Me Made May Update

If you follow me on Instagram at all this is pretty much all going to be old news, but for those that don't I thought I'd give a bit of an update on how Me Made May went for me.

Here was my pledge for this year:

I, Sarah Jane, of Prairie Girl Knits, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '16. I endeavour to wear at least one handmade item each day for the duration of May 2016' (not including my bras and handbags as that would be cheating since I only ever use handmade for them. LOL) I also endeavour to discover what "holes" are in in my wardrobe so that I can begin to fill them up.

Just like last year I looked at my Me Made May challenge as a great time to discover what was missing in my current hand made wardrobe.  I was surprised to find that there weren't really any in terms of what I wanted to wear day in and day out.  Something I counted as a big success compared to last year was that instead of repeating an outfit because I'd run out of hand mades to choose from it was a repeat because I just love it that much.  I didn't find it a struggle at all this year to reach for hand mades as I'm realizing the ready to wear is really being phased out in my wardrobe and the majority is in fact hand made at this point.

Other than a couple of pairs of jeans this past winter (that I used a gift card for) I can't remember buying any clothing for myself.  Lisa of Sew Over It often mentions her personal rule of not buying if she can make it and its a sentiment that I can relate to quite a bit.  It's not that I have a hard and fast rule for myself on the matter exactly, but more that I simply prefer to make my own clothes rather than buy ready to wear.

So here's a glimpse of what my month looked like mostly through the eyes of Little Man who was my designated Me Made May photographer.  He was occasionally assisted by Baby Boy and when both little guys were too busy (or fed up, because lets face it, taking Mommy's picture every day gets a bit boring after a while) a selfie did the trick for recording the me made of the day.  There is a photo for every day except for May 1st - I forgot to take a photo of my Me Made that day - off to a rollicking start wasn't I?  Ha ha! And in case you're thinking that I can't count there are a couple of extra photos just because I changed from one me made into another partway through the day because I was going out.

May 2 - 7

May 8 - 14

May 15 - 21

May 22 - 28

May 29 - 31

All in all it was a great month and I made a few happy discoveries along the way in terms of what I had available and what favourites were amongst those choices. I easily succeeded in achieving my goal of wearing at least one handmade item per day.  I really enjoyed keeping up with all the photos on Instagram too.  It was loads of fun seeing what others were making and wearing.  One thing I am kind of over is the whole daily photo thing.  I always feel pretty awkward in front of a camera and so I find the daily photo feels a bit weird and after awhile I start feeling a bit silly posting a "LOOK AT ME!!!!" photo every single day.

I'm continuing on with my own journey of utilizing and expanding my hand made wardrobe.  I just made a new top earlier this week, have a skirt on the sewing desk and top on the knitting needles as I type this, and have plans for several upcoming projects.  In the same vein as continuing on, it occurs to me that I didn't even think about it this morning when I grabbed a hand made to put on when I was getting dressed for the day.  I call that success on my personal challenge!

So that's pretty much it for my thoughts on the challenge this year.  Did you make a Me Made May pledge this year?  How did you feel it went for you?

Operation New Dress Revisited

I've decided to revisit "Operation New Dress" and am hoping to have much more timely success this time around than I did the last time!

I've got one month from today before N's next pop up restaurant and I WILL have a new dress to wear for the occasion come hell or high water.

I just have to decide what the new dress will be.  I've narrowed down my choices and I have fabric at the ready.  I've also made sure I have appropriate cardigans already in my wardrobe as well as shoes.  (well, one choice of shoes is actually not in my wardrobe yet.  I just ordered them, but once they ship, Lotta From Stockholm has super fast shipping so I'm not really worried.) I'm good to go.

So here's my pattern and fabric choices for Operation New Dress (revisited).

The first up is Tiramisu from Cake Patterns.  I've had this pattern for a few years now and am likely to be the last person in the sewing world to jump on the Tiramisu train.  I bought it, I printed out the PDF, and put it in an envelope down in the sewing room and there it's sat.  One of these days, even if it doesn't make the cut for "Operation New Dress" this month, I'll assemble that baby and get to work on it.  The fabric is a nice cotton knit that I found in a bin at Fabricland in the city last fall.  It was a great price and those daisies with their navy blue heart shaped centres make me  smile.  I figure this one will pair great with either my white Miette cardi or even possibly my red Sunshower cardi.

Another choice on the list is another Emery dress version.  Still no gathers.  No way. Not happening. I  am planning pleats again, but this time using box pleats across the entire skirt instead of just the few small pleats I did on my last version (operation new dress, the original version).  I really love the gathered yoke mod I did last time, but am thinking going more with a traditional boat neck might be fun with this fabric.  I'll likely decide using the very scientific  method of "Eeeny Meeny Miney Moe".  Speaking of this fabric, I absolutely ADORE it!  It was an Ebay purchase from Thailand that I was a bit unsure of how it would go, but turned out great!  When it arrived, within record time (I think about two weeks? Maybe slightly more!) I was quite surprised.  Not only with the speed in which it arrived, but also the quality.  I was really happy with how it seemed right out of it's packaging, but thought things might go south when I pre-washed it.  Instead it turned out even lovelier than it's original state.  It's soft and got just the right amount of drape to it.  I can't wait to sew it up!  Again the Miette or Sunshower cardis will fit the bill!

My third choice, (by the way these aren't in any particular order at all), is from Sew Over It.  The Doris Dress has been offered as a class in the past from Sew Over It but just recently they released it as a stand alone pattern and I have to admit I'm pretty excited about it!  I've got it all printed out and assembled and just waiting to be muslined so I can check for any fit issues I might have.  The fabric is a fun rayon print that I got at Fabricland in the city a week or two ago.  It's so different from my usual type of print I gravitate towards that I was a bit unsure of it at first, but I'm going to be brave, branch out and give it a whirl.  This dress, once made, will be paired with the new low braid Lottas and my Vianne cardi.

So there you go!  One month to make one dress to wear to N's Southern BBQ pop up restaurant. 

Before I head off for the day -  the sun is shining, the thermometer is climbing and there is no way I'm staying indoors today - I want to just finish off with my pledge for Me Made May since tomorrow is May 1st!  Here's what I pledged on So Zoe's sign up post.

I, Sarah Jane of Prairie Girl Knits, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '16. I endeavour to wear at least one handmade item each day for the duration of May 2016' (not including my bras and handbags as that would be cheating since I only ever use handmade for them. LOL) I also endeavour to discover what "holes" are in in my wardrobe so that I can begin to fill them up.

I'll be back over the next few weeks with some updates as to how my challenge is going as well as hopefully some finished projects to tell you about!