(Day 25: my favourite photo of the month. I love our nautical looks and Dolores's cheeky smile!)
Ah, it's always so sad when Me-Made-May comes to an end. The amount of wonderful inspiration and friendly support provided by the other participants is something that can't be beaten, and the rest of the year doesn't feel quite a vibrant by contrast! BUT, there's a whole year of makery ahead that will hopefully be inspired and directed by what we have learnt from this year's challenge, edging us ever closer a wardrobe full of handmade delights that express our personal style, fit with our lifestyle and flatter our physique.
Practical things I achieved during MMMay'14:
- I found time to repair my school boy trousers where holes had started to appear through excess wear. I don't think they are very flattering, but I can't deny how useful they are at the moment.
- At the 11th hour I re-fit my mustard trousers meaning they are firmly back in regular wardrobe rotation.
- Despite my early misgivings about how much day-to-day use my nautical palazzo pants would receive, this challenge has helped me find what other garments they go with and I now wear them A LOT.
- I didn't quite achieve my aim of reworking every piece of second hand knitwear that needs work, but I have fingered out which pieces I no longer wear and can therefore be sent for recycling or refashioning into something for Dolores.
(Day 31: My favourite outfit of the month. This t-shirt fits me well and is lots of fun and the trousers are the most comfortable I own whilst still being flattering)
Things I've learnt from MMMay'14:
- When I was creating my pledge, I thought I'd be able to use this challenge to get back to wearing clothing that reflects my personal style more than I have been recently. Very soon in to the challenge I realised that the realities of mumming a baby and the practicalities of breast feeding meant that wasn't really going to happen as I had envisaged.
- I realised how much I'd got into rut in recent months of grabbing the same clothes that I wore the previous day if they were still clean. There's nothing inherently wrong with doing that of course, but as someone who really enjoys clothing and expressing themselves by deciding 'who I was going to be today', it kind of makes me feel pretty far from who I used to be. This challenge made me more mindful of getting dressed, albeit in a limited manner compared to previous years, and helped me shake up my outfits a bit from day to day and I think that I will continue to do so going forward.
- I have a great selection of casual, comfortable me-made clothing. Keeping on top of laundry is a challenge in itself these days, with a baby who is being weened onto solid foods and is going through two or three outfit changes a day, plus no outside space to get clothes dried. However, I have a sufficient quantity of jersey tops and some comfortable trousers and skirts that mix and match well. My continuing obsession with navy, red, mustard-yellow, black and grey (plus strips and leopard print!) means that I don't have any clothing orphans and my separates can make a squillion outfits when put in different combinations. This is through luck not planning but I am grateful for it and I hope it continues.
- I really enjoy making useful things for Dolores that she gets lots of use from. I have soooo many plans for making garments for her, but that's another blog post...
(Most worn garment of the month: Captain jacket! Worn nearly every day)
Things I want to work on/make before MMMay'15:
- The documentation photos of this challenge have helped me highlight a few garments that I realise don't suit me or have seen better days. I plan to refashion/remake these into garments for Dolores or send take them to the textile recycling bank.
- A few day appropriate dresses would be really nice addition to my wardrobe selection to help me feel a bit more 'put together', but that's something I'll focus on more closely once I have stopped breast feeding during the day.
- I'd also like to make at least one pair of shorts and maybe a stretchy skirt which I can run after a baby in!
- Lots of clothes for Dolores! By next year I hope she will be wearing something made by me everyday and join me in each documentation photo.
Thank you all so much for checking out my personal challenge and for the lovely and supportive comments you left. If you took part, I hope it was illuminating and fun for you. Here's to #MMMay15!
21 comments:
Those two photos are perfect! Delores's baby smile is so cute, she really looks like she's posing for the camera! And I agree, Day 31 outfit absolutely rocks!
Thank you very much for this challenge. This was my third year and I have more clothes memade to wear, so it was easier.
Dolores is so cute.
