Me-Made-May - Days 23-31

And so, it's over (for another year). That's it for me-made-may for 2013! And I am happy to share that I successfully completed the task of wearing something me-made every day, although as you'll see below I failed at the taking photos each day part.

	Day 23 (Thursday) Me-Made - Black Hollyburn Skirt - PolyChiffon Pendrell - Grey Wrap Cardigan - Minoru RTW - Singlet - Tights, undies, bra
	Day 24 (Friday) Me-Made - Rooibos - Black long sleeved merino t-shirt - Minoru RTW - Blue Jumper - Tights, bra, undies
	Day 25 Me-Made - Black merino v-neck t-shirt - Minoru RTW - Brown Jumper - Denim Skirt - Tights, bra, undies
[Got distracted by an allergic  reaction before I got a pic, sorry!]	Day 26 (Sunday) Me-Made - Beignet Skirt - Green t-shirt - Minoru RTW - Black wrap cardigan - Tights, bra undies
[Sleeping off 6hrs at the emergency  department, so didn't get a pic]	Day 27 (Monday, Sick Day) Me-Made - Pyjamas
[Yeah no excuse here, I'm just slack]	Day 28 (Tuesday) Me-Made - Cambie Dress - Long sleeved black merino t-shirt - Minoru RTW - Black wrap cardigan - tights, bra, undies
	Day 29 (Wednesday) Me-Made - Floral Jenny Skirt - Black v-neck merino t-shirt - Grey wrap cardigan - Minoru RTW - Singlet - Bra, tights, undies
[I got drenched on the way home and got  changed before getting a pic]	Day 30 (Thursday) Me-Made - Grey Dress - Grey long sleeved t-shirt - Minoru RTW - Purple and black jumper - bra, tights undies
	Day 31 (Friday) Me-Made - Esprit dress - Striped t-shirt - Woven undies - Minoru RTW - Purple Cardigan - bra, 2x tights.

The most warn garment this month was, hands down, my Minoru, which was worn nearly every day. And that isn't an artificial inflation of how often it's worn, I really do wear it that much. It's fairly waterproof, and just the right warmth for cycling in Melbourne autumn. As me-made items go, it's a roaring success really. I'm keeping an eager eye out for similar fabric in another colour to make another coat.

My me-made wardrobe covers my work-clothes pretty well, my office is smart-casual, so a dress (with or without a tshirt underneath) or a skirt/blouse combo are great for work. However, where my me-made wardrobe is lacking is in winter casual clothes. In summer I have some great skirts, shorts and summer dresses. However when it gets to colder weather and the summer skirts/dresses get packed away I'm a little lacking in comfy casual clothes. I've kinda gone off jeans (probably partly because I've put on a little weight and the jeans I have are quite tight so not super comfy), but also because they're not all that practical for cycling in, which is my main mode of transport.

Anyway, that's enough navel gazing for now, but if anybody has any suggestions of good casual clothes for winter I'm all ears!

Me Made May - Days 10-22

Wow, two thirds of May is already gone! It's going waaaay to fast and has started getting rather chilly! Which means more layers, and a super productive social sewing day that led to a whole stack of new merino jersey t-shirts (to be blogged about soon). Anyway, onto the breakdown...

