Me-Made May -- Week 5 and Final Thoughts

By the last week, I was getting pretty sick of Me-Made May. Don't get me wrong -- I love wearing my me-mades! But the whole taking pictures every day got old realllll fast.

In addition, as I was writing this up, I realized that until the end of week five, I was just re-wearing stuff from the previous week. So, in the interest of not boring you to death, I'll do only the two cute/new outfits I wore in week 5.

On day 29, I wore another Tiramisu dress. What can I say? I liked it so much I made two. Expect a post on this pattern ASAP, because I adored it.

The only other cute outfit I wore this week was for day 31. It's another New Look 6808 and a khaki twill Ginger skirt. I love this outfit. I feel really good when I wear it and it's super comfy! (Excuse the wrinkles, this photo was snapped post-work.)

And just like that, Me-Made May is over! Whew.

Surprises from the month: I never really noticed how much I wear the same outfit over and over when I work at home. I tend to just throw on leggings or yoga pants with a shawl or sweatshirt and call it a day. You know what's also surprising? Don't really care, either. No one sees me but Greg and the dog and neither of them notice if I wear the same outfit over and over. Gets pretty awkward, though, if you take your picture every day.

What I made this month: Two Tiramisu dresses and a Pavlova top and skirt. Apparently May was Cake Patterns Month!

What I need more of: Skirts and dresses. Always more skirts and dresses. I could probably stand to have a second pair of shorts, too, even though I don't wear them very frequently.

Would I do it again? Definitely maybe. I proved that I could do it -- and I can! But with as much as I work at home, I really don't know that my clothes are all that exciting.

In general, this was a fun experience, if only because I felt like I was bonding with my fellow bloggers through shared experience. And special thanks to Zoe for hosting!

If you're interested in catching up on the rest of my Me-Made May:

• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• Week 4

Me-Made May -- Week 4!

Why is May such a long month?

Like everyone else, I'm getting pretty sick of Me-Made May.

For day 20, my first day of 5 a.m. shift (!), I just cheated and wore my Amerson undies under my jean shorts and tank. I will say, though, in the spirit of Me-Made May, this was the first time I'd actually worn them all day long and I LOVED them.Will definitely make another pair now!

On day 21, I wore my bedsheet circle skirt again. I love this skirt. So comfy for hanging around the house.

Day 22, I wore my new Tiramisu dress, made from one of my NYC fabrics. This photo actually was not taken that day. Expect a post on Tiramisu soon -- I've already made two of them. I'm in love.

I'm embarrassed (not really, but we'll pretend) to say I re-wore the Tiramisu the next day. I actually didn't wear it the entire day on day 22, so it seemed OK to re-wear for day 23. But here's a pic of me cooking fried rice in an apron I made in November. I wear this apron all the time.

On day 24, I wore New Look 6808 with jeans. I actually went to work this day, which warranted, you know... shoes. Fun fact: I never wear shoes at home. I'm allergic to shoe-wearing.

Day 24 found Greg and I going out to the fancy Whole Foods for dinner (this WF near us has like... restaurant-esque eateries inside it. It's insane) and then to Fast and Furious 6 (which was amazing if you like fluffy action movies, which I do!) I'm wearing my beloved denim Ginger skirt and a cardigan and tank top.

On day 25, WE WENT SAILING! Yayyyyy! For those who haven't been reading for a long time, I lived on the boat my dad and I co-own for three years. This was also Lyra's first-ever sailing trip! I don't know how much fun she had, but doesn't she look super cute in her lifejacket?

I don't have any me-mades that are really suitable for sailing, so I re-wore my Amerson undies under a pair of shorts. Look how pale I am! Yikes!

Day 26 I wore my Renfrew top in the morning for errands, but my hair was gross and I was slightly pink from the sun, so pics just didn't happen.

Bonus shot of Lyra in her PFD to make up for lack of day 26 pics:

Reflections from the week: I worked the 5 a.m. shift every day but Friday, so I had copious amounts of time after work to do whatever I wanted. It was amazing! Not so awesome for clothes, though. I basically rolled out of bed, worked in PJ's and showered post work.

