The End...of May

Me Made May 2013 has come to an end. I'm not sure how to get dressed anymore. I'm still reaching for my me mades, forgetting that I can wear my RTW clothes now. Strange as it was to start the month wearing self made clothes daily...now the opposite holds true. Not wearing them now feels strange. 

My experience this month was rewarding, fun, inspiring, challenging and uplifting. I met so many other fabulous women who share my same passion for sewing. In my daily life, I don't think I know anyone who sews much at all, let alone their own clothing, making this challenge so meaningful to me. It was heartwarming to witness and be part and party to women of all ages encouraging each other!

I woke up everyday thinking about these lovely ladies, looking forward to seeing what they had made and would be wearing that day. I would steal time here and there during my day to log on to the Flickr group to swoon over all the lovely creations, leaving comments and then logging off wishing I had more time view everyone's photo. There was never enough time.

I succeeded in my personal challenge with only a couple of repeats and still have self made garments that didn't get worn...Another part of the challenge for myself personally was to blog EVERY DAY for the month as well. Yikes!! I'm pleased to say, I did it! The blog may have been a bit overwhelmed by the challenge content but for me personally it was a good way to establish some more consistency in blogging and gain some much needed confidence as well. 

I am so grateful for the experience, to Zoe, the mastermind behind the challenge and to the women who encouraged me and inspired me everyday! You ladies are the best!

The following outfits are my favorites of the month:

Day 22

Day 25

Day 16

Day 8

Day 5

Day 31

       It's not hard to tell that I love color!

MMM Day 31

Last day of MMM '13! I had so much fun and will save my reflections of the challenge for a future post, as well as the details and review of this dress. For today I would like to say a big thank you to this kid. He took the majority of my pictures for the challenge. I kid you not when I say...he is the sweetest kid I know. And that smile! Oh my gosh... melt your heart. Thank you Buck for your support and for making it fun at the same time! Love you!

MMM Day 30 Repeat!!

I won't bore you with lots of pictures today because this is a repeat...I'll just say...I love this dress!

If you want to see details visit this page :)

MMM Day 29 Hindsight

Dress:self made Jacket:Loft(thrifted) Shoes:Franco Sarto

One of the nice things about a blog is that everything I post is dated. Telling me when I made it and what was going through my mind at the time. I'm not great at journaling, making it impossible for me tell you when I made this dress. I have no idea. It would be unfair to review this pattern due to my lapse in memory so I'll wait until I make another. I will share one thing about this dress now, I wish I had made it with sleeves! That hindsight thing....

MMM Day 21 Panic Sewing

The Me Made May challenge has shown me where my self made wardrobe has gaps..in casual wear. I just love to make dresses but they are not always suitable for everyday wear. Waking up this morning to yet another rainy day, I wanted to wear my jeans and a top but had nothing me made. I made no promise not to "panic sew" during this challenge therefore had no guilt when I pulled out this fabric and pattern!

My Review: 

Pattern: Newlook 6148

Fabric used: A floral voile.

Instructions: Easy to follow, this is a very basic blouse. I was finished within 2 hrs. Which included hand stitching the hems and neck facing and helping my daughter with her project as well!

If I could change anything: I wouldn't change anything about the pattern itself but this will be a great one to hack and experiment with.

Repeat worthy? Definitely! This would be a great pattern to teach a beginner with as well. Next time I will make view D, I think.

MMM Day 8 Repeat Offender

 This skirt is from the same pattern as my polka dot skirt I wore two days ago. When I find a pattern I like I tend to make it multiple times. The fabric is a basic quilting cotton. I loved the print and thought that the cotton gave it a more casual feel. Almost preppy casual. 

Skirt:self-made Sweater:Gap Shoes:Payless

Thanks to my 15 year old son for taking my pictures again. He always takes a great pic but makes absolutely no effort. He is sitting on the step, just hitting that shutter button while making wise cracks, making me laugh. Today I owe him a Coke for his services.

MMM Day 4 Thank You Friendly Stranger

A possible Friday theme could be "ask a complete stranger to take your picture" . That's what I had to do today. So thank you to the pretty lady named Kayla, whom I pounced upon in the hotel lobby and so sweetly agreed to take my picture! 

Do I look like a 'lady of leisure' here? This dress is like wearing a pair of sweats....sooooo comfy, perfect for lounging around a hotel waiting for Handsome to arrive, leisure dressing right here people. Surreal. I made it from a vintage pattern and you can go check out the details here. 

MMM Day 3 Nautical

Friday's are themed for this challenge, adding just another element of fun and creativity to the mix. Today's theme is water. Yeah! I am blessed to live on the water, specifically the Atlantic Ocean kind of water. Waking up to a beautiful view everyday. So naturally, my mind went to a nautical theme. And as luck would have it, I just made this striped T. 

Please disregard the sleepy eyes, this was taken at 6:30 am before heading to the airport.

  

T-shirt:self made Jeans:Talbots (thrifted)
Trench:Vertigo Paris(thrifted)
Scarf: thrifted Shoes: Payless (old) Lobster Belt: J Crew (thrifted)

 I have never been a big fan of sewing knits but I may have changed my mind after making this top. I found this Hampton knit, a little more expensive than I am usually comfortable with but it felt so nice and it was striped. I love stripes! After being unsuccessful in finding a T-shirt pattern that I liked, I decided to sacrifice a beloved boatneck T for this project. I liked the cut and fit of the T but the fabric was thin and not in the nice soft, thin way. It got the chop!

After a few test runs on scraps, I found the settings on my sewing machine that works best for knits. A VERY narrow zigzag worked better for me than the knit stitch programmed into my machine. I proceeded to sew it up and serge my seam allowances. When it came to the hem, using a twin needle for knits worked beautifully. Everything just sort of came together that day. Don't you just love when that happens? 

Looking at this outfit, I think it has a very Parisian feel to it. If the next theme is Paris...I'm ready!