	Day 10 (Friday) Me Mades: - 1Pattern7Bloggers Dress RTW: - Tights - Black Jumper - Bra, Undies - Suit Jacket (at work)
	Day 11 (Saturday) Me Mades: - Thurlow Shorts - Striped T-Shirt RTW: - Singlet - Bra, Undies - Black Tights - Black Asymmetrical Jacket
	Day 12 (Sunday) - Part 1 (runnning 8km for the Mother's Day Classic, my first ever race) Me-Mades: - Purple T-Shirt RTW: - Running Leggings - Sports Bra, Undies, Socks
	Day 12 (Sunday) - Part 2  Me Mades: - Rooibos Dress - Whole Wheat Cardigan RTW: - Leggings - Undies, Bra
	Day 13 (Monday) Me Mades: - High-Waisted Jenny Skirt - Black T-shirt - Wrap-Cardigan - Undies! (- Pink Minoru) RTW: - Bra, Tights
	Day 14 (Tuesday) Me Mades: - Brown Dress - Black Long Sleeved Merino T-shirt (- Pink Minoru) RTW: - Green Jumper - Tights, Undies, Bra
	Day 15 (Wednesday) Me Mades: - Black Hollyburn Skirt - Portrait Blouse - Pink Minoru - Neck Warmer RTW: - Black and White Jumper - Singlet - Tights, undies, bra
	Day 16 (Thursday) Me Mades: - Grey Hollyburn - Turquoise Merino t-shirt - Blue Wrap Cardigan (- Pink Minoru) (-Neck Warmer) RTW: - Singlet - Tights, bra, undies
	Day 17 (Friday) Me Mades: - Ralph Skirt - Turquoise Merino t-shirt (- Pink Minoru) (- Neck Warmer) RTW: - Black Jumper - Down Jacket (At work) - Singlet - Tights, Bra, Undies
	Day 18 (Saturday) Me Mades: - Black and White 'Favourite' Skirt - Purple T-Shirt - Undies (- Pink Minoru) RTW: - Black Jumper - Tights, Bra
	Day 19 (Sunday) Me Mades: - Green Merino singlet - Grey wrap cardigan RTW: - Running Leggings - Bra, Undies, Socks (Also not pictured, me-made red t-shirt and crescent skirt)
	Day 20 (Monday) Me Mades: - Mad-Meh dress - Long sleeved black merino t-shirt (- Pink Minoru) (- Neck Warmer) RTW: - tights, undies, bra (Also not pictured, me-made grey t-shirt and non-me-made jeans for moving boxes in the evening)
	Day 21 (Tuesday) Me Mades: - 'Esprit' Dress - Green merino t-shirt (- Pink Minoru) (- Neck Warmer) RTW: - Purple Cardigan - Tights, Bra, Undies
	Day 22 (Wednesday) Me Mades: - Cambie Dress - Long sleeved black merino t-shirt (- Pink Minoru) (- Neck Warmer) RTW: - Black Jumper - Tights, Bra, Undies

And so, 9 days of the month left!

Me Made May - Days 1-9

Wow, we're already 9 days into May, how did that happen?! Rather than post a me-made-may update every day, I'm posting pictures on Instagram each day and am planning on 3-4 updates here on the blog throughout the month to let you know how I'm going, and here is the first...

	Day 1 (Wednesday) Me Mades: - Esprit Dress - Purple T-Shirt - Undies! - Pink Minoru RTW: - Purple Tights - DuoBoots - Bra
	Day 2 (Thursday) Me Mades: - Black Hollyburn Skirt - Silk/Cotton Portrait Blouse - Miette Cardigan - Pink Minoru RTW: - Singlet - Bra, undies - Black tights + 'patchwork' tights - Hush Puppies Betsy shoes.
	Day 3 (Friday) Me-Mades: - Ralph Skirt - Red t-shirt - Pink Minoru RTW: - green jumper - tights, undies, bra, singlet
	Day 4 (Saturday) Me-Mades: - Pyjama bottoms - purple singlet RTW: - Running leggings - undies, bra
	Day 5 (Sunday) Me-Mades: - Black t-shirt - Black and White 'favourite' skirt RTW: - turquoise jumper - tights, bra, undies
	Day 6 (Monday) Me-Mades: - 'lounge trousers' - Red t-shirt RTW - bra, undies
	Day 7 (Tuesday) Me-Mades: - Portrait Dress - black long sleeved t-shirt RTW: - Leggings - Bra, undies, socks
	Day 8 (Wednesday) Me-Mades: - Plaid Chiffon Pendrell Blouse - Black Hollyburn Skirt - Minoru - Woven Undies! RTW: - Tights, Bra - Black Singlet - Grey/Lace Cardigan (- Suit Jacket at work)
	Day 9 (Thursday) Me-Mades: -  Cambie Dress - Undies! RTW: - Tights, Bra - Black wrap cardi

As I predicted, easy going so far with wearing me-made stuff every day.

