of tempted to go all the way there... I used to go check out things in that store quite often years ago when I had some private students out there in the wop wops (Budaörs)...

Me-Made-May Days 22-24

Me-Made-May has been passing so fast! Just one more week and then May is over. This whole year is passing so fast. But I am having fun! I am happy - finally.

Day 22

In the day I did a little sewing and in the evening I went to pole class. On my way back I walk past the Great Market Hall. I love that building. It is right next door to the uni I went to. Usually when I go to pole in the morning I stop in here afterwards and buy pastries for breakfast - I love kakaós csiga. This is one of the reasons I can work out pretty much every single day and not lose weight.

Later I went and had dinner with one of my friends. Can you tell what kind of restaurant it is from the decor? No. You cannot. Because it has hideous animal heads everywhere! It is a Chinese restaurant - they have delicious dumplings. But they seem to not care at all about the atmosphere. They have a nice separate little room (more Chinese looking - no dead animals all over the walls) with benches and tables you sometimes have to get to share with other customers but nowadays they always tell me it is shut. It's a shame - strangers have let me try their food in that little room, people are friendlier there.

I wore:

• Red and pink plaid dress - modified Burda 7831 blouse pattern 
• Navy cardigan - modified Jonny dress pattern from BurdaStyle
• Grey shorts
• Navy sporty top

Day 23

It's so nice to start the day on the pole. But man does it hurt. Just on the 22nd and 23rd I added about 20 more bruises to my legs. I wish I was exaggerating. I love the pole classes because I am always learning new tricks or making small improvements. I couldn't do this a month ago.

I got some delicious cherries at the market. The sign made me laugh. It says "Fresh sweet extra Hungarian".

I wore:

• Blue floral dress  - Burda 7829
• Blue striped jacket - Burda 7757
• Grey shorts
• Striped blue top

Day 24

This was a nice day. I met my friend Marko for lunch. Then I continued my hunt for an overlocker. So hard to decide what to buy! I'm stuck between two machines. One is cheaper but a brand I don't know (Gritzner 788 - have you heard of it?? The man in the shop is trying to convince me to get this one). It uses 2,3, 4 threads and has lots of feet included. The way it feeds the fabric isn't so great though. The other is a Bernina 700d. It costs A LOT more than the Gritzner, it can only do 3 and 4 threads, and it doesn't have a free arm.... And extra feet are super expensive. Like 10 000ft (30 euro) for an elasticator foot (but this foot is much better than the Gritzner....)  But it's a Bernina... Both come with 3 year warranties. Decisions.... 

Four years ago when I bought my sewing machine in that shop I talked to that same sales man in English. Now he only speaks Hungarian with me! It makes me so happy! I'm finally improving my language skills. I have tried bargaining with him though to no avail. Why didn't the Turks bring their haggling culture when they occupied Hungary? I miss Istanbul... Shopping is a more fun, if tiring, experience there. That is another thing to consider when I buy this overlocker - either I can spend all my money on the Bernina and extra feet etc and not eat out/drink/do anything for the next few months, OR buy the much cheaper machine and go to Istanbul and buy lots of beautiful fabric.... 

This evening I went to hoop class. I didn't get any photos this time - I looked all sweaty and gross. It was a really tiring class! I actually walked there for once (I usually take the tram there and walk back). I'm going to start walking more! It's much more interesting. I run into more people I know, I can peer into all the shop windows, and stop and and listen to the piano music pouring out of restaurants. 

I wore:

• Mauve satin skirt (no pattern, it's just pleated to my size)
• Black cut-out t-shirt - my own pattern
• Navy leggings
• Striped blue top

Me-Made-May Days 20 and 21

Day 20

I got up super early and made chicken and vegetable soup. I added that vegetable which I bought on Saturday. BTW, I found out it was actually a type of parsley. Root parsley! I cut the whole thing up and put it in the soup. It isn't exactly my new favorite vegetable.... Edible, but not something I would probably buy ever again if I can find normal parsley.

After cooking I went swimming. Walking to the the pool at 8am I saw lots of people my age still on the streets drinking. I want to be one of them, partying long after the sun is up! It made me feel so boring and old! What happened to me?? Now I'm getting up at 6:30am on a Sunday to cook healthy food and exercise.... Of course it is nice being the only one in the pool (sometimes I am the only one in the whole fitness centre) but maybe I need to party a bit more...


I spent the whole entire day at work. A 12 hour shift. There were so many incredibly stupid guests. I couldn't believe it. Normally there is a much better ratio of cool to stupid people. There were people who lost their friends. People who lost their passports. People who couldn't make the showers work. At the end I was just expecting every person who walked in the door to have some stupid problem. Some of it was very, very funny. Some of it was not.

