May 13, 2014

What I'm Learning From Me-Made-May

Participating in Me Made May 2014 has been motivating (I've made several new garments already this month). But at times it's also miserable. I just don't know what face to make in a selfie; before I have even taken the photo I know what a dud it is going to be!

But most importantly, it has been instructive. Not even halfway through the month and I've already learned a few things about how I dress — and how I sew for myself:

1. I would wear the same thing three times a week if I wasn't being watched by you people.

2. I also would make my bed about that often if I wasn't so worried about your judgment.

3. I don't wear dresses nearly as often as all y'all. Of course, I don't work in an office or some other environment that demands I look decent on a daily basis, so I opt for pants or leggings, and sometimes skirts (when the weather is warm). Looking back over a dozen days of Me Made May, I can see that I wear a lot of me-made tops (9 days out of 12), but also pants (4 days). I don't wear me-made skirts so often (2 days), and dresses least of all: (only one day). Summer is coming though.... (Make your dress recommendations in the comment section!)

The lone dress I've worn in 12 days of Me Made May
4. Instagram has a funny crop, so when you take a mirror-selfie, you have to choose: cut off your feet or the top of your head. I prefer to cut off my head. My feet are covered in shoes, and shoes make an outfit, so the feet get to stay:

I love my Chucks too much to crop them out
5. Day to day, I rely too heavily on two of Grainline's simplest patterns: the Scout tee and the Tiny Pocket Tank. I wore one or the other six days out of 12! It's not that I don't have more complicated tops (or something by another pattermaker!), it's just that in this transitional weather, it's easy to layer with either of those simple designs. But noting this fact has me inspired to do some designing and patterning so that I rely less heavily on my Scouts and Tiny Pocket Tanks. In my defense, I haven't been feeling well thanks to allergies, but I do look pretty boring:


6. That said, on just as many days, I wore something I drafted myself, which makes me feel a little bit better about the state of my style; I may dress a little boring, but at least I can work a French curve.


What have you learned during Me Made May? (Either as a participant or a lurker).

14 comments:

  1. Ha! I wear the same "housecleaning" outfit three days in a row usually and then switch to a nice outfits those three evenings for when I go to pick up my boyfriend from the train. So no judgement here!
    And I love your me-mades. I think they look more stylish, high quality and less home-made than many others. It pushes me to sew better quality when I see your stuff and not just another quilters cotton dress.

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    1. Aw, that is very generous of you to say but I have seen your stuff! I know you can sew well.

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  2. i'm not a selfie taker, so yes--what face should i make?! that is my dilemma every day... haha! (i can take pics with square dimensions so i don't *necessarily* have to crop out my head or feet.) i don't think there's anything wrong with relying on basics, especially given your daily routine. or maybe i say that because i tend to rely on those same patterns. ;-) i have noticed myself that i could really use some more skirts! i'm not really ready to pull out the shorts yet, but skirts i'll wear any day.

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  3. I really enjoy your me-made may outfits. It's right up my alley, comfort coolness. My weekly wardrobe is pretty basic; pants/jeans and a t-shirt. Luckily I don't have to dress up for work.

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  4. There's an app called "squaready" that lets you resize your pics (extrememly easily) so that you can fit your whole outfit into the pic lol :-)

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    1. Cool! I definitely need that.....what's an app?

      Just kidding. Sorta.

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  5. I really like all your me-mades! I'm learning a lot from this MMM cycle, too. I work two jobs and they have different dress codes so I struggle sometimes to look appropriate for both. Apparently I wear a lot of knit teeshirts! Like you, I'm leaning I don't wear a ton of skirts or dresses, though I like them on others.

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  6. Oh, I would DEFINITELY wear the same thing so many more times in a month were it not Me-Made-May. And you don't dress boring at all!

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  7. LOVE your me-mades!

    While I love dresses; my worklife does not allow for dresses. So while I get all...I WANT ONE! I know it doesn't make sense for me to sew a bunch of dresses. So I sew separates. Tops mostly. Pants.

    MMM has taught me that I have a lot of freaking handmade clothing. Seriously. My husband and daughter called me out. We're on day 13 and I haven't needed to repeat anything and on some days my top and bottom are me-mades. But I still feel like "I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO WEAR" half the time! :)

    So I think I've learned that as much as I like to have fun and throw the odd duck of a project in every now and again; I should focus more on SWAP and/or capsules to ensure i'm not just 'making a bunch of stuff'.

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    1. Oooh, I like your idea of capsules....a project like that would be an exciting challenge!

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  8. I too make cray-cray selfie faces! Not that much of a surprise but this MMM I have worn nothing but dresses. I learned that I need to invest my time into a tops and leggings; I just adore yours!

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  9. I find I rely on my Style Arc Elle pants for work (only have one pair and the shame of people might think I only wash them once a week is forcing me into make another pair) and knit tops. I've found a yawning gap in the form of cardigans (just blogged some cardi inspiration as a fun procrastination technique). I also really wish that May in Melbourne, Australia wasn't freaking freezing. I wish January started with M.

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    1. Yes, Me Made May is kind of Northern Hemisphere-focused in that it's a good month for us up here to showcase our me-mades. The weather is all over the place in NYC so I can dip into summer and winter wear! But if you're in Australia, I would imagine you're limited in what self-sewn garments you can wear right now.

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  10. I use pictapgo to edit all my phone photos - the "filters" are a lot like using photoshop and it also lets you choose whether to post in a square or a tall or wide crop instead. I highly recommend it! I have learned...I have a lot more handmade clothes this May than last, and I probably could have made some sort of commitment, though not every day. That's a big accomplishment for me!

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