As I mentioned in my sign-up post, what I want to gain out of this me-made month is more of a picture not of the me-made items that I wear, but the RTW items, to hopefully improve my to-sew list to slowly replace these RTW items rather than buying new ones to replace them as the wear out.

The key RTW items I've been wearing so far are:
- Undies - I've now got two pairs of me-made undies, and want to carry on making some more (blog post soon)
- Tights/Leggings - I'd like to have a go at leggings sometime soon, and also came across this post the other day about making your own tights that I am also tempted to have a go at.
- Bras - I don't intend on having a go at making bras in the near future.
- Jumpers/Cardigans - I am slowly working on this, with my knitting, and also want to try making some cardigans out of jersey (see the black wrap cardi on day 9)
- Singlets - in addition to adding to my t-shirt selection I want to make some singlets/tanks/vests as I wear them a LOT, but I still have some decent RTW ones so this isn't at the top of my list.
- Running/Exercise Gear - I have leggings I wear running that I bought, and I haven't tried making anything like that as I haven't come across the right fabric in stores yet, but will keep my eyes out.

Let's see how the rest of the month pans out, and if any other RTW items pop up.

Are you doing MMMay? How's it going for you?

Me-Made-May 13 - I'm In!

This year Zoe is hosting another me-made month, and after umming and erring since she announced it, I've decided to sign-up. I took part in Me-Made -May in 2010, and Me-Made-March in 2011, pledging to wear at least one me-made item each day, and found it a nice challenge.

However, although my me-made wardrobe is substantially more now than it was then, I'm not sure that I have enough me-made items to exclusively wear me-made clothes (oh one day... one day), and have had other things that I've needed to work on so haven't been able to address those gaps quite yet (also that seems against the ethos of making clothes, to replace clothes for the sake of it just because they're RTW).

So since Zoe announced this years challenge I've been pondering about whether to join in. I've been thinking that it's a bit of a cop-out to sign up for the same challenge that I managed two years ago.

However, with seeing more and more people signing up I felt left out, so, sheep that I am, I have decided to sign up anyway:

I, Rachel of MyMessings, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '13. 

I endeavour to wear as many me-made items as possible every day day for the duration of May 2013. This will be a minimum of one item every day, but hopefully with a few entirely me-made outfits each week (excluding undies, tights, shoes etc).

I haven't committed to only wearing me-made items, but I will do my best to restrict the non-me-made things. Are you joining in? I hear that it's the biggest me-made month to date.

Me-Made May - week two

Two weeks into the month, almost half way there! Again, no documentation photos this week I'm afraid, I am without a photographer that I'm not afraid would think me weird/vain for asking! However, again I have a list:

Saturday - Me-Made Sidonie skirt with red t-shirt. (the Sidonie skirt REALLY can't be worn until I alter it, it is FAR to big around the waist. I wouldn't recommend the pattern at all, I was very disappointed, I will do a post on it one day, I promise)
Sunday - A bit of a 'cheat' day. Volunteered at the Mother's Day Classic in the morning and knew i'd have to wear a volunteers t-shirt and would need to be warm and amenable to walking around on grass/mud and didn't have suitable clothes so didn't wear anything me-made. However, after geting up at stupid o'clock in the morning I went straight back to bed when I got home and spent all of the rest of the day in me-made PJs, surely that counts?
Monday - Me-Made "Esprit dress" with white long sleeved tshirt
Tuesday - Me-made JJ shirt with black knit vest and jeans
Wednesday - Me-Made Purple tank with purple round-necked jumper and jeans

Thursday - Me-Made Jenny skirt with red t-shirt, black cardi (and red shoes)

Friday - Me-Made "Esprit dress" with blue t-shirt

I'm starting to run out of 'unworn' clothes now (i.e. ones I haven't worn yet this month), and it's becoming obvious which ones I'm more comfortable in and reaching more often.