Currently working on: Nothing! Just finished my second Tiramisu yesterday. I think I'll make a wearable muslin of the Cambie dress next. I have a king size light pink flat sheet I'm eyeing. But I have to wait for new rotary cutter blades to come in the mail, because girlfriend doesn't cut pattern pieces with scissors. Too much work!

Me-Made May is nearly OVER! Just one more post to go and we'll call it a success. Woo!

Me-Made May -- Week 3!

Well, this week was the most difficult yet, I'm sorry to say. What's worse, you're going to get some recycled photos. I did a seriously abysmal job of taking pictures this week.

On day 13, I once again wore my leggings and shawl outfit. Creature of habit, party of one!

I think I also wore that outfit on day 14. Or maybe I wore last week's tunic and leggings outfit? I can't find photographic evidence anywhere! I know I wore me-made, though. Scout's honor!

Day 15 features a recycled photo, but I wore nearly the exact same outfit. Butterick B5649 skirt with a white t-shirt top and a cardigan. I am so disappointed in myself, but this skirt has an indelible grease stain on the front now. And some fraying inside. I think I might just make it again, but better, because I love it. I can't believe it's already stained after only five or so wearings! Boo.

On day 16, I woke up extra early to meet a friend from the internetz for breakfast! I wore my new (as-yet-unblogged) Pavlova top with my denim Ginger skirt. Loving the Pavlova top! It's a little messy here, but this is post-breakfast and after a few hours of sitting and gabbing. I wore this to work later in the day, too.

On  day 17, I went to work and work my black faux-wrap top, New Look 6150. Love this top! (Recycled photo.)

This is where it gets rough, folks. On day 18 I wore absolutely NOTHING me-made. We were headed to a wine festival for the day, and it was unexpectedly cold and rainy. i'd planned to wear my cute new Lonsdale, but it was just too cold and... well... I need to do wash. Fail. It occurred to me later that I should have worn my Amerson undies! Next time...

Day 19 was hot and sticky from the previous day's rain, so I pulled on my Washi dress for yard work. I love the Washi for gardening. Nice and washable! Here I've paired it with (unpictured) gardening clogs, a bug-repellent bracelet and gardening gloves. So fashionable, right?

Reflections from the week: This week was rough in a lot of ways, but I think I did pretty well. I'm really disappointed that I had to skip a day, but in the grand scheme of things, it could be worse. I managed to keep the legging look to a minimum, at least. I'm hoping this week will be warmer. I'm on the 5 a.m. shift all week from home, so maybe I'll actually do exciting things in the afternoons and put on real clothing...

Currently making: Cake patterns Tiramisu. I never really got on that last week, but I hope to have more time to sew this week. :)

Me-Made May -- Week 2!

OK, so this whole Me-Made May thing got much more difficult in week 2. I worked at home all but one day, which makes for very boring and repetitive clothes. In addition, I kept forgetting to take real pictures, so this post will have a lot of Instagrams.

Last week I mentioned that I was planning to count a mom-made piece of clothing for Me-Made May. In the day 6 picture, you can see the shawl my mom made. I love this thing. It's amazing and it has pockets. I like to wear it with a long-sleeved top layered over a long tank top and leggings.

Here's a slightly better view that shows the awesome pockets:

Day 7 found me at work in my trusty corduroy dress, made from Butterick B5781. I think I might just turn this dress into a skirt. I always wear it with a sweater overtop and the wonky neckline still bothers me. (Photo taken by a wonderful, long-suffering co-worker.)

I worked at home again on day 8, this time wearing an unblogged t-shirt dress. I had trouble with the hem on this one, making it extra short, so I turned it into a tunic and wear it with leggings. It's really soft and comfy. 

Bonus shot of me conferring with my co-model: 

On day 9, I wore my shawl/long-sleeved top/leggings again. I wore a slightly different color top, but didn't bother to take more pictures.

I also did laundry on day 9 and realized that one of our sheets had a big rip in it. So, inspired by Cation Designs (my new favorite blog!) I decided to turn it into a circle skirt (I had just finished making my Cake Patterns Pavlova top, so I already had the pattern out and everything).

So on day 10, I wore this:

Man, it was hot that day. Sorry for the extra shitty picture. I did some alterations to this skirt post-pic, so I'll tell you all about them in another post.

