An interesting experience

Anyone else remember several years ago, when one of the big discussions in the online sewing community was creating personal color palettes for our sewing? I came up with this palette during that time, and have been basing most of my personal sewing and fabric purchases off of it since.

Oh, hi, circa 2001 Photoshop! As you can see, the palette mostly consists of my favorite oceany tones, a few warmer colors that I’ve been making an effort to pull in (a sunflower-ish yellow, coral, and orange), a nice plummy purple, and a few neutrals. The navy is mostly in terms of denim in my real life, I don’t really wear tan these days because it makes me feel kind of naked, and though it’s hard to see, the white is really more of an ivory tone. I’ve also been leaning more towards seafoam/minty than that nice kelly green, just because of the fabrics I’ve been finding.

Fast forward to this year. I occasionally listen in on those online summits where they have 2-3 days of recorded sessions on a various topic, and you can either try to cram in as many in a 24 hour period as possible, or pay for lifetime access and some extras. There’s a page on Facebook called HobbyScool (no, that’s not a misspelling) where I’d listened through a summit previously, and a recent one they had was called “Chic and Confident”, and all about personal styling and fashion and such. A lot of the speakers focused more on working women and style as it relates to personal branding, so not exactly relevant for my stay at home/schooling mom, very non-entrepreneurial lifestyle, but I still thought it might be interesting to listen to some of the other sessions from the perspective of someone who’s trying to build a wardrobe through sewing instead of shopping. I did hear some interesting things, and in the process, I won a bingo prize for a professional color analysis and a “style audit” call. So I thought it might be fun to share the experience. This is probably going to be a longer post, so I’ll stick with just the color analysis for this one.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect. We did it over Zoom, after I’d submitted some photos and other basic information. and we chatted about my current wardrobe, my lifestyle, and my goals for my wardrobe. She thought the sewing angle was really interesting, and complimented me on the dress I was wearing when I was showing her some of the pieces I have in the closet, even though apparently it was completely the wrong color scheme for me. She told me that rather than the old color “season” system that I remember from when I was a kid, she looks at the contrast between eyes and hair and skin. I always thought that was a pretty high contrast thing for me, since my eyes are a rather dark brown, but she pegged me more as a medium contrast to go with my hair. Apparently this translates to soft, which instantly had me worried that what I look best in is pastels. I am not a fan of that color scheme. Thankfully, when she showed me the color palette, there were still a lot of brighter shades on there, including some lovely tealish-turquoise swatches, which is absolutely my #1 go to. But there were still quite a few surprises, which I’ll get to in a moment.

So how did I do with my original palette? I went ahead and made a version to compare, with my old color picks on the squares and the colors she sent me on the diamonds. Overall, it looks like what she sent me is just cooler or lighter versions of the colors that I already picked. Though I’ll admit that there are some disappointments. For one, my #1 color to avoid is black, which features heavily in a lot of the prints I already have sewn or have in my stash. My best neutral is apparently that tan, which as I said, makes me feel naked. I’m much more comfortable with brown and dark denim navy. And though I do have some grey things that I wear, namely the one sweater I managed to successfully knit, it’s not really a color I prefer. To me, it’s a color that speaks of winter and rainy days that set off my mold allergy and sadness, and that’s not really the feeling that I want to have when I get dressed in the morning.

I’ve also come to really enjoy certain warmer colors, like a bolder mustardy yellow and orange, and those apparently look better on me as a more muted shade. Or, in the case of orange, not really at all. And the plum that I’ve been using as my go-to purple isn’t even on the chart. Also, most of the brighter colors are pinks. Soooo much pink. I can’t share the full palette on here, since it’s a private link, but there’s something like 8 of them. Also, apparently my best prints are “low to medium contrast”, which leaves me a little sad. Basically, one of the key words she used was “subdued”, and that is definitely not what I’m naturally drawn to when it comes to prints. (Also, apparently one of my best eye makeup colors is taupe. TAUPE. UGH. I refuse.)

