Me Made May Week 4 & Thoughts

Thirty- One days of wearing handmade. At the beginning of the month, the idea of Me Made May is super fun and doable. You have these grand plans in your mind to wear a great outfit everyday and take an awesome photo – and after like, three days, you are so over it. I am always excited for Me Made May because the past few years it’s really shown me where I’m lacking in my wardrobe, and this year was more eye-opening.

I really love how my Instagram feed changes over the month of May, and I find a bunch of new people to follow through the hashtag #mmmay17. It’s also awesome to see what patterns other sewists love to make, and I put a few patterns on my mental sewing list. The Ogden Cami was definitely added to that list as well as the Blackwood Cardigan.

Below is a round up of almost all my looks from Me Made May 2017:

Week 4:

Day 22: Tribal Print Oslo (Repeat)

Day 23: Floral Sports Bra (unblogged)

Day 24: Kimono

Day 25: Ginger Cargo Jeans

Day 26: Refashioned Trench

Day 27: Mandy Boat Tee

Day 28: Black & White Sloan Leggings (unblogged)

Day 29: Floral Shorts

Day 30: Embroidered Astoria

Day 31: Floral Refashioned Romper

This year, it became really obvious to me what doesn’t get worn in my wardrobe. Like, glaringly obvious. I don’t wear most of the clothing in my wardrobe. I LOVE everything in my closet, but things just doesn’t get worn and I’m trying to figure out how to solve this problem.

I’ve done a lot of cleaning out, and have gotten rid of so much over the years, even handmade pieces but my closet is still over-flowing with clothes that have no use to me. I hate saying, “oh, I’ll just get rid of it”, because the truth is I still need some spring dresses and formal pieces, even though I don’t wear them every week.

Since starting to sew, any time an occasion came about, I would make something new. It was a chance to make a new pattern, buy new fabric, and of course, write a new blog post and take pretty pictures! But because I don’t wear these special pieces that often, they get made and worn once and then sit in my closet!

I think the next step in my handmade wardrobe is being really honest with myself about what needs to go. I’ve been dabbling with the idea of the Wardrobe Architect for years, and have mentioned doing it before here, but have not taken the time to participate. I’m also interested in “The Curated Closet“, but have some major reservations about it.

I will not turn my wardrobe into a monotone look. I love color and I love prints and that isn’t going to change. But I want to take away certain lessons from both of these projects: I want to define my style and shapes, and I want to weed out the pieces that I can do without (like a ton of dresses).

This past weekend, I did another closet binge and have created three categories for items I’m discarding.

1. Donate: there are many pieces in my closet that are old, but still very usable. I do not throw away garments, but prefer to donate in the local bins. To be honest, this isn’t the ideal situation because I know a lot of these clothes still don’t go to proper homes, but it’s a chance for the pieces to live a new life.

2. Sell: I do have some pieces from designer labels, very low price designers but they are good enough quality that they can be sold online. My sister and I recently sent in our first bag to ThreadUp and we were very happy with the result. If you aren’t in a rush to get your money, and have good quality clothing, this is a great option. I don’t have the time to set up apparel on a site like Poshmark or ebay, so being able to send my clothes to someone else to sell is helpful. Even if I don’t get as much money as selling myself, that isn’t really the goal.

3. Refashion: There are a few pieces I love and don’t want to let go of, but they have potential to become something else more wearable.

This is all just a start to something bigger for my wardrobe. While I am trying to get rid of clothes, I am also trying to be very conscious about my sewing moving forward. I have a bunch of projects I’m currently working on and already bought fabric for, so to be sure they don’t become a one-time wear, I am taking extra time with them to make sure they are good quality and fit. I’ve even been taking the time to make muslin’s! (which is something I NEVER do!).

Have you done the Wardrobe Architect or read The Curated Closet? I would love to hear opinions!