Me-Made-May'14! SIGN UP HERE

Yes indeed my friends, here it is! 2014's official Me-Made challenge that celebrates all the love and hard work that so many of us put into crafting unique, special handmade clothing and accessories. If you want to improve your relationship with your me-made items, then this challenge is for you!


What is MMM'14?

Me-Made-May'14 (MMM'14 for short) is a challenge designed to encourage people who sew/knit/crochet/refashion/upcycle garments for themselves to actually wear and love them. The me-made and self-stitched challenges have been taking place for over four years now and they work on both a personal and community level. The participants decide the specifics of their own challenge pledge, so that the month is appropriate and challenging for them (more on this below). A very common pledge is for a participant to aim to wear one self-stitched or refashioned garment each day for the duration of May 2014. The participants can also choose to document their challenge with daily photos (though this is in no way compulsory for taking part) and share them with other participants (more on this below).


What isn't MMM'14? 

• The Me-Made-May challenges are NOT all about taking daily outfit photographs. However, many participants do choose to document their challenge with daily/weekly/as-often-as-you-like photos and share them on their blog if they have one or on Flickr if they are a member. The challenge is about wearing your handmade clothing more often than you usually do, if you choose to take documentation photos, then that is fabulous and we'd love to see 'em, but taking photos isn't necessary or compulsory and really isn't the point of the challenge. 
• MMM'14 also isn't reason to panic-sew/knit/crochet/refashion etc. This challenge is about wearing the items that you have already created, not about stock-piling more makes. However, if you want to use taking part in MMM'14 as the kick in the butt you need to finally hem that half-finished skirt, or rework an ill-fitting garment, then great. Remember, this challenge is meant to be fun, and panic-anything isn't fun! 
• A competition. It doesn't matter how many self-stitched items you already have or haven't. You can take part even if you just have one solitary self-made item! You just need to set your pledge to make it challenging for YOU, no matter what criteria other participants have set themselves. 

I haven't taken part in any of these before, why should I take part?

Ohh, there are squillions of reasons why you might choose take part! They may include:

• Do your handmade items often get left in the wardrobe rather than worn as part of your everyday wardrobe? Participating in this challenge can give you a bit of a nudge to help you to integrate your self-stitched items into your daily life.
• This challenge may also be useful for discovering the 'holes' in your wardrobe so in the future you are able to focus your precious garment-creating time towards making things that will be useful. 
• If you feel that what you tend to wear, day-to-day, doesn't really suit you or represent who you are, this challenge is a way to spend a month focussing on getting out of your wardrobe rut. 
• You may enjoy an excuse to focus on finishing off lingering UFOs (un-finished objects), or to start a project you've had on your mind for ages. 
• If you have been creating clothing for some time and already wear a lot of your me-mades, this challenge might help you to bring newer self-stitched items into regular rotation. If you tend to make all kinds of garments, you may even want to see if you can get by all month entirely without shop-bought garments (with undies or outerwear as notable exceptions, but not necessarily!). 
• There is also guaranteed to be a lovely online community of fellow participants to give support, advice and inspiration.

I've taken part in these in the past, why should I take part this year?

Did you enjoy it last time/the previous times you took part?

• If the answer is 'Yes': Then you'll have lots of fun again this year, whilst challenging yourself in a different way and learning something new about yourself and your style/skills/preferences/wardrobe. You just need to think about how you can alter and/or amp up your pledge specifics to get the most out of this year's challenge.
• If the answer is 'No': Well if that's a 'no' because the challenge you set yourself was too hard, then that is easily rectified this time round; set your pledge so that it is tricky but do-able. If it's a 'no' because you didn't enjoy the pressure you felt to take photos each day, then simply don't worry about documenting your challenge with photos. You'll learn lots of lessons and get satisfaction from taking part in the challenge and completing your pledge, not from the documentation of it (although some participants have found that seeing the daily images of themselves has really helped them figure out what suits them and what doesn't work so well). If you'd like to do a little bit of documenting, then why not just photograph your favourite outfit/garment you wore at the end of the week, or some other version that doesn't make you feel under pressure. But seriously, if you didn't like taking part in it and don't want to try again, fair enough! 

Ok, you've convinced me, how do I sign up?

All you have to do is copy the pledge below and post it in the comments section of this post adapted to include your details and the personal specification of your challenge before 1st May:

 'I, (insert name here and blog address if you have one), sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '14. I endeavour to wear......................................................... each day for the duration of May 2014'

Points to consider when creating your pledge:

• This is YOUR challenge, write the pledge any way you want, just remember: IT IS A CHALLENGE and not meant to be easy or what you do usually. In the past I have received the odd comment saying 'Oh, I already do this so I may as well sign up', however those people had clearly missed the point which is to challenge yourself, and therefore they would be unlikely to learn very much or feel much satisfaction at the end of the month. 
• THIS IS NOT A COMPETITION. It is a personal attempt to achieve a better relationship with your handmade creations, which you may or may not choose to share with the creative online community. What I mean is, don't set a pledge that you've seen other people make that sounds good but in reality is unobtainable for you and your lifestyle. For example, if you have to wear a uniform for work each day, you may prefer to pledge to wear self-stitched items at the weekends or days off only. 
• There's no rush to sign up immediately, as long as you do so before 1st May. Have a think for a while about your current relationship with your creations, then think how you might want to improve that relationship.
• If you have taken part before, or already wear a fair amount of self-made clothing and/or accessories, think how you can up the ante from the standard 'one self-stitched garment a day' pledge. How about wearing two or more self-made garments each day? Or pledge to try making a new type of garment by the end of the month to wear on the final day? Or pledge to finish all your UFO's by 31st May? Pledge to focus on wearing your 'meh' garments to see if you can fall back in love with some of them? Pledge to only wear separates to force yourself to get creative with your mix-and-matching? Pledge to only wear each garment or garment-combo once? Pledge to wear an outfit including one sewn or knitted garment AND one refashion each day? There are near-infinite ways to amp things up for yourself. 