On day 11, I had my last day of mentoring -- after four years, I decided it was time to stop mentoring, mostly because I moved states and driving to the meetings was getting really tough. Still, it was really sad.

I wore my khaki Ginger skirt with an RTW J Crew top (ancient).

On day 12 it was gorgeous out! Greg and I did a bunch of errands and worked in the garden. It was nice and warm, so I wore my Washi Dress (I removed a bunch of fabric from the front/sides to make it look a little less maternity on me.)

Reflections from the week: I do not have a lot of variety in my work-at-home wardrobe. And it's not even because I'm trying to wear me-mades! If it wasn't Me-Made May, I probably would have worn the shawl outfit three of the days I worked at home. Also, I wear a lot of blue, grey, black and white. Hot damn. I should keep an eye on that. Seriously every outfit this week was based in blue, black, grey or white.

Currently making: About to start cutting a Cake Patterns Tiramisu. I have plans for two of them if the pattern works out for me.

Anyway, that's it for week 2. I'll try to do better next week, I promise! (Although as I write this, I'm totally wearing the shawl and leggings outfit again -- what can I say? It got cold!)

Me-Made May -- Week 1!

A little late with last weeks Me-Made May challenge post, but better late than never, right? 

On day 1, I did something totally crazy and unprecedented -- I wore pants. This is a very rare for me, I can assure you. This top is another version of New Look 6808. The pants are from the Ann Taylor Factory Outlet because Ann Taylor is one of the few places I can buy pants. The fabric was bought on my trip to NYC. (It's a little rumpled because I took this photo after work.)

An "action shot" from day 1, taken by one of my fabulous coworkers.

In the interest of keeping it real, this day 2 picture was taken over breakfast before a dermatologist appointment, errands and a day of working at home. So no makeup, because the dermatologist needs to see your skin, right? You may recall that a trip to the dermatologist was one of my goals for the new year. I'm sure you'll all be happy to know that I don't have skin cancer.

I'm wearing a Renfrew top, made from NYC fabric, with jeans and Toms shoes.

Day 3 saw another day of working in the office. I'm wearing a denim Ginger skirt (made from NYC fabric, natch) and a New Look top (made with overpriced G-Street fabric.) Along with an RTW sweater. The top is unblogged because I'm not super pleased with the fit. I did the sleeves twice and they are STILL tight on my biceps. I never knew I was so ripped until I started sewing, sheesh.

I'm watering the seedlings in this picture, because the Flickr group Friday theme was water. Look how big my tomatoes and peppers are getting!

On day 4, I wore my Ginger again, this time with an RTW white t-shirt. We went to the annual crawfish boil hosted by Greg's former boss. It was amazing! We ate our weight in crawfish and beignets. So good.

On day 5, I totally thought about wearing my Ginger again, but I figured you guys might get bored. So I wore my re-cut Washi top (made with fabric from Seattle) with jeans and a cardigan and Toms flats.

Lyra seems unamused by the whole Me-Made May thing -- probably because I haven't made anything for her! Woops!

Reflections from the week: The first week was fairly easy. It was a congressional recess, so I worked days in the office a lot. This current week will be more challenging because I'm working at home most days and I normally just wear yoga pants and sweatshirts when I work at home -- and I haven't made much of that. I'm planning to count the one item of mom-made clothing I have (a lovely shawl) as me-made, though, because it's warm and awesome and it's going to be too warm to wear it soon.

Currently making: A Cake Patterns Pavlova wrap top, which hopefully will fill some gaps. I also just ordered some super cute sweatshirt fabric, so that might help. It's been really unexpectedly cold recently. I've been freezing!

How is your Me-Made May going?

Me-Made May 2013!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I've taken 'So Zo's Me-Made May pledge!

I, Aleksandra of Liveaboard Takes the Suburbs, sign up as a participant of Me-Made May 2013. I endeavor to wear one handmade garment each day for the duration of May 2013. 

I'll be doing lots of sewing between now and the end of May, I'm sure, and I have several new garments lined up to show off as well, including two new Colette Ginger skirts, a Sewaholic Lonsdale dress, a Sewaholic Renfrew and lots of other goodies.

I can't wait!

If you're doing Me-Made May too, let me know in the comments so I can follow you! I am so excited to participate and see what awesome outfits you all have hiding in your closets. :)