If you do just about any amount of crafting and you are aware of the internet, you might have heard of Me-Made May, which was started a number of years back by a sewing blogger. If you haven’t heard about it yet, this year’s your chance to take part!
So what is MMM?
It’s a month that is dedicated to encouraging you to wear the items you’ve made – whether you sew, knit, crochet, quilt, or anything else – so that you love and treasure these items while also putting them to use. (As opposed to leaving them forever in a pristine pile for photography purposes, or out of fear that you’ll ruin the item somehow by wearing it.) You spent the time and effort making your clothes: you should wear them with pride! It’s not really about making new clothing, but rather about appreciating and celebrating the things you’ve made and are making, and the entire process. You’re free to make new clothing and accessories this month, and you’re also free to not – no pressure, whatever you choose to do! The most important thing is to have fun!
You decide your own commitment levels, so if you want to try to incorporate one item that you’ve sewn/knit/made into your outfit every week, that’s perfectly ok. And if you want to wear 100% handmade every day, all month long, that’s totally ok too!
Best of all, it’s open to any and everyone, of all ages and experience levels! See below for a couple of items from a selection of crafts to help you get started (or to give you some inspiration) for this month!
Don’t sew? Now’s a great time to start! I’ve compiled a list of a selection of our sewing instruction and inspiration materials for you right here. Below are a couple from that list:
The Dressmaker’s Handbook of Couture Sewing Techniques teaches you how to make the details of your handsewn garments look and feel like they were done by a pro.
Custom Couture – reinvent your wardrobe with what you’ve already got!
Boundless Style includes graded patterns for you to cut and sew, and shows you how to mix and match the different pattern pieces together to make something completely your own.
Not great with needles? Hooks? Here’s a list of items that might help you overcome that fear: the squishy yarn might just lure you over.
Colorful Crochet Lace makes you rethink what shape crochet can take (hint: it goes waaaayyy outside the doily!).
Vintage Knits is a collection put forth by Rowan yarns, by some of the big Rowan designers (think Kaffe Fassett and Kim Hargreaves). You’re sure to find something you love in this collection, which includes patterns for both men and women.
Lovely Knits for Little Girls – I really wish they graded these in my size!
Refined Knits by Jennifer Wood. If you haven’t seen Jennifer Wood’s patterns, check them out and never look back. Trust me. She works wonders with cables and lace in ways you probably haven’t ever even considered.
This is far from an exhaustive list of all the crafts you could be partaking in for MMM2017, and even farther from a comprehensive gathering of all that we carry in our catalogue, so run wild to your heart’s content through Bibliocommons to see what we’ve got!
Are you taking part in Me-Made May this year? Have you taken part in previous years?