May 1st was the kick off to Me Made May, a month to celebrate the items that we’ve lovingly sewn in our quest towards a handmade wardrobe. I began sewing about a year ago. I debuted my first sewn garment…a dress, shocking…last April. I didn’t participate in Me Made May last year as I was just starting in my sewing journey and I felt like I didn’t have enough to share.

And I still don’t have a large handmade wardrobe. I started off with a vengeance last spring and made quite a few garments in short succession but I ended up getting burnt out in the process. I put so much pressure on myself to start and end a project within 1 or 2 days. I think my own expectations ruined the experience of sewing a little.

I took a pretty big break over the fall and I let myself miss the act of creating clothing for myself. Once the desire to sew hit again, I pledged to approach it slowly and to only do it when I felt like it. Even if that mean a project took a week or more.

And this has worked out really well for me. I want my handmade wardrobe to be the largest part of my wardrobe…eventually. But I’m not in a rush. I’ve finally gotten to the point where I feel content with my wardrobe and with that contentedness comes patience.

I have a lot of favorite makes. Pretty much all of them are! And the ones at the top change depending on the season or my mood.

But one thing is clear: I have a thing for plaid.

To illustrate, here are three plaid dresses that I’ve worn this week. The temperature has been all over the place, with the 1st of May up in the 80s (F, 26C) and down to 55 (F, 13C) by Thursday. As a result, the style and materials for each dress vary quite a bit.

Dress 1: Peppermint X Elbe Textiles Wide-Strap Maxi Dress

This is my most recent make. I’ve had this black and white cotton gingham (from Joann’s Fabrics) since last summer and I was waiting for the right pattern to use it with.

This is one of my main struggles with a handmade wardrobe: I have a lot of indecisiveness around which patterns to use with which fabrics.

The only modification that I made was to shorten the length by 4 inches and to take 2 inches off the straps so that the neckline didn’t sit so low. In hindsight, I probably should have taken just 1 inch off the straps, but I’ll keep that in mind if I make it again, which is very likely.

It’s a beautifully finished garment and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn how to do French seams. I got tied up on the pockets and that was a little frustrating but that was entirely user error.

Dress 2: McCall’s M7969 House Dress

This was the 4th item that I ever made. I’ve even gone on to make 2 more because I really love this pattern. There’s a danger that my handmade wardrobe will consist only of this dress in various fabrics and lengths one of these days!

It’s a really comfortable dress and not a difficult make. I like to throw this one into the mix after I’ve made something challenging…sort of like a palette cleanser.

My absolute favorite part is the sleeve design! I just love how they drape. I’m planning to make a version with a modified neck at some point.

I made this one out of a lightweight brown and white cotton gingham from Stone Mountain & Daughter.

The first time that I made this, I did run into one issue…I had no idea what interfacing was! I did eventually figure it out but I point it out because there are so many things in sewing that I have to look up.

Please don’t ever feel intimidated if sewing your own handmade wardrobe is something that you’d like to try. There are so many great resources out there and the IG sewing community is amazing.

Dress 3: Merchant & Mills Ellis Dress

I had purchased the Merchant & Mills Hattie/Ellis pattern back in the summer. I attempted to make the Hattie dress during the summer, but decided to turn to into a tank top and skirt instead.

The jury’s still out as to whether this was a good idea or not as I haven’t worn the tank and skirt set much. But hopefully I’ll get a little more wear out of it this year. I might need to make a few adjustments so that I like it more and it can become a permanent part of my handmade wardrobe.

This is the Ellis part of the pattern. This was my first time making in-seam pockets and it was such a game changer! I can’t imagine a garment not having pockets now.

The only modification that I made was to omit the neck and bust darts. I typically exclude them if I’m working with plaid. And since I don’t have a large bust, I can usually get away with it.

I had grabbed this paid cotton flannel on a whim during a visit to my local Joann’s Fabric store. I was looking for something else, but they had their plaid flannels displayed in the center of the aisles since it was November.

Like I mentioned before, I really love plaid so I had to stop and I was instantly drawn to the color combination of this one.

I had no idea what it was going to be but I’m very happy with what I decided on!

I hope you enjoyed this little peek inside my handmade wardrobe.

If there’s a particular sewing post you’d like to see, I’d love to hear it and I can include it this month!

Until next time,