I did seem to hit some things right, though. Like that last coral that got layered with the orange is almost identical to the coral on my 2014 palette. Some of these were limited by my old Photoshop and my ability to use it at the time, and I’ve learned a lot since then thanks to digital scrapbooking. With the neutrals, especially, it looks like they’re mostly just slightly cooler shades of what I’d originally put on there, and I naturally gravitate towards cooler colors anyway. And my instinct that ivory is better on me than white seems to have been spot-on. She did say that I can pull off both gold and silver jewelry, which is good. (And more muted animal prints as a neutral, which is really not my thing.)

I don’t want to sound ungracious towards the consultant, as she was very encouraging and understanding of the fact that I’m probably not going to want to throw out a bunch of clothes that I made just because they’re not necessarily the best colors on me. She gave me some good tips about how to mitigate that with accessories. Overall, I want to look at this as a positive step in my ongoing quest to have an amazing, mostly me-made wardrobe. And since I thought it might be fun to see what in my current me-made wardrobe does fit that palette and has survived the last decade of sizing changes and motherhood, I made a collage.

From top to bottom, left to right:

1. My ivory Helen’s Closet Blackwood, paired with a predominiately navy Itch to Stitch Mountain View jean.
2. Navy/ivory True Bias Lander shorts. (I thought these were out, but I was recently able to pull these out of my refashion bin, thanks to the weight loss. I no longer have that tank top.)
3. Colette/Seamwork Moneta dress, that I modified the style of to match Belle for a DragonCon costume. I don’t wear this much since I don’t know what to pair it with, but this is pretty much a perfect match for a “denim” on the extended palette.
4. Deer and Doe Reglisse Dress. The one thing I own that has that lighter purple, the teal is pretty close, and the overall print is more muted than what I often go for.
5. The oldest surviving wardrobe piece is this Butterick dress, which is pretty much all the “denim gray” from the extended palette, ivory, and the green from what I showed.
6. Surprisingly, this flamingo shirt, which has more pink and lighter blues than I usually wear. Even the hot pink binding looks like it’s on the palette. I’m sure flamingos aren’t subdued, but they’re fun.
7. The color analyst would probably not count this ice-dyed skirt, but it’s got so many shades of blue and green and even those purples that I think it has to count. It’s not right next to my face anyway.
   Row 2:
8. Though this one is getting pilled enough that it’s on its last legs, this green/teal/brown Seamwork Mesa dress.
9. Also, my Sewaholic Cambie teacup dress, which I’m quite happy that it fits again.
10. McCall’s button-down tunic, which is mostly navy with speckles that fit the other colors (seafoam, turquoise, even some pink)
11. Deer & Doe Plantain, which is predominiately ivory and seafoam.
12. Grainline Archer shirt, in navy with ivory stitching. (Wow, I was so pregnant in this pic.)
13. Paprika Patterns Jasper sweatshirt, in this happy “pool” blue.
14. Itch to Stitch Mila shirt. Plaid would probably be labeled as too high contrast, but it’s one of the few things I have that leans on grey rather than black to go with that teal. Plus I like plaid.
    Row 3:
15. McCall’s Mimi G dress-hacked-to-shacket, in navy.
16. Seamwork Bristol skirt and Astoria sweater, in seafoam and brown. One of the few things I have that are brown, honestly, though it’s still a color I like.
17. This hacked Simplicity tie-dye skirt, in navy/grey. I’m wearing it as a maternity skirt in this shot, but I still pull it out thanks to the yoga-style waistband. Though I’ve been lacking in things to wear on top with it recently.
18. The Blackwood cardigan, this time with my other Mountain View jeans. They’ve gotten a bit faded since this picture, but still fit the blues.
19. My Roheline knitted cardigan, and one of our dogs that has sadly passed since then.
20. Sew Liberated Stasia tee, in coral.
    
