Wednesday 6 June 2012

MMMay'12: Days 29, 30 & 31 THE END!!!

Well, the me-made/self-stitched challenge this year was totally amazing. More people signed up and participated than any of the previous challenges, and the flickr group and Facebook page were on fire!!! I've been so inspired by the amazing variety that comprises the online handmade community. It really is a world of wonderful individuals that have chose to be linked by the common challenge of wearing their self-made items and getting out and about. 

I've always said that creating and wearing your own garments means that more of your personality is on show than when you are wearing mass-manufactured, shop-bought clothing. You have to make all the decisions yourself, from what pattern to use, what fitting alterations you might make, what fabric to make it in, which buttons to use and so on. When you by something ready made, someone else made all those decisions for you, and often with price points in mind rather than aesthetics. And even if aesthetics are the priority behind those manufactured garment detail decisions, it's not necessarily your aesthetic that is being considered.  Unlike when you make something your own. 

So let's have a look at the final outfits I rustled up from my own handmade wardrobe for the Me-Made-May '12 challenge.



Day 29 me-mades:
Pants (knickers)
I dragged these shorts out of the depths of my deepest drawer and was amazed that they still fit (more or less!). I used to wear these soooo much when I lived in sunny, and occasionally sweaty, Spain and it is somewhat shocking that the UK has managed to be consistently warm enough for me to wear them without fear that the weather would change half way through the day leaving me freezing. I think this shorts and blouse combo could look quite 1930's if I wore more era-appropriate footwear and hairstyle.



Day 30 me-mades:
Pants (knickers)
Second-hand cardigan
How much red can you cram into one photo? Lots!!! This dress makes me smile whenever I see it. 



Day 31 me-mades:
Navy cropped trousers
Pants (knickers)
The final day of the challenge!!!! This is possibly the worst photo in terms of clarity, but maybe my favourite outfit of the whole month. It was comfy but you can also see some of my figure. It is vibrant and reflective of my personal style as it stands today, but I can also wear it during the day without getting stared at!!! I wonder if I would have come up with this outfit if I hadn't been 'forced' to create new garment combinations because of my challenge pledge.   


Thanks so much to everyone who participated in this challenge, your energy and creativity reminded me exactly why I love the online creative community and how truly fabulous it is to be part of it. Also thanks so much to everyone who commented on my challenge posts throughout the month. I really appreciate each and everyone of them and it was so often with the readers of my blog in mind that I tried to create different, and hopefully interesting and inspiring, outfits throughout the month. 

There are lots more things I want to talk about regarding challenges, community and groups, but I'll expand on those another day.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful month! Thanks for hosting MMM'12. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for organising it! I think the Frieda Kahlo dress is my favourite of all your makes (well apart from the Simplicity skirt you made out of blue/white floral fabric). Keep rocking.

Oh and on a separate note, I have a request please install disqus so we can avoid the blindness inducing hideousness that is recaptcha. Disqus handles spam blocking for you (it uses Akismet, the same algorithm that's built into Wordpress) and enables cross platform commenting while keeping tabs on comments, responses, pings and trackbacks. It would make commenting so much easier. Pretty please?

Lenora Jane said...

Another thanks-for-hosting echo...and an echo of admiration for the awesomeness that is yer Frida dress!

Kate said...

It was so much fun! I will be back for the next one, I'm just happy I made the decision to participate this year after seeing all the fun from the previous challenges. Thanks agian Zoe!

Neeno said...



Thanks Zoe for hosting an awesome MMM. This was my first challenge, and I pledged to wear 3 outfits per week and I ended up wearing 4! Yay me! I learnt a lot about myself, my wardrobe gaps, my sewing and my style. Looking forward to MMM'13!



I have blogged my MMM month round up here if you wanted to have a quick peek :)

Anonymous said...

congratulations on completing the challenge. I absolutely love what your Frida dress. The color is stunning!

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for organising Me Made May.
As usual I have enjoyed the challenge and I've been in contact with lots of new people. I am going to sew a Minoru jacket - with horse riding adjustments along with another participant. That will definitely help me get it done, so thanks very much.

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