June is Made For Kids month!!!
Have you been following the Me Made May stuff online? It’s a whole month of challenging yourself to wear handmade items and post them online. Many people wear something handmade every day, all month long and it’s been pretty awesome to see! I’ve been meaning to participate, but I a) don’t fit into most of my handmade clothing yet, thanks to my lovely but rather larger body size post-Hugo and b) I have a hard time getting dressed in anything other than sweats most days, so I haven’t managed to post even one Me Made May outfit yet this month, ack! Yeah, LAME. Anyway, I realize those are just excuses, but my KIDS? Now that’s a different story. They wear the handmade stuff I’ve made for them nearly every day — often in the oddest combinations — and Liesl and I got to chatting on Instagram last week about how it would be fun to involve our kids in wearing and appreciating handmade for a month. Thus, “Made for Kids Month” was born, and we want you to play along with us!!!
Here’s the idea: For the whole month of June, let’s encourage our kids to wear and enjoy their handmade items. Whether their clothes have been made by a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, friend, or themselves, let’s encourage them to wear it proudly!
A few thoughts about the project:
Participate as much or as little as you and your kids like. This isn’t a contest, just a fun project for you to do together!
Let your kids express their own style: Mismatched? Crazy color schemes? Eighteen different prints? Who cares? Kids love to choose their own clothing, and this project will encourage them to play and experiment. My kids have never hesitated to “match” their clothing by wearing ALL BLUE for instance (or E’s favorite: “Everything on me has a *little bit* of red, so IT MATCHES!!”), and well, you’ve seen Clementine’s all-floral ensembles (see below).
You don’t need to participate every day. Kids can be crazy stubborn, maybe your school has a dress code? Just do it if and when they want to!
Let your kids be the guide here. If they don’t want to participate, that’s OK. Don’t force them! We want this to be fun for everyone. No meltdowns! (Parents, that includes you haha.)
Post your photos to Instagram, the new Made for Kids Month Flickr group,Twitter, and/or your blog. Use hashtag #madeforkidsmonth so we can all find you. And feel free to post photos in more than one place, too!
This project might give you some opportunities to talk to your children about where our clothes come from. Like with Fashion Revolution Day, let’s teach kids about who makes our clothing. Maybe they don’t think about it very much — I know this is true of my kids, honestly I don’t think they *get* that most people buy their clothing in stores. This is a great excuse for me to talk to them about why I make so much of what they wear. Whether you’ve sewn just a few items (so far) or you make everything for your kids, it’s good to talk to them about their clothing. We want you and your kids to be proud of the clothing you’ve made and to enjoy spending time making things!
If you’re able to do so, set aside a little time this month to make something together just for the fun of it. It doesn’t have to be clothing. Make a painting together, or take turns making silly faces for the camera. Let’s celebrate kids and creativity!
And who knows, maybe our kids will be inspired to get involved in making clothing themselves, if they haven’t yet. Maybe June will be a great opportunity for your first parent-kid sewing lesson! Clementine just started sewing a skirt for the first time a few months ago; this will be a great opportunity for us to pull it out and finish it.
floral ensemble 1
OK, I think that’s all you need to know. Whadya think? Are you IN???
PS. You can read Liesl’s Made for Kids Month right here!