Well, I’m thrilled to say that I wore something handmade every day for the first week of May. Initially I had this grandiose scheme of sewing something new every week with each Me-Made-May recap, and then I came to my senses. What with deadlines galore, I had to aim significantly lower. Especially since I didn’t anticipate how much time taking and editing daily photos of myself (ugh) would require.
So here’s what I’m shooting for this month: small alterations to ready-to-wear garments I already own or fixing me-made garments that don’t fit right or have something “off” about them. I started this week by skinnifying one of my jeans that I rarely wear. They are, in fact, a little too snug for me. But these are designer jeans that I got on ridiculous sale a few years ago (like 70% off sale), so I chose to disregard the too-small size. I seem to do that a lot: become blinded by a good deal.
But skinny jeans are supposed to be snug, no? This took literally twenty minutes to accomplish and I didn’t even have to hack too much off the outer sides. Truth: I cut off a little too much, so the fabric is practically heaving to contain my mighty calves — the seams are near-bursting. Thank goodness for stretch denim, though this isn’t the stretchiest denim I’ve encountered.
It’s funny, because of my weird self-consciousness about my legs, I swore I would never wear skinny jeans when they first came out, but now I live in them because they pair so well with the loose, flowy tunic-style tops that I adore so much. My favorite pair has rips and tears all over from constant wear, including a big one on the right knee. I had no idea that my left shoe was unzipped at the back until I saw this photo.
Anyway, I love love love the jeans now and will be wearing them often. What a difference a few inches can make! However, I might have to up the ante with my workouts since I currently have to do awkward squats and contort myself into all sorts of unnatural positions to pull them on (if anyone knows calf-slimming moves, I’m all ears). In the eighties, when tight jeans were all the rage, I remember lying on the floor, desperately trying to pull on a pair with ankle zippers that surely cut off my circulation and could not have been good for me.
So here’s a visual recap of my week. Brace yourselves, because I know that the sheer variety and bright colors will blind you and send you into a tailspin (kidding). I’m a jeans + top girl through and through, and it was a week filled with navy and blue. We also had a crazy range of weather conditions from sweltering to torrential freezing rain this past week, which was a good challenge since I was happily surprised that I had clothes to accommodate different temps.
Day 2: Lace + Geometric Knit Tank
Day 4: Navy Plaid Dress (aka Sister-wife-on-the-compound Dress)
Day 5: Stripey Batwing Top (the gorgeous scarf was a handmade gift from my lovely friend Ute)
Day 6: Oversized Color-blocked Knit Tunic
Don’t worry so much about the colour scheme if you’re drawn to it because that’s what you love
Paired with the beautiful pieces you make it looks very classic, not boring.
Thank you, Kathryn! Your’e right, I should own my neutral palette!
It is absolutely what I love and at the end of the day, the documentation is for myself after all (I’m still in slight disbelief that I can wear at least one handmade clothing a day without repeating myself for a month).
Nice refashion! I also swore up and down that I would never wear skinny jeans and now I wear them for the same reason you do. I too have a list of garments that need fixes – buttons moved, clasps replaced, dyeing, hemming – and may try to knock out a couple before I move onto a new project. And, I love your neutral palette!! It’s beautiful and calming.
Skinny jeans look great on you, Morgan, and I hope I can build up the courage to sew some for myself. The ones you’ve made are fabulous!
All you do is nice….congratulations!
Kss,
Laia
Thank you so much, Laia! After about the third day, it felt completely natural to reach for my handmade clothes, which is a great feeling!
Lovely scarf! ;-)))) Happy to see it in action, it looks great together with the top! Those “new” jeans are wonderful, and it is a really good idea to use the MMM for alterations and refashion. I am spring cleaning right now and found some clothes that could use some alterations as well…. I am looking forward to your next recap!
I love the scarf you made!! It’s so beautiful, Ute. I have a pile of handmade clothes that have been sitting around needing some love, so I pounced on the idea to get those into rotation.
I love your take on Me-Made week! It makes a lot of sense to me – not simply creating to add more stuff to your closet but taking what you already have and making it more wear-able. Putting your own “me-made” touch on already owned items. This fits very well with some recent blog posts on simplifying and not collecting “stuff”.
And those newly-skinnified jean! Love them! I’ve done the same to some thrifted jeans a few times, but never as efficiently as a 20 minute job – you are good, girl! And loved the week end pictorial round up – that stripey batwing top has me envious:)
Thanks, Lucinda! Yes, as always, I’ve managed to overestimate my ability to get things done so I’m scrambling behind the scenes and cutting down on all the things I want to do (making lots of clothes for myself being one of them)…one day, I will learn.