    I’m realizing, now that I’m looking at this collage again, that there’s a few things I overlooked. Like this Renfrew tee, and this flamingo skirt. Apparently, pink is a much easier pill to swallow when it comes in the form of tropical birds.

So, basically, I have a bunch of stuff I could build off of, but not necessarily a lot of things that work together. And what does this mean for the rest of my wardrobe and fabric stash? Well, I’m not going to ditch it. To be perfectly blunt, even if it is my worst color, I wouldn’t ditch my black clothes anyway. Besides being required for my orchestra concerts, I know that my black Appleton dress is one of my husband’s favorites. And some of my favorite me mades that I still have don’t fall into this palette at all. Like this dress. Or the refashioned top from this dress, which I don’t have a dedicated post to link to. I just like brighter colors and bold prints. They make me happy. And I do think that happiness and fun with my wardrobe is just as important of a factor as what colors would look best on me.

I may be willing to consider this palette in future fabric purchases, though, especially in adding things like that darker brown and those brighter blues and greens. Or maybe I’ll just grab some henna and start dyeing my hair red again. And work in the colors that I’ve loved and feel good wearing anyway, like plum and especially ALL the teals.

One important takeaway that I did have from this whole conversation, too, is that I do need to focus on some well-fitting basics to pull all of these together. Aside from the turquoise Mountain View jeans, I have one pair of jeans left that is not literally falling apart. Two, if you count the one I’m visibly mending every time a new hole pops up. And I don’t even know what tops to wear with my skirts half the time. I do have a lot of navy-toned denim in my stash, so that could be a good place to focus on. But I think I’m going to alternate that with some fun prints that may or may not be the best colors for me, because all solids and no prints makes me a cranky sewist.

Mid year Make Nine Update

This summer is just flying by! Now that the year is basically halfway done, I think it’s a good time to revisit and reevaluate my Make Nine goal for the year.

I’ve managed a third of the grid so far, which is less than I’d hoped for. And only one of these projects was actually for me. So to recap: the “Something for winter” was my Malala sweater, and the “pattern stashed awhile” was a 2017 Ottobre shirt for my younger son.

The “Little girl skorts” were for my family’s annual tie dye day, and a commission from my mom. She’s not sewing these days, since she’s my niece’s full time daycare. It ended up turning into a skort and a dress each for my daughter and my niece, who are currently wearing the same size. For the skort, I used a pattern I’ve made multiple times before, the Chicka Chicka Bum Bums by Peekaboo Patterns. Since the girls are older than last time, I was able to use the shorts view underneath without the diaper cut. And I added patch pockets, since both girls (rightfully) appreciate having those. This is the best picture I’ve been able to get of my girl wearing them, along with a purchased tee she also dyed that day.

Silly girl.

The dress was from the March 2017 issue of Ottobre, called “California Surf” (or something very similar.) It’s really more of a beach coverup style than anything else, with a hood and a kangaroo pocket. My daughter was quite excited about both. This was mostly straightforward to sew, though a little fiddly with the binding at times. I ended up sewing it on my regular machine, rather than my coverstitch, because it was so narrow and the needle width isn’t adjustable on my coverstitch machine.

I did dye some things for myself as well, but since I haven’t had a chance to photograph them all yet, I’ll do that in a separate post.

Some updates about the other squares: I’ve made some progress on the quilt. No sewing yet, but all of the colorful squares are cut, and I’m about halfway through cutting out the solid rectangles. I’m at the point now where the kids occasionally let me do cutting work in the kitchen while they’re awake, though my daughter will occasionally try to “help”. So hopefully I’ll get some time to finish that part of the process too.

I’ve been making an attempt at the swimsuit. Though I already knew that I want to use the Jalie shorts and swim shirt patterns that I used the last time I did swimwear, I’ve been getting stuck on a third piece. It’s necessary, since the swim shirt has zero bust support, but I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the tankini attempt that I did last time. And since I basically never use the suit without that swim shirt, I figured that maybe I can get away with more of a bikini type top this time. In the interest of using what I have, I decided to test out one of the older Seamwork patterns, the Florence bra, to see if it might make a decent swim top.