If you have a blog, why not re-post your pledge there so your readers and followers can see what you are up to and be inspired by your endeavour? Please include a link to this post so others can also sign-up if they are interested. If there's one thing I've learnt from these challenges, the more people involved, the better the party!


I've signed up, what do I do now then?

Nothing in particular until 1st May 2014, except let an underlying sense of excitement brew! You may decide to finish up that UFO, but please people, NO PANIC-SEWING/MAKING NECESSARY OR CONDONED!!

If you would like to advertise your participation on your blog if you have one, why not treat yourself to the addition of the MMM'14 widget/gadget/button? The code can be found at the top of the right hand column of this blog's home page. The widget/gadget/button not only looks cute, but it shows other participants/potential-participants at a glance that you are taking part this year. Plus when clicked on, it will ping you to this sign-up post so others can read what this whole damn thing is about without you needing to go into too much of an explanation yourself. If you aren't sure how to apply/insert a widget/gadget/button code, check this post for explanations for Blogspot/Blogger and Wordpress blogs.


How do I interact with other participants throughout the challenge?

If you would like to see what other participants are up to throughout the month and/or show others how you are getting on then there are several ways to do so. 

• Blogs. If you have a blog, then why not tell/show your readers what you are up to? Reading about others' experiences of these challenges is always so interesting and often useful. If you'd like to discover some blogs of other participants, you will be able to find lots by looking through the comments section of this sign-up post. Some participants like to post their outfit photos on their blogs, and remember if you want to do that but don't have the time or desire to post daily, you could post more manageable summaries once or twice a week (which I prefer to do, BTW).

• Flickr. If you wish to be a part of the MMM'14 Flickr group, head over there and request membership. I'll 'let you in' within two days so you can begin posting your outfits/garments from 1st May. If you wish to start a discussion over there before 1st May, please feel free to do so! If you choose not to sign up to the Flickr group, you will still be able to see all the photos added by other participants and read the discussions being had over there, however you will not be able to comment on the photos or add to the discussions. The Flickr groups are always heaps of fun and such a lovely way to see lots of participants all in one go participating in different countries and climates. Plus it can be a fabulous way to discover new inspirational bloggers and blogs to follow, and generally make some new e-friends!

• Pinterest. New for 2014, we have a Me-Made-May'14 Pinterest board that has been kindly set up by the lovely and very helpful Jennifer from Jennifer Lauren Vintage. To pin your garment/outfit pictures on there, you will need to 'follow' the board. It'll take up to two days for you to be allowed access, so don't panic if you can't pin on there immediately. Please add the #mmmay14 hashtag to your pins. 

• Twitter. It would also be totally ace if Twitter users discussed the challenge using the #MMMay14 hashtag.

Anything else I should know?

HAVE FUN!!!! This challenge is meant to be explorative, illuminating and beneficial, but above that it's meant to be fun! Getting dressed can often be fun, and if you haven't felt any clothes-based fun for a while, why not see if this challenge can help inject some of that back? 'Hanging out' online with the other participants can be a big part of that fun by seeing what they are wearing (either by visiting their personal blogs or through the Flickr group, Pinterest board or via Twitter) and by sharing your own unique take on this challenge.

If you are concerned or confused about any aspect of this challenge, please email me at sozoblog (at) g mail (dot) com.

Let the signing up commence!!!!!

Goodbye 2013: Plus Sewlution Success!

January 2014 is already into double figures but I don't want to wave goodbye to 2013 without a little look back:

(image source: Me-Made-May'13 flickr group)

Me-Made-May '13

2013 saw the most well-subscribed, exciting and vibrant me-made/self-stitched challenge yet. So many people signed up for Me-Made-May '13 by pledging to wear their self-made creations more often, and the flickr group reflected that with over 6000 outfit images posted there! You can hear (yes hear) me chatting about the challenge here. I'm so excited about 2014's Me-Made-May!

(image source: Miss P)

The Refashioners

I also had the pleasure of taking part in The Refashioners challenge. Organised by the ever-awesome Miss P, the purpose of this challenge was to bring the concept of refashioning to a wider sewing audience by asking a whole mixed bunch of talented soles to transform randomly assigned second-hand items into reworked wondrousness. Have a look here at what the unassuming collection above became if you didn't already...

My Sewlution

Along with a large slice of the online sewing community, I took up the challenge set by Karen from Did You Make That? at the tail end of 2012 to identify our own sewing aims for the forthcoming year. My personal sewlution was to make 12 garments in 12 months. But not just any old makes, I specified that these garments had to be successful in the areas of comfort, fit and in reflecting my sense of style. These items had to become regularly worn items, not just items that get dragged out for Me-Made-May!

