Me Made May 2025

Time for the annual wardrobe challenge

In 2010, blogger Zoe of So Zoe What Do You Know created Me Made May. (Zoe also is the voice behind the Check Your Threads podcast.) If it’s new to you, here is Zoe’s description of the challenge:

MMM is a wardrobe challenge that helps you improve your relationship with your handmade items. It can also teach you what to make (and not make) in the future! To participate you need to wear your handmade items more often or in some way differently to how you usually get dressed. 

Zoe

In the past, I have half-heartedly participated, mostly vowing to wear me-made two or three times a week and chronicle on Instagram, then promptly falling off the wagon. This year, I’m taking it a bit more seriously and am using this time to really think about my sewing practice.

Contemplate why I’m wearing what I wear. Is it because:

• I love the piece and it works with my wardrobe
• There is some sort of obligation (I made this, I should actually wear it)
• There’s nothing else I want to wear and this is acceptable.

Tactics:

• Flip hangers – start the month with all hangers flipped backwards and flip ’em around when things are worn (this doesn’t account for things on shelves or out-of-season clothes)
• Journal what I have worn every day. Maybe for Instagram, maybe for me.
• Steal an idea from one of my friends. She keeps a list of her garments and records when things are worn. This means she can quickly see what worked in her wardrobe, and what does not. It also means she can ‘release’ well-worn things into the universe without guilt. I’m going to try that.

Other questions I will ponder:

• Why do I wear what I wear? Is it the colour, the print, the shape, the fabric? If the fabric, what do I like about it?
• Why do I sew so many prints? My closet looks like print vomit …
• What shapes are worn/not worn?
• What could I get rid of and not miss?
• What do I need more of?
• What items are worn on repeat? (There are a few things that have absolutely been worn to death.)

How does this fit in with sewing?

I’ve talked about this before—more than once, actually. I go through cycles: I buy a lot of fabric, make big, exciting plans, and then pile on so many projects that it starts to feel like a to-do list instead of a creative outlet. Eventually, I burn out.

Fabric is just so tempting, isn’t it? We stroke it, swoon over it, bring it home full of possibilities … and then it lands on the cutting table and stalls. We wait to find the right pattern. We adjust the fit. We finally cut it out, and only then do we start sewing the thing. This isn’t like ready-to-wear, where you bring something home and—ta-da!—you can wear it minutes later. Sewing takes time. It takes effort. It’s a whole process.

And sometimes, once that gorgeous fabric is home, we realize we don’t actually want it on our body. It doesn’t suit us. It was love at first sight, not lasting compatibility. So it quietly joins the stash. Or in my case, I sew it into something that will never be worn, like another party dress.

I know I’m speaking from personal experience, but I have a feeling I’m not the only one who’s been through this.

Let’s not forget: sewing is supposed to be joyful. It’s a creative practice, not a productivity contest or a source of guilt.

So to sum it up, my goal for Me Made May 2025 is:

I’ll be back at in early June with my results. Or you can follow on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/janineerm

I would love to hear your thoughts. Do you participate in Me Made May? Do you sew for your dream life, or for the life you’re living?