Let’s do it again! Welcome to Me Made May But Make It Weird 2026

Sewing
Written By Alice
See the challenge prompts here
See the challenge prompts here

Ok, we’re doing it again. After nearly 12 months of being absent from sewing and my sewing blog, I’ve decided let’s restart it with a bang: Welcome to Me Made May But Make It Weird 2026

Last year, I wanted to “jazz up” my Me Made May with a slightly chaotic series of weirdly specific outfit prompts because I was postpartum and feeling bored with my memade wardrobe. And because there are lots of other people in the world with a sense of humour, I wasn’t alone in doing this.

May 2025 was a hive of creativity as many sewists online joined in with Me Made May But Make It Weird (if you’ve forgotten the 2025 prompts, see this post). I tried my best to keep up with everyone’s beautiful and weird outfits and posts, however the frustrating world of Instagram hashtags (as well as virus after virus from my baby) meant I couldn’t finish the month and then took a prolonged break from social media.

This year, I’m trying to do it smarter, calmer, and with a slightly better understanding of how the Instagram behaves*.

*Explainer for those not on Instagram. Instagram has decided to change the hashtag feature meaning that you can no longer search a particular hashtag and find all the posts containing that hashtag. For the sewing instagram world, this is devastating as it makes it harder to look up sewist’s versions of various patterns and their efforts in challenges like this, hence the mass migration to Threadloop. But more on this later..

What Is “Me Made May, But Make It Weird”?

For those of you who have read this far and are thinking, what on earth is Alice on about, “Me Made May But Make It Weird” is a twist on the annual “Me Made May” challenge. The original Me Made May was started by @sozoblog and is essentially Christmas to those that sew and post about it on social media.

But how do you make it weird?

Instead of: “Day 7: Me Made Outfit”

You get: “Dress like your outfit was made with scraps, emotionally and literally” or “Dress like you watched The Craft once in school and it changed you”**

These Me Made May outfit prompts are designed to:

  1. make you laugh

  2. help you style your handmade wardrobe in new ways

  3. and give you something more interesting to post than “here is my outfit”

There’s no pressure to do all 31 days. There’s no “right” interpretation. There is only the outfit and the narrative you assign to it.

**Seriously how old were you when you watched the Craft? It’s probably one of the films that affected me most growing up but I was probably 10/11 when I watched it.

What’s different for 2026?

This year, I hit a bit of a creative wall with the prompts and stalled out at 25. Returning to work earlier in the year seems to have nudged my brain firmly back into “professional mode,” and unfortunately the sillier side of it took a temporary leave of absence.

So I did what any reasonable person would do and asked Instagram. And the Instagram sewists absolutely delivered.

Opening my messages became a highlight of my day. I had around 60 prompt submissions (some of which were deeply concerning in the best possible way), which means we’re now very comfortably stocked for 2027 as well.

After a few mildly chaotic days of trying to include as many as possible and ruthlessly cutting some of my original prompts, I asked the lovely Leila from @peaceontheside to sense-check the list for both appropriateness and flow. The final lineup is a true collaborative effort, and I’ve tagged all the prompt authors accordingly.

Me Made May Hashtags (A Survival Guide)

Let’s talk about the Instagram algorithm.

Last year, I could more or less keep track of everyone joining in but this year? Well that feels optimistic.

So if you want your outfits to actually be seen (by me and everyone else), please include the day number in your caption or hashtags.

For example:

  • #memademaybutmakeitweird2026day1 (I know this is an impossibly long hashtag but this is one of the curve balls that Instagram has thrown us this year and we need to play the game)

  • or simply “Day 12” and “Me Made May But Make It Weird 2026” are written clearly in your caption

You can of course, not use the hashtag if you don’t want to be seen. But if you do want to show off your glorious handmade outfit that you SHOULD be proud of, please use the ridiculously long hashtag. I’m begging you, because otherwise, I will be:

  • searching hashtags

  • scrolling endlessly

  • convinced I’ve seen everything and still missing half of you

And I genuinely want to see what you make. Plus I really should be revising for an exam I have in September rather than doing this, but this is too fun and life is short. So I am begging you to make this as easy as possible for me!

Who can get involved?

Whether you’ve sewn one button or you’re confidently sewing ball gowns, this is for anyone with a me-made wardrobe and a flair for the dramatic.

Commit fully, participate sporadically, interpret loosely, or just watch it all unfold from a safe distance. The prompts are ridiculous, but surprisingly useful IMO and significantly more motivating than staring at your wardrobe hoping for inspiration.

