Me Made May - Final Wrap-Up

 

My very first Me Made May challenge is over now and I loved taking part. Not only did I have a great time carefully choosing my me-made garments and outfits every day, I also got so much inspiration from all the other participants. I found a few new sewists to follow on Instagram and also found a few new patterns to add to my wish list.

I'll recap the me-made garments I wore during the last week of the challenge and then list the things I learned or want to focus on moving forward in my garment sewing journey.

On Day 22, I decided to try a different top to wear with my Helen's Closet York Pinafore to see if I can style it in a fun way for the summer. I chose my pink Cedar Dolman top (pattern by Cashmerette) and I was really pleased with the outfit. I'm planning a few more tee shirts in bright colours or fun prints to wear with my pinafore over the next few months.

May 23 was a lazy Sunday spent at home in my sewing room. I wore RTW shorts with a Cielo Top (Closet Core Patterns). This Cielo started off as a dress but I didn't like the way the quilting cotton looked as a dress so I cut it off to turn it into a crop top. I like it as a top, but it's a tad short so I plan on adding some kind of band at the bottom. A friend suggested using a solid in one of the colours from the print at the hem and as cuffs for the sleeves. I think that's a great idea - I just have to decide which colour to go for. I have a few options: red, pink, peach, white or light blue. I'm leaning toward pink but we will see.

On day 24, I wore my brown Arden Pants with a RTW cami and cardigan. I spent the whole day tugging at the waist of these pants because they kept falling. The fabric is a stretch suiting that's really heavy and the elastic is a bit too long. I've now put these pants on the mending pile to fix them in time for the Fall because I don't think I'll be wearing them again now that the weather has gotten much warmer.

On May 25, I once again wore my Seychelles top but paired it with grey capri pants. Not much to say about this one - I love my Seychelles top, I love the colour and I love the fun pleats at the shoulders. This one will get a lot of wear this summer.

On May 27, the temperature was cooler and so I jumped at the opportunity to wear my Metra Blazer (by Love Notions). The rest of the outfit is RTW. I absolutely love this blazer and I'll definitely be making at least another one for the Fall. In fact, I already have a scuba fabric set aside for it.

On day 28 I wore my red Blackwood Cardigan (Helen's Closet) and Moji Pants (Seamwork) with a RTW black tee. I like this outfit - the cardigan really makes it though. I should try to get more of this red Liverpool knit for when this cardigan needs to be retired.

On May 29, it was a head to toe Helen's Closet kind of day! I wore my black and white viscose Ashton top, wine Liverpool Blackwood Cardigan and grey Arden pants. Wearing my Ashton with the Arden pants really made me want to make a new version of both to wear together over the summer months and I immediately pulled fabric from my stash that had been set aside for other garments and got to work...

And finally, on May 31, I wore my new outfit! A cream viscose twill Ashton top with some blue linen Arden pants. I love, love, love this outfit so much! The pants are really comfortable but look so nice and the fit on the Ashton is nearly perfect. 

Things I learned or plan to do moving forward

• I need to be more adventurous with the colours and prints I use to make garments. I recently had my colours done and my colour palette has so many fun shades on there, I really need to branch out! For this summer, I'd like to make a lime green top.
• I need a navy cardigan or blazer.
• I have no cute shorts!! All of the shorts I have are very casual, loungewear sort of shorts. I would love some woven Bermuda shorts in a chambray or culottes in a flowy viscose.
• I need to make myself cute summer dresses. I don't own a single dress right now except for my York Pinafore. I would love a few knee length dresses to wear for date night now that restaurants are opening up again soon. And I love a good dress in the summer heat! 
• I need to be more intentional with the fabric and patterns I choose to make. I've been sewing garments for a couple of years now and I've made individual pieces with very little thought about how they would fit with the rest of my wardrobe. As I mentioned in my last blog post, I intend to change that by planning and sewing capsules for each season. The outfit I wore on May 31 are the first pieces to go in my summer capsule.
• I also decided I don't need to make every single garment in my wardrobe. For example, I have no interest in making jeans (heck I'm not even sure I want jeans!) and I don't know if I have the patience or the time to learn how to fit trousers to my body so that I can make myself fitted pants. My body has changed a lot over the past year (thank you menopause and COVID-19) and I just can't imagine spending hour upon hour making the numerous muslins I would need to make in order to fit proper trousers. Perhaps in the future, but not right now.

And those are my thoughts after spending one month focusing on my me-made garments and thinking about where I want to take this hobby of mine. I'm already looking forward to next year!