It’s now the first day of June and Me Made May is over. How did I do with my pledge?
‘I, Andie of https://andiewellsstudio.wordpress.com, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ’16. I endeavour to wear at least three handmade garments each day for the duration of May 2016’
Well, I accomplished it without an issue. I thought about what it would take for me to achieve a fully handmade wardrobe by next May so that none of the items I wear need to be RTW. That doesn’t mean I have to toss my favourite remaining RTW dresses, blazers, sweaters, and tops, but that I wouldn’t need to wear them because I have enough handmade items to fill those gaps. Most of the items I came up with were in my plan before May, but some were actually surprising to me.
Top five things I should be sewing:
- Sweaters and blazers. I wear them with every outfit, because I love layers. I am prone to being cold and would prefer to have an extra layer of protection rather than be shivering in AC in the summer. Specifically, I need white and black sweaters and blazers in different shapes and styles for different looks.
- Bras. It’s kind of nuts that I need bras when I sew so many, but all of my bras have wires poking out, because the underwire channeling isn’t great quality in my opinion. The channeling I am used to from my Elomi bras is thicker and better. I have some channeling from a local source and from Arte Crafts so I will see if those work. I will try to fix the bras I have, but going forward want them to be better quality. I also really need to sew a gothic arch for comfort to see if that helps a bit of pain in the centre front after wearing it for a full day.
- Skirts. This was not expected since I have a lot of skirts. Turns out I need some more solid coloured skirts for patterned tops. I had a difficult time matching some recent tops I made to the skirts in my closet.
- Dresses. Again, not expected at all. Previously, I thought I was all done with dresses and should just be making skirts and tops. On the cruise, we would wear formal wear for dinners. I didn’t bring a huge amount of dresses and realized that I should make a couple of formal dresses for events or even a night on the town. I have nothing that fits my current body that I would consider formal. I also don’t have a little black dress and never have really had anything that would be considered a little black dress. I’d love to make one.
- Swimsuit. It was in my sewing plan to make a swimsuit. I brought a swimsuit for the cruise and never even entertained wearing it. I just don’t get the bust support I need in RTW swimsuits. I want to start going to the pool for low-impact exercise. In order to do that, I need to have a swimsuit I feel comfortable in. (edit: good timing, because it is swimwear month over at the Curvy Sewing Collective!)
I think Me Made May is a great way to reevaluate your wardrobe and think about what pieces you might be missing in it. I love taking part. I didn’t document every outfit. I find that part exhausting and not always practical, but as Zoe points out that’s not necessary to take part.
Here are some outfits I wore:
Andie Wells Studio 
Love your sewing projects, the tops and dresses are gorgeous. Cheers, Michele
Thanks so much, Michele! ❤