Me Made May Days 23 to 31, and final thoughts.

Last week and a bit.

Day 23: SOI Ultimate Trousers with Belle & Sebastian tee bought the previous night, and Swedish Hasbeens. Day 6/8 of bottoms. We had stayed the previous night with my Mother in Law who had babysat the boys. We met my Father in Law for brunch, then I got the train back to Edinburgh (while the boys all stayed in Glasgow for a bit longer) to get my hair cut, and to squeeze in a bit of fabric shopping. Later we watched Eurovision.

Day 24: Megan Nielsen Eucalypt Tank with Gap jeans and Birkenstocks. And a haircut!!! We had a lazy day, pottering around the house. It wasn't as warm as it looked so this was pretty quickly covered with a cardigan!

Day 25: Pleat front Scout Tee with Gap jeans and Clarks brogues. Bank holiday, although the boys were at their respective nurseries in the morning. So we did DIY and housework in the morning, took Small Boy out for lunch to the local cafe, then picked Baby Boy up and went to Cramond for a walk/cycle along the foreshore (trying to teach Small Boy to pedal as he previously had a balance bike!). I also wore my metallic Linden for the walk. Quite like this photo angle!

Day 26: Colette Violet blouse with Gap jeans and Clarks brogues. And bonus towel on the windowsill for some reason. Housework, nursery, a bit of sewing.

Day 27: Simplicity 2360 (unblogged), with tights (seriously weather, it's nearly June!), crochet Converse and Oasis belt. Day 7/8 of bottoms. I honestly can't believe I have never blogged this dress. Although I haven't worn it since my early stages of pregnancy, I love this dress and usually wear it at least once a week to work. I actually made another version in silk.  I must blog them. And I must make another. It was super comfy to wear today, particularly with the Converse (never worn them together before).

Day 28: hot off the sewing machine Tessuti Brigitte tee (as yet unblogged) with Gap jeans and Converse. The usual stuff. Finished this top the previous night, as a me made version of my Boden Breton tee. Really comfy and a good basic, although it doesn't go with my Ultimate Trousers like I'd hoped.

Day 29: SOI ultimate trousers with Oasis tee and Converse, and later my metallic Linden because we had hailstones today!! A day of pottering around and getting admin done, while waiting on my friend driving up from Manchester for the weekend. 

Day 30: Scout Tee with hubby's cardigan, Gap jeans and Converse. My friend was staying so we went to Hidden Door Arts festival. In the evening we got takeaway pizza and watched bad movies. This was a great outfit for both - cool (IMO anyway) and yet comfy! 

Day 31: black jersey Linden tee (unblogged) under my metallic Linden sweatshirt

And... done!

So, some final thoughts from the month:

• I made trousers! I am glad this month gave me the push to finally get on with it, as without my challenge, I think I'd still be procrastinating away. Unfortunately my trousers seem to have stretched out at the waist and so now don't fit that well and washing doesn't seem to make them shrink back. I''m currently deciding whether to see if I can somehow take them in again without taking them completely apart, or whether to start again. Either way, I'd like a version in a stretch woven at some point. I have also just bought the Named Alexandria Peg Trousers and some fabric, so I hope to get cracking with them soon.
• My month mainly featured jeans with Scouts and/or Lindens. In fact I think my metallic gold Linden probably wins the prize for most worn item. If I hadn't made my Breton tee so late in the month, I think that would also have featured very regularly. I have just won (I know!) the Emmeline Tee from The Little Tailoress, which I think will be another great basic pattern, particularly as it can be made in both wovens and knits and has 3 sleeve variations. At some point, I need to make another French terry Linden.
• At some point I should make jeans, but I am not in need of them at the moment, so will park this idea for now.
• I regularly wear 3 items purchased from Oasis, all of which are orange. I ought to sew more in this colour, as it really is a neutral for me.
• I had no real desire to wear dresses or skirts. Partly this was comfort/practicality driven, but even once I did wear them comfortably (my red denim Kelly and my bird dress) I still had no real desire to repeat them. It will be interesting to see how this impacts my wardrobe once I return to work, where previously I predominantly work skirts/dresses. Ditto my Vintage Pledge, which is to make a shirt dress.
• In light of most of the above points, I really should have a clear out pretty soon, while it's fresh in my mind what I no longer want to wear.
• Taking selfies from above really is more flattering.
• I am really pleased with how my casual handmade wardrobe has grown since I last took part 2 years ago. Then, I had one knit tee which I didn't really like, and I found casual days really difficult. This time around there was a lot of repetition, but I'm OK with that, and it was pretty easy to find something to wear each day.
• I LOVED playing along on Instagram this year. It was such fun scrolling the hashtag, seeing what everyone was wearing and joining in the chat. Lots of inspiration, more Instagram friends and blogs to follow. And the validation and confidence boost of receiving lots of "likes" on a daily basis was nice too! I'm missing it already!

