It’s the 1st of May. Which, if you’re a fan of Jonathon Coulton will mean something else entirely [cough] but, if you’re a sewista, sewist, sewcialist, sewing blogger or whatevertheheckyouwanttocallthosewholovetosewthesedays, it means one thing and one thing only: Me Made May is upon us again.

Created by the wonderful Zoe at So, Zo .. What Do You Know? (where she promotes ‘sewing sustainably with style’), it’s an annual event which challenges us to wear all the amazing things we sew. Which, for those of us who find we create stuff for a lifestyle we don’t actually lead, is quite the eye-opener (lol/despair).

You pledge (yep, you pledge) to wear a self-made garment X times a week, plus any other sewing/refashioning actions you commit to. Last year I committed to wearing a self-sewn garment twice a week, and to make another during the course of the month.

It may seem hyperbolic to say that promising to wear self-sewn garments twice a week for a month in May 2013 had a lasting effect on me .. but it has.

Only recently, I was sent an offer from a leading fashion catalogue which had me awfully tempted; buy one item, get another one free. I found myself flicking through the catalogue, mentally making a shopping list when I stopped; yes, I could do with some new long-sleeved jersey tops to leaven my wardrobe. But did I really want these cheap tops, when I feel so inspired by the fantastic design ideas I’ve poured over in my Drape Drape books or in my back-cat of Burda’s? Yes, I have to sew them myself .. but isn’t that the most creative way to instil the element of individuality I seek in my appearance?

While I’ve never been a huge clothes shopper, Me Made May (along with http://fashionrevolution.org/) has made me even more conscious of what I DO buy, and what I wear.

So this year, I’ve taken the pledge again; this time to wear THREE self-made garments a week, and to create/refashion one more (above the project-a-month plan I committed to at the start of the year). Today I’m wearing knickers which I sewed with my own fair hands last year, and tonight I’m hoping to run up an amazing scarf with some of this.

Want to take part? Go on; you know you want to.

http://sozowhatdoyouknow.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/me-made-may14-sign-up-here.html