So Me-Made May is finished! I guess I will be glad to get back those 30 seconds of photo-taking most mornings (I only missed one day), but it was kinda fun to document my gradual shift into maternity wear.
Some outfits were fond farewells.
Others were old standbys that will probably see me all the way through.
There was even one new maternity/nursing specific piece sundress.
Partway through the month I did a major wardrobe edit, resigning a sizable chunk of my (sizable) wardrobe to storage. This freed up closet-space and cut down on the frustration of digging around dozens of items that just don’t fit right now (frankly, some of them may never fit again but I’ll make that call in a year or two). But it was very weird to have only a few options left to get me through the rest of the month. I mean, I still did it and there are three or four pieces I didn’t even wear during the month, but it was weird.
Now that the month of peacocking is over, I’m excited to feel a little more relaxed about outfit repeats. There are dresses that I love that I won’t likely get more than a couple more wearing a in—I want to squeeze those out as soon as possible, without worrying about how long since I last wore them. I never meant to be a subscriber to the “no wardrobe repeats” mentality, but when I have as many clothes as I do now, ordinarily at least, I like to rotate and give everything a turn. But right now I just want to wear my favourites to death before they don’t fit.
That being said, I am definitely planning lots of dorky bump documentation. Selfies weren’t a thing last time I was pregnant, and I have only a very few photos of my first pregnancies.
Winter, 2000, probably about four months pregnant
Much as I might wish it, this does not document my everyday wear in my first pregnancy. (Though it does illustrate the chronic too-short-sleeve issue that led to me sewing my wardrobe in the first place.)
June, 2003. This was taken the day before Syo was born, actually while I was in the very early stages of labour.
Nor does it give me a record of bump growth. Not that my previous bumps were truly massive… I’m pretty sure the present twin bump will dwarf them both. Probably by the end of next month. Anyway, I’m thinking a weekly record, for my own curiosity if nothing else.
You can find the full record of all the Me Made May photos here, outtakes and derp-faces and all, or find it on my Instagram for a slightly more curated feed, with day-by-day commentary.
Anyway, I’m so glad I did it! What a fun way to grapple with my current wardrobe situation.
Which brings my to my current pledge:
Given the above, I’ve often been feeling like what I pull out of the closet is either not creating a coherent look, or that the look I’m ending up with isn’t quite what I intended (or that I don’t even know what I intended.)
On top of that, sewing class samples for my teaching has been putting quite a few pieces into my wardrobe that were picked more with an eye to what can be sewn from the kind of fabrics the quilt-shop where I teach stocks, and to a lesser extent what is “hot”, than to thoughtful wardrobe-building for me. I’m not quite sure how to resolve this conundrum, though I could of course just give myself permission to not wear them. But I do like them.
So yeah, I need to think. To evaluate. Decide how I feel both about the current trends and how they fit with how I want to look and how I actually look. Me Made May may not solve this for me. But I’m hoping it will at least give me some more information about where I’m at. I’m planning to document on Instagram, probably via stories, and with any luck I’ll manage a summary post here in June.
My challenge this year was to wear things I made as Fabricland projects—a way to commemorate my time working there before my store closes this summer, and remind myself that as unhappy with the chain as I might be at the moment, it has also given me a lot. Also a way to contemplate the dangers of free fabric.
What it also did was drive home HOW MUCH I have made over the last few years. I have a lot of clothes now—I know that. Way more than I had when I was shopping for my clothes. I was able to do the entire month without repeats—aside from some weekend loungewear, anyway—and it wasn’t even that much of a stretch.
I did manage to wear a few things I haven’t worn out before. This mostly served to remind me of why I hadn’t worn them. I had also been feeling a little bit out of love with my fit ‘n flare dresses, and this month somewhat rekindled that. I love wearing them. I feel cute and girly.
So what did I learn, other than that I have way too many clothes?
The only store bought stuff in regular rotation now are my socks and bras. I will tackle bra-making more seriously at some point, when I have a bit more money and attention to throw at it. Part of the problem is that I like firm, foam-cupped bras—most of which I’ve acquired dirt cheap at the thrift store. The bras I’ve tried making have all been soft-cup—widely considered the best fitting, but not something I’ve voluntarily worn since I stopped breastfeeding. Which, my youngest kid is in high school. It’s been a bit. I might take another stab at bralettes, though. I’m starting to feel an urge for something soft to wear for lounging around the house when I don’t want a tight band and underwires. We’ll blame that on my late thirties, but that doesn’t change the fact.
Probably the only area I could use a few more clothes in is casual loungewear. I have two pairs of Jalie yoga pants, neither of which should go out in polite company. A handful of Tropo and other camisoles which are mostly fairly new additions. I don’t have any shorts, and the capris I’ve made in the past no longer fit.
Really, though, I don’t need clothes. What I should be focusing on is slower and less selfish sewing. Stuff for the house, and the people in it—and there are several projects for family and dear friends that have been on the back burner for literally years.
So–slowing down, taking care, picking my projects.
there were a few things I pulled out I’d been afraid to try, thinking they were too small. Mostly, thankfully, I found they still worked, though it was a bit traumatic to retire the last of my first generation of me-made jeans. (Except the very very first pair, because although they’re in tatters the SUPER stretchy denim still fits)
Now that the month is done, it feels weird not to take my daily selfie. There’s a little caption in my head that I have nowhere to write. I don’t think I really want to start a separate Instagram or anything to document my outfits—it’s pretty boring to anyone who isn’t me—but I can see the urge.
I just missed out on the first 
Which is still kinda the case now, but a few things have changed. My position at my day job is different, both less stressful and more fulfilling. I have a house with bits that actually look nice without massive effort. (Yes, that makes a big difference for these kind of challenges. Also for my mental health.) And, a week or so ago, after years of rumours,we learned that the Fabricland where I’ve been working for the last five and a half years is closing this summer.
There are a LOT of feelings about that, but chiefly a deep sadness. I have met so many wonderful people through working there. Anyway, that’s a whole nother post. Working at Fabricland has had a profound impact on my sewing, as you may have noticed—a substantial chunk of my posts in the past five years have been shop projects. But the projects also influenced WHAT I chose to sew, both in terms of fabric—many of which i wouldn’t’ve been able to afford otherwise—and the patterns. Having the pick of anything ButMcVogue or Burda envelope, really let me try out a lot of new things, and I probably sewed a lot fewer TNT and Indie patterns than I might have otherwise. It also reduced the practicality of my sewing—instead of focusing on basic wardrobe needs, the party-dress temptation was pretty much irresistible.
I’m going to aim for daily outfit shots of some kind (probably mostly crappy mirror pics like above). I’ll post daily over on Instagram (
I’m hoping this will help me sort out some of these feels. I guess we’ll see.
Tanit-Isis Sews 