So, Me Made May 2015 has come and gone. What did I learn? To respect the almighty #mmm15 hashtag and its inspiring bounty of outfits. That I have a uniform and it consists of a boxy T-shirt, long necklace, and jeans. That a mere year ago, I didn’t understand the importance of “finishing” the guts of a garment. Whoopsies.

It’s been a pretty revelatory month. My goal for the challenge was to wear one me-made garment five days per week. In reality, I wore one (and sometimes two!) me-made garments 24 out of 31 days. I’d say that’s a goal achieved!

Here are my top takeaways from this year’s Me Made May:

1. Taking a daily outfit pic is exhausting. For those of us who don’t revel in posting #OOTD snaps on Instagram, taking bathroom selfies or forcing a loved one to take yet another boring outfit photo gets old real quick. The founder of MMM makes it clear that the challenge isn’t about daily pictures, but it kiiiind of seems like par for the course.
2. I should make more bottoms. I wore me made bottoms five times throughout the challenge: a half-circle skirt three times and Hudson Pants twice. Looks like I’ll bump a skirt and pair of Maritime shorts up to the top of my queue.
3. I’m in love with my Mandy Boat Tees. Seriously, I don’t know how Tessuti made such a gem of a one-size-fits-all pattern. I’ve got two of ’em, and I’m not ashamed to admit to wearing each twice throughout the challenge. I suggest making several for yourself if you haven’t already. Kelli’s got the idea.
4. Building a handmade wardrobe takes time. Some sewing folks seemed to wear me-made from head-to-toe for most of the month. It’s inspiring and daunting at the same time! I’ve accepted that either 1). These folks have been sewing for awhile, and I too can get there someday, or 2). They have seven arms.
5. Take a look back to take a step forward. You don’t realize how far you’ve come with a skill until you look back at earlier work. I was planning on wearing a floral shirtdress I’d made last year until I spotted the armhole seams, which I’d left completely unfinished. The humanity! That day I didn’t have the time to go back and fix it, so I sadly left the dress in the closet. It’s hard to believe that I made that dress just one year ago. Since then, I’ve learned a lot about finishing seams. What’s the point of making a beautiful dress if the insides look all gnarly? I don’t have a serger, so I’ve used pinking (probably more often than I should have), zigzag stitches, flat-felled seams, and french seams to finish my woven garments. The Reader’s Digest Complete Guide to Sewing contains a bunch of pretty finishes, and I’m excited to try even more.

I’d say Me Made May was a success. It’s revealed holes in my wardrobe and lit a fire under my buns to get sewing again. I definitely won’t miss taking those daily pics, tho. I like to limit my selfie game to horribly unflattering Snaps, thank you very much.

Did you take part in MMM? How’d it go for you?