Can you believe it time to talk about another Me-Made-May challenge?! As you may recall, last year I was in two minds about even mentioning MMM because of the stresses and strains that the global pandemic was bringing to most people's lives and head spaces. However, it turns out that a gentle version of the challenge was EXACTLY what so many people found that they needed after all!
It gave so many of us a reason to put on clothes that made us feel positive, proud and 'ourselves' each morning, rather than staying in pyjamas or chucking on grotty loungewear again. It encouraged us to re-focus a little on our love of garment making, and learn some lessons throughout the month that helped our practice going forwards. And if we chose to participate in the community aspect of the challenge by sharing and/or checking out photos of fantastic handmade garments, it helped us feel connected to other participants at a time when connection was so desperately needed. I'm sure that most participants would agree with me when I say that Me-Made-May 2020 ended up being a wonderful, beautiful, positive little ray of light during a very difficult year.
And what of 2021? How are we all feeling a year later? We're all clearly so very far from living 'normal' lives still. What role can the Me-Made-May challenge play for the global community of makers this year? I feel that there's a quiet, gentle hopefulness about this year, and participating in MMM could be a wonderful part of that. So much has changed since 2019, and if we choose to, we can use the challenge to explore who we are now, and who we want to be as 2021 continues to unfold...
Personally, I plan to use May 2021 to consciously reconnect with my handmade wardrobe, and subsequently reconnect with myself. I want to enjoy a month-long celebration of creativity with the rest of the beautiful online making community. And I REALLY hope you'll join me.
What IS Me-Made-May?
- MMM is a personal challenge to wear your handmade items more often, or in different ways, to help you improve your relationship with your handmade wardrobe.
- It is entirely personal: you can set the specifications of your challenge as you wish so that it will help YOU. Think about what you would like to improve and/or learn about what you wear.
- You do your challenge for the duration of May.
- It's entirely up to you whether you wish to keep your challenge entirely to yourself, or share some or all of it with others. If you wish to share the odd (or daily!) photo or comment on social media, please use the hashtag #memademay2021 so other participants can find you and cheer you along.
- which of your current handmade items make you feel the happiest (and therefore perhaps how best to spend your garment-making time in the future)
- which of them need to be repaired, altered, upcycled or passed on
- the colours that suit you and the ones that don't
- new combinations that may help you get more use from the items you've made
- which silhouettes and garment styles best suit your day-to-day life, as well as your body and personal taste
- new garment styles, patterns, fabrics, yarns or colours worn by others that you are excited to try for yourself
- how others wear and style the same patterns you own differently
- what different fabrics or yarns others have tried when making patterns you own
- some new online friends
- some new makers' accounts to follow that inspire you
Ok, I want some of that too, what do I do now?
You need to think about the specifics of your challenge. Think about what you'd like to achieve/improve/learn by the end of the month, and what you can do throughout the month to make that happen. Normally, I ask participants to fill out a pledge and post it in the comments of this post. If you would like to do that, awesome. If you'd like to share it on Instagram or anywhere else, then also awesome:
'I, (insert name or username here), pledge to (insert specifics of your challenge here) throughout May 2021'
So as an example, here's mine:
'I, Zoe aka @sozoblog, pledge to wear only handmade garments in unique combinations as much as possible throughout May 2021'.
If you have any questions or queries, please email me at sozoblog (at) g mail dotcom, or message me on IG @sozoblog. Please remember, if you do want to take part, be as gentle and kind to yourself as possible, in many ways the world is still broken after all. DO NOT beat yourself up if you wake up on 1st May and think, 'actually, no, I want to stay in my non-me-made pyjamas all day after all'!. This is meant to be fun, useful and affirming!
