Me Made May is coming! For last two years I’ve lurked on social media as sewists and makers challenge themselves to prioritize wearing their handmade garments. This year I’m joining in! If you haven’t heard about Me Made May, it’s a community challenge started by Zoe Edwards and you can read all about it here. Many sewists post their handmade outfits daily, but it’s not a photo challenge. It’s an opportunity to be more intentional about getting dressed and incorporating handmade items in daily use. Zoe asks that participants claim and share their goals beforehand, so I thought about the things that stop me from wearing my handmade garments.

The sad truth is that as a stay-at-home mom, it’s easy to stay in loungey clothes and just throw my hair in a messy bun. I often feel that my day isn’t special enough for dressing up, but that’s pretty silly. I bet I’d feel differently about my day if I wore the nicer items that make me happier, even if it means putting in a little extra effort.

My other hurdle is that I don’t have a lot of options. Currently I have 11 handmade garments that are wearable (hopefully a couple more by the end of this month). To remedy that, my other goal is to finish up some projects that I’ve abandoned. So instead of cutting a bunch of new pieces, I’ll be spending some time on my lingering projects. I have three sundresses from last summer cut out and ready to sew and two finished dresses that need refashioning. I’m not sure how far I’ll get but I’m excited to make some progress!

So here’s my pledge:

I, Brianna, pledge to wear as much me-made as I can for the month of May and to finish or refashion at least two lingering projects.

I’m so excited to be joining me Made May this year. I likely won’t be posting photos everyday, but I hope to do some kind of documentation at least some of the time. I’m so excited to see everyone else’s makes and to read about everyone’s handmade journeys!