I unabashedly love Me-Made May. This will be my 4th year participating, and every year I look forward to the fabulous community. My first year I had only been sewing for 3 months, and my wardrobe was all Colette dresses in quilting cotton. Times have changed in my wardrobe, but I still love seeing all those happy and proud sewcialist faces every day for a month.
I like a bit of a focus in my pledge, so I feel less silly taking selfies every day! (Was “selfies” even a word during my first MMM?)
Here’s what I’ve done so far:
#MMM12: My pledge was to wear something handmade every day, and teach a Japanese word a day! I was fresh off the boat from Japan just married, living with my parents, and trying to get hired as a teacher.
#MMM13: I pledged to wear outfits everyday that pulled from my personal colour palette. I was still at home and jumping through hoops to be more employable… but I’d bought a serger, learned to sew pants, and I started taking pics with a timer and tripod. Much more relaxing than bugging my husband for help before work!
#MMM14: For one week each, I wore Cake Espresso leggings, Style Arc Elle pants, Jalie raglans, and Jamie Christina Mission Maxis. It’s a little scary how many other patterns I also could have chosen to wear versions of for a week! By this point we’d moved into our own apartment and got our first cat. All forms of non-stretch fabric had been slowly phased out of my wardrobe that year – while I simultaneously gained 20 pounds. Ooops! Beware the dangers of comfort. I’ve now lost about half of it…
So what’s my pledge this year?
Sewing Around the World!
- Week 1: Canadian designers, including Closet Case Files, Jalie, Sewaholic, and Ohhh Lulu that you won’t see! That’s a damn fine line up from my home country – I could pretty much wear Canadian for a month, but it wouldn’t be very exciting to document!
- Week 2: European designers, including Kitschy Koo, Deer and Doe, Maria of Denmark, and Paprika Patterns.
- Week 3: Australia and New Zealand, including Style Arc, Jennifer Lauren, Muse and Cake. (You ANZ folk are killing it, pattern wise!)
- Week 4: American. Oddly, this is the most under-represented in my wardrobe, even though it makes up the majority of my blog roll! It’s down to Grainline and Jamie Christina to get me through this, with a little help from Mouse House (Julia cardigan) and McCalls (another cardigan favourite!)
Obviously there are tons of other designers from all these places… but I’m only listing designers I’ve already got represented in my closet. I wear head-to-toe me-made most days already, so I think highlighting different regions will give me some focus. There will have to be some continental mixing-and-matching though, since the only pants/leggings I have are from Canada and ANZ – but I promise to wear at least one thing every day that represents the designers from that area.
Are you joining in MMM, and have you chosen a pledge yet? Can you suggest any designers that are up my alley that I should try? I’ve got plenty of time to sew up a few more basics!
Crafting A Rainbow 
You always have such fun posts. I shall have to try to have a theme to my MMM this year. Hmmmm
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I really enjoyed the colour challenge, enough that I’m thinking of repeating it next year to see if my taste has changed! Would it work for you too? Or maybe choosing favourite pattern designers to focus on each week, or trying to wear everything you’ve ever sewn to see if you still like it? So many options! I really like a fun pledge though – makes the whole thing more enjoyable!
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OK – you have OUTDONE yourself. You are so creative. This is genius and now I understand your tweets. I cannot wait to see how this goes. PS: I have never been able to get into this although I often wear something I’ve worn everyday, just because they’re the things in my wardrobe. The idea of documenting it just kills it for me. Which is very weird considering how I love to document things.
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Ha – thanks! I was pretty stuck on what to do this year, and then I remembered that I’d considered this last year… but seriously, why is the USA so under-represented in my wardrobe!? I’m really surprised!
If you ever want to do MMM, Instagram has really changed how people participate… makes it much easier to take a quick pic every day, no blogging or uploading to flickr unless you want to. I think the easiest way to to take the same kind of pic every day – Dolly Clackette does a “looking down at skirt and shoes pic” every day, and for MMM, Ginger Makes did “Selfie while drinking coffee” each day. You could do a “reflection in shop window while walking to work”, perhaps? But only if it’s fun!
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What a terrific idea! This will be fun to see. I’m surprised you don’t have any Renfrews, though.
