It’s been over a decade since I made my first pledge for Me Made May, a sewing community wardrobe challenge created by Zoe, which encourages makers to embrace and thoughtfully wear their handmade items for the month of May. So in light of this point of annual review, here are a few musings on where I’m currently at with my handmade clothes and the direction I’m heading towards with my personal style, followed by a week of Me Made May outfits.
Me and Me Made May
The Me Made May pledge is entirely personal, and over the years, mine have varied from a tentative try and wear the handful of early handmade garments I owned in 2014, to an ambitious ‘endeavour to wear full me made outfits for the duration of May 2019, and aim to dress the way I want to feel throughout the month (i.e. confident, cool, bold, fun) rather than reaching for the same old safe choices.’
I might have relaxed my commitment since the full on days of head-to-toe handmade, but the spirit of that second half of my 2019 pledge lives on. For me, Me Made May is a point to review my whole wardrobe, not just the home sewn elements, to see how it works in synergy: working my handmade garments harder and slotting them into new outfit combinations. It’s an opportunity to identify the pieces that help me and those that hold me back from expressing my personal style.
The Three Word Method
My 2025 pledge aims to bring my handmade items strongly into play with my three ‘style’ words, as identified using
’s three word method. I read and followed the tasks of Allison’s book, Wear it Well, early last year and it’s taken me almost this long to settle on a combination of words that speak to me and my wardrobe. I’m still not sure I’ve got the balance right. But what I do know is that if an outfit feels off, it’s likely missing one of my words. And the best outfits? They lean the hardest into all three:Dark: Word one is for your regulars, the things that you reach for day in, day out. This was actually the hardest word to settle on. It almost feels a bit boring, too safe, but I feel at my most confident when wearing a dark palette, or having at least a strong dark base to my outfits.
Edgy: To define yourself as ‘edgy’ in any way feels pretty cringe, but stick with me here: this is meant to be an aspirational word. It represents the pieces you own that feel a bit more ‘out there’; the ones that you might have to push yourself to work into regular rotation. I’ve floated around other ideas here, but by my definition of ‘edgy’, I mean having an element to an outfit that’s a bit alternative or off kilter. ‘Quirky’ is on the tip of my tongue here, but the word alone gives me the absolute ick, and conjures visions of tacky plastic jewellery and people who say ‘OMG, I’m sooo random’.
Polished: The final word is the vibe check - how you want your overall look to feel. To be honest, I’m pretty anal about looking put together, right down to every last bit of jewellery and having perfectly painted nails. Plus I like a bit of tailoring/a good crisp suiting fabric, so ‘polished’ feels right here.
My 2025 Me Made May pledge
I, Shauni, pledge to wear at least one handmade item a day throughout May, styled in combinations that lean into my ‘three words’: dark, edgy and polished.
A week of outfits
Paradise Patterns Blomma Tank with cut out hack, Viki Sews Blair Skirt gathered hack. And an attempt to walk in these Doc sandals that I’ve had for 5 years (still shredding my feet).
Simone Rocha dupe (True Bias Nikko Top hack), Georgina’s Portfolio Ali Skirt in denim. And Natacha Ramsay-Levi x Ecco ballet trainers.
True Bias Nikko Top hack, and trying something different here by wearing 2 versions of the Viki Sews Blair Skirt - an asymmetric hacked version on top.
I felt a little slow off the mark with hitting my three style words. Any kind of style feels hard to achieve during a heatwave! I’m also left questioning whether all of my three words are based solely on the wearing of this oversized suit jacket (my Dad’s 90’s funeral jacket), which is not handmade, but makes every outfit better.
True Bias Nikko Top in mesh from Self Made, Georgina’s Portfolio Ali Skirt, 2nd hand leather waistcoat (also my Dad’s).
Reworked vintage shirt, True Bias Lander Pants in pleather.
Vintage shirt, M&S knit vest, Viki Sews Blair Skirt gathered hack. Also flashing some very fancy tabi socks I got from Tabio.
A very old Pretty Mercerie Sayan Blouse that I updated by using a metal ring where it ties (inspired by the Kitdo accessories I keep getting targeted ads for). In hindsight, the white socks with these shoes make me look like I’m off to play a game of 5-aside, though in my defence, the socks were a necessity as the blister from the shoes on day 1 still hadn’t heeled.
Look out for more outfit posts and questioning around whether I’m hitting the mark or have my three words way off, during the month.