To be blunt, it was kind of a flop. Part of it could be my materials, since I was just using jersey scraps and leftover elastics from the nursing bras I made around 6 years ago. I didn’t have enough for the bottom, so I had to use fold over elastic for that, and it’s not exactly snug on me. Either way, it’s supportive enough to use for sleeping, but not for actually walking around in, since it doesn’t exactly hold anything necessary in place. And that was after taking the back in a full 2.5”! I also wasn’t thrilled with the construction, since I had to fiddle a lot to get the non-lace upper cup to lie flat. I ended up adding elastic, but felt that wouldn’t translate well to my swim fabric. To be perfectly blunt, I just don’t think I have the mental bandwidth to figure out all the changes I’d need to make, between getting the straps to work and lining it.

At this point, since it’s almost July and our summer hasn’t been as water intensive as usual — we haven’t even been to the beach yet— I’m honestly thinking I’m just going to shelve this project for now and give myself some more time to consider it. Feeling like I’m working past a deadline is leaving me uninspired and a little stressed, which is not what I need from what’s supposed to be my relaxing, self care hobby. I think I’m going to swap out that “something for summer”, too. As scattered as my sewing time is lately, I think it might be best for me to just start sewing for the next season. So here’s my slightly altered Make Nine grid:

I’m changing summer to fall, and the other to a wild card. We’ll see if I have to apply this retroactively to mending my boys’ pants or something!

Sewing top 5: 2019 goals!

As is tradition, I’m going to begin this post with a review of my goals for this past year to see how I did.

1. I’d like to work towards developing a nice stash of TNT patterns. I think I’ve made good progress on this! I think I’ve got my new sizing figured out to the point where I can use my old beloved Sewaholic Renfrew again. The Stasia tee/tank by Sew Liberated looks like it will become a favorite, and I look forward to trying the dress sometime. I have high hopes for the Helen’s Closet Blackwood cardigan. And both the shorts version of the True Bias Lander pants and the Itch to Stitch Mountain View jeans were a success, which fills a huge hole in my TNT pattern stash!
2. This may be the year I finally have to tackle one of the few garment types I haven’t tried: a swimsuit. Done. See this post.
3. I need to restock my pajamas. While I still feel like I could probably use another pair of pj pants in not-flannel to pair with a tee for those middle temperature nights, I’m in much better shape for the solstice seasons now.
4. I’d like to start building towards some smaller capsules within my wardrobe. I wouldn’t say that I necessarily sewed for that in this year, but I did spend a lot of time evaluating what I have, and that’s a good start. See this post.
5. In general, I want to be more creative in using what I have. I really didn’t buy much fabric this year at all! Which made the experience of shopping for the few carefully considered pieces that I did buy (and used right away) more special. I also got a few things out of my refashion bin, so that’s a good bonus.

My bonus knitting goal was to finish my Gnarled Oak cardigan. Yeeeeeah… that didn’t happen. I basically spent the entire year knitting two sleeves and no yoke, but at least I made visible progress. Still, I think my days of knitting this in the car while Doug drives are over, because now I have to read charts and I am cursed with very swift motion sickness when reading in a car. (My lifelong sorrow, as Anne Shirley would say, since I could have read SO many more books in my life otherwise!) Maybe third year will be the charm?

