Me-Made-May 2016 Reflections

Is anyone out there tired of hearing about Me-Made-May? Because I’m not!

This is the second year I participated and just like last year, I found it to be super fun and not too difficult at all.

If you want to check out each week, click on the links below:

Me-Made-May 2016 Week 1

Me-Made-May 2016 Week 2

Me-Made-May 2016 Week 3

Me-Made-May 2016 Week 4

Me-Made-May 2016 Week 5

And now for a collage of all my MMM outfits along with some thoughts!

My Own Personal MMM:

Pledge: I am proud to report that I kept my pledge to wear at least one handmade item every day during the month of May. Some days I wore two! There were more behind-the-scenes handmade items, but they were pajamas and those get boring to share after a while.

Challenge: The biggest challenge for me was coming up with work outfits that incorporated my me-made items. I’m currently trying to rectify that now by sewing more work-appropriate garments. There’s 4 in my queue now!

Outfits: Last year, 6 of the 29 items I shared were made of woven fabrics. This year, 7 out of 32 were wovens. Hmmm… not much of a difference. I am very aware that I have been making lots of knit pieces because they’re easier to fit and more comfortable to wear. I am proud to say that I have been plucking away at my woven stash and plan to have many more woven garments in my wardrobe. I changed the needles in my serger for wovens, so I’m kind of forced to keep my projects on that path because, let’s face it, changing out serger needles (and thread!) is a PAIN.

I repeated 18 items from last year. Some were forced (first few projects and Cynthia Rowley Strawberry Top, I’m looking at you!) but most are things that do get worn a lot. I’m hoping by next year I can retire some pieces that are either showing some wear or that just aren’t really my style.

4 pairs of items were made of the same fabric compared to 3 pairs last year. I usually am an over-buyer of fabric, so I use as much of my scraps as possible! Also, the most worn single pattern was the Colette Moneta. I wore 5 (out of 6 I have for myself) which really helped fill in those difficult-to-dress work days. I have at least another Moneta I need to make, but I’m happy to say that I have plans to start branching out to other knit dress patterns (Seamwork’s Perry/Layton, I’m looking at you!).

Last year, I mentioned I needed more me-made bottoms in rotation. This is still true as I only have a couple of skirts that I am not embarrassed to wear out in public. I have been talking about making a pair of Sewaholic Thurlows or Close Case Files Ginger Jeans FOREVER. The Thurlows haven’t happened yet, but I am proud to say I completed my first pair of Gingers! I finished them right before the end of MMM, but 1) I didn’t want to wear them for a whole day before photographing them for my blog and 2) it’s hot as HECK here now. I need to make some Ginger Jean Shorts next!

Photos: At first I was worried about how my photos were going to come out since I [still] don’t have a full-length mirror and DD was working a different shift than me for the first half of May. I didn’t want the month to be full of half-outfit bathroom selfies, so I tried to get a little creative. DD did help out as much as he could, sometimes by bringing my phone out on breaks at work when we did get to see each other. The rest of the time I either had to learn how to use the timer on my phone camera or contort my arm and hand in crazy ways to get those above-the-head but full-body selfie shots. I’m not sure what I’ll do for photos nest year, but I am LOVING what Hila from Saturday Night Stitch did with her photos this year! Go check them out!

Favorite: If I had to pick a favorite outfit for this year’s MMM, it would have to be Day 31 (the unblogged black Vogue 8815 peplum top… toward the upper middle of the collage). I am just so stoked at how comfortable rayon is and I loooove the print… but more on that in a later post!

MMM in General:

I have to say that Me-Made-May is a wonderful way of sharing and getting inspiration. As some mention, it’s interesting to see how people wear their garments “in real life” instead of “being prettied up for blog photos.”

Speaking of inspiration, I am super inspired now and have been sewing up a storm, thanks to the daily outfit posts everyone made. Once a holiday sale hits again, I am going to snatch the Grainline Alder Shirtdress. I have seen so many people’s renditions of it and each one makes me want one of my own! Butt ruffles, here I come!

I’m sad to see MMM is over already, but I am definitely looking forward to next year. Hopefully I’ll have lots of newer items to wear and share. Thank you all for following along!

…’til next year!

-RED