So, what about you? What did you learn? Any epiphanies? And are you missing it, or glad it's finally over?

Me Made May: Days 16 to 22

Another week's roundup. Still going strong!

Day 16: Sew Over It Ultimate Trousers, with Oasis tee and crochet Converse. Day 3/8 of bottoms. A day of swimming lessons and gardening (I changed for the gardening, into RTW jeans with my quilted Linden (no photo though). These trousers are so comfy, and I love them, even if Small Boy did tell me they looked like pyjamas, because, I MADE TROUSERS! Also, Baby Boy started crawling today!

Day 17: Atelier Brunette Grainline Scout Tee with Whistles jeans, and presumably shoes at some point. Another day of gardening (again I changed).

Day 18: A doubler! SOI Ultimate Trousers again (sorrynotsorry), with ruffle bum Grainline Scout tee and Clarks shoes. Day 4/8 of bottoms. My sister and her 2 kids came for lunch and a play. I think these trousers might be a bit marmite, I definitely noticed my sis checking them out, but she never mentioned them, which probably means she didn't like them. 

Day 19: another doubler. Megan Nielsen Kelly Skirt, with Marilla Walker Sailor Tee, plus Clarks brogues. Day 5/8 of bottoms. Baby Boy's first settle into nursery today, plus sports class, playing in the garden and sticking together and cutting out a PDF pattern. Not the best outfit given I spent quite a bit of time sitting on the floor today, but I liked this. The tee has shrunk pretty badly (and unevenly), but i can just about get away with it with this high waisted skirt. 

Day 20: New Look 6356, plus Gap jeans and Converse. Made soup, nursery pick ups, play date. I'd forgotten about this top. I love the fabric. 

Day 21: Grainline Linden with Gap jeans. Quiet day in and around the house.

Day 22 (part 1): Grainline Linden tee in jersey (unblogged) with Gap jeans and Converse. I had 2 hours to myself, as Baby Boy was having a settle at nursery (count down to return to work has begun), which I spent having a peaceful coffee and shopping for bras.

Day 22 (part 2): Lily Sage & Co Seachange Top. Hubby and I went to see Belle & Sebastian (my favourite band) in Glasgow. They were superb, as always. Second public toilet selfie of the day!

No particular thoughts or relevations this week. I'm still enjoying Me Made May, and I'm even still OK with taking daily photos. I'm particularly loving joining in on Instagram, and the support and camaraderie on there.

How are you going with it? Do you have fatigue yet, or are you still enjoying the challenge?

Me Made May: Days 11 to 15

A shorter update this week.

Day 11: Megan Nielsen Eucalypt Tank, with Gap jeans and Oasis cardigan. Just a day in and about the house. Nursery pick up, trip to Tesco, nothing special. Love this tank, the colour is so vibrant, and it works well under a cardi for cooler days.

Day 12: second day of bottoms. Grainline Moss Mini, with Boden Breton tee and mustard tights. This was a really busy day of housework, nursery pick up, Small Boy's sports class, a play date and then my stepson and his girlfriend came over early evening to celebrate his birthday. I loved this outfit, and so did everyone on Instagram. This photo got more "likes" than I've ever received there previously!!! I picked the tights because black felt too wintery. I did get a few strange looks, but I didn't really care. The only problem was that it wasn't the most comfy outfit. The tights fall down constantly (need to get more in a different brand, in this colour), and, as the skirt is too big it twists round and requires a lot of fiddling with. But I'll probably wear it again anyway! I really wanted to wear it with my red clogs, but it was meant to rain. Next time. 

