Me Made May 2013 week 4+

Here's my final week (and a half) of Me Made May 2013. My apologies for not referencing each outfit, most are the same as previous weeks.  I've been struggling to get the time and patience to blog lately... technical issues, kid issues, family issues... you know, just normal stuff but stuff that keeps me from hobbies like this blog. Anyway, I digress. Back to MMM2013:


What I noticed in week 4+:

- Day 26  I forgot to take a pic so this shows the little wristlet that I take with me on my walks with my boy to drop off & pick up my girls from school - very useful.
- I had one more fully me-made day - Day 27. Made a mental note to make another pair of these trousers.
- Having a loose colour palette going seems to help me get dressed quickly and stress-free in the mornings. Mine seems to be cool toned neutrals with splashes of bright colour.

And what I noticed overall from MMM2013:

- I'm pleased that my wardrobe is generally hanging together (largely through colour but also Briars :-), and I now know where the gaps are: casual trousers & skirts and a few nicer pieces - I am working on one at the moment and hope to show you next week

- Taking a photo each day wasn't so hard in the end... I kept my camera in my study/sewing room, which is next to the laundry, and once each day when I passed I grabbed the camera (settings left permanently on self timer), propped it up in the same position on the BBQ, pushed the button and jumped in front of the fence... then each few days I plugged the camera in to the computer while sending emails.

- I feel inspired to keep going with my sewing. As my skills improve and the quality of my garments improve I get more enjoyment from it and love the fact that to a certain extent I can make what I dream of wearing rather than trudging the streets looking through shops for something that may suit me and may fit and may be affordable. Yay sewing!

- and as always I've loved being part of a community here online :-) Thank you so much to all those lovely people who have commented here and on Flickr - you give me confidence in my sewing and my style.

Me Made May 2013 week 3

15. Magenta merino cropped briar (unblogged)  16. Cropped Briar  17.  self-drafted merino cowl neck top , Minoru jacket 18. Burdastyle bag 19. self-drafted merino top, simple belt made with fabric remnant (not blogged)  20. Gingham schoolhouse tunic  21.  Magenta merino cropped briar (unblogged), Cap sleeve Tova , Black Spinal trousers and no-sew scarf 

Here's week 3 of the challenge. What I found in week 3 was that:

- I infatuated with my Briars (days 15, 16 & 21), and so they are in high rotation (the lovely pattern designer Megan Nielsen even commented on my frequent wearing of them on my Flickr page - slightly embarrassed ;-)

- Its been so lovely to get out and wear the Minoru jacket (day 17) that I made last winter. This is probably my proudest sewing achievement and I love wearing it.

- my workhorse merino tops (days 17 & 19) are great fall backs when I'm not feeling inspired or when I'm feeling chilly. The cowl neck top is particularly snuggly.

- Day 18 was pretty much a fail, but I did use the bag that I made from the Burdastyle Handbook. I'm not into changing bags regularly: I tend to make one, use it til it dies then make another. So this one gets used every single day at the moment.

- There are quite a few garments in my wardrobe that I'm just not  into anymore (or maybe just at the moment?). It feels like a shame and a waste, but then I take comfort in the fact that some pieces, like the Black Spinal trousers and Schoolhouse tunic, have been worn over and over.

- Day 21 was all me-made except my boots and underwear - yay! It was a bit of a crazy outfit but I still felt good in it.

Me Made May 2013 week 2

8. Cropped Briar, 2 piece t-shirt 9. Self-drafted stripey 3/4 sleeve jersey top, Simplicity 2226 skirt  10. Sleeveless Tova  11. Cap sleeve Tova & no-sew scarf  12.  Wiksten Tank &  no-sew scarf  13. Cropped Briar, 2 piece t-shirt (again!) 14. Sweater slippers

I'm way behind on posting my pics for MMM week 2 (it's almost time for week 3!) but here they are anyway.

What I've noticed in week 2:
- Still not doing well on the skirt/dress front - I only made the effort on one day... oh well! Need to make the Moss Mini but don't have time at the moment :-(
- There's a lot of blue and pink going on, not sure why
- It's getting hard to remember to photograph myself each day but less hard to reach for handmade first. On day 14 I completely forgot to take a pic. It was a pretty boring outfit anyway, so I thought I'd show my latest Sweater slippers (this pair unblogged, see here for previous pair) which I do wear every single day... for hours at a time sometimes. Yep, I love them :-)

Me Made May week 1

1. Tova  2. Colour blocked Briar  3. Wiksten tank & no-sew scarf  4. Cropped Briar, 2 piece t-shirt, no-sew scarf  5. self-drafted merino top, nani iro fabric scarf  6. self-drafted merino cowl neck top  7. Simplicity 3835 tunic & jersey infinity scarf

I'm through the first week of Me Made May 2013 and have observed a few things:

- It's quite confronting having to take a photo of myself each day! But I feel if I'm going to do the challenge then I should document it.

- Mostly I reach for something handmade each day regardless of the challenge. It was day 5 when I would not have chosen handmade without the prompt of the challenge.

- Some of my handmades are getting tatty (day 7's tunic) and I really should throw them out, but I think it's going to be harder to do than with RTW clothes!

- I'm not into dresses and skirts at the moment. I think it's the cooler weather and my lack of imagination. Hence all the boring jeans. To remedy this I shall strive to finish off the denim Belladone I've had on the go for weeks and also maybe make a Moss Mini Skirt - the pattern has been sitting in my stash for a while now.

- being a stay at home mum at the moment there's not a lot of need to dress up, which I miss, but I would equally feel silly wearing anything elaborate or restrictive while chasing around after kids. Or it could be that I'm just lazy ;-)

- From the pics it looks like all I sew are tops! I'm sure this is not the case? See the point above re skirts, and also maybe I should get that Thurlow pattern out, gather my courage up and give it a go.

Me Made May 2013

I first heard about 'Me Made May' last year around the time that my friend Deb suggested that I might like to take part (thanks Deb!), and this year I've decided I have enough handmade garments that I think I can just do it, and it might make me finally complete some of those unfinished projects lurking in the sewing pile... so I'm diving in.




For those unfamiliar with it, MMMay is a challenge whereby the sewer/sewist pledges to regularly wear their handmade garments for the month. The terms are decided by them. Here's my pledge:

I, Jo of bubala, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '13. I endeavour to wear at least one handmade clothing item each day for the duration of May 2013.

I'm not exactly sure how I will document what I wear yet, but am thinking I'll try to post a daily pic on my Instagram feed and then do a round-up here once a week-ish.

PS. You can see today's handmade over on the right there in the Instagram feed box - my black & Japanese print voile Tova. I'm feeling confident about the challenge today as I woke and dressed before remembering that it was May 1, and  already had handmade on without thinking about it, yay! Now lets see how I go in a few days time ;-)