On to 2019! So here’s what I’m thinking…

1. Leave room for frosting. I’ve been all about practical garments and filling holes ever since the Mom Wardrobe became a thing for me. But one of my favorite garments that I made this year was a colorful, gorgeous, unnecessary dress. I was also having a good deal of FOMO over the #sewfrosting challenge that happened last month, especially since my life just didn’t allow me to jump in. So yes, I need to work on filling those wardrobe holes that I feel are in my life, but I also need to remember that sewing is supposed to be fun, and I don’t have to have slow fashion guilt over just making something because I want to.
2. That being said, my next goal is to work on the “Mom Wardrobe”. The struggle is real, people. I think I’ve got a pretty good grip on what to wear on days that I’m teaching, or to go to church. Where I’ve been having trouble all year is what to wear on the days that I’m just at home! And now that my teaching is consolidated to 3 days instead of 4, there’s more of them. Since the boys are getting to the ages where art supplies and dirt are a bigger part of everyday life, I need things that are easy care, but hopefully not embarrassing to wear out on errands or to the playground. Right now, I’m living in mostly badly fitting blue jeans that I bought in postpartum desperation, and inadequately warm knit tops. So I’m thinking maybe some Hudson pants (I know, last indie pattern sewist on earth), maybe another pair of pull-on jeans if my stretchy enough stashed denim is enough yardage, and cozy tees and layering pieces. And a lot more tank tops for summer!
3. Get creative with some #sewingleftovers. Since the fabrics I often use just aren’t the best for rough and tumble boy clothes, it’s not often that I can just make smaller clothes with what’s left. So I’m looking for inspiration for adult garments that involve elements like patchwork or print mixing, and hoping that maybe I can use up some of these smaller pieces in a stylish way.
4. Work on my styling. I know that’s not quite a sewing goal, but I feel like it’s related. Knowing that separates are my favorite things to wear, I’ve been saying for years that I want a more mixable wardrobe (without having to go full out neutral Pinterest capsule, ugh). I did enjoy doing Me Made May and the Slow Styling challenge that happened in October on Instagram, and think it’ll be a good way to help me be more thoughtful about what makes sense to add to my wardrobe. I’m just not sure how to do this yet, like whether I should document the outfits with me-mades (or even including my RTW) on IG stories, or what. Any suggestions?
5. You know, the first four goals were easy to come up with, and I’m drawing a blank on this one. So instead of a sewing goal, I’m going for knitting and will say that it’s finish up my Gnarled Oak cardigan for real this time. And then think through some smaller projects that I can mostly tackle with my existing yarn stash, because clearly I am not in a life stage where knitting sweaters is a good idea! I’m thinking maybe I should finally try socks. I have enough for 2 pairs, though my continued ability to make those will depend on the availability of non wool sock yarn. But since the cardi may very well take all of 2019, given my record lately, I won’t stress about that right now.

I did decide to do one little side goal this year. I’ve been interested in the 100 Day Project for awhile. I honestly don’t feel like sewing is necessarily a realistic way for me to participate in that right now, as I have things like orchestra rehearsal nights where I can’t leave the boys unsupervised long enough during the day for even a short sewing session, or I have to sometimes wait to have time to cut my next project out in my mom’s sewing room. But since I can usually grab 15-20 minutes on a computer every day by letting the boys watch one of the irritating preschool cartoons that they like, I’m going to attempt to do a digital scrapbooking project for that this upcoming year, starting in January. I don’t know yet if I’ll share that here or not, but it is a creative project, so I might do that on IG stories or something. We’ll see how I feel next week.

I’m still feeling torn about specific project goals and how to plan them (like Make 9 vs seasonal or something else), though maybe I’ll have more clarity after Christmas and a nice little stash tidy. And Gillian had an interesting suggestion on Instagram that I’m mulling over. So I’ll keep you posted. How do you plan your sewing? Any goals or plans that you’re particularly excited about for 2019?

On long range wardrobe planning

I’m trying out a new method of bringing some more cohesion into my wardrobe, and since I didn’t manage to finish anything in September, I figured I’d write about that instead while I keep working on my projects!

I’ve known for awhile that I’m not a minimalist capsule wardrobe person. I honestly don’t feel like that 30 piece wardrobe is too doable with my climate. Especially since we have very sudden changes– it’s still in the 80s this week, and by the end of the month, we’ll likely be barely hitting the 50s! So I do need a fairly substantial wardrobe for both our sticky hot summers and our cold, damp winters. Plus layers to transition between the two.