Day 13: Colette Violet blouse, with Gap jeans and Clarks brogues. Nursery, housey stuff and a 1.5 mile walk down to the new card shop. We got the bus back.

Day 14: Colette Laurel blouse in Liberty, with Gap jeans, Converse and Oasis cardigan. Found a frog in the lid of the sandpit - it has collected rainwater, and a fairly large frog has moved in. I was a bit meh about this blouse. It's too tight at the armholes and so feels a bit restrictive. Plus it's usually a work blouse, and it's very different from what I've been wearing recently. However, as the day progressed i stopped noticing the tightness, and realised that I may not have been wearing florals recently, but it's still the same colour palette I've been wearing a lot! As evidenced on...

Day 15: Grainline pleat front Scout, with Whistles jeans and crochet converse. Oasis cardigan now comes as standard. Small Boy is at private nursery, as opposed to school nursery, on a Friday, so Baby Boy and I have the day to ourselves (read: I get to sew during his naps!!!). Did a bit of work on my trouser fitting. Glad I found these jeans, just to break up the monotony. Otherwise a comfortable and frequently worn outfit. 

Thoughts:

Orange is my summer neutral. I wore that cardigan 4 out of the 5 days (I also wore it day 13 although it's not pictured). Maybe I should sew more in that colour?

I need some sewing trousers. When I'm fitting bottoms (and these trousers have required a lot of trying on), I cannot be bothered to have to wriggle in and out of skinnies all the time, and as we live on the ground floor, we are too exposed for me to sew in my pants! I ended up wearing purple pyjama bottoms when sewing this week as they were quick and easy to pop on and off. I don't actually own a comfy pair of knit bottoms, but I'm thinking something like the True Bias Hudsons would be good - and would mean I could also actually answer the door/pop to the shop in them too. 

Pushing myself out of my jeans and a top comfort zone is worth it. And I need to see what other coloured tights I have! Oh, and I've bought the Brigitte tee pattern and ordered fabric, to make my very own me made Breton style top. 

*Apologies for the lack of links in this post, but I've written it on the iPad, and the blogger app doesn't seem to let you add links, bizarrely. If I remember, I will come back and edit this post another time. [ETA: Links to garments now added]

Me Made May 15 - days 1 to 10

I did mean to do a weekly update, but we were on holiday, and didn't take the laptop, and then, well, I forgot. Anyway, if you are really keen, I'm posting daily on Instagram.

Just to remind you, my challenge was to wear me made every day of May, with 8 days wearing handmade bottoms (dresses, trousers, skirts, jeans all count as bottoms, although I don't actually have handmade versions of all of those things...). The reason I picked eight was that it equates (roughly) to 2 per week. I didn't stipulate 2 per week though, because I (correctly, as it turns out) anticipated that I wouldn't manage any handmade bottoms last week. An outdoorsy type holiday does not generally lend itself to skirt wearing, and while I am happy to be pushed out of my comfort zone on this challenge, I did not want to miss out on any running and jumping about on beaches. Also, I didn't want to be miserably cold! 'Cause, you know, it was my holiday too!

Let's get on with the roundup. Just so you know, I've also decided to record the RTW items I wear, so I can see what gets most wear. It has become apparent after only a few days that I really am a creature of habit! For context, I've also decided to give a bit of a summary on what I was doing each day, although this may dwindle a bit after this week, given it will mostly turn into "playing with children, doing housework".

Day1: Unblogged Simplicity 3835, worn with Tu jeans, Boden cardigan and Converse. Keeping my favourite stuff clean for holiday!

Day 2: refashioned polo shirt (was a Maternity refashion, which I shortened and took in a bit more), worn with Gap jeans, same Boden cardi as yesterday and Converse. Travelling in the car to Skye.

Day 3: Grainline Scout Tee in Atelier Brunette, with second hand Country Casuals cardigan, Gap jeans, Topshop necklace and Clarks brogues (although, here I'm wearing my slippers!). We went for lunch to my Uncle and Aunt's house (we holidayed near their house). Small Boy photobomb.

