Reflections on Me Made May 2023

Last month I took part in a sewing challenge called Me Made May created by Zoe of So Zo What Do You Know?

In her words, Me Made May is "a wardrobe challenge that helps you improve your relationship with your handmade items. It can also teach you what to make (and not make) in the future!"

Me Made May is all about the personal challenge - you set a pledge and throughout the month of May you work to complete your pledge. It's not about sewing throughout the month or taking photos or Instagram - it's just about challenging yourself to wear more of your homemade clothes.

For my first Me Made May I kept my pledge simple:

I went with 8 because I work from home 3 days a week (usually in leggings and a sweatshirt to be honest!) and I keep it pretty chilled over the weekends too if I don't have plans, so I decided to focus on the 2 days a week I'm in the office and aim to wear Me Made for those 8 days I'd be in over the month of May. I also haven't made that many things yet so I didn't want to make it too difficult for me to keep up with.

How did I get on?

I absolutely loved Me Made May - I loved the challenge to try to wear me-made as much as possible and I actually ended up wearing 14 outfits. It really pushed me to try to wear something I'd made instead of something ready-to-wear which got harder as the month went on! May is also a great month for this as it enabled me to wear a mix of my more wintery clothes on the cooler days and then dip into my warmer weather clothes as the month went on.

What did I learn?

1. My homemade clothes will not fall apart in the washing machine!

With the challenge involving wearing a lot of my homemade clothes throughout the month I had to finally be brave and put them in the washing machine... and they survived! Previously I'd been handwashing or just trying to wear things as little as possible to avoid washing them so this was a huge step for me!

2. I'm really glad I didn't add "no buying any fabric in May" to my pledge

...I bought a lot of fabric in May!

3. I definitely need more summery makes

Though it's now been a year since I started sewing (a big blog post is definitely incoming on this!) and I spent a lot of last summer really learning and trying things without consciously making items I really wanted to wear and making things to learn the skills instead. I feel like my sewing has really improved since the start of the year and I was making a lot more wintery clothes then so I feel like I've got a few gaps for summer.

4. Some of my older makes are still good!

I've got a habit of being a bit dismissive of anything I've made in the past and deeming it not good enough to wear, so I was surprised by how much I still love my old makes even though my sewing has improved a lot since I first made them!

5. It's encouraged me to talk more about my sewing

Wearing me-made for work every day meant I ended up in a lot of "oh I love your dress/thanks I made it" conversations with more people at work than usual and while my immediate team are my biggest sewing cheerleaders, a lot of people in my wider team had no idea I sewed so it led to a lot of new conversations about sewing and lots of lovely compliments!

6. I've made some really good stuff I'm super proud of!

When I wore my chambray Lyra dress for work for the first time even my colleagues who know I sew couldn't believe I'd made it! I'm extra proud of that one.

7. Nobody notices your tiny mistakes and imperfections

It's sometimes really hard to get past this and Me Made May really forced me to wear things even if they're not "perfect". I've also really tried not to point out the mistakes either!

8. I love being part of the sewing community!

The sewing community is amazing and I love being really involved in it throughout May. I've had loads of great conversations and sooooo much inspiration!

9. It's really inspired me to sew! 

After a really busy April we consciously had a quiet May which meant I also had my most prolific sewing month and ended up sewing 4 garments, so I loved being able to share those right away.

10. Creating new outfits really took me back to my old fashion blogger days

I absolutely loved feeling like a fashion blogger again trying to find new ways to wear my homemade clothes! It's definitely helped me to find some new outfits to wear.

11. Of my 14 outfits, 13 were Tilly and the Buttons patterns

It seems I definitely have a favourite pattern company!

12. It's made me not want to wear not Me -Made!

I definitely do not have enough completed projects to do that but I've loved how much it's increased my need to make the clothes I want rather than to jump onto Vinted or Depop. I also hate it when someone says "oh have you made that? and I have to say no haha!

I've loved my first Me Made May and I absolutely can't wait to see where I am next year!

Charlotte x