Goal Achieved: (Almost) 30 Days of Me-Made Clothes

I set a Sewing Goal to participate in Me Made May this year. I’ve never done it before and honestly, until I started my own sewing blog last fall, I’d never even heard of it. I’ll be honest, usually when I participate in any kind of 30 day challenge, I lose my enthusiasm for it about 6 days in. I’ve got to say, I’m pretty proud of myself right now.

I wore handmade clothes 28 days out of the 31 days in May. My actual goal was just to make it 30, giving myself one day to be lazy or have a dilemma of some kind. My safety-net if you will.

The items I wore:

Dresses: 5 (Mac and Cheese Dress, Chrysanthemum Dress, Green Flower Dress, Pretty Bird Dress, Green Polka DotDress)

Skirts: 3 (Kitties on BicyclesSkirt, Green Striped Skirt, Blue Embroidered Skirt)

Tops: 2 (Pink Embroidered Tunic, Green Taffeta Top)

Pants: 1 (Pink Capri Pants)

Pajamas: 2 (Blue Skull Jammies, Pink and Purple Jammies)

 What I learned

First, I am not the same size I was 3 years ago. This presented a challenge because most of what I wanted to wear, was made quite a while ago. The two tops I had this May were both a bit small on me. The pink one especially. Way too tight in the chest. The green one is tight under the arms and because I spilled something on it, now has a permanent stain, so that’s done for. The blue embroidered skirt was the dress I wore for my engagement photos 3 years ago and since it no longer zipped all the way, I just cut it off where I could zip it to and made it into a skirt. Sometimes you have to make last minute compromises. Life goes on.

Second, I discovered that if I really need something finished, I’ll finish it. I am the queen of cutting out patterns and forgetting about them. Case in point, the green top. I have no idea how long that was sitting with no sleeves. It took me 10 minutes to attach sleeves and hem the bottom. Yeah, I could have done that years ago.

Third, my laziness and the cold were my only downfalls. That’s a painful realization. One day, I was just too lazy to find me-made clothes. Another day, I was out of town and packed something easier to travel in. The last day, it was very cold and windy, and I don’t have any warm me-made items. I probably could have had them…but the laziness. And if you read my last post on the Green Polka Dot Dress, you’ll know I’ve decided not to be so hard on myself about my sewing creations. Some days, I deserve to just be lazy.

Fourth, I learned that my wardrobe, both purchased and handmade, has some rather sizable holes. Neutral colored tops being one of them.

I also learned that I really do love the retro 40’s, 50’s 60’s styles and I plan to make myself a lot more items that fit into those eras. I’m even getting more adventurous with my hair. Boring pony-tail be gone!

What I completed for Me Made May

I know that Me Made May is not about rushing to sew more items just to wear them in May, but these items were already on my to-do list and they were really helpful this month.

I finished the green top, tight and awkward and no longer going to be a part of my wardrobe due to a lovely new stain on the front.

I finished the Pretty Bird Dress for my April challenge at The Monthly Stitch just on time to start wearing it in May.

I also finished my pink Capri pants. They need some work, but they’re wearable and gave me some much needed windy day attire.

I finished the Green Polka Dot Dress, which had been giving me trouble since March.

I chopped up my Blue Embroidered Dress into my new Blue Embroidered Skirt. Hooray for last minute saves.

I found (finally) the green striped skirt which had been MIA for at least 6 months. Buried in a box. “There you are my lovely!”

Why I succeeded

The first reason I succeeded is because the Mac and Cheese dress is so darn versatile! I wore it with black, I wore it with turquoise blue, I wore it with red, I wore it with dark blue, I wore it with a combinations of colors including white, black, pink and whatever else is in that crazy head scarf that was my grandmother’s. (She had the best stuff!) Yeah. Versatility rocks. The Green Polka Dot dress is the same way, I just didn’t have it for the whole month, so it got worn a little less.

But honestly the biggest reason I succeeded is because I made myself accountable to people. I have a few Instagram followers who are also personal friends. They repeatedly asked me how it was going and made sure to give me feedback on how much they liked the outfits, either on IG, via text, or in person. Their support was vital. You know who you are, and I thank you.

