Tuesday 20 April 2010

Me-Made-May: Clarification and Flickr Group

Dearest Me-Made-Mayers (that's us in the picture above) and those who are still deciding whether or not to take the plunge and join us, I would like to take this opportunity to correspond with you directly. There are two main topics on which I would like to offer discourse today. The first of which: clarification of what the Me-Made-May challenge actually consists of.

I see now, that in my haste to make the challenge as inclusive as possible, I have inadvertantly raised many more questions of which subsequent attempts to address have not been wholely sufficient. I would like to apologise for any confusion and hope today to settle these questions once and for all. I have received many queries in the vein of does handmade jewellery/altered or refashioned clothing/hand-knitted items/handmade clothes worn by my daughter etc. 'count'. The answer is: if, after the inclusion of your particular queried item, Me-Made-May remains a challenge, then 'yes'. But which I mean, if the result isn't in line with your normal life and requires extra thought, then it's still a challenge. For example, if you are considering including refashioned and altered clothes, but have a wardrobe which is half made up of such items, wearing one a day for a month isn't going to be much of a challenge. Maybe try and make it two items a day or something like that to raise the stakes a little. If you have a pile of rarely worn refashioned and refashionable clothes, then including refashioned clothes in to challenge would make sense as Me-Made-May will more than likely encourage you to rethink these items and how you can make use of them. You catch my drift?

The 'rules' you chose to follow are yours, only you know what you wear at the moment, what would be easy to implement in May, and what would be more of a challenge. You decide the guidelines you want to follow, state them on your blog if you have one, and ENJOY!

Secondly: I am very excited to announce that a Me-Made-May Flickr group exists! A couple of Me-Made-Mayers have asked this and I'm delighted to give you a positive answer. I never thought the challenge would become as popular as it has. I thought perhaps a handful of people would be interested, so popping round a few blogs a day would be managable and fun. But over 50?! To keep abreast of what everyone of up to through out May is going to be more work than making an entire handmade wardrobe! Plus there are people without blogs, but with Flickr accounts, who will subsequently be able to participate visually who previously wouldn't be able to. The Flickr group is obviously optional, do not feel obliged to use it, but it's there if you want to. I would also still encourage people with blogs to document their preparations and the month itself on your blog too. We are making mini-history, people!

The Flickr group has been created as a way for us to share our Me-Made-May outfits which will obviously include or entirely consist of handmade (and/or refashioned, whatever your 'rules' are, see above) items and see what each other is sporting.It is a public group, which means anyone can view its contents, but you have to be a member to upload images. If you wish to become a member (or a Me-Made-Mayer, as I have named them in the settings) you of course first need to have a Flickr account. Then email me at sozoblog@gmail.com with either your Flickr screen name, real name or the email address linked to your flickr account, and I'll invite you via Flickr within a couple of days to become a member. Any questions? If so, either email me at that email address or leave a comment.

I will still prepare a post just before May kicks off with a list of participants and links to all the blogs that have been left in the comments sections so we can keep an eye on each other that way too! Hope your preparations are going well and you are getting excited, I know I am!

8 comments:

Stacy said...

Hurray for Me-Made-May! I just posted about it on my blog: http://stacyverb.typepad.com/stacyverb/2010/04/memademay-lite.html

I will email you my Flickr info right now.

Drop Stitches Not Bombs said...

I am finding your Me-Made-May challenge most inspirational. Seeing as I have yet to sew even one item of clothing, I think it might be a little ambitious for me to take part, but I definitely plan to work on improving my sewing skillz. And of course I shall continue to ogle your beautiful creations!

bagqueen said...

Thanks for that Zoe, that makes it a bit clearer. I have posted a couple of times about MMM and I know it has led at least one person your way!!

I will email you with my flickr id right now. Thanks for doing this even if it has turned out much bigger than you expected!!

Tasia said...

I am totally excited about Me-Made-May! I've posted a few times about Me-Made-May already so the word is definitely getting out. Two weeks to go, time to get sewing - and sign up for Flickr too so I can be part of the party. Will email you soon!
Thanks for leading this challenge, it's exciting to see how many people have been inspired by you!

Jos said...

I have only started sewing recently and have not made a lot to join the challenge. Plus it's getting chilly here in Sydney and I have not made any warming gear.

But this is such an excellent idea that I started a Me-Made-Monday lite (just one me-made item) 2 weeks ago (I have the photos but no blog posts)

Hopefully, I can sew up more clothes this year and join a month-long challenge next year.

Good luck to everyone!

Ali said...

thanks for the clarification, zoe, and hosting all of this. i'm surprised how much a motivator this has been so far to sew, so this will definitely be a challenge! if i'm good, i may even raise the stakes for myself in the lite version. :)

what i think i'll find the most challenging is leaving the house with my imperfect me-made-clothes daily and learning to be more forgiving of myself. like others have noted, sometimes it's easier to stash the imperfect creations to the back of the closet. it's definitely motivating me to take the extra time, but also to recognize some mistakes are minor and probably no one cares (or can seen them) but my inner perfectionist. we'll see how it goes. :0 can't wait to see what everyone's whipped up!

SEW RED HOT said...

Thanks Zoe, I'd love to join your flickr group. I'm working on a skirt that is destined to become a work wardrobe staple.

http://sewredhot.blogspot.com/2010/04/ive-joined-me-made-may.html

I love this challenge !

lore

Calico_Quilter0321 said...

Enjoy your blog very much. I have recently dedicated myself to creating an artsy wearable wardrobe...a work currently in progress. It's great to find others of like mind. Me-Made-May is a great idea!

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