Hello from London! We’ve headed out of Scotland and into London for a few days of whirlwind sightseeing that includes Sew Over It (live in person), a play, a visit to the Harry Potter Studio tour and the Christian Dior exhibit at the Victoria & Albert. It’s going to be a whirlwind forty-eight hours, one that I will tell all about once I get all the photos uploaded and ready! For today, enjoy another schedule post.

It’s almost May, which means it’s time for another round of Me Made May! I first participated last year by pledging to wear me made (or at the very least me-altered) garments at least twice a week, and then quickly realizing I didn’t have enough me made clothing to be able to do this without wearing the same things over and over again! I believe this was the catalyst to a summer of starting to make my own clothes.

For those who don’t know, Me Made May was started by Zoe Edwards. If you’d like to read more about the specifics, you can visit her blog here but the basic gist is that participants pledge to wear me made clothing in some way, shape or form. Your pledge can be whatever feels like a challenge to you. You can wear one item of me made clothing, or wear me made clothing from head to toe. It can be completely catered to your skill level and needs.

Of course for this year’s MMMay I want to wear me made as much as I possibly can. With the weather getting warmer that should be easy as pie as I have lots of dresses just waiting for their day in the sun. However, MMMay is supposed to be a challenge and it’s no longer a challenge for me to wear handmade clothing on an near daily basis. I decided that I needed to step a little out of my comfort zone of making and wearing dress after dress. Thus, I decided that my personal goal for the month was to learn to make my own jeans, which hopefully I will get to wear before the month is up!

I’ve wanted to make my own jeans for quite some time. I’ve even started the Mia Jeans pattern from Sew Over It (available in the City Break ebook, linked here), but due to some sewing machine frustrations and then being confused by some directions, the project has fallen by the wayside. I would love to get back to it and finish the project up, but I feel like I need a little bit more instruction in this area.

Enter this online class from Closet Case Patterns. I have wanted to get their Ginger Jeans patterns for a while now, and the class seemed like the perfect bonus to actually learning to make jeans. I am going to take my time with them and try to get them as perfect as I can, though I’m sure on the first go there will be some flaws here and here, especially when it comes to installing the zippers and the hardware.

Closet Case patterns also has a handy hardware kit, perfect for making the Ginger Jeans. As far as finding the perfect pattern, I’m still on the case for a good stretch denim. But I’m excited to get started: if I can make my own jeans, then I’m down to just store-bought cardigans!