SSS '11: Days 29 & 30 THE END!!!!!

'Tis the final installment in this month of self-stitched craziness. Thanks so mucb to anyone who has followed my progress this month, however vaguely. And MASSIVE thanks to those how left comments along the way, the support is supremely appreciated.

Day 29:

What I wore:

Me-made stripey boat neck T-shirt, navy sateen skirt and pants. Thrifted red cardi occurred briefly but it was far too hot (in the temperature sense!). I FINALLY cut off the anchor buttons I'd stitched to the shoulders of this top, they were just too painful when carrying a heavy shoulder bag, which I do everyday.

Thoughts:

So on Day 29 my boss and I travelled to deepest North London to visit the warehouse where all the donated textiles and crap get sorted and processed for the charity we work for. It was a fascinating day and I'll probably blog about the process in the future so won't go into it here. Anyways, whilst we were there we had to sorted through crates and boxes of fabric that had been donated to figure out what we could use and what we couldn't. I cannot understate how dusty and dirty the environment in that warehouse it, plus it was a scorcher so I got really sweaty (hmmm, nice!). Seriously, I haven't felt that clammy since leaving Spain! Anyways, we had a staff social event to attend after so I changed my top:

I am now wearing my tie-collar shirt blouse with the same skirt. Sorry for the ridiculous photo, it was all the documenting I could manage at 11pm on the train home!

Day 30:

What I wore:

For the final day I decided to evoke the spirit of Frida in my Frida Kahlo dress (plus me-made pants and thrifted red cardi, of course).

Thoughts:

I really don't wear this dress very often, I think this was only it's third outting. It takes an extra slice of 'I don't care if anyone stares at my dress' determination which is sometimes difficult to muster first thing in the morning. Even my boss temporarily loses her sense of liberalism and eyes it questioningly when I wander in wearing it. But it is so much fun to wear so it will see more action that is currently does.

So there we go! Another me-made/self-stitched month has whizzed by almost before I've got a handle on the fact it's even begun. Once again, the Flickr group has been an absolute joy to witness. So many lovely people sharing their inspirational outfits and fascinating snapshots into their diverse lives. Plus so much support for each other, honestly, if I could bottle that and distribute it, we could end war with the stuff!!! The Facebook group was also a surprise success. To be honest, I didn't get to spend much time there personally, but it's obvious that many preferred that format for participating in this challenge, so having those options was great. I did see some really beautiful images over there that weren't on the Flickr group and vice versa.

There is little I can say about this challenge from a community perspective that I haven't said before in summary to the previous me-made and self-stitched months. It really is so heartening to see people wearing their creations, being proud of them and themselves, looking incredible and showing their individual personalities. I take my hat off to them all and hope that they have got a lot from the experience as I'm sure those following their progress, such as myself, also have.

From a personal view point, it's been an interesting month. One year ago, I participated in Self-Stitched-September '10 with a skeleton wardrobe and under trying circumstances. A year on I am personally more stable and have a year's worth of additional self-stitched garments that I feel reflect me pretty well in this stage of my life. This month I have had a lot more ammunition to work with so I challenged myself to wear a different outfit/combo of garms each day to get me out of my rut of usually reaching for the tried and tested outfits each morning. I succeeded in this element of my personal challenge and in the process learnt a lot about what goes together and what doesn't, plus I've got the body of 30 photos to squeeze out any more of those lessons which may still need absorbing. In fact, I reckon I could keep going creating new combinations of clothing for a couple of weeks if I tried. I also have two dresses that I didn't get round to wearing because the weather really warmed up during the last week.

I made a couple of new garments for myself during the challenge, including a new jacket which I have yet to wear and photograph because of the recent heat wave. Watch this space for that, I'll get some photos today. But thing I failed to do that I said I would at the beginning of this challenge was to make a garment to wear whilst jogging and to use it before the month was out. I have cut it out and am in the process of constructing a long-sleeved running top with snazzy special pocket detail. I could have rushed and got it finished before the month was out, but this warm weather would was prevented me wearing it, so there seemed little point in that.

What else can I say? Well, I can address the future of these challenges I guess. As I said previously, SSS '11 was the last me-made self-stitched challenge I'll be hosting this year. The end of the year always seems to snowball with so much going on and I wouldn't want to host something I couldn't devote enough time and effort to. The three challenges I've hosted this year (Me-Made-March '11, Me-Made-June '11 and Self-Stitched-September '11) all had their different flavours which was due to the different weather going on in various countries for those months, and the different collectives of participants who signed up for the different challenges. It's not set in stone, but for next year I'm currently erring towards hosting just one challenge. Just think, all that awesomeness condensed into one incredible month?! I know whatever month I pick it won't be everyone's 'favourite' but I really can't help that. I'm thinking May. One giant Me-Made-May '12. If anyone is thinking of participating next year, there would be only one chance to stand up to be challenged. I think it could be the stuff legends are made from!