While we’re on the subject of Instagram, WOW! Posting daily outfits via IG and Twitter did wonders for my number of followers and for my number of page views on the blog. I expected it to go up a little from that activity, and from my additional posts this month, but holy cow! Hello new readers! Come, sit, stay a while and let me get to know you!

Now that it’s over

First off, I have been cutting out projects for June like it’s going out of style. So I plan to get those finished up. Normally I have a box where I keep my WIP’s, but since I want to keep thinking about them, they’re all out on display (like a museum?) so I can’t forget about them because I’ll walk past them every day.

Second, I have to deal with the holes in my home sewn wardrobe. I need more separates, tops, skirts, and pants seem to be running a bit behind the dress count. Particularly the tops because the only one worth wearing again is much too small now. So that takes my official count to zero.

Last, now that May is over I have to admit that I feel relieved. There was a lot of planning involved in dressing solely in my own creations. Planning, that I do not usually make enough time for in the morning when I’m getting ready for work. Also, I have some fabulous Ready-To-Wear pieces that are feeling lonely and I miss them as much as they miss me.

So, I’m counting this Sewing Goal as completed. I wore 28 days of my own creations and I’m extremely proud of myself. I have a huge pile of future projects and WIP’s for the next few months and I really need to start thinking about my fall/winter wardrobe. Did you participate in Me Made May? If you did, how did it go for you? If not, are you working toward participation for next year? 

How Sewing has Changed my Shopping Habits

Me Made top and RTW capris

I love shopping. Love it! I love shoes, clothes, home goods, food...I’ll shop for anything. In the past year though, the number of clothing items I've purchased has dropped dramatically.

I shop differently than I did before sewing was such a big part of my life. Now I look at the quality of construction (which is terrible in most stores, even the expensive ones). I look at things like how well plaids and stripes are matched at the seams (they’re usually not), I look at the quality of the fabric (I won’t buy a knit I can see through) and I look at how well it covers what I want to cover (oh baby, can’t wear that to work).

For example let’s say I’m looking at a plaid skirt. If the lines of the plaid doesn't match along the seam, it goes back. If the fabric is too thin, wrinkles too much, is not appealing in some way, it goes back. If the skirt is too short, has incorrect proportions, a highly visible zipper, unflattering lines, seam, tucks or folds, it goes back. I could make it with fewer errors with a simple pattern, nicer fabric and add some fun lace trim and a good lining in a just a few hours.

In short, I've become much pickier about what clothing I’ll buy. I know that if I want a truly stellar look, I have to make it myself. That’s how I get exactly the dress I want and often times, I get it for cheaper than I can buy it.

This is my favorite skirt ever! Me Made!

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a serious bargain shopper, so if I can find a pair of pants that look nice and are on clearance, I will buy them. But even with stellar savings, the item has to fit exceptionally well for me to bring it home. I won’t pay $12 for something that needs $20 worth of alterations, because let’s be honest, I won’t get around to those alterations for a while, and by the time I do, I probably won’t like it as much as I did when I bought it. I have long legs and a long waist, so hemming pants/skirts is never something I need to do on a store bought piece of clothing. The only real alterations I’m willing to do on a ready to wear item is taking in the waist or bodice on a dress. Even that, I only do if it seems like something I could handle in less than 15 minutes. What can I say, I’m lazy that way, but at least I know my limits. To the point, I don’t think it’s worth my time to buy something that needs altering, even at a steal, but that may not be true for everyone. Some of you may be more ambitious than I am.

Now that I have a customized look, I rock a lot of prints and polka dots that I probably wouldn't have been able to find in the kind of dress or skirt I’d make it in. I also have clothes that always fit well. I still buy jeans and sweaters and some basics, but a lot of times, finding my size is a stab in the dark, because I have no concept of size now as it exists in the retail world. As far as my body measurements are concerned, I wear three different sizes. Sewing is how I make all three sizes come together in one perfect outfit.

