Me Made May: Origins, Pledge Inspo and a Peppermint Challenge
- Words by Peppermint
It’s May stitchy friends! And you know what that means… Me Made May! What is Me Made May you ask? In its essence, it’s a personal sewing challenge, encouraging makers and home-sewists to get creative by styling and wearing their handmade garments while exploring their relationship with their handmade wardrobe.
Born out of a desire to see just how far her handmade wardrobe would stretch, in 2010 Me Made May creator Zoe Edwards set herself a challenge: a pledge to only wear me-mades for the month of May (aside from basics, socks and underwear). She put a call out on her blog So, Zo… to see if anyone else might be interested in taking part. As it turns out, a handful of sewists were very interested and now, over 10 years later, Me Made May is a hotly anticipated sewing event, attracting thousands of makers from around the world!
So how does it work?
Participants decide on their own particular flavour of challenge and pledge to live it out for the month of May. While it’s not a photography or social media challenge at heart, each consecutive year has seen participants gathering on Instagram in greater numbers to share and document their me-mades.
Should you go down the Me Made May rabbit hole (and we recommend you do!), hashtags like #MeMadeMay #MMMay21 and #MeMadeMay2021 reveal a world of handmade wardrobes, styling inspiration, new sewists to connect with and pattern labels to discover.
What should I pledge?
If you’d like to join in the festivities, there’s no requirement to share a formal pledge and definitely no need to panic-sew a whole new wardrobe – it’s your Me Made May after all, so you do you.
A personal pledge could look like:
- Wearing at least one me-made item every day or every week
- Wearing a full me-made outfit once a week or only on the weekends
- Taking the month to re-evaluate your handmade wardrobe
- Re-working old pieces or styling them in new ways
- Documenting some or all of your me-mades on social media
- Sharing none of your me-mades on social media
- Wearing every item you’ve made at least once during the month
Still need some ideas? We invite you to take inspiration from the global sewing community; from first-time participants to seasoned Me Made Mayers, these sewists have made Me Made May work for them.
https://www.instagram.com/p/COVR_4eMWr2/
“Almost a year ago, I bought a secondhand sewing machine and decided to say no to fast fashion. When I was lurking in this community, I was in awe of everyone taking part in last year’s #memademay. I’m so excited (and also kinda proud of myself) to be involved this year, to show off my makes, get creative and hopefully inspire some fellow sewists.” – @storyofstitches
“I love this month and seeing so many other makers in their creations is one of the main reasons I was inspired to share my own! This May I’ll be trying to wear at least one me-made a day to continue appreciating my existing pieces and use the occasions to try and document more of them.” – @nitahug.makes
“This year I will be going through my older makes to figure out what needs to be re-homed. I look forward to discovering new sewing accounts, meeting like minded people and perhaps even finding some new pattern labels I need to try out.” – @sleepless_in_bavaria
“In addition to wearing something me-made everyday, I want to focus on finding joy in my body, my clothing, and my making. I feel in need of an infusion of joy right now, and I think this yearly IG tradition will do the trick. I absolutely love seeing everyone’s makes and always find myself engaging more with other sewists online in May. IG sewists are the best!” – @all.the.lace
PEPPERMINT ME MADE MAY CHALLENGE
This year, we thought it’d be fun to throw our own Peppermint Patterns makers challenge into the mix! Throughout each week in May over on our Instagram we’ll be announcing a theme and giving away a Peppermint prize pack featuring a magazine, a set of sewing labels by Kylie and The Machine, a tote bag and other delights.
Keep an eye out on our socials as we’ll be announcing a winner and new theme each week, as well as featuring our favourite makes! Entries are open worldwide and there’s no need to snap a new pic (although we love it when you do!), feel free to tag an old photo that fits the weekly theme.
If you haven’t sewn up one of our patterns already, what are you waiting for? Head over to Peppermint Sewing School, download a free pattern and get stitching! We can’t wait to see what you create.
TOP IMAGE: KYLIE AND THE MACHINE
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Look, I don’t want to make anyone panic but IT’S DECEMBER!!! If you’re planning to give homemade gifts, you’re going to have to act fast. …
Hang out with us on Instagram
🌻 The Paddington 🌻
This is a much-loved staple, created for Issue 50 in 2021. We love seeing the #PeppermintPaddingtonTop continually popping up in our feeds!
How stunning is our model Elon MelaninGoddessEfon – she told us it was one of the first times she had been asked to come to a shoot with her natural hair. 🌻
We worked with South African patternmaker Sarah Steenkamp of @FrenchNavyNow_ to create this wardrobe essential – the perfect puff-sleeve blouse. Raglan sleeves make it the ultimate beginner sew, plus the gorgeous back buttons let you add your own personal twist.
