Hey everyone! Have you heard that Me Made May is open for 2014 and currently accepting pledges? Woohoo!! I admit, MMM is one of my favorite parts about keeping a blog – while taking daily photos can be a huge pain at times, it’s a wonderful exercise to keep myself on my toes as far as actually using and wearing my handmade wardrobe. Although the majority of what I wear is handmade anyway, I like this opportunity to find new ways to wear outfits and bring out old pieces that I may have otherwise forgotten about.
I’ve been thinking about my pledge for the past couple of weeks. Although I tend to wear mostly handmade (I rarely, rarely buy new clothes – they are usually thrifted, and even then, I’ve been slowing that game down dramatically – and try to make everything that enters my wardrobe), my supply is dwindling thanks to my ever-changing body. After swapping out my summer clothes and trying on everything, it’s pretty apparent that I’ve got a lot of wardrobe gaps that need to be filled asap. So, with that being said, I am modifying my pledge to suit my current closet statistics and try to keep things realistic.
‘I, Lauren of LLADYBIRD, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ’14. I endeavour to wear at least one handmade garment each day for the duration of May 2014, with no 100% outfit repeats.’
Last year, my pledge was no outfit repeats whatsoever. Y’all, that was hard. I quickly learned throughout the month that there are lots and lots of pieces in my wardrobe that simply don’t get worn anymore for whatever reason – either I don’t like the style on me, I don’t care for the fabric, or the fit is off (this is the main offender – the fit was good when I made it, but my body has changed and now I’ve got some glaring fit issues in many of my older garments). As a result, nearly every single one of those pieces ended up in the donation pile. I love the freedom of having an empty-ish closet that is no longer holding stuff I don’t wear hostage – but it also makes things a liiiiitle difficult when you’re trying to plan an entire month of only wearing handmade! Especially when you can’t dupe an outfit. So for 2014, I’m allowing myself partial outfit dupes – as in, I can wear the same dress during the month, but it must be accessorized/shoed/jacket’d differently. Hence the no 100% repeats. I think this is still enough of a challenge for me to really stretch myself, as well as find some wardrobe gaps to fill while I’m at it. I’m excited!
If you’d like to participate in Me Made May, you can view all the info here on Zo’s blog. If you just want to watch from the sidelines, I’ll be posting my daily outfits in the Flickr pool, as well as on my own Instagram. As with prior years, there will be a weekly round-up post every Friday in May. Expect to see lots of mirror-shots like the one above 😛
As a side note, I recently got a new phone that includes a panoramic camera (say what!) (yeah, y’all, I’m behind on the times). As I’ve been working on updating my sewing room – to remove clutter, reorganize what I’m keeping, and include an actual desk so I stop camping out at the dining room table – I jumped at the opportunity to take some giant, poorly lit shots. What do you think?
My sewing room is totally my happy space ♥
LLADYBIRD 
That skirt is fabulous!! Is it a Gabriola? I’m finally going to participate in Me Made May for the first time. Can’t wait! 🙂
I should have specified in the post – that skirt is actually RTW (it’s from a vintage dress that I tore apart a few years ago). It DO have a Gabriola in the plans, though – pieces are cut out and ready to be sewn up. And yay for participating in Me Made May! 😀
Love the pictures of your sewing room! I feel the same way about my space. It’s totally my happy place in the house and I try really hard to make sure the only non-sewing things that end up in there are things that make me smile.
What is your cutting table? It looks like it folds down…do you like it? Great space!
It’s the Norden Gateleg table from Ikea 🙂 I like it quite a bit – although be warned that it is a bit shorter than your typical cutting table (I was able to put mine up on wood blogs and it’s the proper height for me now, but I’m also 5’2″, so you may want to consider another way to heighten it if you are taller!). The leaves do drop down to make the table very narrow if you are short on space, however, I can’t say I’ve ever dropped the leaves except when I was moving house 😉
For the first time ever, I am participating MMM! I might even go for the “no repeats” deal so I can put a serious ding into my fabric stash. I’ve fallen behind in the past two months. I have serious sewing room envy!
I’ve been thinking about my MMM pledge this year. I want to up my game from last year, but the ever changing body thing can really make a difference in the me-made-options! Love the sewing room pic! I think my phone does that, too. I should post my sewing room!
Your sewing room pics are great! What a warm and inviting space. It makes me happy just looking at it. 🙂
I feel the same way!!
Great sewing room. I can see why it’s your happy place.