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I have Renfrews! DId I imply that I didn’t? Ooops! I’ve got tons and tons of Canadian shirts and pants. No dresses though….
Edited: Aha! I re-read it and I see where I was comfusing. I’ve changed it now… what I meant to say was that the only bottoms I have are sewn from Canadian or aussie pattern, not that bottoms are all I have from those places! 🙂
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That’s a lie. I have a couple Nettie dresses and some Renfrew dresses! Damn. I really could do Canadian for a month!
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I *thought* you would have tonnes of Renfrews. Makes much more sense now. I’m looking forward to all the flags on top/in the pictures. 🙂
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Such good ideas Gillian! I too love MMM, but I have yet to decide on my pledge this year. I definitely need to document – I didn’t last year, and that made it not as fun.
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The documenting definitely makes it more fun! Otherwise it’s just normal life, wearing me-mades like always. Are you on Instagram? Lots of people seem to like that route!
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What a fun way to do MMM! Can’t wait to see your posts next month!
Oh, and you mentioned at the end of your Funki Fabrics post how different clothing items have had its rounds, like swimwear, then (I think) outerwear, and jeans and now underwear. I don’t know what comes next – haven’t we gone through everything now? 😉 I think there will be a continued interest in quality now though – quality in fabrics, quality in fit, quality in finish. Or, it will be making/painting your own fabrics like Sallie Oh does. She’s such a trendsetter.
Also, to end these rambling thoughts, I’m skipping MMM this year, as much as I love the concept. My life has been so crazy this past year that I can’t offer any energy to anything that is not studying for my teaching degree exam (yeah, joining the land of teachers!) and the three different teaching-sewing gigs I have until summer (again, yeah! But also kind of taxing.. 😉 )
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I’m sorry you won’t be doing MMM this year – but a good choice if life is too busy! I almost skipped it last year – and honestly, I can’t even remember what was going on that was making me so stressed! Maybe next year you can join again?
As for making/dying your own fabrics – yes! I can think of at least 4 people blogging about doing that lately. It would be a great trend to catch on!
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I’m gearing up for my first time participating in MMM – I think I finally have enough garments to get through it, especially once I (finally) finish up a few skirts and things I’ve been putting off (uhg, hemming). I’ve been really paying attention to the color combos and silhouettes that I like, so I think I’m going to work that in as my theme – a color combo or silhouette each week. Still deciding, but I’m excited! I figure it’s a good way to restart my poor, dusty blog, heh.
I love how this showcases the international aspect of the sewing community, though – I rarely register where my patterns are from unless I buy the paper ones (Deer & Doe comes immediately to mind), so this is such a fun reminder!
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I’m glad you are joining in! FOcusing on colour and silhouette seems like a great challenge, as long as you have enough clothes to pull it off. Now go get hemming!!!
😉
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What a fun theme idea! I’ll be looking forward to seeing what you do with it. I think I’ve finally settled on not doing MMM this year. Mainly since I literally only have 6 things I’ve made that fit, once I finish my current project, and 5 of those will be things I’ve recently posted about! (That, and since this is the range of 6-2 weeks before my due date, I think I’d better focus on finishing all the last minute prep and the baby gear I still want to make!)
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Woolerbaby does deserve priority!!! I”m impressed with how much of you maternity wardrobe you’ve made yourself. If you do decide to join in though, you could always do it just a few times a week… or I’ve been thinking lately how fun it would be to choose just 7 pieces, one for each day of the week, and wear them for the whole month! The focus would be on styling, instead, and how to make do with less… but that’s not necessarily the right thing for you take on right now, I’m sure! 🙂
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What a fun retrospective! You’ve been so creative in your pledges. It seems I’ve always been pregnant or super morning sick for most MMMs in the past few years. As I won’t be either this year, I’m looking forward to just doing the whole thing, but I have no idea what my parameters will look like…probably something along the lines of incorporating more of my skirts and jackets into every day.
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Hurray for MMM with no baby on board! (Just babies in the background, of course!) I hope you enjoy it!
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I love me made may too! I am so psyched to be participating this year! It’s so cool that you have these collages to look back at! I love seeing you in woven – you have some really cute dresses in there!
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Is it your first MMM? Have fun!