If you’re curious to see how Me Made May But Make It Weird 2025 panned out - check out my saved story highlights on my instagram page or search the hashtag #memademaybutmakeitweird (and hopefully Instagram will show the relevant posts!).

How to Take Part in Me Made May 2026

  1. Wear something you’ve made, altered, or customised

  2. Use the daily prompt (optional, but encouraged)

  3. OPTIONAL Share your outfit on Instagram or your platform of choice by using the hashtags #MeMadeMayButMakeItWeird2026day1 or tag me so I can gasp dramatically and share them

You do not need to:

  • post every day

  • follow the prompts exactly

  • or take this too seriously

Let’s be weird. Let’s be consistent (or not). But mostly, let’s have fun.

MeMadeMay But Make It Weird: The Prompts

I’m hoping to put together a YouTube video walking through the prompts with some outfit inspiration, if that’s something you’d find helpful. This will depend largely on whether I can successfully film, edit, and upload it (and also push through a light dusting of imposter syndrome) but if it makes it onto the internet, I’ll link it here. Otherwise, click the links below to be taken to the Pinterest inspiration board for each prompt.

  1. Dress like the waiter said, “Enjoy your meal.” You said, “You too.” This outfit is your recovery arc.

  2. Dress like Persephone, Goddess of Spring and Queen of the Underworld. Thank you Claudia @claudia_creates

  3. Dress like your outfit is impractical for going to the bathroom. Thank you Shannon @shanmakesthings

  4. Dress like you’re going to the Met Gala, but you have to take public transport to get there.

  5. Dress like you live in a tree house in the jungle and weave strange wall hangings for a living. Thank you Danette @foralllove

  6. Dress like you’re not to be trifled with today, and the collar is load-bearing.

  7. Dress like you’re in the career you want, not the one you have. Thank you Grace @sewcial_cues

  8. Dress like your outfit was made with scraps, emotionally and literally.

  9. Dress like you’re going birdwatching and taking outfit cues from the birds. Thank you Kathryn @cheval_stitching

  10. Dress like your cougar neighbour on her third fiancé who has, among other things, an electric unicycle. Thank you Tal @textals

  11. Dress like your other neighbour who knows more than they should about that cougar next door… including the electric unicycle. Thank you Tal @textals

  12. Dress like your podcast has 12 listeners and all of them are concerned about you.

  13. Dress like you got dressed in the dark from the “clothes chair”. Thank you Karen @karenjjo

  14. Dress like you talk about “drape” the way other people talk about wine.

  15. Dress like you’ve just come back from the future and you’re not allowed to say what you saw, but the outfit is a clue.

  16. Dress like you’re the cool aunt who disappears to Europe every October.

  17. Dress like you’ve just been told your star sign was wrong this whole time.

  18. Dress like your favourite beverage. Thank you Alison @alisonthegreat54

  19. Dress like you’re hosting a dinner party but it’s in space. Thank you Yoghurt @yoghurt_knits

  20. Dress like you didn’t like the price tag, so you sewed it and paid in emotional damage instead.

  21. Dress like you’re the only person who knows the office printer’s secret ritual.

  22. Dress like you’ve got the misplaced bravery of a person wearing white when cooking tomato sauce. Thank you Annika @_notaseamstress

  23. Dress like Marie Antoinette, if she had Instagram.

  24. Dress like you’re wearing pyjamas to the shops but styling it out. Thank you Alma @almitamade

  25. Dress like you’re a mermaid that washed to shore and is digging the 1990s throw back. Thank you Amy @almondrock_sews

  26. Dress like you’re not actually human but one of those lizard people everyone talks about. Thank you Leila @peaceontheside

  27. Dress like emotionally, you’re in a Wi-Fi dead zone.

  28. Dress like you’re secretly cosplaying as an animal at a work convention. Thank you Mo @the_mo_i_sew

  29. Dress like you watched The Craft once in school and it changed you.

  30. Dress like you told the fabric it was time, and the fabric agreed, and there was a moment between you and no one can know about it.

  31. Dress like you’ve been waiting all year to get ice cream and paddle board on the river, and it’s finally time. Thank you Hannah @hannahrae.designs

P.S. Are you in? Come hang out on Instagram or join the chaos using #MeMadeMayButMakeItWeird2026day[insert day number]

Alice
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Me Made May, But Make It Weird: 31 Days of Questionable Prompts and (hopefully) Great Outfits