Wowza! An entire month wearing me-mades completed and not one single repeat - AND I have more options in my closet that I didn't even wear! It really is wonderful to realize that all my clothes are handmade and I've gotten to the point where they all fit properly and I get great comfort and joy out of wearing them!
Last week to party....erm...I mean of Me Made May....nah - who am I kidding - Wearing Me Mades every day and taking instagram photos of it is my kind of party! Don't judge! Party it up Sewing Friends!
Although I challenged myself to also make 2 new hand mades this month...It COULD count that I made two dresses for my Nieces....BUT to be fair I tried to make 3 items this month and they all turned out to be hard fails.....Super sad face.....All are my own fault. I made a New Look pattern out of a nice silk I own and didn't read the Ease section printed on the pattern pieces....So I ended up with a dress with 6" of extra ease....aka a Gigantic baggy sac of a dress. I'll have to determine how best to salvage the dress as the silk is amazing.
Next I created a new Kielo Wrap dress by named Patterns....out of Green Stretch Velvet....and it fits....But the thickness of the green velvet is NOT flattering....So I'm thinking of replacing the velvet ties with some matching silk for the sashes to help reduce bulk.....But has anybody else ever tried to match Greens? What a nightmare....as if finding matching thread isn't bad enough....actual matching fabric is so much worse....
Lastly - I WAS stuck on the new Hannah Dress by Victory patterns as I sewed my placket on backwards and made it half way through before realizing it was really difficult to read instructions backwards in a sense...flipping all lefts and rights...>So that is put on the back brain burner for me to stew over for a bit (otherwise it's going great)....BUT I FINISHED IT ON FRIDAY!!!
The most difficult aspect of all of this is not getting to wear my favourite items on a weekly basis. Makes me realize I should probably sew a few more Grainline Studio Alder shirtdresses and buy more soft cottons (Chambrays) to sew them up in. Two of my favourites are made of Chambray fabric and the third is a soft embroidered cotton....hmmm I don't know why I didn't realize this sooner...
I'm also realizing I have a lot of hand made items....It never truly pinged in my brain that I have well over 50 Hand made dresses....That is very exciting! And even more exciting when I wear something I haven't put on in awhile and feeling like it's new again! Excellent!
And since Monday was a holiday here in Canada - please excuse my delay in posting :)
I appreciate that my work environment allows me to wear all my me-mades and they are appropriate attire. This makes it easier for me to meet the challenge.
I'm realizing that there are only a few basic staple items (Black cardigans, Tights, and leggings) that I wear that are not me-made. I don't have one single item of non me-made on any of my hooks or in my main drawers. Any RTW items I own are in the back of the closet and I'd have to go searching for them.
I'm also trying to wear a different item every day this month to determine fit and comfort of each one. This is the more difficult aspect for me as I play favourites; There are two dresses and one shirt that I absolutely adore and are repeat offenders worn weekly. I've already worn two of those items last week....so I only have one favourite left for the month.
A photo posted by Chrystal McKay (@chrystalclear_) on
AND ONE LAST ONE FROM THE WEDDING WITH MY HANDSOME BF WHO PATIENTLY TAKES MY PHOTO EVERY DAY AND SUGGESTED THE EXCELLENT BACKGROUND FOR THE LAST PHOTO:
And one week is complete. And I realize how much easier it is this year to dress in me-mades.
Not only do I have significantly more me-Mades in my closest to choose from; but they are executed better, more my style, and with higher quality fabrics.
These three things really do make a significant difference. But that comes with time and practice.