Regular readers of this blog will of course be aware that I spent the majority of 2013 pregnant. Before I started to show I racked up some nice makes all of which fit my criteria (or would have done if I'd had a chance to wear them for longer had I not started changing shape)

1) leopard print Mathilde blouse (pictured above),
2) 40's Tea dress,
3) Mustard Marinière trousers,
4) Lady-like Pussy Bow blouse,

But from April-ish onwards my pregnancy began to dominate most of my sewing activities and effected the sewlution challenge. Because the maternity garments would naturally have a limited lifespan, I wasn't so worried about accurately reflecting my sense of style and felt freer to use fabric and try styles that weren't entirely 'me'. They included:

5) Africa Wax fabric Washi dress
6) Grey Tova dress
7) Peter Pan collar batwing tops (counted as one because the pattern is the same)
8) Vintage fabric handbag (no, not technically a garment but these are my rules and it sure as hell sees a lot of use)
9) Black and blue maternity treggings (once again, counted as one because the pattern is more or less the same)
10) Stripey long sleeved T-shirt
11) Nautical jersey dress and black batwing jersey dress
12) Modcloth-inspired maternity top 

PLUS there was the spotty maternity T-shirt remake and the fancy-sleeved grey T-shirt (pictured above) if you don't think the bag should count in the list! So you see: sewlution success! How did you get on with your sewlution if you took up the challenge last year?

MMM'13: Days 8, 9 & 10

Clocking in to keep on track with my MMM'13 challenge documentation....

Day 8:

Me-mades:

Mustard trousers

Black batwing top

Vest (camisole/singlet)

Pants (knickers/undies)

Also worn: second-hand cardi and Captain jacket

We had a day off and went to London for the day. We wandered all about, visited the Idler Academy and spent some time by a canal. And ate the most amazing pulled pork sandwich EVER. I'm still thinking about it, I may never stop.

Day 9:

Me-mades:

Black treggings

New stripey jersey top

 Vest (camisole/singlet)

Pants (knickers/undies)

Captain jacket

Also worn: second-hand hoodie

So Thursdays are now officially Pregnancy Yoga day for me. I didn't want to go in exactly the same outfit as I did last week, so I was spurred on to whip up a jersey top that I'd been planning for a while anyway. Oh, and do you like my glamourous backdrop?! Got to love a 1960's built municipal building! It's the first thing you see when you leave our flat in fact. 

Day 10:

Me-mades:

Grey Tova dress (which I'm not longer calling 'Mild-Maternity, as I feel way passed that stage)

Black treggings

 Vest (camisole/singlet)

Pants (knickers/undies)

Also worn: second-hand cardi 

It's Friday, which means THEMEFRIDAY over at the MMM'13 Flickr group. Today's theme was to have our documentation picture taken in our sewing/knitting/creating space. Ironically, the night before a photo inside my flat was required, literally half the electrics blew out in the flat so I've nicked a standing lamp from elsewhere to illuminate my dark little room so I get on with my projects. 

MMM'13: Days 5, 6 & 7

Here's a little three-day update of my version of the MMM'13 challenge: 

Day 5:

Me-mades:

Mustard batwing top with Peter Pan collar

Black treggings

Vest (camisole/singlet)

Pants (knickers/undies)

Also worn at various points: second-hand cardi and Captain jacket

So I've been trying to mix up the locations of my documentation photos a bit this year. I'm doing that for two reasons, 1) I find seeing snippets of other people's lives, homes and work places really interesting so following that logic I can only assume others might like to see some snippets of my life and its locations, and 2) I really like having these picture sets of a month in my life as a reminder of what I was up to and what my life was like that year, so a mixture of locations will be nicer for me in the future when I look back on 2013. For example, the photo above is taken at one of my places of work, Sew Over It in Clapham, South London. I was teaching a tulip skirt making class that day, can you see the students beavering away behind me to the right? 

Day 6:

Me-mades:

New School vintage navy dress with lace trim

Captain jacket

Vest (camisole/singlet)

Pants (knickers/undies)

Also worn: second hand cardi

This is basically the only pre-pregnancy dress I can still fit in, thanks to it being an accommodating A-line shift style and being made from slightly stretchy synthetic double knit. The me-made/self-stitched challenges always make me wear dresses more often than I'd be likely to if left to my usual devices, but I really enjoy it when I do wear them. I taught a Pattern Cutting class on Day 6 in this outfit, and it made me feel much more put together and professional than I probably would in my usual jeggings/jersey top combo.  

Day 7:

Me-mades:

Pussy bow blouse

Black treggings

Vest (camisole/singlet)

Pants (knickers/undies)

Also worn: second hand cardi and Captain jacket when I went out

Yes I can wear an outfit that doesn't have mustard-yellow in it, as long as there's red in there somewhere instead! It's starting to get silly how often I'm wearing these treggings now I've made them, isn't it?! I promise I have washed them at least. They are just soooo comfy. In fact, I'm thinking of making my challenge pledge a bit tighter and excluding the wear of second-hand (not me-made) jeggings after all. I'll see how big my bump grows towards the end of the challenge, I'd be not pledge-too-soon!  

MMM'13: Days 1, 2 3 & 4

Time to start documenting this here challenge....