Zoe you are so, so lovely. And a genius, Mmmay is fantastic & I thank you so much. Your comments above pretty well cover mine; it was a invaluable process, re-assessing my wardrobe and I now go forward with firm resolve to emphasize my me-mades on daily rotation. And my word, that first photo of you two is so, so gorgeous! Thanks Zoe.
Thank you for hosting Zoe, it was my first MMM and I managed it with lots of repeats. However it made me mix and match thing I wouldn't normally put together and getting compliments from the Flickr group as well as people 'in the wild' has given me confidence to wear my me-maces with pride and to make more! See you next year......
Pre-Dolores: Oh, good, a new Zo post! I love to hear what she has to say about things.
Post-Dolores: SHUT UP AND SHOW ME MORE BABY MORE MORE
I can't help it, she's a star!
I think you did brilliantly to document every day with a baby to look after. I was terrible at it, but next May I want it to be different, as you can learn a lot about styles from looking at a photo! Having said that, like you I identified a couple of wardrobe gaps and I definitely want to get some more colour in my wardrobe as well. Thank you for hosting an inspiring challenge!
I think that my favourite of all of your Me-Made items is your mustard trousers - they look as though they fit you perfectly!
I agree that when you're running after kids all day and especially when you are a SAHM or WAHM and don't really need to get dressed up for anyone, it's VERY easy to get into the rut of just wearing the same outfit for 3 days in a row. That's something I love about MMM, that it forces me to wear different things and actually think about it before getting dressed. Though I'll admit that June 1st I just tossed on whatever again! :) Lisa
I've enjoyed following along with you this year. Don't worry, you will get back to your style (and some normality) eventually. It just takes some time.
It might be worth getting hold of some waterproof, long sleeved bibs for weaning. I know you prefer not to buy new, but they may offset the environmental (and psychological!) impact of having less washing to do! :)
Thanks beautiful Zoe for hosting mmm once again and for making it such a fun, positive, friendly activity. I've worked out I need to make more warm clothes instead of dresses all the time....not sure how that's going to pan out!
Thanks again, lovely Zoe! And, I also find that I tend to wear the same or similar outfit a few days in a row, even though I don't have a kid, especially when traveling ...
This MMM totally kicked my butt. I had my baby in early May, and was able to keep up for most of the challenge, but really it was my baby's clothes that were second hand, hand-made, and a few of my tops were hand-made. I realized quickly I didn't have enough nursing tops! So, that's my goal for the next weeks whenever I can sneak in time... sewing clothes for my new body and making nursing tops that are fashionable!
Thank you very much Zoe, my first me made May, a really good discipline. I hope to have a better planned wardrobe next year. It has highlighted to me that I need to face making trousers and some more skirts. It has also made me think about being more selective when I buy fabric, I am working towards a smaller stash. Looking forward to seeing you and Dolores next year!
Dolores is THE cutest baby!! Seriously!
Thanks for another great MMM!
Thank you so much for hosting again! It's such a fun month! Looking forward to next year... I bet Dolores will have even more fun outfits next year!!!
Thanks for the challenge Zoe! The last month was very busy for me, and I have already many outfits pictures to show, but this week I´m going to make a post to finish my personal challenge.
I enjoyed mmm14 very much!!!
I love those mustard trousers! I have mustard trouser envy. re: drying stuff indoors, I have found a ceiling thingy that goes back into itself to be the best buy ever . It doesn't need floorspace or storage and it hides away if you have people over.
Thanks for hosting another great MMMay, Zoe! I love that portrait of you and Delores, she's developing quite a cheeky smile!
oh that is such a poppet of a photo :) As always the hostess with the mostest and assisted by the most adorbs bubba :) Love you all to the moon and back.
xxx
Just wanted to leave a personal 'Thank You' for hosting such a wonderful Me-Made-May for 2014. All the lovely ladies were so supportive, encouraging, kind and just simply nice. Thank you for being such a sweet hostess and sharing your beautiful baby with us!
I had SO much fun with this challenge. I cannot wait to try again next year with a slightly "harder" pledge. I learned that I need to sew some garments in some comfy knit fabrics. I have no homemade knits to wear.
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