It’s almost the middle of may and I am most surprised at my consistency in participating in me made may on instagram. I’ll save my reflections from me made May, 2021 for a different day but today I just want to say how interesting this journey has been so far. I love how sewing lets me dream about about clothes that represent me or my lifestyle and that the possibilities to make those dreams come true seem real and endless. I love how clothing can be both comforting and rebellious. I love that if I choose to listen keenly, I can sense my mood or how I feel and how I want to dress up that day! I think that’s wonderful. Sometimes it’s only our inhibitions that make us typecast ourselves into styles or clothes that we deem right for us. It’s nice though! and freeing to experiment with clothes and break those barriers and venture into styles that might not feel like us until we give them a chance. Isn’t it? or maybe I’m just rambling!

When I made these pants, I loved them so much and wanted to share a picture with a friend and in order to be able to show her the waistband, I knotted the blouse and immediately fell in love with this whole look. Shirt ties always felt too bold or too cool for me but these two together right now have my whole heart. And then there’s something else too! You know how they say “dress for the job you want” and that adage I thought only applied to professional lifestyle choices but now I find that to be true in my life as a stay-at-home mom too. When I dress the way I want to look like or feel like, I’ve noticed how I’m more me, calmer, more thoughtful, less naggy and definitely not a screaming-yelling mom. My 10 year old boy used the word “calm” as a mom-adjective and that I’m someone that calms him, in one of his mother’s day write ups for school and truly it felt like a trophy. This one adjective meant more to me than all the other “fun” “amazing” “best mom ever” adjectives put together. It’s one of the things I’ve aspired to be as a mom. To be loving, tender but also a calming influence so they can listen to their inner selves, and be their true selves.

If it sounds like I’m attributing way more importance to clothing as a way of depicting lifestyle choices, it’s probably because this world has opened up recently for me. I don’t feel held back or crippled by whatever notions I was harboring about myself in my head. Things that I’ve said out loud a lot this month were “I can dress however I feel like” and “this is who I am and this is how I look”. I’ll tell you another thing that followed from this realization was my ease in front of the camera. Taking pictures always felt like an ordeal, or like I was being vain, or I like I wasn’t good enough to warrant that kind of space or importance in front of a camera lens. I seldom knew what I was looking for when I looked at the pictures later or what my criterion was for choosing to share one picture over another on my blog or instagram. Now though, throughout the process of taking pictures, I feel a sense of clarity and calm. For one, I don’t feel the need to take as many pictures as I did and two, I don’t dislike any of the pictures that I do take. Isn’t that something? I went from finding something to not like about myself in very single picture to just looking at the pictures with a smile because they all look like me and reflect some part of me.

We tried to cut my hair after watching a few videos online and the result is nothing short of a disaster. Instead of layers, I now have two lengths of hair one five inches shorter than the other! But I am not at all upset about it. I am happy because I feel lighter and so this morning, I asked my husband to take some pictures of me. We took these at 8:00 in the morning.

In a world that is constantly shifting perspectives and relearning things while being bombarded with influences both good and bad, I think it’s nice to have one little constant, to know where you stand and how you want to learn and grow from there. I think it’s a good start.

I won this Nara pants and shorts pattern by coffee and thread patterns in a giveaway when the pattern was released and only now got around to making these pants. These wide leg pants are so beautifully drafted to have a flat front along with curved pockets and an elasticized back. There’s a tie belt included in the pattern but I like this pair without it. The pattern comes in sizes 0 – 24 and based on my hip size 36.5″, I made a size 4. I shortened the rise by 3/4″ and the length by 4.5″. I’m liking this wide leg and 7/8th length silhouette a lot. My blouse is the Wren Blouse by Chalk and Notch patterns, if you’ve been here before you already know how much I love her patterns but it’s possible that this might be my favorite Chalk and Notch pattern. I made one for my daughter in the same fabric. This Telio cotton voile (purchased from amazon) is just so pretty, I can’t get enough of this floral.

Thank you for stopping by and for following along my thoughts here! Feel free to leave me a comment with any questions you might have.

-love

Indu