This is the first year I will be participating in Me-Made May, a challenge started 6 years ago by Zoe over at So Zo, What Do You Know? Over the past few years I have seen other bloggers joining the challenge and finally, this year, I was on top of things enough to be aware that it was coming up and plan accordingly. Yay for thinking ahead!I've challenged myself to wear one "me-made" item a day throughout the month of May. To keep myself accountable, I will take daily photos (if you follow me on Instagram, be warned - lots of selfies are coming) and I will post my progress weekly on this blog.It's only day 9 and I've already been so inspired by what everyone else is showing off! My sewing mind is on overdrive and I can't wait till I get the chance to sit down at my machine again.To avoid becoming overwhelmed by all the projects I have in mind, I've decided to make a plan. I want to try to create a new piece each week and here's my plan:
I made a prototype of the woven tee although I've been lurking HARD on Grainline's Scout Tee but just can't justify the cost of a pattern for what should be so simple to draft. My initial shot at the self-drafted tee has some issues that need to be worked out (sleeve cap too high, neckline too big, overall front width too big...) but it might be salvageable. You can see it in the first photo below:[BestWordpressGallery id="3" gal_title="MMMay16 Week 1"]After my first full week of wearing one me-made item a day I can pick up on a few trends:
- I am drawn to floral printed fabrics. This is a little surprising to me as most of my RTW wardrobe is very basic and limited to stripes or polka dots in terms of pattern. I guess sewing is where I make more feminine pattern choices!
- The majority of the pieces I've worn so far are self-drafted. Maybe this is because I'm not comfortable sewing patterns yet? Or maybe because these tend to fit better? Not sure...
- Speaking of fitting better, almost every piece I've worn has some sort of fitting issue I notice. The main issues are low armholes and forward-thrusting, sloping shoulders (I think). This was especially apparent on the yellow blouse.
- Make any fitting adjustments to the garment before I wear it. I could have easily adjusted the sleeve width on the kimono top, but instead I let it drive me crazy all day.
- Don't worry about not completing some of the other parts of my pledge (finishing a garment every week, posting a photo every day) because sometimes it's just not feasible.
- Always use a nice camera for the photos! The iPhone ones are so crappy looking but my fancy camera wasn't cooperating for a couple of the days.
- Plan an extra 10 minutes to take a photo before heading to work. My mornings have been a little frantic and that doesn't translate to a good vibe for the day.