A note on personal style: I follow a lot of sewing blogs. I see a lot of handmade items in my various social media feeds. I can tell you one thing for sure. The more you make your own clothes, the more you find your personal style. Go ahead, find some other sewers in the community. You’ll see how each of them has a very unique style, how each put their own spin on every pattern they make, how fabric choice, trim options and accessories really make something your own. Seeing friends’ creations is inspiring and helps me to move my own personal style forward. I seem to be moving toward skirts and dresses with a vintage fit and feel to them, but I don’t usually go full-on vintage vibe with my look. Perfect color/print coordination really rocks my socks too. Oh, and colorful. I love me some colors, especially pink!

I love to wear pink!

One of the most extreme ways sewing can change your shopping habits is by ending your retail clothing shopping completely. Yep, that’s right. There are some lovely sewing enthusiasts who sew everything they wear and have completely sworn off buying retail clothing. Even their underwear. I’m not there yet, and I don’t know that I’ll ever be, but there is certainly some inspiration to be found in it, isn't there?

Personally, my handmade wardrobe is a little limited at the moment, but participating in Me Made May has helped me to identify where those gaps are. I'm working toward a completely handmade work wardrobe, but I'm allowing my home/downtime wardrobe to still be mostly ready to wear. Is increasing your handmade wardrobe a priority to you? How much of your wardrobe is already handmade? How much of your wardrobe do you wish was handmade? I'd love to know!

A Semi-Formal Tradition

My two oldest step daughters

It's that time of year again when high school girls go gaga over the sparkle and splendor of dresses at department stores,  hoping that certain high school boy asks them the age old question they are dying to hear,  "Will you go to the dance with me?"

We are in the midst of stepdaughter #2's junior year of high school and like all her friends,  she can't wait to show off her latest look in tulle and sparkles. She wants a truly unique dress that encompasses who she is at the moment. While her taste is continually changing she has always been a girly girl. In the past, we've browsed stores to see what's available but this year she didn't even bother with that. She knows the tradition at our house.

I have three step daughters.  The oldest is in her first year of college,  the middle one is in high school,  and the youngest is finishing up her last year of the torture we call middle school. In short, this is the 5th time we've done the Semi-Formal dance hoopla. Of the previous 4 years only once did each of them wear a RTW dress from the store.

Freshman Year

My oldest step daughter wore a pink satin number trimmed in gold rickrack her freshman year. She loved it and even now that she's gone off to college, it still hangs in her closet here at home. 

Her sophomore year she bought a dress. Not much I can say about that.

Junior Year

Her junior year she wore a retro orange and black fit and flare style with elbow length sleeves and a giant bow that tied the back together. For her, this was the moment she learned the value of custom made clothing. Everyone complimented her dress and told her that only she could have pulled it off. And for the first time, she was really proud to tell everyone that I'd made her dress. And it had pockets. Bonus. 

The following year, the theme for the dance was "The Great Gatsby". Both of my older girls loved the movie and they were so excited.  For the oldest, we revamped a hot pink bridesmaid dress into something a little more steampunk by adding a bustle and some black lace. With a pair of elbow length gloves and a feather boa, she was thrilled with her new vixen look. The middle daughter went straight for the costume patterns. She wanted total flapper glitz and glory. She got the shapeless shift of the 1920's with sequins and fringe.

Senior Year for #1
Sophomore for #2

This year, she wants something even more sparkly. She came to me with a picture of a dress she found on Pinterest that had a fitted bodice and a full gathered skirt...but she wanted it in a print instead of a solid, a sweetheart neckline, no, strapless, shiny, with a contrasting underskirt that shows a bit at the bottom...yeah, that's my girl.

At this point, we pretty much have every pattern under the sun as far as dresses go, so after browsing through the drawer of patterns, we once again ended up with a costume pattern because it most fit what she was looking for. We paraded off to the fabric store expecting the trip to cost us more than any RTW dress ever had, but she surprised me. She picked out a blue, pink, and gold brocade fabric that was on sale. then when picking out the tulle for her underskirt, we went with the bottom layers in a flat off-white, and the top layers in an off-white with gold glitter. After picking up the remaining notions and using a few coupons, we escaped the fabric store for just under $45. Once again, that's my girl!

I'm excited to keep this tradition of our going this year, and hopefully it will continue next year with my third and youngest step daughter. I'll do a separate post on #2's new dress in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for that.

I am curious though, does anyone else have any sewing traditions like this?

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