Day 4: Double Linden. Quilted Linden sweatshirt, over an un blogged Linden tee in black jersey. Gap jeans, Sainsbury's scarf and wellies (gift). Jumping for joy on Coral Beach. This is officially my most favourite photo of me, ever.

Day 5: viscose pleat front Scout tee that has not photographed well! Gap jeans. It was pouring on this day, so I also wore a jumper, hat, scarf and gloves!

Day 6: Metallic Linden sweatshirt with random RTW tank, Gap jeans, converse (again...yawn).The other me-made is this squishy boy who turned one!!! He is wearing a birthday tee, which was decorated by his older brother. I'll post his tee separately. We went for lunch at a van hire place, ate 2 birthday cakes, went to a medieval graveyard in the middle of a river, drank champagne. You know, the usual first birthday activities. 

Day 7: True Bias Sutton blouse with Tu trousers, Clarks brogues and a Boden parka. I think the Country Casuals cardi was under the jacket too. My Uncle and Aunt babysat, and we managed a Michelin starred lunch, followed by a mile long walk to a lighthouse (yes, in those shoes).

Day 8: Metallic Linden sweatshirt over my Atelier Brunette Scout. Gap jeans, wellies, Boden parka etc for a day of dinosaur hunting. Fossil museum, followed by hunting for (genuine) fossilised dinosaur footprints at Staffin Bay. We didn't find them.

Day 9: Poloshirt refashion again with Gap jeans and converse. Basically the exact same outfit as day 2. Travelling home.

Day 10. Burda Anda dress. This is actually a Maternity dress, which I was planning to refashion, but I thought I'd see if I could wear it as is. I think it looks OK, and general consensus on IG agreed! Clarks brogues, tights. First day of "bottoms". Unpacking, doing washing and we went swimming. Small Boy swam by himself for the first time ever. I have no make up on here, which is very apparent.

So, thoughts after the first 10 days:

• As expected, if I want a more complete handmade wardrobe, I need to make some trousers and/or jeans. I did attempt to finish a pair of Ultimate Trousers before the holiday but time got away from me, and I'm still not comfortable the fit is right. I will go back to these.
• I am also lacking some basic jersey tees. I found it difficult not wearing my favourite and most worn RTW tee on holiday, which is a long sleeve Boden breton tee (similar here. Mine is about 4 years old). I've been trying for ages to find my perfect breton tee pattern, but I think I may have finally found it in the Tessuti Brigitte Tee. Now to find fabric.
• I wear the same jeans and Converse all the time, although there were 2 different pairs of Gap jeans in there. It might be time to consider branching out. See Ultimate Trousers. I also fancy both the Named Alexandria trouser and the recently released Papercut Guise pants.
• Today, day 10, I felt weird wearing a dress. I am so in the jeans, converse and top rut that I have spent the last year in. Having said that, it was a very comfortable dress, and it was nice to wear something different.
• My hair is looking awful these days! So frizzy and it never sits right. I definitely need a good haircut!

How are you finding Me Made May this year, if you are taking part? Are you fed up yet, or still enjoying it? Any epiphanies?

Me Made May 15

Time is cracking on, and I haven't yet signed up!

This has taken a bit of thought this year. I initially thought I'd go for a similar challenge as last time, namely one handmade item per day. This should be more of a challenge as, as I have previously mentioned, the bulk of my handmade wardrobe is work wear, and I'll still be on Mat leave during May. However, I want to make sure I don't just end up with 31 versions of "jeans and handmade top", because that's not much of a challenge at all. Having said that, our mornings are pretty hectic and I rarely have the luxury of time to deliberate what to wear, so I don't want to make it too challenging and therefore super stressful. Talk about your first world problems!

Having gone through several convoluted versions, I finally realised I could keep it really simple, as follows:

 'I, Helen of Grosgrain Green, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '15. I endeavour to wear one handmade item each day for the duration of May 2015, with a total of 8 days in the month wearing handmade bottoms (trousers, skirts, shorts, dresses, jeans)'.

I don't actually have any handmade trousers, jeans or shorts currently, but I'm hoping the challenge will spur me on to make some during the month, if not before. Shorts is probably also optimistic given I live in Scotland, but you never know!!!

Are you signing up? What is your challenge?