Sew Your Pride 2021
Last month we put a call out to the community asking you to share your self-made Pride outfits and other makes that help you express your queer pride! You can check out the #sewyourpride tag on Instagram to see the full spectrum of beautiful makes from this year and previous years. A few of you agreed to be showcased here on the blog in our first roundup—enjoy these gorgeous and talented queer makers and their creations below, along with some of their own words on what they’ve made…
Tops
Upper torso photo of a white woman with long red hair, smiling with hands on her hips and looking forward. She is wearing a maroon, puff sleeved wrap blouse that is painted with a lava lamp print starting from the bottom of the shirt moving up towards the top. The print is colored with the colors from the lesbian pride flag. She is also wearing blue jeans.
Megan (she/her, @made.by.mego) went full and glorious ‘70s with this hand painted blouse! “I’m new to sewing this year and I’ve always wanted to make my own outfits for pride events. I love playing around with prints and color so I came up with this print designed based off of lava lamps and used the colors of the lesbian pride flag as my palette. I hand painted each piece of the top using acrylic paints mixed with textile medium and then sewed the top together after everything had dried and been heat set. I’m really happy with how it turned out and will be rocking this shirt year round for sure!”
Image of a white person with short purple hair leaning back against a shelving unit wearing an open button up made of a patchwork of different prints in blue, white, and pink over a white shirt and jeans.
Seamsligit (they/he, @seamsligit) made this impeccable short-sleeved button up: “This is my first year out and socially transitioning, soon to be medically transitioning. It's been a whirlwind of a year between that and getting my autism diagnosis. I wanted to make my first pride memorable but also have something to hang on too as kind of a souvenir. This is my first time making a patchwork style garment and I did it using scraps that were blue, pink, and white; the trans flag colors. I wanted a shirt that was subtle but loud at the same time and I think this shirt turned out perfect. I am also thrilled with the collar stand—I usually always end up with faults there but not this time!”
Torso short of Bri, a white femme wearing a purple striped tee, smiling.
Bri (she/they, @brimichellemade) writes, “For so long I thought I couldn't engage with the queer community because I didn't think I was ‘queer enough.’ I thought my only options were to shut up about my queerness or try to perform a version of queerness in ways that wasn't truthful to me. In the last few months, thanks to the grace and love of IRL and internet friends alike, I've begun to embrace the subtleties of my queerness and find freedom to express the nuance and the in-betweens. My pride outfit isn't one for parties and parades, but is instead an easy, everyday representation of my warm queer heart.”
A white woman wearing a tie-front collared shirt in rainbow stripes, stands in front of a bookcase, smiling and holding up a painted wyvern miniature.
Lizzy (she/her, @lizzy_keeps_busy) made a summery tie-front top in a muted rainbow striped double gauze fabric. “Sewing my own clothes started out as a way to keep busy and make things that fit me, but over the years it’s also become a way for me to express the odd or contradictory parts of myself I tend to keep hidden—I’m queer as in not straight, true, but also pretty queer as in weird!”
Dresses & Matched Sets
Full-body mirror selfie photo of a white person with short blonde hair smiling at her reflection. She is wearing a lime green patchwork dress made of recycled materials from Goodwill. Underneath her dress she has on a dark blue and black turtleneck. She is also wearing black clogs and black socks.
Emma (she/her, @emmacbanks) not only made this dress, she made the pattern! “This was my first time self drafting a pattern and sewing a neck facing. It's not perfect, but it makes me really happy to wear! It's also made entirely of recycled materials, more specifically tea towels and pillowcases from Goodwill, so that makes it extra special.”
Woman in a rainbow plaid cropped ruffle top and a matching gathered skirt, sitting on grass in the sun.
Rell (she/her, @sewwhyeknot) has perfectly captured June in a single image! “This project makes me proud cause I have learned to accept me.”
Full-body photo of a woman with long brown hair smiling and looking into the camera. She is wearing a fit and flair dress with a print of flowers and people.
Sangeeta (she/her, @thedressgarden) takes matching to the next level with the pink hollyhocks in the photo background. “I'm proud of me for making this dress and for wearing it and very happy I found this fabric. I'm not good with words; instead I communicate who I am through the clothes I make and wear. This is my show the world I'm queer dress. Depending on where you look at the print it might not be interpreted as a queer print, but I decided to put the two women holding hands with the words love above them at the centre front to showcase the queerness.”
Two white sisters stand next to eachother one in a green dress and graduation cap and gown, the other with a printed short sleeve dress and sandals. They are both smiling and embracing.
Kaylee (she/her, @kaylee_starks) made this beautiful dress in a bold print, her first project since some time away from sewing. “I made the dress on the right to wear to my baby sister’s graduation. Since coming out to my family, they expected me to act/dress in a certain way. But I’ve been exploring how to dress for me and not for what some people expect of me, either as the ex church girl, the ballerina, or the newly out lesbian. This if the first dress I have made since coming back to sewing. I was proud to wear a dress I made specifically for me and my style as a femme queer woman.”
