Me Made May - Week 2 Roundup

Sunday May 8

Black Knit Dress & Black Summer Cardigan

Monday May 9

Kerobokan Kelly Skirt

Tuesday May 10

Indigo Dot Brumby Skirt & Navy Cable Cardigan 

Wednesday May 11

Chambray Kelly from September 2014 (unblogged) & Yellow Woven Tee (Butterick 6113)

Thursday May 12

Lucie #2 

Friday May 13

Veronika Calico Skirt

Saturday May 14

Morning - stripey knit hat (unblogged) & retro sweatshirt

Afternoon - new babydoll dress from New Look 6305 (unblogged)

reflections at the half-way point:

I love this project!  I've been really getting to know my me-made clothes and falling in love with some of them anew.  While my sewing machines were getting tuned up, I also took part in #menditmay and worked through some items in my mending pile, including my first ever knit sewing project - a little black dress. Although it was imperfect in technique, I loved it a lot and wore it until the armhole ripped.  I wasn on a sewing hiatus when it tore, so I set it in my mending pile and forgot about it.  Last Sunday, I hand-stitched it and wore it that evening with a black cardigan I knitted.  

It was really satisfying to fix it up - didn't take long at all and it was wonderful to be reunited with an old friend dress. 

I've been enjoying bringing some older me-mades into the mix.  This month is a nice way to honor everything, even the me-mades that aren't shiny and new. I dug out a funky knit sweatshirt I made from an 80s pattern and 80s fabric because I needed something comfy to wear for some labor on Saturday morning. Normally, for that type of work, I would have fallen back on non-me-made clothes, but I found that I actually did have something I made that was suitable for the situation. 

I've also loved the instagram pictures that everyone posts daily - I am super-impressed and inspired by what people are making and wearing.  I've started following some sewing folks and I love seeing their creations.  I bought two patterns from seeing the cool things that other people have made McCalls 5577 from Ms. Cleaver and this Dottie Angel smock (Simplicity 1080) that I have seen at least a half-dozen times and just adore. I'm excited because these dresses are in my style comfort zone, but not exactly my go-to sewing comfort zone, so it will be fun to try something new to sew that I know I would like to wear. 

#mmmay16 has also given me a chance to fall back in love with older makes and see how they go together with newer makes too.  For instance, I didn't have the striped navy/white tee that I wore with my ikat Kelly this week when I first made that skirt 2 years ago. Now I am kind of obsessed with mixing stripes and prints in the same color family, so I have collected a bunch of striped tees. I totally love this skirt with a striped top, which I would not have discovered when it was tucked away in my spare room closet. 

Some things I've discovered in the process of me-made May that are lacking in my wardrobe, which I could make... first off: blouses.  I really want to make some blouses this summer.  

Secondly - pants and shorts.  I hardly ever wear pants and shorts because the ready to wear ones rarely fit and they often take pretty industrial sewing power to finish well.  Now that my super powerful Viking 6460 with its low gear is up and running, I think I can tackle denim... and I have the Cake Patterns Endeavor pant pattern with custom fitting options to help me master fit... so the obstacles are removed and this summer, I really want to give pants and shorts a go.

Lastly, more knit dresses & maybe even tees.  I think my Viking 6460 can take a walking foot, so I would like to try again tackling knits because I remembered how much I love wearing that little black knit dress, even with all its imperfections. 

The second half of May is going to be super-busy & I probably won't get a lot of time to sew or blog, but I will be on Instagram @katikhu every day with my me-made pictures.  I have much gratitude to my husband for playing along as photographer for many of the days.  I've only had to snap awkward selfies a few times, thus far. Happy making and happy wearing of your lovely creations! <3