Day 1:

Me-Mades:

Mustard trousers

Stripey batwing top with Peter Pan collar

Captain jacket

Vest (camisole)

Pants (knickers/undies)

Also worn: second-hand cardi

As sunny as it may be, it's windy as all hell here at the moment and damn chilly with it, hence all the layers. I'm truly amazed that I can still wear these mustard trousers when I had to decommission most of my other non-maternity trousers ages ago. I think it must be a combination of a high elastane content in the fabric and the style being quite low-rise. I'm not sure how many weeks left I have of wear from the, so expect to see them quite often!

Day 2:

Me-mades:

Hastily made treggings

Mariner T-shirt

Vest (camisole)

Pants (knickers/undies)

Also worn at various points of the day:

Captain jacket

Second-hand cardi and hoodie

The reason the treggings/leggings were hastily made was because I signed myself up to a pregnancy yoga class then realised with a small amount of panic that I hadn't been to a yoga class since the 1990's and didn't have a clue what people wear to them these days! I then realised that I didn't have anything suitable so made these over two days. I'll blog about them properly soon. Paired with the Mariner T-shirt and a second-hand hoodie, it was a successful yoga outfit, hurrah! I was planning on getting changed before I went to a poker night later on, but the outfit was so comfy that I simply swapped the hoodie for a cardi and jacket and left the rest on. No I didn't win the poker, but I came really close!

Day 3:

Me-mades:

Mild-maternity Tova dress

Captain jacket

Vest (camisole)

Pants (knickers/undies)

Refashioned tights

Also worn: second-hand cardi

Another insanely windy day, but so nice to use the MMM'13 Flickr group's Friday photo theme of 'Water' as an excuse to head down to the beach to get my documentation photo taken next to the English Channel. The tights are refashioned in the sense that they are normal tights that I cut down and reattached some elastic to so they are kind of 'home-made' maternity tights. I'll blog about them soon. I'm also rocking a me-made bag which will be blogged about on Monday, and some new (to me) charity shop shoes that I'm mildly in love with at the moment. 

Day 4:

Me-mades:

Treggings again

Magpie Batwing top

Vest (camisole)

Pants (knickers/undies)

Also worn: second-hand cardi

Winter Wonderland coat

Oh I can really see me wearing little else below the waist this month, these treggings/leggings are so comfy. (I'll decide what I'm actually calling them soon too.) My batwing tops are some of the few pre-maternity tops I can still wear as they are just long enough to not rise up annoyingly with the larger belly (along with the Mariner T-shirt). 

Me-Made-May'13: The Record Breaking Challenge starts TOMORROW!!!!!!!

I don't know about you, but I am EXCITED!!!! So many former participants have amped up their pledges ready to flash their me-mades in new and interesting ways, plus HEAPS of first-timers new to the party are about to show us their unique take on handmade style. Honestly, what's not to be excited about?!

It's pretty impossible to give you an exact number of participants of MMMay'13 as some of the 440+ comments on the sign up post are duplicates or people commenting but not actually signing up. But hot DAMN that's still a LOT of people signing up! By comparison, last year's MMMay'12 sign up post received 290 comments. Plus there are more members of this year's challenge's Flickr group than ever before as well (MMM'13's Flickr group currently has over +100 more than MMM'12's!)! It's going to be one hell of a self-stitched fest.

It's so wonderful to see this (dare I say?) movement growing, and doing so organically. It shows that increasing numbers of people genuinely want to get a better relationship with handmade things, to bring them into their everyday lives rather than relying solely on mass-manufactured items. As participants, we are all stepping away from the prescribed formulae of consumption that benefits the large global corporations and their share holders that own most clothing retailers yet is so detrimental to the workers making that clothing and the shoppers who find that quality is consistently being sacrificed for profit. Instead we have discovered a more positive and authentic route of making our clothes ourselves. We are about to embark on a whole month of celebrating these facts! ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My MMMay'13 Pledge!

It's been utterly awesome to see so many creative peops signing up for this year's Me-Made challenge! In fact, I think we may be on track for a record number of participants, which is so damned exciting. Think of all those fabulous self-stitched items that will be getting a well-deserved airing for the duration of May, I CANNOT WAIT to see them! The signees currently range from people who have professed to have been knitting and sewing for 'a hundred years' but find they never get round to actually wearing any of their creations (hi Gill), to a signee who has yet to even make their first garment (!) (welcome and well done Flossie!) and every type of stitcher in between. If you intend to sign up, you have until midnight 30th April!

Don't worry, I hadn't forgotten to make my own MMMay'13 pledge! My, that would be embarrassing wouldn't it, if the creator/hostess of the challenge forgot to take part!? I delayed making this year's pledge because I was taking a slice of my own advice and having a good think about how to create a do-able but challenging pledge for myself this year. Here's what I've come up with...

 'I, Zoe of 'So, Zo...' blog sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '13. I endeavour to wear all me-made clothing with the exception of bras, socks, hosiery and knitwear each day for the duration of May 2013. I will also allow myself to occasionally wear second-hand jeggings but no more than 3 times a week.'

As you probably know, repeat participants of these challenges are encouraged to amp-up/alter their pledges each year to prevent their challenges from becoming easy and not a useful experience. It may seem to you that my pledge this year will result in less of a personal challenge than the pledges I've made in previous years, but believe me it'll be plenty-challenging!

In the past, I have really pushed myself to make increasingly difficult challenge pledges, like when I really restricted the use of shop-bought knitwear (I don't knit plus always feel cold, so coming up with solutions for that was most definitely a challenge!) or like last year when I gave myself the organisational headache of getting one friend or family member to also wear something I'd made for them each day.

