The premise behind Me Made May is to challenge yourself in regard to wearing garments you’ve made.  Because the vast majority of my wardrobe is self-sewn, and I didn’t feel like adding any more challenges to my life, my participation in Me Made May this year was really more about me documenting the clothes that I wear and the combinations that I wear them in.  Be warned: lots of photos ahead.  These have all been on Instagram so if you follow me there they will all be familiar.

Phew! Congratulations to anyone who managed to get through that lot. Quite a few of these garments are yet to be blogged, but further details will eventually appear.  Please be patient with me!

So, what do I get out of Me Made May? I’ve found it helpful to document what I wear a couple of times each year. It assists with wardrobe purges, with reminding me of things that I like but don’t wear often, with trying new combinations of clothes, and generally helps me work out what my current style is. It makes me more thoughtful and deliberate in deciding what to wear each day, which I think is a good thing.  Clothes and colours are fun things for me – I enjoy experimenting with them and trying some new things out occasionally.

Another lot of what I wore photos, then that is it for a while.  I have two months worth now, and it’s been a very useful exercise for me.  It has helped me to identify more garments that are going in the give away pile, and to identify combinations that I’d like to wear more often.  I plan to take another series once the weather is warm to help me refine my summer wardrobe, although I find summer clothes much easier – just throw on a dress and choose some accessories!  No layers to be concerned about.

June 13-16. From left to right: Saturday – Style Arc Elle pants, Grainline Linden top, Japanese Pattern Book shrug, crocheted scarf.  Sunday – Style Arc Fay skirt, RTW top, Simplicity 1366 jumper, crocheted cowl.  Monday – Style Arc Barb pants, Style Arc Molly top, RTW jacket.  Tuesday – Style Arc Linda pants, Style Arc Molly top, Tessuti Megan longline cardigan.

June 17-20.  From left to right:  Wednesday – RTW pants, Liesl + Co Maritime top, Grainline Morris blazer.  Thursday – Style Arc Misty jeans, City Girl cowl neck top, Tessuti Sydney jacket.  Friday – Style Arc Misty jeans, Deer & Doe Plantain tee, Tessuti Sydney jacket, crocheted beret and mitts, merino cowl.  Saturday – Style Ace Misty jeans, Deer & Doe Plantain tee, Lekala 4114 jacket, RTW scarf.

June 21-25. From left to right:  Sunday – Style Arc Jodie pinafore, Style Arc Harper jacket, RTW top underneath.  Monday – Style Arc Wendy pant, Style Arc Molly top, McCalls jacket.  Wednesday – RTW dress.  Thursday – Style Arc Misty jeans, Tessuti Mandy boat neck top, Style Arc Mason jacket, RTW scarf.

June 26-30.  From left to right:  Friday – Style Arc Misty jeans, Tessuti Mandy boat neck tee, Japanese pattern book shrug, RTW scarf.  Saturday & Sunday – Style Arc Misty jeans, Grainline Linden sweater.  Didn’t leave the house all weekend!  Monday – Colette Mabel skirt, Jalie top, Style Arc Harper jacket.  Tuesday – Style Arc Elle pants, Grainline Linden top, RTW scarf.

So, on reflection?  I wear my newer garments the most.  That probably isn’t surprising.  But there are some items that I have owned and worn for a number of years.  It’s interesting to me to see which ones stand the test of time and shifts in aesthetic.

I did a great job of taking daily outfit photos during May.  But right when I got to the end of the month, I managed to delete the last two photos from my phone before they had been uploaded.  Argh!  So I decided that I’d keep on going with photos throughout June.  It’s now getting really cold in Melbourne – well, what Australians consider to be cold any way.  Daily tops of 13 or 14 degrees celsius.  Nights down to 3 or 6 degrees.  Brrrr!  So some of the time these photos show only what I’m wearing inside – I generally add a coat when I go out.

Days 21-24.  From left to right: 21 Thursday. Style Arc Elle pants, Bento tee, Style Arc Mason jacket. 22 Friday. Colette Mabel skirt, Grainline Lonsdale top, crocheted scarf. 23 Saturday. Style Arc Misty jeans, Liesl + Co Maritime top. 24 Sunday. RTW jeans, Vogue top, Style Arc Laura jacket.

Days 25-28. 25 Monday. Style Arc Laura dress with Vogue jacket. 26 Tuesday. Style Arc Elle pants with Grainline Linden top and made to measure jacket. 27 Wednesday. Vogue dress, made to measure jacket. 28 Thursday. Style Arc Fay skirt, RTW top underneath, Simplicity 1366 jumper/top, crocheted cowl and fingerless mitts.

Day 29 and early June.  Friday – Style Arc Elle pants, Tessuti Mandy tee, RTW cardigan.  Tuesday – Style Arc Misty jeans, Tessuti Mandy tee.  Wednesday – Style Arc Fay skirt, Style Arc Molly top, Tessuti Megan longline cardigan.  Thursday – Style Arc Jodie pinafore, Deer & Doe Plantain tee, Infinity scarf.

June 5-?.  5 – Friday.  Sewaholic Renfrew tee, Vogue 1410 pinafore.  6 – Saturday.  Style Arc Misty jeans, Tessuti Mandy tee.  7 – Sunday.  Style Arc Misty jeans, Liesl & Co Maritime tee, Lekala 4114 jacket.  ? – Style Arc Elle pants, Grainline Linden top, ruana.