I've got another Jenny skirt I started last weekend that I will hopefully have time to finish this weekend so I'll have something new to add to the mix for next week. Sadly other than that (and sewing snaps/buttons onto my Esprit dress last weekend so I could wear it this week) I haven't had much time for sewing as my time during the week has been pretty full.

Me-Made May - one week down

One week into Me-Made May... and I've passed my rules so far. I haven't gotten photos of each of my outfits each day due to a combination of not having a photographer and having a crazy busy week, I have however documented what I wore each day:

1st May - Me-Made (& Me-refashioned) JJ shirt with jeans.
2nd May - Me-Made purple tank with joggers.

3rd May - Me-Made purple tank with jeans & v-neck jumper.

4th May - Me-Made brown dress with long sleeved black t-shirt, black tights and black hooded jacket.

5th May - Me-Made black Emily shirt with jeans & v-neck jumper.

6th May - Me-Made Boat Necked t-shirt with jeans & rugby shirt (ice skating outfit!).

7th May - Me-Made Jenny Skirt with grey t-shirt and green jumper.

I've also worn me-made PJs each night.

This first week has been interesting, I have received many compliments on the clothes I've worn, both from people who did and didn't know I'd made them. I've also had some interesting conversations with people who know I'm doing Me-Made May and have enjoyed guessing which item is the one I've made each day.

And because picture-less posts make me sad, here's the custom designed hanging rail that my kind brother made me as a belated birthday pressie (with my help holding stuff while he hammered, drilled and screwed):

It's got many many more clothes in it now and I'm planning on adding a curtain across the front. Thanks lil Bro!

Me-Made Inventory

May the 4th (insert Star Wars joke here); we're 4 days into Me-Made May (or MMM for short) and I'm back in Perth, which means I can now do what many of the other MMMers have done and do an inventory of me-made items.

First an inventory of all the me-made items in my wardrobe:

• 6x PJ bottoms (not as excessive as it sounds: 1x full length summer, 2x 3/4 length summer, 1x shorts summer, 2x full length winter)
• 1x Summer PJ top (hidden support tank)
• 1x Pyjamas (top & bottom, winter)
• 1x Blouse (Sencha)
• 3x Shirts (stripy JJ, peter pan collared, black Emily)
• 1x boatneck flower top (red)
• 1x tank top (purple)
• 1x trousers (grey)
• 7x skirts (1x grey flowered sidonie, 1x black jenny, 4x summer gored, 1x smart gored)
• 7x dresses (2x day winter, 1x evening winter, 2x day summer, 2x evening summer)

(plus a hat and scarf not me made but handmade and gifted to me, so I'm saying they count)

A reasonable range actually, and actually quite a lot when you put it all together like that. It's autumn here and starting to get pretty cold, so many of the skirts and dresses can be excluded, as can the nightwear, so here's my inventory of (daytime) clothes for the month:

• 1x Blouse (Sencha)
• 3x Shirts
• 1x boatneck flower top
• 1x tank
• 1x trousers
• 3x skirts (1x sidonie, 1x jenny, 1x smart gored)
• 3x dresses (2x day winter, 1x evening winter)

I'd like to make another Jenny in a more casual material and length, at least one casual top (I have fabric for one) and of course I'm working on my Hikaru jacket.

Now I just need to work out an outfit for ice skating on Thursday or I'll fail on day 6!

Me-Made May

Zoe of "So Zo..." recently finished "Me Made March" in which she only wore clothes she had made for the entirety of March. She has decided to re-do the whole thing again as "Me Made May", which she is taking sign-ups for people to join her. She is also offering a lite version - where you don't have to wear only me-made clothes, but to aim to wear at least one me-made item each day.

I have decided to sign up for the lite version - I will aim to wear at least one me-made item during May. Wish me luck!!

If you're interested in learning more about Me-Made March or May, check out Zoe's blog!