I recently heard an inspiring interview on the Clothes Making Mavens podcast with Emily Hallman, about how she sews in mini collections to create pieces that can easily mix and match with each other and other pieces already in her wardrobe. So I started following her on Instagram, and love what I’ve seen! I’ve struggled to find inspiration on places like Pinterest, since all of the capsule wardrobes are full of taupe and other solid neutral blahness. And I have rather strong opinions about the place of neutral blahness in my life. Ahem. But she uses color! And prints! And still manages cohesion! I may have finally found a style icon, even though my mom life necessitates a more casual, washable take on things.

So, I’ve been creating palettes on a Trello board, and combing through my wardrobe to see what I already have that fits these color stories. I’ll need to go through my fabric stash at some point too, and see about what I have that can fill these out. It’s actually been a fun process so far, especially since it’s a way I could bring sewing into things like sitting through Friday night orchestra rehearsals where I don’t play for the first half hour of the piece. (One reason I didn’t finish anything this month, but Hobbit loved the family concert and getting to see what Mommy does when I’m not home on Tuesday nights, so it was worth it.)

(Serious work in progress here, as I’d love to eventually add photos of the things I actually have done.)

The most thought-out one is the one on the left, based on that funky leaf-ish print that I have tagged for a maxiskirt. I already have several things that would work in that color family — a cream top, a plain brown skirt (and the thrifted top I’m wearing with it, actually), my Gabriola skirt, some RTW teal jeans and an olive Blackwood-esque cardigan.  I do have some solid plans for things I can add to it.

• I have an olive green jersey in my stash that I have tagged for a top, I just need to figure out what pattern to use that won’t bore me since it’s solid.
• 

I’ve had this outfit saved on my Pinterest for awhile, since I like the simple detailing of this button-down with tucks at the waist and the rolled-up tab sleeves. I don’t have fabric for this yet, but I’ve been thinking about hacking the Deer & Doe Bruyere blouse to make this look, since I have the upper part of the blouse fitted well at this point and would just need to figure out how to turn the darts into pleats and morph it into one piece instead of having that waistband in the middle. I think I actually would make this in a solid ivory, because it would go with literally every single pair of pants I currently own.

• 

Another picture I’ve had saved for ages. I even have fabric to make this, in the form of a yardish of a creamy sweater knit and 3 yards some brown faux leather that I picked up to make a costume for DragonCon that I ended up ditching long before I got to the leathery bits. So if I can figure out how to sew that without my machine making me cry (I have not had good fortune with leathery things), I’d love to make something similar to this. Though I also find myself wondering if the jacket would have more style longevity if I just make the sleeves out of the brown too, and use that sweater knit for something else. (Though I’m not sure what, since I only bought a yard. Any opinions?)

I’d also like to throw in a pair of Jalie Vanessa pants, since the one pair I have is very comfortable, but I’m not really sure what color. Maybe brown? Or olive?

So that’s my first one so far, though I have no idea when I’ll actually get to those few projects. I also am trying to figure out a good summery capsule, since I was definitely hurting for things like shorts and sleeveless everything this past summer. And the major capsule hole I’m stuck on is what to wear on my more casual at-home days, especially during the cold season, since I’m not really much of an athleisure girl but I also don’t want to wreck my jeans with a preschool art project or anything, so it would have to be easy wash. Maybe some Hudson pants? And some kind of long-sleeved tees because pretty much all I have are geeky t-shirts and those won’t keep me warm all winter? Mom wardrobes are HARD.

I think I probably will be posting more about wardrobe planning on here between projects, since it’s something that’s become increasingly important to me with my more limited time, and as I learn more about the sustainability aspect of sewing. I’m definitely able to slow down the actual sewing easily enough, but if I want to make the most of my time and fabric, I need a plan to avoid the wardrobe orphans I’ve been struggling with ever since my first post-partum days. And I reeeeeally need to have a plan when it comes to including knitting, because I have literally been working on the same mustard cardigan for over two years now. (Thus the mustard capsule, I need to make sure I have something to wear with it whenever I actually finish that!) So how have you been planning your sewing, or do you plan it?

