Tuesday 1 March 2011

Me-Made-March '11: Day 1!!!

Can you believe here we are again?! A whole year since my first me-made challenge. I went to bed last night thinking about how genuinely apprehensive I felt going to bed Feb 28th 2010, not knowing whether I'd be able to last a month in me-made clothes without freezing/looking mental/dressing repetatively etc. Well, last night I didn't have quite that same apprehension, but if there's anything I've learnt from this year, it's that life is constantly changing. Each of these me-made/self-stitched challenges that I have undertaken have been very different which is a reflection of what else is going on in my life. Fundamentally, that's the point of these challenges: showing ourselves and others that we can rely on our skills and creations can dress us for Real Life, not just for a pretty photoshoot.

So, in reflection of how preoccupied I've been recently, I was still making my pyjama bottoms that I wanted to wear last night a couple of hours before bedtime. Like for MMMar '10 and the other challenges that have since followed, I wanted to go to bed in self-stitched pyjamas so I'd wake up already participating! This has to be the coldest me-made challenge I've participated in yet, as last March I was living in a significantly warmer climate, so I needed some warmer PJ bottoms than the bedsheet pair I have previously worn. There was some lemon fuzzy flannelette fabric knocking about at work that we couldn't really use for anything, so I used it with a pattern from Burda magazine 12/2007 and some elastic I had in my stash, and got them finished in time for bed! I haven't finished the hem yet, I plan to wash them a couple of times to give them a chance to shrink up before I make them the final length.

For the rest of my day, I looked very much like this:

Basically, I work in a studio that is chilly, dusty and dirty plus I need to move about easily, thus my clothing has to be pretty practical. I'm already beginning to see that my weekday wardrobe is going to look very boring and limited very quickly unless I focus on making some more trousers (I currently only have this pair and one other, which are the same pattern but made in denim), refashioning some more knitwear, and upping my usual mid-week quota of skirt/dress wearing.

I hope everyone else's day has been illuminating and fun, whether you are participating in MMMar '11 or not!

13 comments:

Unknown said...

It dawned on me last night that I would have to take a photo of myself EVERY DAY! Aaargh! Froze my bits of today trying to get a non plebian shot with a tripod and timer. ;)
Px

Tilly said...

Happy Me-Made-March! Very cute outfit for day 1. I wish I could join you but I'm so stressed at the moment with other stuff that's going on, I don't need any more challenges. But it is making me think about how I can wear my self-stitched clothes more. Looking forward to following your (and everyone else's) progress...

Law said...

Loving th PJs Zoe. Waking up in something you've made youself must be a nice feeling. I want to sew a pair myself as i love my pj bottoms, and my favourite pair have finaly died, basically worn away to nothing :o(

No excuse not to make some now i reckon.

Good luck on you March mission!!

Law x

Kestrel said...

I'm so impressed with your dedication to be 'me-made' from the minute you wake up! :)

I've been following your blog for some time and really enjoy it. I was wondering if you'll be doing 'Me Made May' again? - I keep thinking I could be doing with some more time to be making stuff!

B @ Sweet Limes said...

I hope you do Me Made May this year because it's just been an off couple months for me and I so desperately want to join in the fun of this.

Sigrid said...

I love the idea of waking up in MMW (Me Made Wear). Does pulling a pillow in a Self-Stitched pillowcase over one's head count?

By the way, since this is all your idea, what's your thought on photo documentation ? I know it's great to see what people are wearing. . . but Miss P has a point.

S jak Sylwia i Szycie said...

Super, bravo!!! :-)

Laurwyn said...

Pfiou! Completely me-made! And you look great!

You can call me Betty, or Bethany, or Beth ...Just don't call me late for dinner. said...

I love that top!... and the pants.
I am so glad you started this challenge!
I woke up in homemade pj bottoms too, but didn't think to snap a picture.

Zoe said...

@ Miss P and Sigrid. I did indeed think up MMMar '11, but as I've said many times before, it's your individual challenge. The point of it is to WEAR self-stitched things, if you don't want to document every day, then don't bother. It's totally up to you. Similarly, there are people taking part who don't have blogs or who haven't joined the flickr group, no problem!

I would also say, please don't make the act of taking photos so difficult for yourself! Is there no flatmate/partner/colleague knocking about who you could shove your camera into their hands and get them to take a shot of you? Inside?! For this challenge, I'm getting my boss to quickly photo me every week day after we come back from lunch, takes two seconds. At the weekends I'll find another pair of hands!

xxx

Fourth Daughter said...

I'm participating!! And it's cold over here too, even though it's meant to only be autumn. The colder months are definitely trickier for this challenge but I suppose if you had it in the middle of your summer, it would be the depths of winter over here, and vice versa! I'm in my me-altered wool jumper with cat fur all over it right now as I'm working at home, but I'm not putting up pics of that :)

The Attached Mama said...

What can I say? I have serious wardrobe envy! Such beautiful creations. I really hope you do a Me-Made-May 2011 too.

I didn't get it together to participate for March, but I am in my sewing room gearing up for a May Challenge.

Unknown said...

Love love love this idea!!Hopefully this time next year I may be able to join in as currently have not made myself anything : (

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