After writing this post I dug out some of my first cotton dresses and tried them on – I’m happy to report I could squeeze (barely) into all of them, though my boobs and butt seem to be the most changed. It made me remember how much I love the colours and structure of quilting cotton dresses… so even though I’m not about to start making more, I am motivated to get some of my wovens out of the stash! And when I lose a bit more weight, I could see getting some of my older dresses back into rotation a bit. They are all so nicely lined and finished – I used to be so much more careful!
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Yep – this is my first one! I had so much fun following along with everyone last year, but I didn’t have enough garments to participate. I think it would be fun to see some of you woven dresses if you want to share…
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What a great idea for a pledge! I love how creative you get with MMM each year. I’m still going back and forth deciding whether to officially participate or not… good thing I still have a week left to decide. I love the idea but don’t want to get bogged down by rules… maybe I’ll just make some guidelines and tell myself I’m allowed to break them!
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Come on, join in! There is no rule saying that you have to wear me-mades every day, or even take photos at all – so just pick a pledge that will be fun! Like Me-mades 5 times a week, or trying to wear 1 or 2 me-mades a week that don’t normal get worn?
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Exactly, I’ll have to think of a fun pledge that will be reasonably do-able. I’ve already sworn off daily photos after OWOP – even 7 days was too much for my sanity!
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Absolutely creative! I am looking forward to seeing your outfits!
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Thanks, Tasha! Are you joining in MMM too?
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Ooh, what a fun pledge! I hardly ever think about where the designers of the patterns I wear come from. It’ll be cool to see what you wear each week!
I’ve been wondering once again about joining it all, since what I wear most days now are hospital scrubs, and then something comfy when I get home. Oh well, I still have a few days to think about it.
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How about me-mades on your days off? Or I bet you have lots of me-made lounging clothes… could just be a pic of you on the couch after work every night! 😉
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Ooh I love this year’s theme! It will be interesting to see all your makes! I love MMM too and am still mulling over what to do…
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I”m looking forward to sorting through my closet before it all beings, and figuring out just where each item was designed!
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You’re such a MMM all-star! I love that you always go the extra mile and add another element of fun on top of the me-made aspect. I love your around the world focus this year. Great idea!
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Thanks!! How are you feeling about your pledge?
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Oh, what a great idea! I’m largely me-made every day, as well, so I’ve let the MMMay lapse the last couple of years (OK, last year 😉 ), but this is a great idea to still stretch yourself! Hehe… I could probably do a month of Jalie alone. 😉 I did try to incorporate “70s week” once but the weather didn’t really cooperate.
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You should do Jalie week! I don’t understand why their patterns aren’t more popular (not many pdfs, maybe?) because I’ve never sewn a Jalie pattern I didn’t love.
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Well, they’re maybe more practical and less exciting than loads of cute dresses? People are scared of all the knits? Or don’t like tracing? I dunno… but I know what you mean! 🙂 Every time I make one I think “I need to make five of this!”
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I”m afraid that after you and Two On, Two Off blogged that Jalie tank this week I’m going to *have* to make one myself, and then clearly, I’ll make 10!
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Freaking AWESOME pledge this year Gillian! I was wondering what you’d come up with, and I’d never have predicted this one! Cannot wait to see it all in action xxx
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Thanks for hosting it! I love MMM – plus it’s at the perfect point in the school year that I think, “If I can just get through MMM, it’ll be almost time to pack up my classroom for summer holiday!”
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You always come up with great themes for your MMM outfits Gillian. This will be really interesting and show off all sorts of different patterns. 🙂
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This is awesome! I think I’ll just do a MMM, but I admire you for this idea.
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This MMM is really new to me. I’m still considering joining in… 😉 If you’re low on danish pattern designers (and have the time to make something new even though it’s not in your pledge) you should look up Nanna at http://www.howtodofashion.dk. She makes wonderful patterns. 🙂
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How great is your pledge (and your pledges from the last few years)! Wish I had stumbled upon your blog before pledging, I may have been a little more creative with mine! But I guess there’s always next year!
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Aw, thank you! I’m enjoying looking through your website – you are prolific with the tutorials! And I think you MMM pledge is lovely as it is – I know that feeling of restarting in a new place, and it’s a fun time to rethink/redirect. Good luck!
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