It’s that time again! It’s Me Made May! Started by @sozoblog, the annual celebration of wearing of the things we made is upon us. And like all me-made-May when half my wardrobe are things I’ve sewn, this is pretty easy to do.
But yet I’ve been struggling to find my challenge for May. You too?
I flipped over to my Pinterest board that I had open an hour ago and before I refreshed the page, I screenshot what I was looking at. It reflects everything I want in my life right at the moment.
There are a few sewing patterns (and a few “below the fold” that I already have. It includes my favorite colors, aqua and blue. A bicycle, though I don’t need any additional ones, I DO need to ride and appreciate the ones I have, even though my main squeeze is from 1997 and isn’t baby blue or a cruiser. Handmade earrings which I can do myself. A coat sewing pattern, a must in my 2026 winter sewing plans (later this year), and a sustainability pledge.
So my Me Made May from this inspiration is to spend May wearing my favorite me made outfits, in my favorite colors, including handmade jewelry, to ride my bike while wearing them, to try new sewing patterns that I already have but haven’t ever sewn.
In this Pinterest collage there are four sewing patterns – a top, coat, wrap cardi and a set of tee and pants, plus handmade earrings, a sustainability pledge, pic of a bicycle, and some good ideas (and a pic of a park for good measure.) It’s everything I want May to be. We’ve turned on the heat again, it’s running during the day a lot, and we have a hard freeze warning this weekend for multiple days of cold. Now we get cold all winter- the freeze warning is only if the growing season has already started and we need to cover things up.
I always try to sew / finish at least one project in May and this won’t be hard to do – I’m almost done with a knit set ME 2138, in black knit with lavender contrast trim. I’m counting that as my UFO – unfinished object – for May 2026. I need a quick win and I’m so close – just elastic and hems on the pants to be completed.
I also have cut out ME 2033, barrel leg “wave” pants and top in French Terry, and a coordinating 3/4 sleeve Breton Tee from HotPatterns.
The ME 2033 at left in a charcoal and berry French Terry, with a berry French Terry Breton T (shown at right sewn in striped fabric.)
But Me Made May is mainly about wearing your me-mades and several of the participants have started doing Sodoku capsules. I’m intrigued by this – it’s a 3 x 3 grid with top-bottom-layer (but mixed up) and the idea is when you are done laying out your 9, you simply (virtually) draw lines in tick-tack-toe shapes on the grid to get up to 27 outfits. I’m not quite sure how the math works, but I’m willing to lay out 9 me-mades and go for it.
I have a LOT of clothes, but the frustrating thing about post-meno is the weight gain around my midsection. It’s just….there and it won’t go away. So I am planning to sew my way out of this predicament, knowing I’ll feel better with better-fitting clothes in some of the same patterns I already love. I’ll wear what I have sewn that still fits, and put together a couple of capsules that will help me get through spring and into summer.
Like a lot of you, this year has been a struggle. Financially, emotionally, even physically. But I’m here to say that every day is a new day and I vow anew to try again at whatever it is. Sewing and wearing things I made, but most important, seeing what other people have made and are wearing is a joy for me.
Me Made May is a little LESS fun now that IG limits hashtags BUT I’m sure we’ll make the best of it. Go sew something!