Tuesday 22 January 2013

Me-Made Clear Out: Round One

The new year is as good a time as any for a clear out of unworn garments. Especially if one of your New Year's Resolutions is to populate your wardrobe with garments that more accurately reflect how you truly want to dress. But when most of your current clothing selection has been hand made by your very self, a big clear out can some times be harder to face, as Winnie noted in the fabulous guest post she wrote whilst I was away honeymooning last year.

It's probably because we know full well how many (wo)man-hours went into each element of the creation that it can be so hard to part with them, even though they are gathering dust and you know they aren't going to be worn again. But when my drawer where my clothes that won't fit on my rail began to refuse to close, I knew it was time to sift out the bad items and take them to the textiles recycling bank, and make way for the lovely creations I plan to make this year. So, come Me-Made-May '13, what won't you be seeing anymore...


Awesome fabric, cute style, BAD FIT. I'm never going to wear this blouse again because it's way too large round the shoulders and I can't muster the motivation to unpick and rework it as much as would be required. 


Not that it ever stopped me from wearing it, but if I'm honest with myself, my black sateen Jenny skirt never fitted very well round the waist. So it's out on two counts. 


Oh my precious Leopard Collar Batwing top, how I love thee!!! Yet I had to accept that much wearing and laundering have taken their toll and the once lovely, drapey fabric now clings and hangs in an unpleasant fashion. Fear not though, I intend to harvest the collar and recreate this lovely garment when I dig out some suitably drapey jersey from the depths of my stash. 


It may sounds like an exaggeration, but this is hands down the best and most versatile top I've ever owned. Will recreate, the hole it leaves in my wardrobe is too great. 


I can scarcely believe I am saying this, but my denim sailor trousers have to go. I have worn them so often since I made them a few years ago, that  the gap they would leave is too great so I have to make a similar garment to ease their passing. They've been washed so many times that they're really faded in a not entirely attractive way, plus they are now too short, despite having let down the hem as much as physically possible. I might see what they look like if I cut the legs off and make them into little sailor shorts.  


Oh goodness, look at that saggy fabric around the crotch area! NOT NICE. The denim version I made of these shorts also have to go for the same reason. I've already graded the pattern down, so I may try and recreate these in the future. Though with the amount of snow on the ground right now, I can't imagine EVER needing a pair of shorts! 


This lovely mustard jersey was just too damn drapey for this style of top. It would have been ideal for a slinky batwing top, but there was never enough for that anyhow. This top was always too short as well. Bye bye. 


I have a lot of fun designing this ice cream sellers top, and it gave the opportunity to try out a couple of ideas, so I don't regret the process. However, since this photo was taken I never wore it, perhaps because the sleeve cuffs prevented cardigan layering, perhaps because I actually hate wearing pastel colours and have nothing to match with it. Probably a combination. Ah well... 


Having declared that these capri pants/cropped trousers might be the most comfortable trousers in the world, I've eventually come to understand that their innate comfort stems from being at least one whole size too big. And not too big in a 'nip them in at the side seams' type big, as in a 'totally started with the wrong size and the whole crotch area is too damn large' type big. To be honest, I'm done with trying to tweak the Colette Patterns Clover capri pattern. I'm going to start elsewhere for my quest to create the perfect capri pants. 


This little remade jumper served me well, and I thank it for it's hard work. However it is time for it to retire, particularly because my belly keeps popping out from underneath since it shrunk in the wash!

16 comments:

Scruffybadger said...

What a great idea to share what really happens with me made clothes, and let's face it, there are always clothes we make that niggle us and become less favoured ( seeing the light of day perhaps in me made months!!), but then there is also a time to say goodbye to well worn me mades. Fascinating and some surprises in here!

Anonymous said...

I am doing the same right now :-) There are so many clothes in my closet, that I not wear ...

Phil said...

An interesting post. One of the things I like about sewing is there is always something to learn. I am guessing you learnt quite a bit from your wardrobe clear out!

Shelly said...

I have to say, I should take a lesson from you and clear out my house but instead I just move these things to another place and save them for refashioning. Sadly, it's getting so bad I have no more room to store them while they wait. Decisions! I need to make some! :)

niddetissus said...

I have a pile of me-mades that I've moved to the 'give-away'/ditch pile too. It's amazing what laundering every week does to clothes. If the fabric is good quality they hold up a couple of years, but if the fabric is a bit iffy, things turn south pretty quickly!

Anonymous said...

Zoë, no matter how thrifty, sensible we are about clothes, there will always be the end-of-life phase. Thanks for sharing the 'ruthless' process.

Out of interest, what are you doing with the clothes that you are throwing out? (I'm fascinated with the grave aspect of the life cycle.) Are good items going to charity and worn ones becoming dish clothes? As I am adopting wartime-style rationing for my wardrobe in 2013, I'm being really 'old school' and unpicking knitted jumpers that never quite fitted... Meg

House of Pinheiro said...

Impurged mine last year I wish I taken some photos

Symon said...

Very brave (and wise!) of you to clear out your closet, and make room for newer and better!! I love purging my closets; then again, I've never been one to have a full closet, although I'm working on it now that I can actually make wearable garments! ^__^

I can understand how difficult it would be to part with your me-mades though, as unlike RTW there's actual woman-hours (love that term!) associated with them, as well as creativity, personal style and lessons learned :)

Crab and Bee said...

My curiosity was piqued when you said textiles recycling, I'd love to hear more!

KnottedRose said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
KnottedRose said...

Oh, this is the hardest thing ever. I had to do the same when i moved a few months ago, its so hard. Each piece was a memory, even though most pieces i throw were unusable.

marthaeliza said...

When you say "washed-out", does that mean faded? If so, is there some reason to not dye it? Some of my favorite cotton items have lived for over 20 years because I a)hang them to dry rather (instead of putting them in the dryer) and b)have an annual "dye" day, when all cotton items black, dark brown, or navy have a swish in their respective dye baths.

Amanda said...

Hear, hear! It is so tough to part with handmade pieces but it has to be done. I love that there are some things of yours that have to go because you have worn them so much- what an epic me made win!

Catherine said...

Hi Zoe! What a great idea and a good feeling to have a bit of a clear out. I'm just doing the same with stuff in my own wardrobe...some handmade stuff in there, some charity shop finds, some stuff I have had for years that has survived previous culls. I'm also planning on making more of my own clothes this year, so it was good to have a better look at what I do have so I can tell what gaps there are. I was pleased to see how many handmade items there are in there though!
I can't believe your sailor jeans are out! Looking forward to seeing what clothes you make to replace these.
Hope you're staying warm...it's gone cuckoo round here!
Catherine x

Another Sewing Scientist said...

I vote sailor shorts! Sailor shorts!

I have to do this too, but my sewn babies are just so hard to kick to the curb.

Lovenicky said...

I'm doing the same thing with my closet too! I regularly clean out the kids' closets but never had time to do my own. I have so much clothing and like you said, it's so hard to part with clothes that I had made/refashioned (which is about 50% of my closet)...... Looking forward to seeing more of your posts on this topic!

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