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Me Made Maternity Prep 3: Lessons Learned from Last Year

As the day of actually Me Made May approaches, I have begun to reflect more on how I felt after Me Made May last year.  I think, overall, it was a great experience.  I loved showing off my handmade things that maybe I didn't wear as often.  It also pushed my sense of style and how I want to present myself.  Here are a few things that stuck with me that will most definitely impact how I prepped for Me Made May and how I'm going to post this year.

Instagram Selfies, Not for Me
Can you smell the awkward?  Believe it or not, this is NOT the most awkward photo I have from last year.

 I really don't like photos of myself.  I don't like what my face often does, I get annoyed with my body and I'm super self conscious.  I like DRAWING self portraits, but not so much PHOTOGRAPHIC self portraits.  Last year for Me Made May, I posted a photo almost every day of my outfits.  It drove me a bit crazy.  If I wanted the whole outfit in the photo, I needed help.  If I did a selfie, I either cut off the top or the bottom, or it just didn't look as professional as I wanted.  When I embarked on this challenge, I made a choice that I still want to document outfits, but not post them to Instagram.  I am going to do a weekly blog round up which will include photos, but not daily photos.

 Accessories!
Bill Nye is the best accessory.

 Initially, my thoughts about accessories last year were based around laziness.  Like "I don't have anything I feel like wearing, so let's just wear a hand made accessory!  Tehe aren't I clever!"  Weirdly enough, I don't think it turned out this way.  I was pretty good about wearing handmade stuff last year, and not so good about wearing accessories.  Honestly, I felt like there were some outfits I wore that actually could have benefited with a necklace.  Over the past year, I've bought a few materials to make some easy accessories that fit my style so I can stay Me Made and jazz up my outfits a little.  I already made a few patches that I really love, and I have beads and pin backs and all sorts of things to go a little crazy if I want to.  Also, making accessories is a fast and easy way to scratch that crafting itch.

Keeping it Casual
Look at how casual I can be.

 While the lovely woven clothes and skirts I made as I learned worked pretty well for work days, the weekends were often more challenging due to my lack of comfortable clothing.  Something I would do would be to wear homemade pajamas the whole day, but that makes going outside rather limiting.  Luckily, I’ve made enough tee shirts this year to allow myself some comfy time.  Plus, I now have a pair of shorts I made and jersey dresses.  I definitely made way more casual pieces, so I have a better chance at not blowing the weekends.

As I tell my students, something is only a mistake if you don't learn from it.  So, hopefully, I'll be able to apply lessons from last year towards this year.  Honestly, I already have been wearing Me Made clothing consistently this week just out of necessity.  Perks of being pregnant.  Besides the feeling just squished into my own body.
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