Shannon, a fat white person, stands outdoors against a backdrop of greenery. She wears a tiered gathered maxi sundress with a color-blocked chartreuse and teal bodice, a tier of coral pink, and a final tier of deep purple. She has the skirt held up, about to spin, showing the volume, and has a big smile.
Shannon (she/her, @rare.device) made the perfect outfit for spinning around in the sun! “This dress brings me so much joy in its bright, exuberant colors and big volume! The bodice pieces I cut from scraps and reuse of other projects, with some creative piecing to get everything to fit just the way I'd imagined it. As I sew more, and generate more scraps, I feel more interested in projects in which I can repurpose small pieces even when there's not enough to make a full garment. Similarly, the chartreuse came from a jumpsuit I'd made previously that didn't quite fit; repurposing older makes like that jumpsuit makes me feel closer to my body as I honor the ways it changes and grows. Finally, the products I did purchase for this dress both came from queer-owned businesses: Muna and Broad's Nullarbor Cami formed the basis of the bodice, and I bought the fabric for the tiers from Seams Fabric in Lansing.”
Bottoms
A young woman stands in a confident pose with her hands on her hips to show off the rainbow shorts that she made.
Nina (she/her, @tunanunaart) made these gorgeous, cheerful pajama shorts—we’ve all needed even more pajamas than usual during the pandemic, eh? Nina says, “I set out to make cute pajamas during quarantine last year in order to keep myself busy and still be able to wear outfits I like while stuck indoors. I didn’t intend for them to be a queer project when I made them, but the timing lined up perfectly for pride month and I couldn’t be happier about that ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜”
A white person with short red hair is sitting up on their knees on white blanket on top of a bed. The person is wearing a white sports bra and hand made 7" inseam boxer briefs covered in cartoon dinosaurs with rainbows on their backs. The person has their hands on their hips, a soft smile on their face, and are posed on the bed in front of a wall with a window. The window blinds are closed and a string of bells and small colorful pompom balls hang over the window.
Ainsley (they/them, @lazyandrogyny), who definitely took this photo after 1998, made these ridiculously cute DINOSAUR boxers! “This is my FIRST ever pair of me made boxer briefs (and my first time sewing with knits!), and I feel incredibly proud of myself. As a non-binary, small fat, AFAB, short person, I have a hard time finding clothes that fit me, especially things like underwear. For years I was wearing boyfriend style underwear targeted at women because it was the only thing available, and I hated it. There are more ready-to-wear options out there now for folks like me, but being able to make my own underwear that fits my body perfectly brings me an immense joy that nothing off the rack could ever compete with. Plus, not only was making these boxer briefs a new & learning experience for me, it also helped connect me to other incredible queer sewists in the community (shoutout to Mel of @AquaUnderwear) who shared resources, patterns, and advice to help me along the way. Some of my stitching sure as hell isn't straight, but who cares? My boxer briefs are covered in DINOSAURS WITH RAINBOWS!!! If that isn't Pride, I don't know what is.”
Closeup of the crotch of a white person wearing rainbow-and-cloud printed cotton underwear with mustard-colored trim. Visible: cellulite, surgery scars.
Keeping with the amazing undies theme, Kelly (they/them, @kellyhogaboom) made this glorious set! They write, “I couldn't have posted an unfiltered closeup in my underwear, even a year ago. I came out as nonbinary in late April and ever since I've felt more free to show up as me – unfiltered yes, but also unmindful of Instagram's shadowban/suppression, or losing followers with my cellulite. The world can be cruel, but there is also a fierce community of LGBTQ+ sewists who support my work and boost my spirits. Also – high-rise chonies ftw! I call them my Emotional Support Underpants!”
Full body shot of Bri, a white femme, wearing a striped loose tee shirt, purple linen pants and birkenstocks.
Were you wondering if the pants just visible in the close-up of Bri’s shirt above are also handmade? Yes, yes they are!
Handwork
Ten embroidery hoops with different LGBTQ+ identities and florals stitched on them.
Amara (she/they, @lonelymountainembroidery) writes, “I wanted to create a series of embroidery hoops that celebrated some of the wonderful identities that make up the LGBTQ+ community. I wanted the pieces to be cute and simple, and this is what was born. The colour scheme for the flowers in each piece are meant to match the colours of each identities respective Pride flag to make each one unique and special.”
An embroidery project featuring pink, purple, and blue threads in geometric patterns to represent an abstract bisexual pride flag.
Bern (she/her) beautifully combined familiar geometric motifs into a new design with a special purpose. “I did this embroidery project of an abstract bi flag to come out this year during pride. I used it to initiate a conversation about my gender and sexuality with my husband, who is relentlessly supportive of me and was a good ally before I met him, and I'm going to set it on my desk when I return to work in person in July. It makes me happy to look at it and maybe eventually I'll be confident enough to just say ‘Thanks, it's a bi flag’ if anyone compliments it or asks how I chose the colors.”
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