I wore:

• Turquoise bikini - own pattern
• My nyár van dress - Burda 8693
• Blue striped jacket - Burda 7757

The window to the office is quite reflective (you can still see in) and there are more than a few people every day stopping to check themselves out, fix their hair, adjust their sunglasses etc, sometimes for a few minutes! So this is me pretending to be one of them. 

Day 21

Day off work! I went to the sewing machine store. I want to buy an overlocker. The man working there  recommended a brand I have never even heard of - Gritzner. I tried googling them but there is really very little information on their current machines....

If you have any tips, on what to look for in an overlocker, or any specific models you recommend, please do share! I have an overlocker in storage in New Zealand. I got it for Christmas when I was 16. The threads kept unthreading every single time I sewed something and it was a bitch to rethread so I think I used it on just one or two garments... Easy threadability is very high on my list!

Somehow, in my hunt for overlocker reviews online I came across the Juki website. SEWING PORN! Seriously. They have such cool machines that I didn't know existed! They have videos showing how all the different machines work. If I ever win lotto I think I will go crazy and buy a lot of very specific sewing machines. Like this button sewing machine! Ok, so I think you can sew buttons on with most machines if you have the right foot but this machine does it all!!! And there is a machine, just for setting in sleeves! I spent far too much time on that website, watching all the videos and dreaming...

In the evening I went to a pole class. Most of the time I was on the spinning pole. It is like it sounds, not a fixed in place pole, but one which spins. It is possible to do some pretty cool moves on it but man does it make me dizzy. It's so hard to stop once you are spinning fast.

I wore my newest top. It's a beautiful shade of mauve. I made it with crossover straps at the back (my RTW singlets have straps which a constantly falling off my shoulders which drives me crazy). I hate (HATE HATE HATE) racerbacks. I think they are the ugliest type of back you can have on a garment. Full stop. I can see how they are practical, but that does not make them pretty.

The straps on my crossover back do not stay in place though! They move closer to my neck if I lift my arms and then it feels like I am naked so I have to look down to check that I am still actually wearing my top. Will have to play with my design a little....

I wore:

• New mauve sporty top
• Grey shorts
• Raglan wrap cardigan  - my own pattern
• Denim shorts - Burda magazine March 2011
• Blue striped top

Me-Made-May Day 19

Day 19

I love going to the market on Saturday mornings. It is full of people, lots of sellers come in from the countryside with their homegrown vegetables and herbs and homemade jam. I bought honey and tomato plants and some kind of baby parsnip (?). I'm not really sure what it is, I asked for parsley but I guess the lady didn't have any so she sold me what she could :) I think she is really cute, a real countryside woman.

The honey man asked where I was from. He said his colleague just got back from there and that New Zealand has great honey. He's right. I actually quite miss NZ honey. He recommended I get Acacia honey because they don't have it in NZ so that's what I got. It's so much nicer shopping at the market instead of at a supermarket!

I used my basket with its me-made basket liner. Blue with polka dots!

One of my friends was meant to work out with me but he was super late (more than an hour!). He arrived right when I was finishing up my laps in the pool. So we sat in the sauna and gossiped for a bit.

Now for an evening at work I'm wearing one of my favourite dresses with my petticoat which you can't see, but it's there.

I wore:

• Turquoise bikini - self drafted
• Navy sporty top -self drafted
• Grey shorts (I was too chicken to ask someone in the gym to take a pic for me)
• Grey dress - Jonny from Burdastyle
• Lavender petticoat
• Blue striped jacket - Burda 7757

Me-Made-May Days 17 and 18

This month is passing pretty quickly! I'm loving following the flickr group and seeing what all the other MMMers are wearing. There are some very talented ladies out there.

Day 17


I wore:

• Navy and white striped dress - no pattern (it's a huge rectangle folded in half, the neck cut out, the sides sewn up leaving armholes)
• New shiny green leggings
• Navy cardigan - very modified Jonny dress pattern from BurdaStyle
• Plaid jacket - when it got cold 
• My BurdaStyle Book coat - when it got really cold
• Navy sporty top
• Navy leggings

I think this is the second time I have ever worn this dress. It's a stretchy jersey dress... It makes me very aware of my flaws. I don't like feeling fat and this dress does that. Hence it usually stays in my wardrobe. Somehow the belt makes me feel more ok though. I hadn't actually finished off the dress completely the first time I wore it. Well it was finished enough for the occasion. So before heading out I hemmed the bottom and the sleeves and cut the neckline lower and hemmed that too. I got a lot of looks on the street in this outfit. I think it was the shininess of the leggings...

One of my pole trainers saw my leggings and asked me to make her a pair! Getting more sewing work!

I went to hoop class. 

