Thursday 26 April 2018

Me Made May 2018


Hi Guys, this post is all about my Me-Made-May pledge, apologies if you’re here for the photos of my makes as todays post is pretty word heavy!  I love Me-Made-May, it is one of the few challenges in the sewing world that really makes me stop and consider my wardrobe and connect sewing with some of my other values.  I've participated in Me Made May for the last few years and generally my aim is the same, to identify gaps in my wardrobe and think about what I'm making.  However, while this still holds this May, I want to be a bit more mindful about it this year.  The last few years have been pretty hard for me and while I’ve participated in Me-Made-May, my reflection on the experience was limited and that translated into a lack of change in the way I was sewing. 

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about my personal style and the way I want to dress.  I think I have a good sense of what I like to wear and what looks good but I don’t always (ever!) consider whether separate items that I’m making will go with other items that I have in my wardrobe.  When I came back from Japan, I was living out of a suitcase for 6 weeks and actually getting dressed and wearing outfits that I liked everyday was really easy because I was selecting from a small curated pool.  However, I did get really bored of my outfits in this time which told me that although I want a coordinated wardrobe, I don’t want one that’s quite that small. 

There are also some conclusions that I’ve come to which feel a bit out of sync with the ‘maker’ idea of Me-Made-May.  There are certain things that I have never been able to create such as work appropriate knitwear and jackets (although this one is mainly laziness on my part).  So I want to take this May to consider my wardrobe and identify which gaps I want to fill myself and which I want to buy some select pieces for. 

As my stress levels were high over the last few years and my sewing time was limited, I attempted to compensate by buying fabric and patterns.  This means that my stash is now huge but also as my buying was so mindless, a lot of it does not work together or with what I want to sew!  I’m hoping that having some clearer ideas of my wardrobe can direct my usage of what I have and also buy more thoughtfully when I need to. 

I wear me made clothes most days anyway but I love the photo documentation of this challenge, I find it so helpful to have a record of what I wore and what worked.  I find myself referring to my Me-Made-May photos so much over the rest of the year.  Therefore part of my pledge is to try taking a decent photo every day, this is something I have never managed and some years have been worse than others!

This year my Me-Made-May pledge is to:

Mindfully wear me-made everyday and document what I am wearing.  By the end of the month I want to have an idea of what items I want to keep, what I want to get rid of and what I want to make or buy to fill any gaps.  I want to consider colours/patterns/styles that will work in these gaps and create a list of makes that will work as a coherent wardrobe. 

 

Monday 16 April 2018

Transitional sewing



I’m back with my second blog post in as many weeks, I might almost be getting back into the swing of this making and blogging lark.  Today’s make is yet another Sew Over It pattern, my fan girl status hasn’t diminished in my months away from sewing.  This is the Alex shirt from the city breaks e-book, I’ve made this as both a dress and shirt before although the only sightings of them on the blog are in last years me-made-may photos.

The first time I made this, as a shirt, I made a size 14 and it swamped me and eventually I donated it to charity as I never felt comfortable wearing it.  The dress that I made in a size 12 gets worn a fair amount though. So having got the sizing nailed, I decided to make this version in a gorgeous cotton voile I bought from Sea Salt Cornwall.  I didn’t even know they did fabric until Marie from a stitching odyssey posted on Instagram about her purchases during their last big sale.   Thanks Marie, my stash is 15m up thanks to that piece of knowledge!



The fabric felt beautiful to work with and the pattern came together more easily than the previous viscose versions that I had made.  This feels like a real seasonal transition piece, both because of the item but also the fabric, the coloured leaves are quite autumnal but the colours are so bright it’s like spring (which is going to show up in these parts some time soon right?)  I started this shirt shortly after receiving the fabric back in January/February and got about two thirds of completed and then reached the button stage and realized that I had no idea which box my buttons were living in (I think the house will be in moving chaos forever).  However, luckily by the time I had unearthed my buttons and finished the shirt, it’s still seasonally appropriate which is not what usually happens with my UFOs!

 I’m spending a lot of time considering my style and wardrobe at the moment and I’m happy to say that this shirt and outfit feels like a ‘me’ look!  The only thing I’m pondering is if I maybe need to slim down the sleeves a little as they feel quite baggy at the top-maybe an alteration to put on the list for my Me-Made-May challenge (more on this coming soon).