Now that the school holidays are just about over and we can finally sit back down at our sewing machines without a horde of fiddly fingered little people constantly poking and prodding at our bobbins and pins, etc, we suddenly realised that May is only three weeks away! Which means The Great British Sewing Bee returns to our screens! Hurrah! But not only that – it also means that we get to celebrate the sewing skills of everyone by taking part in the fantastic scheme that is Me Made May, which calls for an even bigger hurrah!
For those not in the know, Me Made May 16 is a fantastic celebration of sewing and self-made wardrobes which was set up by avid sewer and blogger So Zo to encourage people to not just make clothes, but actively wear them with pride and enjoy the sense of achievement that comes with it. Ever since she first came up with the concept in 2010, more and more sewers from around the world have signed up, whether they have been sewing for years or just a few months or weeks, to create a truly global community of like-minded crafters. And once again for 2016, we are joining in with hundreds of other people to take part and make our self-sewn (or knitted, crocheted, woven, etc) pledges.
Last year’s winner, Zoe, modelling her fabulous dress.
Last year we ran a competition to celebrate the creative month, where we asked anyone who had sewn some clothes for themselves (or a child, friend or relative) with our fabric to send us a photo of themselves wearing it, or even better come into the shop and show us in person. We love to see what you all make with our fabrics, so this gives us an even bigger excuse than normal to be nosy! The winner then received a voucher to spend in the shop, and in 2015 it was Zoe with her fabulous Tilly and the Buttons dress made from our gorgeously grown up pretty Gutermann collection.
A selection of my MMM wardrobe from last year.
We also charted our own Me Made May wears throughout the month so we could look back at the end of the process and see just how many items of our self-made wardrobe we could actually put on, and not just in May, but the rest of the time too. Which is kind of the point for MMM for us – it reminds us that we do have quite a few sewing skills to hand and we do actually own quite a few hand made garments, which we could be wearing much more often. It also gives us the requisite kick up the bum to actually get on with several projects that we’ve been contemplating for a while – I for one have been meaning to make a second pair of culottes for about three years now, so if I haven’t even started some by the end of May 2016, you are all allowed to come into the shop and pester me about it until I have finished them, whether I like it or not. Zoe is keen to state that MMM is not about forcing yourself to churn out as many items of clothing as physically possible throughout the month, but if you need a little incentive to get going, it is the perfect excuse.
Clair’s MMM makes and wears.
So what do you do now? Well, decide what you want to pledge, ie. what you’re going to wear and when, then head over to the official site, and sign up, along with all the other sewers, knitters, crocheters, upcyclers and stitchers. And if you have your own blog or Instagram page, you can share your makes/wears with the tag #MMM16 and grab the official badge to put on your site from So Zo too. Clair is pledging to wear a self made item every day of the month, and I will be wearing something homemade every day I’m in the shop and at least two other days of the week too, so you can keep an eye on how we’re doing throughout MMM. Once you’ve made your pledge, let us know your plans and what last minute sewing you’re planning on doing throughout April and May – and don’t forget to enter the competition!
Emporia Fabric & Craft 