At other times, life has thrown up things that have naturally made the challenges harder without me needing to come up with ways to do it for myself! Self-Stitched-September'10 was one such year. I'd just moved back to the UK having had to make a major wardrobe cull before dragging our belongings from Barcelona, through France, to the UK via trains, coaches and more trains. This year is firmly in the 'life making things challenging' category. Due to growing a human inside me, I'm finding that recently less and less of my wardrobe is now wearable. As garments have become too tight or short I've been putting them away in a cupboard and what is left on my clothing rail is increasingly looking like the type of vastly limited selection I was left with in September 2010! I've been making some mild-maternity friendly garments (some of which I have yet to blog) but I'm just not sure how long they will be wearable, hopefully until the end of May at least!

Anyways, if you have signed up for this year's challenge, I'm sending you a massive welcome, it's fabulous to have you on board. I'd love to head over and visit every single one of your blogs and leave a personal comment if you have one (which is of course no requirement for taking part in this challenge) but with nearly 200, there simply isn't time to do that plus eat, sleep and sew!

Me-Made-May'13! SIGN UP HERE

Yes indeed my friends, here it is! 2013's official Me-Made/Self-Stitched challenge that celebrates the hard work and man(or lady-)hours that so many of us put into crafting unique, beautiful and special handmade clothing and accessories.


Yeah, but what exactly is MMM'13?

Me-Made-May '13 (MMM'13 for short) is a challenge designed to encourage people who sew/knit/crochet/refashion/upcycle/insert-other-creative-discipline-here garments for themselves to actually wear and love them. The me-made and self-stitched challenges have been taking place for over three years now and they work on both a personal and community level.

The participants decide the specifics of their own challenge pledge, so that the month is appropriate and challenging for them (more on this below). A very common pledge is for a participant to aim to wear one self-stitched or refashioned garment each day for the duration of May 2013. The participants can also choose to document their challenge with daily photos (though this is in no way compulsory for taking part) and share them with other participants, through either their blog if they have one (having your own blog is by no means necessary to particpate), or the MMM'13 Flickr group which has been created for this purpose.


I haven't taken part in any of these before, why should I take part?

Ohh, there are squillions of reasons why you might choose take part! They may include:

• Many participants find the results of their sewing/crochetting/knitting/upcycling/refashioning often get left in their wardrobe rather than worn as part of their everyday wardrobes. Some people would like to start integrating those self-stitched items into their daily life but feel they need a bit of a nudge to do so. 
• Some challenge participants want to discover the 'holes' in their wardrobe so in the future they are able to focus their precious garment-creating time towards making things that will be more useful. 
• Others feel what they tend to wear, day-to-day, doesn't really suit them or represent who they are, and want to spend a month focussing on getting out of their rut. 
• Some participants enjoy the push they find these challenges give them to finish off lingering unfinished projects to add some more self-stitched weapons to their garment-arsenal. 
• Others (myself included) may find they need a reason to integrate their newer self-stitched items into regular rotation, or even want to see if they can get by all month entirely without shop-bought garments (often with undies or outerwear as notable exceptions, but not always!). 
• There is also guaranteed to be a lovely online community of fellow participants to give support, advice and inspiration.

I've done these in the past, why should I take part this year?

Did you enjoy it last time/the previous times you took part?

• If the answer is 'Yes': Then you'll have lots of fun again this year, whilst challenging yourself in a different way and learning something new about yourself and your style/skills/preferences/wardrobe. You just need to think about how you can alter and/or amp up your pledge specifics to get the most out of this year's challenge.
• If the answer is 'No': Well if that's a 'no' because the challenge you set yourself was too hard, then that is easily rectified this time round; set your pledge so that it is tricky but do-able. If it's a 'no' because you didn't enjoy the pressure you felt to take photos each day, then simply don't worry about the photos part. You'll learn lots of lessons and get satisfaction from taking part in the challenge and completing your pledge, not from the documentation of it (although some participants have found that seeing the daily images of themselves has really helped them figure out what suits them and what doesn't work so well). If you'd like to do a little bit of documenting, then why not just photograph your favourite outfit/garment you wore at the end of the week, or some other version that doesn't make you feel under pressure. If it's a 'no' for any other reason, I can probably objection-handle all day...! But seriously, if you didn't like taking part in it and don't want to try again, fair enough! 

Ok, you've convinced me, how do I sign up?

All you have to do is copy the pledge below and post it in the comments section of this post adapted to include your details and the personal specification of your challenge before 1st May:

 'I, (insert name here and blog address if you have one), sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '13. I endeavour to wear......................................................... each day for the duration of May 2013'

Points to consider when creating your pledge:

