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Hello chums,

This is a long –ish (meandering) post on my thoughts on MMM16. I was late joining in only on the second day and I didn’t make any pledge. What prompted me was a desire to see if I had improved on my sense of style since last year.

I do really enjoy MeMadeMay as many sewing peeps participate and its so inspiring to see how other creatives interpret a pattern and style it. I didn’t buy as many patterns as I did last year (restraint) but there were a lot of things added to my wish list for further consideration. I have decided to continue posting my outfit pictures on IG when I can and feel like it. I will do it without the ruthless discipline of May though.

I posted my outfit every day on IG. Hubs was very understanding and we got into a short and sweet 2 minute routine where he’d just be like “pictures” and I’d stop, drop and pose before I left the bedroom. The bedroom wall turned out to be a perfect backdrop. I took the pictures in the morning – now I am one of those people who is both a lark and a night owl. I wake up at 5am and usually go to bed around 11:30pm. I’m an upbeat person when I wake up ~and I listen to loads of  music. I always feel very pumped and excited for what the day has to bring – hence the best time for pictures when I am very optimistic.

This May I was crazy for Lionel Ritchie’s Dancing on the Ceiling   first thing in the morning (I dare you to listen to this song and not feel happy 🙂 , other songs on my morning playlist were/are :

Justin Timberlake  Cant Stop the feeling,

Jennifer Lopez – Aint your Mama (a confusing song for the kids)

Pentatonix Daft Punk Medley

And our household anthem from our all time household fave movie…….

Everything Is AWESOME!!! — The LEGO® Movie — Tegan and Sara feat. The Lonely Island

 

Moving on….

Like most people I like to look my best. I’d like to look  my best all the time. There have been times when I have bumped into people and seriously wished I had taken just a couple of minutes to put thought in what I was wearing. Or when I have had to turn down an invitation because I didn’t feel I was dressed well enough. For the last year I decided to adopt a saying widely attributed to Oscar Wilde:

“You can never be overdressed or overeducated.”

and the rationale being that…

 

Here is the collage of my pictures from last year….

And from this year:

Comparing with last years pictures I had no repeats. This makes sense because my me mades have increased at a faster rate as more experience makes me more productive.  I definitely improved on looking more put together – I think its for the following reasons:

1. A smile is the best accessory.
2. Good quality thermal underwear gives me more options.
3. A skinny belt turns an outfit to something more.
4. I am comfortable in what I wear.

Changes from last year.

1 -There has been an improvement in the shoe area ,

That was a result of MMM2015 showing me in 80% of pictures wearing the one pair of shoes. I love flat shoes. I have definitely always prioritized comfort – but only recently learnt that it doesn’t have to mean I sacrifice style. But I was very annoyed at how complacent I had gotten with shoes. So I have steadily been curating some lovely comfy shoes via EBAY and online discount sales :-).  There is a lot of returning parcels but it worth it when I find comfy stylish shoes to wear.

2 -I am glad I decided to wear accessories as a loose goal.

I feel like its really made me look more together. I have only bought belts over the last year. I quite love them actually. I have earrings that I have had for years and years. I am slowly getting back to wearing them as the kids have grown a bit and have less of a tendency to yank them. I am not too eager to buy more as I really like the ones I have.

3 – Yoga has really improved my posture

I think I stand up taller and straighter. I look and feel better for it. Which translates into my pictures.

Random observations

Looking at comments from the sewing community it seems like the fit and flare silhouette is the most striking. Just as well I do really like my Holyburn skirts.

I wear a lot of blue but pink looks good on me as well. I will work to include more pinks in my makes.

I definitely need more loungewear pieces. I was scraping the barrel for Sunday outfits. I do tend to just repeat the yoga top and sweater but I’d like more (stylish) choices there. I have really long days and I’d like the option of changing into something else after the children’s bedtimes. Unless its Yoga class night I am wearing the same thing till bedtime. I have seen some Hudson pants and will be looking for more ideas there.

I need more jeans (I started this post before  making my Birkins). Of the 2 pairs of jeans I have one is ill fitting skinnies that drop down constantly. The other ones are my Uniqlo jeans, which I picked up for 50p at car boot sale 7 years ago are great and are a testament to the value of a good quality pair of jeans. You will have seen them in most of my pictures. I love their fit. All  my RTW clothes were bought from car boot sales (because I do not like shopping).

I had some Miss sixty jeans which I culled because they just did not look good on me. They were the most expensive garment I had bought (next to my wedding dress). AT £75 (10yrs ago) they represented a significant investment for me. But the rise was too low and they just made my tum look huge. But I hung on to them because they had cost me much money. When I looked at my outfits from last year I realised they had to go and they are gone. Speaking of culling

Things culled:

Purple V1440 fabric too stiff and I wasn’t patient enough to wait for loads of washes to soften it. I gave it away to someone smaller than me so it fits with ease on her and she really really loved it in a way I just didn’t because of the fabric.

Lekala dress – A friend really liked it so I gave them.

Parision top. I like it bur the shoulder is too narrow and I need to do a broad shoulder adjustment.

My jumpsuit went to someone who really really liked it and she begged me to sell it to her. I did not but I gave her because I can easily make myself another one.

Mabel min skirt. Poor fit

Holyburn denim skirt. Given to someone else who really liked it.

My first Burda Kasia skirt – too big.

V neck cap tee. the neck line was too sqwank. Binned.

V1440 legging given away to my sister.

TaTB Coco top Charity shop wasnt keen on the shape anymore

Named Dakota dress – just didn’t like it anymore.

As a rule I wont make clothes for other people because of all the time and effort that goes into it is not worth it. I just don’t think that a lot of people who buy exclusively RTW get just how much of myself I put into a garment I have made. However I was mildly surprised to find that I didn’t mind giving it away to someone who had seen it multiple times and tried it on. I guess its because I knew they knew what they were getting – I even pointed out all the things that were wrong with it. They seem to be loving the items so that is that.

Favourites

There are some outfit combos that I like and just rinse repeat

And these are my favourites from this year. While I love all my outfits these just made feel like I was Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Instagram’s favourite was this one….

My style is evolving and I am pleased with the direction its taking. I am comfortable in my office wear as well as my non office wear. And yet I feel like there is something I am missing. I would like to be more bold and individualistic but I guess that takes time.

Going forward I want to

1. work with different textures of fabric.

2. be more bold in my style choices.

If you have read this far thank you for joining in my stream of consciousness. Until next time Happy Sewing.

Peace and love,

Hila

XoX