The Fabric Alchemist

In fewer than two weeks my Me-Made May 2016 challenge fizzled, in a way that felt different than past years when I just didn’t have enough handmade items to rotate.

I’ll let Simon Sineck shed some light here — I hadn’t embraced my “WHY”.

I was achieving the WHAT — participating in Me-Made May, by doing the HOW — wearing handmade clothes and accessories everyday, but I wasn’t feeling it in my heart.

In the past, my WHY was clear: to activate the handmade clothes in my wardrobe for the first time (and then increase their rotation in later years). As other bloggers noted, when me-made clothes are already a regular part of our wardrobes, the MMM challenge can feel more tedious than inspiring.

I didn’t photograph past week two, even when I wore handmade items, which was rare. Like Sewrendipity, a large part of my wardrobe is used clothing picked up from clothing swaps and thift stores. So even if I am not wearing a handmade garment, I am likely wearing something that reflects my intention to break from the mass-manufactured, fast fashion industry.

I will say that I was proud of my Week-2 theme, Me-Modified May, featuring clothes that I had altered, modified, or otherwise mended. (In these four pictures, the only things I purchased new were the jean jacket and the boots, and that was years ago.)

Dress with shoulder strap extensions

Skirt refashioned from “bubble dress”

Skirt refashioned from gathered chambray dress

Pants mended and with refitted waistband

So, what would have ignited my commitment to the challenge?

Looking back at MMM16:

• I really enjoyed seeing inspiration for new patterns and garment ideas from the community of sewists on Instagram and Pinterest.
• I enjoyed feeling cohesive in my wardrobe. In the past years, the days I wore me-made clothes felt inconsistent with my regular wardrobe. This year, my me-made and my RTW wardrobe is about 85% in sync.
• I loved seeing my friends grow as seamstresses/sewists.

I love what Me-Made-May has done for me and the sewing community. It is a great challenge if you haven’t participated or if you are still finding it hard to integrate your me-made clothes. If I participate next year, I want to look for ways to expand my community involvement and build connections with other sewists beyond posting to shared albums on social media.

Any ideas?