As always, it’s time for a round-up post on Me-Made May 2019: I find these useful and have looked over the previous summations as well, which always puts things into a bit of perspective. This is the third year I’ve done this and it’s been an interesting one (not least because I have been saying all along it was the fourth year I’ve done it. Funny how your mind plays tricks on you. It’s not like three is a big number to count to). The first two can be condensed into this following essence(s) (an eau de Me-Made-May, if you will):

Year One: Hadn’t been sewing long, thought I’d give it a shot and pledged to wear one garment a day.

Result: Realised I was wearing monochrome + blue and didn’t have many summer clothes. Didn’t make enough solids and needed to find my style.

Year Two: After a solid year of sewing, upped the ante and went for a full me-made outfit each day.

Result: There was more colour in my wardrobe, I had more summery things and found a few outfits that felt like “me”. BUT still needed to make more solids and basics and still not accessorising much.

Year Three: My pledge this year was the somewhat wordy: “I endeavour to wear a complete me-made outfit every day that has been intentionally put together. I would like to work on making my me-made wardrobe cohesive and will try to plug gaps with TNTs I’ve been meaning to make for ages, as well as streamline makes that don’t work for me.”

Okay, now for this year! Here are my key findings, Doctor Watson:

• I have made more items and outfits that feel like “me”. Here are some of them:

It’s notable that the shape that feels most like “me” is generally an hourglass silhouette. Whether it’s a button-down shirt and tapered trousers/jeans or a dress with a nipped-in waist, this is where I feel at home and is, indeed, a silhouette I’ve worn for many years. A lot of them also feature blue and black, of course. In terms of my pledge, it is noticeably easier for me to pull outfits together than it has been in recent Me Made Mays. It’s all relative, so I mean I can pull them out of the wardrobe immediately, rather than spend…ohhh… I dunno… 2 mins looking at my options.

• Almost all of the other garments/outfits that aren’t quintessentially “me” are nevertheless nice pieces that will just take a bit of getting used to because they’re a new silhouette or whatever (eg. peplum top, above, lower right). In fact, I purged my wardrobe right before starting Me Made May this year and I think it really got rid of those pieces I knew I wasn’t feeling, but didn’t want to pass on. It was a good move.

• I still wear a lot of blue and I’m still lacking solids, but I’m slowly getting there. I will probably always gravitate towards prints, but I’m actually thinking about solids more and factoring them in, so that I can wear more BRIGHT COLOURS. Good example: grey Ninni culottes, above, top right. Yay.

• I am again lacking summery things as per Year One, butttt… I couldn’t wear some of those because I am heavier than at this time last year – and that’s when I made a lot of my favourite summer garments (see above). I’m not going to dwell on it and I’m not beating myself up; nor am I making a comment on body positivity. I’m just saying that last year it’s a fact that I was reasonably fit and this year I am less so, so I have less wardrobe to choose from, which is a shame. I liked being fitter, so hopefully I will get back to that, but I welcomed the break in training post-triathlon (I just didn’t intend it to go on so long! Ha.).

• Oh and finally, I did actually try some different hairstyles and a few accessories this year. Not many, I’ll admit, but a few. I never have been, and never will be, the sort of person who spends an hour getting ready in the morning. I’m not a morning person. I have friends who always have different hairstyles and really cool accessories every time I see them and I so ADMIRE it. But… I’m just never going to be that person. And that’s totally okay! I have thick, thick wavy hair, so I can’t just whip it up in a bun or put a slide in it. Haahahha – seriously my hair MUNCHES slides and pins. It even breaks hairbrushes and those gigantic claw claspy things. It’s a beast. So I’m actually kinda pleased I got a couple of alternative styles going. I enjoyed it. I just wish I had 48hrs in every day.

Going Forwards:

All in all, this was a consolidation sort of year I reckon. I would say I’m on the right track and just need to keep exploring shapes and patterns. If I were to be completely honest (and I always am, naturally) I still have an irksome niggle that I’ve have yet to make some sort of breakthrough, but I feel I’m much closer. I don’t even exactly know what I mean, but I think it’s something to do with reclaiming my individuality after having a baby and having a different body shape, turning 40 and not being in full-time work any more. Something like that anyway…

Here are a few shorter-term plans I’ve identified:

• TNT June: I’ve identified a few gaps in the wardrobe and I want to make a few more repeats. I’m not too good at this as I’m often distracted by the next shiny, interesting pattern, but I have a number of patterns I think I can whip up fairly quickly. This will also have the side effect of helping me sew my stash!
• Summer dresses: I’m going to make a few summer dresses. I wear the couple I have all the time, so more rayon challis and linen garments are coming up soon!
• Colours: I am currently finishing up a spring/summer wardrobe that basically revolves around the colour blue. The idea is that when I’m done, I will have enough solids and basics in my wardrobe in my most-worn colours that I can then purposefully work on other shades. I have tons of other fabrics in my stash, from shocking pink to deep wine to shiny silver and I want to get more of them in regular rotation.

Okay! As always, I’ve said more than I intended, but once you start looking at the pics you think about all sorts of things. It’s been another interesting year and I’m keen to get some new projects started. Bye for now!