One Week, One Pattern 2016: Completed!

This past week was  #OWOP (One Week, One Pattern), an online sewing challenge where you wear only garment made from the same pattern for a whole week. I've always wanted to participate in but never had enough garments from one pattern until this year. So I just had to jump in! Most people choose a very diverse pattern that includes tops and bottoms so they have lots of choice, but that's just not my style, lol.

This year, it was hosted by Hannah from Cinderellis Sews (it's been hosted by others in the past) and there were prizes and online fun. It's silly, but just sharing your makes and having other sewists project to look at really made my week. I decided to go with my favorite pattern for this challenge and only wear my Sorrel Tops all week. The Sorrel Top is from Seamster Patterns and it's me-to-a-T. It's also the last project I posted, lol, which put me up to 4 versions from the same pattern so I knew I would be able to wear them all for a solid week. No one even mentioned that I was wearing the same thing every day (which I was actually expecting since this is such a distinct pattern). Sadly my newest version was only worn once because I spilled something on it and it was in the wash after the first day :/ The others held up beautifully though. The challenge was fun, to be sure, but it also brought things to my attention:

• Looking at the photos I have to admit that my most flattering version is my wearable muslin (blogged here) which makes me realize I need more solid versions. I've had a navy one planned with a white collar that has a piece to look like a bow and I think I may need to make this one a reality.
• My Forest Friends and my Birthday Birdie versions seriously look like the same shirt at a quick glance in these photos, lol. No one can say I'm not consistent!
• The asymmetrical collar is more flattering on me, so I will probably stick to that version in the future.
• These shirts are super comfy and I'm fine with wearing them everyday. Yay!

The eagle eyed among you may wonder about the last photo in the collage - it's yet another Sorrel top! lol I started making this one on Wednesday but after mixing up the collar and facing pieces I had to unpick the whole collar and recut a few pieces which caused me not to get it finished in time to wear this week. It's even made of Disney fabric - how ridiculous am I? It's all for a purpose though, so just know you will soon be seeing yet another novelty print Sorrel top on this blog. Just after posting another one. Like back to back. I have no regrets. I do think I will have to set this pattern aside for a while now though. I want to branch out with my fun t-shirt making and try some new things. Maybe I'll actually get around to sewing something off my Make 9 in 2016 list. I can dream, right?

So I really enjoyed finally getting to be a part of #OWOP after all these years! I'm excited to pick a different pattern next year and keep the tradition going. Yay for fun sewing challenges!

Me Made May 2016 - My Completed Challenge

May is officially past us now, and I am proud to say that I was able to complete my challenge of wearing at least 1 me made item per day as well as a few extras and the rest of my challenge!

I also managed to document my outfits everyday, and I posted to Instagram and the Flickr group (I always feel bad for my non-sewing instagram friends during may, lol). All in all, I managed to wear me mades everyday plus a few new outfit combos (the other part of my challenge) as well as having multiple me made outfits on some days that I also documented (the bonus outfits have a yellow star on them in the picture), giving me 34 outfit photos I posted for the month. Last year (see my challenge results from 2015 here) I did have enough items to complete the challenge, but most of the things I wore were thrift store alterations - not a lot of out and out me made items. Things were definitely different this year - I had no problem wearing me made items and I had plenty to choose from. I've managed to make myself a fairly workable wardrobe of clothes in the last year :) That said, there are certainly things I did not get to wear, but it was a conscious choice due to bad fit or some other kind of comfort issue. I have a whole lot more hand knit items that I didn't get to wear due to the heat of Florida. The challenge started to feel like a drudgery by the 3rd week when I started unabashedly wearing my favorite skirt most days, lol. I managed to push through it though and rallied the final week, wearing items I don't typically wear often just on principle. So, here are some of my observations from this past month:

• I really love my Melissa skirts! Like, whoa. Particularly my brown one. What a work horse that thing is! I wore the brown skirt 7 times this month. Sheesh, lol. Add in my blue jean version (worn 4 times) and my green one that doesn't fit as well (worn once for the sake of it) and I wore the Melissa pattern 12 days out of the month. While I do love the pattern and it is very comfy to wear, I think my frequency of wear comes down to the fabrics I made them from. Solid color skirts are a total win in real life. I may make more Melissa skirts in the future, but I mainly want to focus on skirts in solid colors, preferably neutrals so they will mix with the rest of my wardrobe seamlessly.
• I also showed my love of the Sorrel top pattern, wearing it 6 times throughout the month. I love that that this pattern is different yet comfy and I used some of my favorite fabrics to make up the ones I have so far, all this contributes to being some of my favorite makes. That said, after constant wear, I started to feel a little too twee with my collars and novelty prints in that 3rd week slump. I'm not sure if it was just the slump itself or if I need to veer away from collars for a while. We shall see. 
• My dresses only get worn on Sundays. Sad as this is to admit, and in spite of how much I adore them on the whole, fitted dresses are just not practical for my everyday life. I can wear them for a few hours at a time, but I lose patience with them after that and kind of just want to rip my clothes off in the Florida heat, lol. I need to work on my dress making game and not over fit them in the future - I need sitting ease in the waist and scooped necklines. Also I need to work on the fitting at the back of my dresses. ALL of them still gape at the back neck and my hair tickles my back and drives me nuts. I've really gotta figure that out.
• I want to make some more Plantain-Renfrew combination shirts. I never wear my original Plantain shirts since they are just low enough that I have to fuss with them all day which I'd rather not do. I love the fit though otherwise, so I need to make more simple shirts with the neckline raised up and in fabrics that are not ultra casual. I also really want to mess with my ruched sleeve shirt idea because I have several fabrics that would look super cute that way. 
• I need to use my novelty fabrics in more practical ways. I love my kitty skirts, but they have too much flowy fabric to be practical for wearing at work. I always get them hooked on things and I even ripped the lining on the orange one :/ It also gets really old that my skirt always gets shut in my car door when I get in. So, circle skirts and full skirts are fun and all, but I need to go for more a-line or straight styles.
• I need to make white shirts! So many of my skirts require a white shirt to wear with them and I end up wearing the same few rtw shirts since white just seems so boring. I'd love to make some white shirts that had something a little special about them for a change. I also really need to make tops that go with the Beignet skirt. I have seriously 1 item that I can wear with the high waisted design and it's a thrifted H&M bodysuit. So maybe I need a few body suits? We'll see. 

I know I could keep going here, but I doubt that's very interesting to anyone but me, lol. The biggest question this challenge posed with me this year is, "Will I do this again next year? Is there any point?" In reality, I don't have any problem wearing my me made items. I wear them all the time throughout the year with no challenge in place. Last year it felt like a real challenge since I didn't know if I could actually pull off wearing me mades for a whole month. Now I love doing Me Made May each year mostly for the social aspect - I love seeing what other people wear on a daily basis and commenting on outfits I love. I guess it's just that fun feeling of doing something with a group of like-minded people. But along with that social aspect comes the feeling that all of your outfits should be somehow better than you would usually wear, like, "If I'm going to take a picture of this outfit, it had better be photo worthy, right?" I also can't help but feel like a complete loser every time an outfit is repeated (or when I'm publicly outed that I will wear the same skirt 7 times in a month, lol). I know deep down that both of these notions I naturally encountered go completely against the purpose of the challenge. Me Made May is all about giving us a reason to wear our me made items more to diagnose wardrobe holes and help identify your personal style as well as encouraging sustainable wardrobe habits. Feeling the need to wear something new/exciting/fancy each day to show the group is certainly not sustainable, and it's not realistic for me (and probably for anyone other than fashion bloggers for that matter). In reality, my entire wardrobe barring a few gifts is comprised of 65% thrifted/25% me made/10% so old I actually feel better about the purchase since I can still wear it. I have no qualms in saying that my wardrobe is sustainable and responsible in that way. I also know the reasons I wear what I wear of my me mades already. So what would I gain by shunning more than half of my wardrobe for an entire month? With where I'm at, that feels a bit irresponsible. As much as I love being able to say that I made my own clothes, I have no desire to make my entire wardrobe. Just the thought of that turns my fun, creative outlet into something more like work, completely defeating the purpose for me. I just want to make what I want to make when I want to make it. I guess it would be different if I only made party dresses and didn't understand why my me mades never get worn, but I focus on realistic basic items that can easily be worn everyday. 

I feel a bit like I'm rambling on, but it's something to think about over the next year. I can see why so many bloggers don't participate each day anymore, and I may be joining those ranks next year. Then again, maybe I will commit to a certain number of days per week? I don't know yet. All that said, I did have fun "hanging out" with everyone online and I can't help but feel proud that I accomplished wearing me made items for an entire month straight :) I'm always glad for the lessons I learn in challenges like this, so thanks Zoe for keeping it going strong! 

Did you participate in Me Made May?

Me Made May 2015 - My Completed Challege

Well, May 2015 has come and gone, and it's time to report on My Pledge I made at the beginning of the month. My original pledge was to wear all my me made or altered items within the month. I also threw in that I hope to finish some long standing wips. So, how did I do?