• This is YOUR challenge, write the script any way you want, just remember: IT IS A CHALLENGE and not meant to be easy or what you do usually. In the past I have received the odd comment saying 'Oh, I already do this so I may as well sign up', however those people had clearly missed the point which is to challenge yourself, and therefore they would be unlikely to learn very much or feel much satisfaction or pride at the end of the month. 
• THIS IS NOT A COMPETITION. It is a personal attempt to achieve a better relationship with your handmade creations, which you may or may not choose to share with the creative online community. What I mean is, don't set a pledge that you've seen other people make that sounds good but in reality is unobtainable for you and your lifestyle. For example, if you have to wear a uniform for work each day, you may prefer to pledge to wear self-stitched items at the weekends or days off only. 
• There's no rush to sign up immediately, as long as you do so before 1st May. Have a think for a while about your current relationship with your creations, then think how you might want to improve that relationship.
• If you have taken part before, or already wear a fair amount of self-made clothing and/or accessories, think how you can up the ante from the standard 'one self-stitched garment a day' pledge. How about wearing two or more self-made garments each day? Or pledge to try making a new type of garment by the end of the month to wear on the final day? Or pledge to finish all your UFO's by 31st May? Pledge to focus on wearing your 'meh' garments to see if you can fall back in love with some of them? Pledge to only wear separates to force yourself to get creative with your mix-and-matching? Pledge to only wear each garment or garment-combo once? Pledge to wear an outfit including one sewn or knitted garment AND one refashion each day? There are near-infinite ways to amp things up for yourself. 

If you have a blog, why not re-post your pledge there so your readers and followers can see what you are up to and be inspired by your endeavour? Please include a link to this post so others can also sign-up if they are interested. If there's one thing I've learnt from these challenges, the more people involved, the better the party!


What do I do now then?

Nothing in particular except let an underlying sense of excitement brew!

If you wish to be a part of the MMM'13 Flickr group, head over there and request membership. I'll 'let you in' within a few days so you can begin posting your outfits/garments from 1st May. If you wish to start a discussion over there before 1st May, please feel free to do so!

If you would like to advertise your participation on your blog if you have one, why not treat yourself to the addition of the MMM'13 widget/gadget/button? The code can be found at the top of the right hand column of this blog's home page. The widget/gadget/button not only looks cute, but it shows other participants/potential-participants at a glance that you are taking part this year. Plus when clicked on, it will ping you to this sign-up post so others can read what this whole damn thing is about without you needing to go into too much of an explanation yourself. If you aren't sure how to apply/insert a widget/gadget/button code, check this post from last year with explanations for Blogspot/Blogger and Wordpress blogs.

This year I haven't created a Facebook page, because there didn't seem to be much actual interaction on the Me-Made-May'12 Facebook page. But if a decent amount of people leave a comment saying that they would like one this year too, I'll happily rig one up and announce it's existence before 1st May.

Other than those optional things, there's really nothing to do until 1st May 2013! Although you may decide to finish up that UFO, maybe a skirt waiting to be hemmed or the blouse that needs the buttons stitched on! But please people, NO PANIC-SEWING NECESSARY OR CONDONED!!


How do I participate and interact throughout the challenge?

That's totally up to you. As I mentioned above, you may choose to document your challenge with daily/weeky/as-often-as-you-like photos, which you could either then share with the readers of your blog if you have one, or on the aforementioned Flickr group (you have to sign up to Flickr to upload photos and comments to the group, which is free). If you choose not to sign up to the Flickr group, you will still be able to see all the photos added by other participants and read the discussions being had over there, however you will not be able to comment on the photos or add to the discussions. We need to do this I'm afraid as Flickr sadly has the odd troll that may make inappropriate comments, and we'd like to avoid that. But don't let that put you off joining up! The Flickr groups are always heaps of fun and such a lovely way to see lots of participants all in one go participating in different countries and climates. Plus it can be a fabulous way to discover new inspirational bloggers and blogs to follow, and generally make some new e-friends!

This sign-up post's comments has lots of blog addresses of participants if you'd like to find some new blogs to visit and bloggers to 'meet' that way.

A couple of extra notes about photos: If you want to take documentation photos but don't like being photographed yourself, there's always the options of re-creating that outfit on a tailor's dummy, hanging the garment/s up or laying them on the floor to photograph. If you have a blog and wish to share your outfit photos on it but don't have the time or desire to post daily, you could post more manageable summaries once or twice a week (which I prefer to do, BTW).

It would also be totally ace if Twitter users discussed the challenge using the #MMMay13 hashtag.


Anything else I should know?

HAVE FUN!!!! This challenge is meant to be explorative, illuminating and beneficial, but above that it's meant to be fun! Getting dressed can often be fun, and if you haven't felt any clothes-based fun for a while, why not see if this challenge can help inject some of that back? 'Hanging out' online with the other participants can be a big part of that fun by seeing what they are wearing (either by visiting their personal blogs or through the Flickr group or Twitter) and by sharing your own unique take on this challenge.

If you are concerned or confused about any aspect of this challenge, please email me at sozoblog (at) g mail (dot) com.

Otherwise, let the signing up commence!!!!!

Me-Made-May'13: It's Coming....

That's right friends, Me-Made-May'13 is so nearly upon us!!!! The handmade clothing challenge that began back in 2010 is BACK for another year of awesomeness, inspiration and fun.

I will be posting this year's pledge along with full details and explanation about participating next week, so head back here if you are even vaguely interesting in taking part in MMMay'13 (and why wouldn't you?! You're not crazy, at least I don't think you are...).

Refashion Friday: The Refashioners Return...

With much excitement, today I can announce that Portia (AKA Miss P) is hosting and organising another round of 'The Refashioners'. As she discussed in the recent interview she undertook on this here little blog, Portia explains that the aim of The Refashioners challenge is to encourage sewers to use  existing garments as the basis of some of their projects, and to look at refashioning in a new light. 