Ahhhh! I’m doing my first MMM this year so I’m being pretty gentle on myself. I’m doing a gentle RTW fast this year as well, so I’m really interested in assessing what I wear all the time and thus, what I clearly need to make more of so I can enhance my me-made wardrobe right away. So I’m letting myself repeat outfits for academic purposes.
I’m still working out the details of my MMM14 pledge. I certainly need to work on clearing out my closet and ridding myself of the clothes I no longer wear. I think that should be a part of things. I have a few days left to figure it out. 😀
Your sewing room looks amazing!! I’m taking part in MMM for the first time this year and looking forward to the challenge of wearing one me-made thing every day. I really haven’t sewn that many garments yet so it could get interesting towards the end of the month…
Good luck! I have the same problem. Yay for weight loss but it really makes me sad to see my unworn me-mades. Also, you have the collapsible ikea table I’ve been eyeing! It seems like the perfect sewing table. Was it worth buying?
It’s pretty good! It’s a bit lower than a standard cutting table (I raised mine with wood blocks, which helps, but I’m also 5’2″ so lower height is ok for me!) and slightly smaller than a big cutting mat. Can’t beat it for the price, though 🙂 And I love how tiny it folds down to (although I’ve never personally folded it down, except to move house haha)
Hot damn your sewing room is beautiful! I’m doing MMM for the first time this year and have pledged to wear fully RTW. I only have a couple of RTW left in my wardrobe but I have a few things I’ve made that I don’t tend to wear so I guess it’ll be good weeding everything out and focusing on what I need to make more of. Also, we’re moving towns smack bang in the middle, so we’ll see how we go!
your sewing room looks huge (and deliciously organized)! love it. im still waffling over joining MMM this year, best of luck with your pledge!! 🙂
Your sewing room is beautiful! Super jealous.
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I love your honesty in the way you approach what is in your wardrobe. Good luck with MMM14
No time like the present to tell you that I have long coveted the luxury of your sewing room and it looks lovelier than ever. In my next life . . . .!
I love your sewing room. Not sure if I am going to do MMM this year but if I do I might steal your idea of no repeat outfits. I pretty much only wear handmade anyway.
I love the paint job in your sewing room, such a happy colour!!! I’m planning on participating this year, hopefully it’ll kick my butt into actually making finished objects!
Love your sewing room. I sans room at the moment…:-( Can’t wait to see your MMM!
Your sewing room is gorgeous. I hope to participate in MMM, I need to get planning and pledging!
I just love this idea! I’ve never heard of MMM but I’m in! Lucky for me, I started sewing again (after a many year break) back in February. So I’ve already got 16 dresses done. Another dozen – no problem! So do we post a daily blog? Or a week’s pics at a time?
It’s totally up to you! You can click back to the original MMM post (it’s at the beginning of my post) to see all the rules and guidelines, but however you want to post your outfits (or if you even want to post outfits, I guess, haha) is your choice :). Some people do daily blogs, some do weekly round-ups, some wait until the end of the month. I personally post my outfits daily on Instagram and Flickr, and then round them up every Friday.
Cool. Thanks. I did find the link you posted and read through it. I’m considering how I will challenge myself. Of course I’ll be wearing my dresses, but that’s too easy. Maybe I need to make some jackets. I’m so amazed and thrilled that there are so many people sewing out there. I had no idea. Awesomeness!
One way I challenged myself a couple of years ago was to wear 2 me-mades daily with no outfit repeats. That was kind of difficult (with the no repeats), but MAN I exercised the shit outta my closet! So there’s one idea, anyway 🙂 And yeah, the sewing community is pretty awesome! I love that there are so many of us 😀 Welcome!
I think your sewing room is MY happy place, too. Seriously, can I just hire you to come and give my sewing room a makeover. The situation is DIRE.
Great MMM pledge, Lauren! I’m thinking of taking part again this year too, even though I mostly wear something handmade everyday anyway. It’s just kind of fun being part of the community! Also, gorgeous outfit in that pic. You look so elegant in maxi skirts!
Dude, I totally would! I love setting up sewing rooms haha 🙂
I love that skirt, so pretty and the combination with the yellow is superb. Can’t wait for your MeMadeMay shares:)
YOU ROCK!!!!!!
That sewing room makes me totally jealous! Good luck with your MMM!
I love your mug! Where did you get it?!
I found it at my local thrift store 🙂
I love your sewing room! Such a fun, colorful space. And I adore the color on the wall. Can’t wait to see what fun outfits you come up with this year! 🙂