June 9-12.  9 – Tuesday.  Style Arc Elle pants, Liesl & Co Bento tee, Liesl & Co Woodland Stroll cape.  10 – Wednesday.  Lekala 5088 skirt, Tessuti Mandy tee, May Me shrug.  11 – Thursday.  Colette Mabel skirt, RTW tee, Simplicity 1366 top.  12 – Friday – Style Arc Misty jeans, teal Deer & Doe Plantain tee, Style Arc Harper jacket, crocheted scarf.

I hadn’t realised how behind I was with these photos, and some of you may have realised that there are still a few unblogged items in there as well.  This week I’ve been reading instead of sewing.  It’s been rather enjoyable.  I’ve read Craft For The Soul and Living Well, Spending Less.  Both had content I need to think about and ponder on.  There are quite a few novels in my reading queue at the moment too.

And hello and big wave to the person who recognised me from my blog at the Plaza today!  Apologies that I was on another planet a little – I had/have a shocking headache.  Introduce yourself again the next time that you see me!

I deliberately chose not to participate in me-made-May this year (not that I’ve ever participated in it, but I have watched it with great interest), mostly because I had enough on my plate this May without adding the extra pressure of a self-imposed “something else I have to do”.  Despite that, when I remembered I did take a photo of what I was wearing.  I managed to remember on 24 days out of the 31, which wasn’t too bad!

What did I notice? That I wear me-made most of the time. I hadn’t made a pledge or a promise to myself about wearing garments that I’d made myself. But other than underwear, stockings, socks and shoes (and my made-to-measure-by-wonderful-Balinese-tailor jackets), I do wear at least one garment or accessory – and often an entire outfit – that I’ve made myself. I’m happy with that.

And yes, there are a few as-yet-unblogged garments in that mosaic. Had better get onto that – except that tomorrow is Stella’s 6th birthday party, which she is MOST excited about, and that is definitely taking priority!

Well here it is, the final instalment of “what I wore”.

As is often the case, there are a few days missing. But most of them are there! The entire flickr set of what I wore for the last year is over here.  There are 327 photos from the 4th January 2012 to 8th January 2013, so I clearly did miss a few days or forgot to add them to the set.  It’s interesting for me to scroll through and see which of the clothes that I make (and buy) I really do wear the most.  I’m planning on a blog post where I sum up the year and reflect on what I’ve learned – but first, there are still some 2012 makes that haven’t been blogged, and there are already three items from 2013 to blog!  So I’ll be back soon, if I don’t get distracted by holiday fun.

Work finished for the year.  Kinder/Childcare finished for the year.  School almost finished for the year.  Christmas shopping almost finished for the year.  Christmas sewing not yet finished for the year.  What I wore not quite finished for the year either, but not much more left.

As much as I tried to be organised in advance for Christmas and to eliminate “unnecessary” tasks and duties, the past few weeks have been hectic and I’ve been feeling a little frantic.  There have been health issues of close friends and extended family to occupy our our thoughts and our prayers, and there have been the usual end of the year worries and the usual planning for the holidays worries.  There hasn’t been any vacant headspace.  I could do with some headspace.  I reckon that I’ll be able to find some between now and when I return to work at the beginning of February!

There goes another fortnight.  Whew!  This montage does contain a couple of “spoilers” – items that haven’t been blogged yet.  Must get onto that.

I’m looking forward to the day when instead of rough floorboards in those photos there is lovely new carpet – not long now! Then we can properly move back into our bedroom. We’re currently still sleeping in the spare room.

Must dash – lots to do! Have a great day everyone.

Christmas is far too close now.  After all, I still have Christmas sewing to do!  A dress for me, a dress for Clare, a dress for Stella, a top and skirt for Freya, a shirt for Dan – luckily they are all cut out and ready to sew, but I think that I’ll have to draw up some sort of sewing timetable to keep myself on track.  I had an unexpected day off work yesterday because Miss Stella came down with an ear infection (and spent many hours wide awake in bed with me overnight – and I’m not used to that any more) which did allow me to finish off some cutting.  I’m a little worried about my Stella though – we’re going to see an audiologist, because it looks as though she has chronic otitis media.  Time to get it all checked out properly.  She’s such a tough little kid though – doesn’t complain unless things are really bad.  The doctor couldn’t quite believe how well she presented in comparison to how bad her eardrum looked.  She also refuses medication.  Just wants Mummy.  Anyway, she’s on the improve again and I’m sure that we’ll get these recurrent ear infections sorted soon.

So back to my (bulging) wardrobe!  Here’s almost all the clothes that got an outing over the past two weeks.

My black and white striped dress is on regular rotation – I think it’s getting worn each week.  Must think about that in terms of future wardrobe planning.  Looking back over these photos I realise that I am a definite fan of stretch fabrics, whether woven or knit, and strategic draping.  I’m also a fan of wine and chocolate.

It looks as though I managed to wear around half and half me-made and shop-bought over the past couple of weeks.

Some of the shop-bought garments have been from mesop – they have a clearance store quite nearby, so I “rewarded” myself after my dermatologist visit with a browse through the $20 per item rack. All of their garments are from stretch fabrics, which they have made locally, and the garments are constructed locally as well. I love their relaxed styles and the comfort factor. I’ve also been examining them to see how they are constructed. Quite often the sleeves are cut double with the hem on the fold, providing support for the sleeve and removing the need for a sleeve hem. Edges are sometimes hemmed with a coverstitch, sometimes with a babylocked edge. Mostly I drool over the fabrics – I just need to figure out where they offload their fabric over-runs….

And I’m off to Sewjourn shortly – see you on the other side!