Kicking off on her blog on 3rd June, over two weeks we'll be seeing the results of the selected sewing bloggers Miss P has charged with injecting wearability into unloved garments. 'So who are these sewing bloggers Miss P has gathered for the 2013 round of The Refashioners?', you may ask... 

Karen - Did You Make That 
Dixie - Dixie DIY 
Portia - Miss P 
Marie - A Stitching Odyssey 
Joanne - Stitch and Witter 
Lauren - Lladybird
Tasha - By Gum By Golly
Elisalex - Stitch me Softly and By Hand - London
Sally - Charity Shop Chic
Liz - Cotton & Curls 
Zoe (AKA me) - 'So, Zo...' 

I think Portia has done an awesome job in approaching sewers that create a real variety of personal styles and sewing approaches. I'm positive that the results will be as equally varied, with those two weeks providing a healthy dollop of inspiration whatever floats your own stylistic boat.

Shortly we will all be sent our raw materials to get making. I feel a little intimidated about creating something fabulous but wearable whilst in such talented company! Especially because I feel a bit out of practice having not worked for TRAIDremade for six months now. I can only flex the refashioning muscles my mumma gave me I guess!

Me-Made-March: Nippon!

If you've been having trouble firing up your sewing mojo so far this year, maybe looking at heaps of images of amazing wearable handmade creations will help! Usually does for me... Therefore I'd suggest having a look at Me-Made-March: Nippon, a Japanese-speaking version of the infamous and much loved 'Me-Made/Self-Stitched' challenges.

(image source: Miho)

I am, hopefully understandably, pretty protective over the 'Me-Made/Self-Stitched' challenges. I'm particularly cautious about the things that people have tried to apply the 'Me-Made' or 'Self-Stitched' titles to, which would potentially dilute or create unwelcome associations with the challenges that many members of the online sewing community have come to really enjoy and look forward to. Oh, did I ever tell you about the time one of the 'Big Four' tried to entirely take over and absorb the Me-Made challenges?! No? I'll save that story til I'm a few cocktails deep...

(image source: Mur Mur)

Anyway, I digress. A couple of months ago, the insanely talented and very sweet Miho emailed me to ask if I would be happy for her to organise a Japanese-sewing bloggers Me-Made-March challenge using the 'Me-Made' name. I was all like 'HELL. YES', as long as you send me the link so I can be glued to the images of amazingly creative and wearable outfits as they roll in all month long. Miho is also friends with one of the most awesome of sewing bloggers Yoshimi who has taken part in the general Me-Made/Self-Stitched challenges bringing her ridiculously well made garments to the attention of envious sewers globally! So follow the Me-Made-March: Nippon challenge along the right hand side of Miho's blog, and click on the images to be taken through to the blog/site/flickr page of the individual garment creator. Happy garment-oggling!

I'm in The Jar!

If you ever read sewing blogs (umm, and my guess is that you do!) you'll probably have seen the above little widget/gadget/logo popping up all over the damn place. It's the badge of honour for those of us who, at least metaphorically, now reside in The Jar! The truly awesome Karen of 'Did you make that?' blog had an ingenious idea which she launched on 1st January to help makers-of-clothing to define and stick to their garment-making ambitions for 2013. 

A whopping 187 sewers, knitters, crocheters and refashioners shared their creative aims for the new year with Karen, and bless her she diligently wrote every single one of those names on pieces of paper and put us all in The Jar. 

(image source: Karen!)

In a further, fascinating blog post on the subject complete with statistics and graphs, Karen shared what the most popular pledges/aims were. My own pledge, 12 wearable self-made garments in 12 months, was one of the clear favourites, comprising of just over a fifth of pledges. 

I found it really interesting that, with so many individuals taking part, that there were so many of us choosing the same pledges/aims. The other popular pledges, like conquering fit, making a successful pair of trousers or a coat, it shows how so many of us get stuck with certain projects and the sense of not being alone will hopefully create the push needed to achieve our creative desires. 

As for me and my pledge, I honestly don't think that creating 12 garments in 12 months will be too challenging. What is important in this pledge for me is that they must be wearable. And by wearable, I mean they have to be successful enough in comfort, fit and in reflecting my sense of style, that they become regularly worn items, not just items that get dragged out for Me-Made-May each year (yes I confess that there are some!). 

So, the massive Me-Made clear out I recently had (part 1 and part 2) has cleared lots of space for new, wearable items. I'm not going to map out a year-long sewing plan, as I like to be freer with my sewing decisions, but I do know for sure that there won't be any skirts made this year. Having said that... You see?! I can't be held down.

If you are also in The Jar, I wish you a happy year of meeting your creative aims and fulfilling your wardrobe desires. 

MMMay'12: Days 5, 6, 7 & 8

As fun as my most recent post documenting all the other people wearing Zo-made things was, it's time to catch up with my own challenge documentation. Afterall, you need to keep an eye on me, make sure I'm staying on the straight and narrow.

Day 5 me-mades:

Sateen Ceylon dress

Vest (camisole)

Pants (knickers)

I'm also wearing the second second hand item of knitwear this week (as allowed in my pledge!). I've never worn this red cardi with this dress before and I really like the way it frames the dress's neckline. Also, I've always considered this dress quite a 'dressy' dress, so it was quite a revelation to me that I could successfully dress it down and feel really comfortable in it all day.