Pattern via the link in bio! 🪡
Photos: @KelleySheenan
Fabric: @Spoonflower
Model: MelaninGoddessEfon
“In the 1940’s, Norwegians made and wore red pointed hats with a tassel as a form of visual protest against Nazi occupation of their country. Within two years, the Nazis made these protest hats illegal and punishable by law to wear, make, or distribute. As purveyors of traditional craft, we felt it appropriate to revisit this design.”
Crafters have often been at the heart of many protest movements, often serving as a powerful means of political expression. @NeedleAndSkein, a yarn store in Minnesota, are helping to mobilise the craftivists of the world with a ‘Melt The Ice’ knitting pattern created by @Yarn_Cult (with a crochet pattern too), as a way of peaceful protest.
The proceeds from the $5 pattern will go to local immigrant aid organisations – or you can donate without buying the pattern.
Raise those needles, folks – art and craft can change the world. 🧶
Link in bio for the pattern.
Images: @Gather_Fiber @NeedleAndSkein @a2ina2 @KyraGiggles Sandi.204 @WhatTracyMakes AllieKnitsAway Auntabwi2
#MeltTheIce #Craftivism #Knitting #CraftForChange
TWO WEEKS TO GO! 🤩
"The most important shift is moving from volume-led buying to value-led curation – choosing fewer, better products with strong ethics, considered production and meaningful stories. Retailers have real influence here: what you buy signals what you stand for. At Life Instyle, this means using the event to discover and invest in small-scale, planet-considerate brands that align with your values and your customer’s conscience. Consumers don’t need more things; they need better things, and retailers play a key role in selecting, contextualising, and championing why those products matter."
Only two more weeks until @Life_Instyle – Australia`s leading boutique retail trade show. If you own a store, don`t miss this event! Connect with designers, source exquisite – and mindful – products, and see firsthand why this is Australia’s go-to trade show for creatives and retailers alike. And it`s free! ✨️
Life Instyle – Sydney/Eora Country
14-17 February 2026
ICC, Darling Harbour
Photos: @Samsette
#LifeInstyle #SustainableShopping #SustainableShop #RetailTradeEvent
Calling all sewists! 📞
Have you made the Peppermint Waratah Wrap Dress yet? Call *1800 I NEED THIS NOW to get making!
This gorgeous green number was modelled (and made) by the fabulous Lisa of @Tricky.Pockets 🙌🏼
If you need a nudge, @ePrintOnline are offering Peppermint sewists a huge 🌟 30% off ALL A0 printing 🌟 when you purchase the Special Release Waratah Wrap Dress pattern – how generous is that?!
Head to the link in bio now 📞
*Not a real number in case that wasn`t clear 😂
#PeppermintWaratahWrapDress #PeppermintPatterns #SewingPattern #WrapDress #WrapDressPattern
8 Things to Know About January 26 - from @ClothingTheGaps:
Before you celebrate, take the time to learn the truth. January 26 is not a day of unity it’s a Day of Mourning and Survival for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
It marks the beginning of invasion, dispossession, and ongoing colonial violence. It’s time for truth-telling, not whitewashed history.
Stand in solidarity. Learn. Reflect. Act.
✊🏽 Blog written by Yorta Yorta woman Taneshia Atkinson.
🔗 Link in bio of @ClothingTheGaps to read the full blog
#ChangeTheDate #InvasionDay #SurvivalDay #AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe #ClothingTheGaps
As the world careens towards AI seeping into our feeds, finds and even friend-zones, it`s becoming increasingly hard to ignore.
We just wanted to say that here at Peppermint, we are choosing to not print or publish AI-generated art, photos, words, videos or content.
Merriam-Webster’s human editors chose `slop` as the 2025 Word of the Year – they define it as “digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.” The problem is, as AI increases in quality, it`s becoming more and more difficult to ascertain what`s real and what`s not.
Let`s be clear here, AI absolutely has its place in science, in climate modelling, in medical breakthroughs, in many places... but not in replacing the work of artists, writers and creatives.
Can we guarantee that everything we publish is AI-free? Honestly, not really. We know we are not using it to create content, but we are also relying on the artists, makers and contributors we work with, as well as our advertisers, to supply imagery, artwork or words created by humans. AI features are also creeping into programs and apps too, making it difficult to navigate. But we will do our best to avoid it and make a stand for the artists and creatives who have had their work stolen and used to train AI machines, and those who are now losing work as they are replaced by this energy-sapping, environment-destroying magic wand.
Could using it help our productivity and bottom line? Sure. And as a small business in a difficult landscape, that`s a hard one to turn down. We know other publishers who use AI to write stories, create recipes, produce photo shoots... but this one is important to us.
`Touch grass` was also a Merriam-Webster Word of the Year. We`ll happily stick with that as a theme, thanks very much. 🌿
