Me Made May Week 4 to Finish & Thoughts

Congratulations to everyone who completed Me Made May! We did it! 31 days of wearing handmade items- whew! May has been a crazy month. I started out thinking I’ll never get to wear some of my summer pieces and it turned out I didn’t have enough to wear! Spring was skipped over and Summer temperatures showed up. Here is the last week and a half of May:

Day 22: I don’t have a picture of my outfit because I only wore my cross body as my handmade item. It was my sister graduation party (she finished grad school!) and I was going to wear a dress but it was too chilly so last-minute outfit change didn’t leave much room for handmade.

Day 23: I bought this awesome bundle pack from SEW DIY. It’s the Lou Box Top and Baseball Skirt. I finished both of my wearable muslins and wore them together. I can’t wait to make more of these, total staple patterns! I already have a few versions of each in my “to make” pile, so I’ll blog about these shortly!

Day 24: My Floral Astoria. It was the last day before the heat wave started and I managed to sneak my favorite Astoria into Me Made May. Also featured are my “paint pants”. There are paint splatters all over these but they are so comfy it is totally acceptable to wear them around the apartment.

Day 25: My handmade cross body repeat! I was caught off guard with the heat and had no idea what to wear. But my shorts are “me altered” so that counts too, right? I also got a little cactus! I have a serious problem with keeping things alive so I’m hoping to not kill a cactus.

Day 26: Copy & Paste Tank in fabric left over from my first Bombshell Skirt.

Day 27: Refashioned Nantucket Shorts and another Copy & Paste Tank. I’m still getting used to wearing these shorts in public as they are so easy to wear they feel like pajama bottoms! I keep forgetting I have another blouse to make into another pair.

Day 28: I was laying in the sun for a while in my Floral Bombshell. I’m debating if I should make a new swimsuit this year or not. I have 3 great handmade ones, I don’t know if I really need another.

Day 29: Floral Galaxy Shorts! Made from my Leggings Pattern and leftover swimsuit fabric. These are so comfortable!

Day 30: The air conditioners are officially in the windows and they won’t be leaving until October. When Drew is home, I freeze with the AC’s on so having this knit dress was a good wear.

Day 31: My latest refashion which I will be posting about later! Dress turned romper! I am going to be wearing this piece all the time.

As I mentioned in last week’s Me Made May post, I’ve become ok with donating the pieces I just don’t wear- even if they are handmade. I’ve gotten rid of a few so far, mostly refashioned pieces I just can’t love. I binged a garbage bag full of clothes, and I’m a small person so that’s a lot of clothes!

Of course, just as I thought last year, I didn’t have enough basic pieces to mix in and out of my ready to wear wardrobe. I also realized another hole! I have no handmade causal summer dresses! I have a formal one, and a ton of ready to wear ones but none I could wear for the challenge. I already have one planned but might have to add another one or two to the make list. Oh man, just in this post alone I think I added 5 projects to the pile.

I have a little confession to make. A thought that has been running around my mind a lot as I’ve seen others wardrobes.

 For some time, I’ve wanted to be one of those women with a “capsule wardrobe”. You know, have like 15 basic pieces that are always on rotate. I get so jealous seeing these women with wardrobes that are so put together and cohesive and I take a look at my wardrobe and it’s all over the place. I don’t have a defined style. My love of florals beat solid any day and buying anything in grey or black usually leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Over the past few months I’ve been thinking about getting rid of all my clothes and starting over with basics, but I recently realized that just isn’t who I am. I love color. I love prints. I like basics and all, but would feel a wardrobe full of them would be so boring! It’s taken me a lot of time to step back and see that cohesive life isn’t for me. So maybe my closet will be a little …full… but it makes me happy. And that’s what fashion is all about. So yes, I do plan on making basics- every girl needs some plain tees- but I can’t give up my fun prints and bold colors.

So all you beautiful women with organized- color coordinated closets, I will admire you from afar and love your simplicity but stand here proudly in my loud apparel.

I’m looking forward to an awesome Summer (and as stated above) have a lot of projects to work on. What are your Summer sewing plans?