Me-Made May and Making Adjustments

In this episode, I talk about my goals for me-made May. My aim is to focus on making myself feel more comfortable in this time of anxiety and change, especially as things start to open up where I live. 

Transcript

[instrumental intro music, upbeat with trills and bells 

Music Credit: Ketsa, “Day Trips”]

Holly 00:36

Good morning! I hope that you’re well. I am wishing you a happy me made May! If you are just just joining in, it’s Saturday and it's the first day of May. I'm really excited. I have never done me made May before and I don't really think I'm going to do it this year either (laughter) but I am trying to start wearing more of my me-mades with the idea of not really documenting and putting it out there on social media or Instagram or anything, but mainly just wearing them to try and do fit adjustments so that I feel more comfortable. And that's something that I'm really going to embrace.

Holly 01:25

 I like the idea of doing something that is about adjustments and about tweaking things I already have and thinking a bit more about how I can be comfortable in the clothes that I wear and that I make. And, yeah, especially right now.

Holly 01:44

I'm in a really weird moment and I think a lot of us in the US are. If you're elsewhere, I know that experiences of the pandemic vary widely and of course my thoughts and hearts are with those of you who have loved ones in India right now and I feel… so hopeful. At the same time I am also starting to feel a bi hopefu; because where I live it seems like there's a bit of a tide turning. Where I live, things have been really bad for a really long time. But I am vaccinated and my kids’ schools are talking about the fall being in person, which is huge for me as a working single mom.  And I'm feeling a lot of anxiety because I'm trying to look ahead and make some plans that, you know, you have to when you're a single mom. And I'm also trying really hard to take the lessons of this year to heart, which is one day at a time and not to worry too much about the things that I can't control, which is of course part of my work this year in recovery. 

Holly 02:53

And in doing that, I'm kind of thinking about how and we are reemerging and thinking with my kids about how to get ready for the fall.  I'm finally going to get a haircut and I'm trying to embrace my gray hair and you know I just have time to kind of think about the next phase for me and that has a lot of anxiety for me because I feel like I've made a lot of gains this year in terms of my recovery and then also in terms of just in figuring out what it is that I like to wear. And some of that is (laughter) pandemic cocoon craziness but it’s good to try to figure out what I'm going to bring forward into the future and so for me that kind of starts with revisiting some old makes to see if they fit me well.

Holly 03:47

Right now, I'm wearing my Clyde overalls. It's me made May and my local fabric stores having a sale and I need fabric like I need, you know, an extra part time job. I could use the money but I don't have the time for that! But it is a sale and I do want to support them and they have really really, really nice stuff so I'm trying to figure out like, what am I going to buy. But mostly I really want to go because I think it's going to be the first time that I'll get to see a lot of makers in one space. I think there's going to be people showing up and I'm excited. I'm going to meet up with a sewing friend and we’re going to wait in  the line together and I'm really excited about that so I thought okay, it's made me Ma, so I should wear a handmade outfit. So I'm wearing right now my Clyde jumpsuit, which I love, but it's super weird.

Holly 04:38

It's in this very cool-- it's going to sound insane--but it's in this cool leopard print linen fabric. It’s natural colors. It's like brown and I think it's by Carolyn Friedman. I’m not sure if it's for a brand but I like it a lot and I like the Clyde jumpsuit. It's by Elizabeth Suzann made by me and I think those patterns are available now. I'll note that I made the earlier version and I’ll just say that the short jumpsuit pattern is really short. I am very short-waisted and also very short. So I thought that would be really great but I'm finding that I think that the jumpsuit runs a little too short. I think that's stylistic, like that's the style lines of the store bought ones, but I'm feeling like they're just like a bit too short on my calves. They end  like mid-calf and it might be that the linen shrunk. These are just as fresh out of the wash and maybe they will relax a bit. So I'm going to wear them today and see what's happening.

Holly 05:52

I’m wearing them with my Adrienne blouse out of a black cotton knit and it’s a lot. I like the volume of the sleeves (it has these huge puffy sleeves) but… it's an interesting outfit. It's not something I think I would have worn before this year and I certainly I would not have bought these things (laughter) but I made them and I like them and I really like them together so I'm going to wear this to go see my friend and get a little bit excited about me made May and maybe spend a little bit of money that I have left over from a holiday present for my parents on a gift card to get more fabric. (laughter).  I don't know maybe I'll resist but I am having a lot of fun right now sewing vintage patterns and I'm also having a lot of fun making patterns I’ve already made.

Holly 06:39

I think that’s because I'm trying really hard to not feel overwhelmed. I think that's theme of this episode. And that's hard to do right now. There's so much going on and it’s bringing up a lot for me. So I think that's my podcast. It’s a short one today. I’m just very excited and wanted to check in. 

Holly 06:56

Right now, for now at least, my plan is to wear some of my recent makes and some of my older makes that I have and see how I can tweak them into wearable clothes especially as I look forward to the fall term when I'll be likely teaching in person. 

Holly 07:21

I think I’ll end now. Thank you so much for being here. I really enjoy the community that we have built; I really feel seen and heard and that's been really important to me during the pandemic and if you're like me and you're feeling a little bit anxious about what's ahead and if you're somewhere in the world where you're very much still in the midst of fighting this pandemic, I am sending you good thoughts. I recognize that even in places where it seems like we've turned a corner, there are a lot of us who are still dealing with the effects of this pandemic or of course the other one that I talk it out, which is addiction and how it impacts all of us.

Holly 07:59

Wherever you are,  I hope that you're taking steps to protect yourself and take care of yourself and that you're finding ways to make your own experience at this moment a little bit more comfortable and a little bit more grounded. I hope that you can take what you learned in this year about the best aspects of yourself forward into the next phase. 

Holly 08:39

I’ll end just by reminding you that you know you should always take what you like and leave the rest. I'm just speaking here about my own experience of making and of recovery and I am just happy that you're here. I speak from my experience which is one from a perspective of Al-Anon in a 12-step program but I imagine there's lots of ways for us all to think about these things together. So thanks so much for being here.  I'll keep it short. I'm going to aim to be here a little bit more regularly. I haven’t been. You know,  work is hard; parenting is hard and it just feels like there's been a lot on my plate but it means a lot to me that there are people listening and so I want to keep this going at least through the summer. Thanks again! I hope that you have beautiful materials to work with. I hope that your me made May, if you're participating, is off to a good start. 

Holly 09:15

Take care of yourself and I'll talk to you soon! 

Bye!

Holly 09:20

Music Outro [instrumental upbeat music with trills and bells; Music credit Ketsa “Day Trips”]