Day 6 me-mades:

Leopard Rockabilly dress

Reversible Bolero shrug

Vest (camisole)

Pants (knickers)

Following on from Day 5's dress revelation, on Day 6 I decided to see if I could recatagorise any of my other garments. The leopard dress also performed well during a day wandering around the city with three other MMMay'12 participants, Rehanon, Len and Pat.

Day 7 me-mades:

Denim Sailor trouser (Burda pattern)

Black long sleeved jersey top (self-drafted)

Reversible Bolero shrug

Vest (camisole)

Pants (knickers)

 It was good for me to see that this Bolero shrug could be used in both dressier and more casual outfits. It's quite a recent creation and I have yet to properly bond with it. As with many of my new creations, it'll probably take this me-made/self-stitched challenge to experiment with putting this new garment into outfits and to get used to relying on it.  

Day 8 me-mades:

Black jersey top (different from Day 7's)

Vintage fabric skirt

Vest (camisole)

Pants (knickers)

Also using the first of my weekly second hand knitwear allowances

Sad time, this skirt got a big rip in it on Day 8 when I bent over. Turns out, the 60-ish year old fabric has probably rotten a bit. I'm concerned that repairing the rip will be a fruitless task if the fabric has already weakened so much. I worry that it'll just rip some more the next time I bend over. I'm pretty gutted right now, I love this skirt so much. I need to think about my next course of action....

MMMay'12: Days 1, 2, 3 & 4

I am incredibly excited to announce that this year's me-made/self-stitched challenge is the biggest one to date! More people have signed up to challenge themselves, more people have joined the flickr group and more people have got involved with the facebook group than any of the previous challenges I've organised. I interpret this to mean that not only have many past participants found it beneficial and enjoyable enough to decide to take part again, but their experiences have also encouraged new participants to give it a whirl for themselves.

So time to begin the documentation of my personal challenge:

Day 1 me-mades:

Denim sailor trousers (Burda pattern)

Stripey long sleeved T-shirt

Remade sweatshirt (as yet unblogged)

Vest (camisole)

Pants (knickers)

All week this has been my outerwear/bag combo, my Winter coat (seriously, it's May, you'd think I'd be able to ditch the Winter clothing!) and a vintage fabric shoulder bag.

Day 2 me-mades:

Stripey and black dress

Vest (camisole)

Pants (knickers)

I also used one of my two weekly 'secondhand knitwear' vouchers!

Due to annoying laptop/memory card issues, my proper documentation picture was deleted so I'm afraid you'll have to make do with this reenactment

Day 3 me-mades:

School boy trousers

Refashioned sweatshirt

Vest (camisole)

Pants (knickers)

I was feeling really rough with a busted back so a highly comfy outfit was called for.

Day 4 me-mades:

Navy sateen skirt

Remade lace yoke sweatshirt

Vest (camisole)

Pants (knickers)

I'm also wearing some amazing wrist-warmer gloves made for me by my awesome friend Michelle. This outfit reminded me why, aside from the support and  interaction the participants provide, quite why these challenges are so good: I am forced to come up with new ways to wear my garments. I have LOVED wearing this outfit today. I would never have come up with it was I not deliberately trying to find new clothing combos, and yet I know that I'll rock this look many times in the future, even during non-challenge months. 

MMMay'12 Flickr group and Facebook page are here!!!!

Peops! Apols for the delay, but better tardy than never. The opportunity to sign up to the MMMay'12 Flickr group and MMMay'12 Facebook page has arrived! These are two entirely optional methods for documenting your personal version of the MMMay'12 challenge and interacting with other participants.

Let me explain a little further. If you have signed up to the MMMay'12 challenge (and if you haven't but plan to, make sure you do so before the witching hour of 30th April!) you may wish to take photos of your outfits/garments/creations each day to document all your hard work. It may be that you prefer to take photos of your favourite outfits only, or something less time-consuming than the daily pics that have often been assumed you 'must' take if you want to take part ('pah' and 'phooey', you can take as many or as few photos as you wish, and taking none at all is totally cool, it's YOUR challenge). But if you have chosen to take photos, of whatever frequency, it is very likely that you will want to share those photos with others

Participants with blogs often choose to share those photos on there. If you would like further interaction with other participants, whether you have your own personal blog or not, the flickr group or Facebook page are the places for you!

The flickr group will allow you to upload your photos (max. 2 per day of the challenge) into the Group Pool. You can also comment on each others photos and receive comments on your own. there is also a Discussion function which can be used for all manner of questions, observations and debates that are related to the challenge (however losely!). I have always found the flickr group of each me-made/self-stitched challenge to be a real community of support and fun.

Also worth noting about the flickr group: it is a public group but invitation only. That means that anyone can view the photos and read the comments and discussions, but only those who have admitted to the group can add these images, write those comments or start or contribute to those discussions. You will need to request membership and I will confirm it within 3 days. The purpose of the flickr group is to share images of garments and creations worn during the May challenge only, so for obvious reasons, no images are to be added to the pool before 1st May.

The Facebook page option may appeal to you if you don't have a flickr account and don't wish to get one. It may also be a faster alternative if you are pretty strapped for time. You are welcome to post photos or add links to your blog posts. It can be a fun way to discover new blogs too. There is no need to 'sign up' to anything to be contribute to the Facebook page.

If you have any questions that haven't been covered above, please email at sozoblog (at) g mail (dot) com.