I made my pledge kind of vague and fairly simple on purpose - I've had a lot going on in my personal life and I didn't know if I wanted to pile on the typical commitment to wear me made everyday like others have done piled on top of that. I didn't want to add yet more stress on myself that could end up with a feeling of failure, you know? I've always loved watching others participate in Me Made May each year, but I've always had to watch from the sidelines because I've never had enough finished items. I really didn't get started with actually sewing wearable items until last September, but since then I have churned out quite a few items. Could I actually have enough for the whole month? The thought crossed my mind after 6 days of wearing me made with no problems - in fact, it's pretty easy to grab something I made each morning. I did so well straight off that I decided to see how long I could keep the momentum going, and about halfway through the month I kept wearing me mades out of sheer stubbornness. I mean, I had gone that far, right? I didn't want to always wish I had buckled down and completed the month. So I kept wearing me made items on purpose...

And I managed to wear me mades everyday for the entire month! I'm pretty stoked that I was able to complete the challenge, to be honest. I still technically did not complete my own pledge since there were several items I've made that did not get a single wear - all for very good reasons. I feel that I've still completed the challenge though since I upped the ante and did it for the whole month. Yes, there were repeats - especially on my basic skirts that I wear really frequently - but just the sole fact that I had enough items that I've made or altered to complete the entire month is pretty elating to me :)

So what were my "Most Worn" items?

1. Pretteh Kitteh Skirt - This one is just so awesome that I want to wear it all the time :) Clearly it's because the fabric is so awesome. I had to pace myself with this one because I don't want to become the "crazy cat skirt lady" by wearing it too much, lol.
2. Peggy Skirt - This is just such a useful basic - I love everything about it. The shape is very flattering, the fabric is nice and cool and doesn't wrinkle, and the color goes with pretty much everything. I need a whole arsenal of these skirts in solid colors like this. 
3. Altered Navy Pin Dot Skirt - Another totally basic item that goes with lots of things. It's dressed up without feeling fussy, so I'm able to be comfortable while still looking work appropriate.

I'm a definite skirt lover. I also love my t-shirts :) I had to restrain myself from wearing my latest Floral Plantain everyday, because it's just so pretty and fun and comfy. Notice a trend yet? As much as I love dresses in theory, I only wore my cotton dresses once each and that was to church on Sunday. It's just too stinking hot here in the summer to wear a dress all day at work, especially one with such a high neckline. This may be way crossing the TMI line, but apparently my chest gets very itchy throughout the day, so my high necked dresses tend to drive me crazy after a few hours and if any sweating has occurred at all. I tend to have to do lots of bra adjusting throughout the day, and I don't relish having to completely unzip my dress and get halfway naked in order to get things re-situated. This is why my dresses don't get worn more, so maybe I need to look into dresses with a lower neckline. Going by what I wore this month, here is what I've learned:

• My "signature silhouette" is fit and flare, preferably with a knit top.
• My more casual clothes only get worn every so often, while my "work appropriate' clothes get grabbed over and over.
• I don't like the look of a plantain top with anything flared on the bottom - it looks too sloppy on me. I need waist definition for a flared bottom or else I feel like I look heavier, which no one wants. 
• I'm all about comfort - no matter what I'm doing, I need to be realistic with my fabric choices and no go for so much quilting cotton. It may be cotton, but it's thick and I live in Florida. 
• I LOVE linings. They may be more work to sew, but they make me feel so much more comfortable. Line all the things!
• Most of my clothing at this point is thrifted :) 

Even more than all these lessons, the biggest surprise I learned it I'VE MADE ENOUGH ITEMS TO SURVIVE A WHOLE MONTH OF ME MADE MAY! This is an epic achievement for me, and I really couldn't be more pleased :) I also managed to work on several wips as well as churn out some totally new items. I didn't finish knitting my Emelie sweater, but as you can see from my pics up there I rarely wore my knitted items this month. May in Florida is just way too hot for anything wool. Period. And if my knits aren't wool then they are worsted weight, which is the same problem. I need to focus on thinner yarn, even though it takes me forever to knit, and I need to stay away from wool, even though I love knitting with it. *Sigh*

So yeah - I COMPLETED ME MADE MAY! HOORAY! I love that I can say that I wore me mades for a whole month. It just feels so accomplished :) Thanks so much, Zoe, for making this challenge and encouraging us all to push ourselves. I'm still pretty amazed at what I was able to accomplish.