I was so happy that I could finally do this move without my knees feeling like they would break!

Late in the evening I went out into the cold to go to a friend's place to drink some nice wine.

Day 18

I wore:

• Turkish flowers dress - Burda 7829
• Blue striped jacket - Burda 7757
• Striped sporty top
• Grey shorts

A guest at work left her little doggy all alone for the whole day! The poor thing was shaking from fear! After I finished my shift I took it for a walk.

Sunshine!

I tried a new type of pole class today. Show girl pole dance. This is the kind of dance I think most people imagine when they think of pole dancing :) The classes I normally go to are more about strength and pole dancing as a sport. This was more about moving in a sexy way :) We learnt (ok, we tried very hard to learn) a short choreography. It was really fun!

Me-Made-May Days 15 and 16

Day 15

I went to the fabric shop, you know, just to see if they had some nice fabric.... I know, I know! I shouldn't go. But it's only two and a half blocks from my flat.... They have new spandex in lots of colours. Even gold spandex!! I had visions of myself in a cool golden bodysuit but then I talked myself out of it. Instead I bought some great shiny green/blue fabric!! I ran home, whipped out my leggings pattern and made myself some new leggings to wear to hoop class.

I made them long to try to stop the hoop tearing the skin off my feet.... This is a kind of painful hobby.

It was good to do some exercise. I haven't been so well for the last few weeks. I think I have bronchitis. It feels like this cough will never go away. It's been driving me crazy, skipping so many classes. So I am just going to exercise anyway.

Later in the evening I went to a concert because the singer is freaking HOT!!!!! has a great voice. Watch this vid and drool. Seriously. HOT. I am pretty sure most of the other girls were there for the same reason as me.

While I was there I ran into a guy I met last year who had loved my blue striped jacket. He tried it on again. I think it looks better on him than me! I was really tempted to give it to him... But I love this jacket too much to actually do that.

I wore:

• New shiny green leggings
• Navy sporty top
• Plaid jacket - Steffi pattern from Burdastyle (in the day it was COLD)
• Blue striped jacket - Burda 7757 (it warmed up a bit in the evening)
• Jonny dress - Burdastyle pattern
• Lavender petticoat
• Black sparkly leggings - own pattern

Day 16

We have walkie talkies at work now!!! Like being little kids again. It makes me laugh just thinking about my colleagues giggling across the lines.

In the early afternoon I went to the gym, did some weights, stretched in the sauna, went for a swim. No pics though.

Halfway through Me-Made-May already!!!

I wore:

• Mauve satin skirt (no pattern, it's just pleated to my size)
• Black cut-out t-shirt - my own pattern
• Raglan wrap cardigan  - my own pattern
• Blue striped jacket - Burda 7757
• Navy sporty top
• Grey shorts
• Turquoise bikini

The lace leggings I bought at H&M years ago - they fall under my "hosiery exception".

Me-Made-May Days 13 and 14

Day 13

I spent the whole day at work (12 hour shift. Very long.) Didn't take pic til I got home. Really must get full length mirror!

I wore:

• Scalloped polka dot dress - I guess I never properly blogged about this dress. More pics here though.
• Lavender petticoat
• Raglan wrap cardigan  - my own pattern
• Blue striped jacket - Burda 7757

Day 14

Had the day off work work although I did a little sewing for some clients. Oh yeah! Getting sewing work!! Makes me happy.

Such a cold day! I wished I had gloves it was so cold.

I wore:

• Static pants - Burda mag Sep 2010
• Aubergine cardigan - own pattern
• Black polo neck top - Burda mag pattern
• Plaid jacket - Steffi pattern from Burdastyle

Me-Made-May Days 11 and 12

I have been having quite a bit of fun.

Day 11

My friend Marko called me at about 10pm and said "let's go this new place in the 13th district". I almost said no because that is the outskirts of the city to me. I took forever deciding on my clothes and then made myself walk out there. It turned out to be one of those great crazy nights. I had so much fun!! I met some really interesting people. You could pay what you wanted for the drinks!

I wore:

• Denim shorts - Burda magazine March 2011
• New striped singlet
• Blue striped jacket - Burda 7757

I just made the singlet earlier in the day. When my friend moved out of the flat a few months ago he left loads of his clothes. So his t-shirt became my new singlet. I cut it out and resewed all of the seams but kept the original hem. 

I really, really don't like when girls wear shorts with tights. I think this is a huge faux pas. I kind of look down on those girls. Tights are for wearing with skirts and dresses! But then I did it. I wore my shorts with tights... 

I really wanted to wear my shorts! And I thought it would get cold. So I just did it.

There was food too - also of the pay what you want kind.

On my way home I met Mario and Luigi at 5:30am!

