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Me-Made-May ’16 Review

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My Me-Made-May ‘16 didn’t go very well at all – at least the pledge portion didn’t.  I wore an average of two items each week (rather than my pledge four), and these were my ginger jeans, my red spotty blouse, my mint green wallpaper blouse or PJs.  This did suggest that the items I’m making are not ones that get much chance to be worn.

When I wasn’t wearing me-made, I was wearing black trouser suits and tops (that are not blouses) for work, or leggings, t-shirts / vest tops and cardigans when not at work.  So I think I need to concentrate on these items instead.

I have plans to make PJs for Jez next, but after that I’ll be working through the following:

  • Summer jacket (to test a pattern for a suit jacket);
  • Ginger jeans and jackets from the same suiting material, to replace my black suits that are wearing out;
  • More Ginger jeans, including a black pair with red top-stitching;
  • Various t-shirts and vest tops (to show off my new tattoo!);
  • Comfy, stretchy tops for work; and
  • Casual cardigans.

This may make Me-Made-May ’17 (tongue twister!) more successful and see me getting everyday wear out of my me-made clothes.

What have you learned from Me-Made-May ’16?

Jx

Me-Made-May ‘16

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me-made-may'16
It has been a little while since I last posted, although I have been doing some sewing, I haven’t had too much time and energy due to the demands of my day job.  In the last few weeks I’ve been noticing mentions of Me-Made-May ’16 appearing on various blogs and, although I have several items to blog about I decided that this blog should be a look back at last year’s Me-Made-May blog post.

That post was made at the end of May and rued my lack of participation in 2015.  I had just got back to blogging, a year after my return to sewing in May 2014.  I didn’t have many items of clothing that I wore regularly at the time, and I planned to spend the next year creating an almost completely me-made wardrobe.  The best laid plans…

The items that I thought I needed to successfully complete this feat were:

  • two pairs of jeans (I made a white wearable toile of the Ginger Jeans pattern, followed by a denim version, both yet to be blogged – only the denim version is worn regularly),
  • two pairs of trousers (I have plans to try to make these using the Ginger Jeans pattern, but these have not been started yet),
  • one matching jacket (I have a pattern in mind for this, but I’m going to use it for the summer coat first and then decide if it’s appropriate),
  • fourteen new tops (I have made four gypsy style tops, one of which is more of a dress length, which are good for going out in, and I have another McCalls M6036 blouse in progress, which should be completed in the next couple of days and is suitable for work wear),
  • two pairs of pyjamas (I made two pairs of pyjama bottoms to replace some that had worn out and could be worn with the existing tops),
  • and a summer coat (I have all the fabric and notions required for this, and although it will be one of my next projects, but it will not be ready before the end of May.)

As you can tell, I am not in a position to make the pledge I was aiming for:

“…a challenge of wearing 100% me-mades during May 2016 (excluding underwear).”

Instead, my Me-Made-May ’16 pledge for this year, which should accommodate my lack of work and casual wear:

“I, Jan of Vivid Kitty’s Fascinating World of Sewing and Stuff, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ’16. I endeavour to wear a me-made item 4 days a week for the duration of May 2016.”

I am also going to review what sewing would most help me to build a wearable wardrobe.  Maybe next year I can go 100% me-made…

…or maybe a year is much shorter than I think.

Jx