Belated Thoughts on Me-Made-May

This week has been a bit hectic so my thoughts on Me-Made-May are a bit late.

My original pledge was to wear one me-made item on at least three days a week and to add one new item to my me-made wardrobe each week.  I didn’t want to be too ambitious because I really didn’t think I had enough things to make a daily commitment possible.  I’m pleased to say that I exceeded my own expectations by wearing something me-made every day apart from two Sundays when I just grabbed the first thing that came to hand.  There were quite a few repeats but it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be and I was generally very happy with what I was wearing each day.  Although I hadn’t really planned it, I also managed to avoid buying any ready made clothes for the whole month.

I think my favourite/most useful items during the month, apart from the new things below were my floral frock, a stretch shirting top which goes with lots of my skirts  and a chambray skirt (not pictured) I’d stopped wearing because the fabric had shrunk in the wash but the lining hadn’t.  A five minute fix was all it took.

I added the following to my wardrobe either by sewing new garments, finishing half-completed projects or adapting previous makes.

Nautical Skirt

After unpicking

I found the whole process quite inspiring and have definitely been encouraged to expand my efforts on the me-made front.  I’ve realised there are a lot of gaps in my skills (and wardrobe) and I need to be more ambitious and confident – particularly in trying new patterns rather than sticking with the ones I know will work.  I’ve now got my Grainline Morris Blazer pattern and hopefully I can get my head round that over the next few days.  Having looked at the images I’ve just included I think I need to inject some more colour so perhaps this green ponte from Guthrie and Ghani will be the answer for the blazer.

I’m making progress on the self-drafted shell/vest top.  Rather impatiently I used some expensive (but really lovely) jersey from Clothkits to make the first ‘proper’ toile and I really should have waited for the cheap and cheerful jersey I’d ordered from Tissu Fabrics to arrive, which it did this morning.  It was a bargain at £3.99 a metre.  However, the top is coming along and I think this attempt is wearable, although the fit under the arm isn’t quite right yet.  Just the hem to go.  I really want to take it up a bit at the shoulders to raise the neckline (and hopefully improve the fit under the arm) and then I think it will be almost perfect.  I’m not sure if I’ll mess this one around or make the changes to the next version.

Having spent some time on the Guthrie & Ghani website the other evening I discovered that they sell espadrille soles.  I really want to make my own espadrilles!   I have quite small feet and can never get them to fit properly.  I don’t know how I missed Lauren’s blog post last year but hers look great and they only use a very small amount of fabric.  Given that Boden are now charging £60 for theirs I think these are well worth a go.

Have a good weekend!