I met two cool guys at some point during the night (not the Mario brothers, other cool guys). We hung out for a while, went and ate Turkish fast food. Everyone was sleepy. They needed a place to crash cos they lived out of the city. So I let them stay at my place. Impromptu couchsurfing!

Day 12

Hilarious start to the day. I have this galeria thing in my flat. I don't know what it's called in English. A mezzanine? It's pretty common in Budapest flats. Like a half level thing in the room. So anyway, one of the guys was up there (the other was in the bathroom) and he woke up and didn't know where he was. So he starts calling out "helloooooo". OMG, it was so funny. Hearing the "where the fuck am I????" in his voice. He even asked who of his friends he had been with the night before.

The three of us hung out for a bit, all hungover, then their friend came and picked them up and I went out to meet my friend Denisa. We went to check out a cool little second hand market near the Bazilika. There were lots of rooms with different sellers in each. I got stuck in one with piles (and piles and piles) of German Burda magazines from the 80s. The seller lady kept bringing me more and more to peruse! I am so glad I wasn't in my twenties in the 80s. Some years seem especially heinous for women. But I did end up buying 7 magazines from across the whole decade. There were some cute clothes hidden under those should pads.

Denisa found a cool bow tie.

We had lunch at the nicest little Indonesian place. The waitress there was so cute and the food was delicious. I will definitely be going back there soon.

I wore:

• Blue floral dress  - Burda 7829
• Raglan wrap cardigan  - my own pattern  (later when it got cold).

My first dress repeat of the month. I could have gone longer but I wanted to wear this dress... I got new summer sandals that match it.

Me-Made-May Day 10

Day 10

This has been such a lovely day. I went to the market in the morning. I was on the hunt for some homemade jam. There was just one stall that I saw with jam. So I bought csipke jam there. I have no idea what csipke is.... I got talking to the other customer who was there. This lovely old lady. She told me I was beautiful, asked where I was from, if I was a student, if I was married. She was full of questions and compliments. After I said, no, I'm not married, she said "That's ok, you have lots of time. You don't need to be a slave." !!! I wonder what her married life was like. She was so sweet and curious. I kinda wished I could adopt her to be my Hungarian grandmother.

I love going to that market, the people are so nice there.

I used my basket with my new blue polka dot basket liner. It ties with big cream satin ribbons. I like it much better than the old liner. I bought around five metres of this polka dot fabric.... Yes, maybe a little excessive but I really like it! I think I will make a dress or two from it.

I wore:

• Come back summer dress

I think this dress has some magic in it. I always get so much attention when I wear it and people seem to act nicer.

Making chicken soup for a hungry Denisa :)

Me-Made-May Days 7-9

Day 7

I had my first whole day off in more than 3 weeks! And I was still sick. So it wasn't quite as fun as I was hoping. I was feeling too lazy to do my hair so luckily it was raining most of the day. I could use my umbrella to shield my very messy hair from the public.

I don't have a full length mirror so I keep a stool in my bathroom to stand on....

I wore:

• Static pants - Burda mag Sep 2010
• Lace and polka dots top - own pattern
• Grey and purple crop top  - own pattern
• Aubergine cardigan - own pattern

The only pair of me-made pants I own. Still haven't hemmed them. I wear them so rarely that it kinda doesn't seem worth it. I made the grey and purple top last year. I wear it a lot - at home. On Monday I finally finished the neckline on it so now I can wear it outside too.


Day 8

Still sick. I stayed in for most of the day. Hanging out in my pink and green pyjamas and my grey and purple crop top again.

Doesn't it look better backwards? I got given the fabric for free at a fabric shop in Istanbul! I would have made it longer but i used basically every scrap I had and pieced it to squeeze it out.

I was trying to tidy up my flat but ended up  pattern drafting and sewing instead. Making hot pants! And I have ideas for skirts!

When I went out much later I wore:

• My nyár van dress - Burda 8693
• Raglan wrap cardigan  - my own pattern
• Black sparkly leggings - own pattern
• Blue striped jacket - Burda 7757

Day 9

Started the day with a swim. First exercise in almost a week! 

I spent hours shoe shopping unsuccessfully. Why is it so hard to find shoes that fit?? It was nice and sunny and warm though. It was so good to walk along the busy big ring road, to feel like I was actually in the city after having spent too much time cooped up at home the past few days...

Then in the afternoon I went to work. There is a new security guard. Man can he talk! At the end of my shift I went to update him on the late arriving guests. 25 minutes later I was still there!

I wore:

• Turquoise bikini - own pattern
• Turkish flowers dress - Burda 7829
• Blue striped jacket - Burda 7757

I haven't repeated any outfits yet this month! Nor any dresses! I am quite proud of myself.