My 2018 Make Nine Plans

I did participate in the #2017makenine thing that was going around on Instagram, and it worked really well in helping me to prioritize my sewing this year. Out of the nine projects I picked, the Archer shirt is the only one that I just didn’t get to at all. And I was still able to work in a few projects that were more wants instead of needs. It took some thought, but here is the #2018makenine that I finally settled on:

My #2018makenine was hard to narrow down, and there’s a lot of planned projects that I had to leave off. But if I go with what will give me the most wardrobe boosting powers, I have: 1. A knit maxidress. 2. A Fumuterre skirt. 3. A Stasia dress and/or top. 4. Pajamas, because I need to replace virtually all of mine. 5. A swimsuit/rash guard, because I don’t have a functional one and I’m tired of sunburns. 6. Two Wild Things coats, because it’s pretty much the cutest thing I can get away with #sewingforboys. 7. The Archer shirt, attempt 2. 8. The Lander shorts, though I still need to buy this pattern. 9. The Appleton shirt hack. I already have stash for 1, 3, some 4, outside of 6, 7, 8 if I do denim, and 9. #sewingplans

A post shared by sewadagio (@sewadagio) on Dec 19, 2017 at 5:49pm PST

 

(The actual picture doesn’t seem to be showing up, at least on my computer. So just in case, here’s the link.)

1. 1. McCall’s 7350, a dress pattern that I bought recently. I also found a great ITY print on clearance at Fabric.com, which made snagging 5 yards to make the more dramatic maxi version that caught my eye affordable.
2. Deer & Doe’s Fumuterre skirt. I was gifted a lovely cotton print with this earthy, abstract leafy type print to give this one a go.
3. Sew Liberated’s Stasia dress. Or maybe top. Or both. I do have a few yards of a print from a couple Christmases ago that would be a good candidate for the shorter dress, but I feel like the top has more TNT potential as a basic fitted knit top. I just might test it out on one of the pajama sets.
4. The aforementioned pajamas. The Closet Case Carolyn pajamas are pictured, and that is a pattern that I got for Christmas. I’ll start with just the pants, since I have a few lengths of flannel that are enough for that but not a full set. Since I also need some hot weather things, a set or two from the Grainline Lakeside pajamas that I’ve had waiting in my pattern stash are also likely. Though I was given fabric to make the more summery version of the Carolyn as well.
5. The swimsuit. I picked the Jalie picture that features both the rash guard shirt and the briefs lined swim shorts that I’m eyeing. I’ll need to purchase both patterns and fabric for this one, so this will be a main exception to my plan to buy as little fabric as possible, except where needed for specific reasons.
6. While I can easily think of more patterns that I still hope to make for myself, I do want to make sure I get to this pattern before the boys are much older. This is the Twig & Tale Wild Things coat, pictured in the dinosaur option. I have a piece of this weird khaki-ish corduroy that I probably got 10 or so years ago, and am strongly considering dyeing in 2 pieces to make the outside of whichever animals I decide on. I’ll likely need to get linings for this as well.
7.  The Grainline Archer shirt, since I didn’t get to it this year and it does have useful TNT potential, once I make a few changes from my last version. I have a plaid flannel that’s been sitting around waiting for that one.
8. True Bias’s Lander shorts. I still need shorts since the ones I made this year didn’t work out, and I got the pattern for Christmas, along with a fun piece of crosshatch denim to make them. I’ll probably do a test in something less interesting, though. I’ve got enough plain non-stretch denim, and I think my days of non-stretch jeans are over, so that will be a good stashbust.
9. Cashmerette Appleton, as a wrap top. I have a piece of ITY in my stash that I had been thinking would make a good one, so I was delighted to read that Jenny made the instructions for this hack available on her site– now I don’t have to take the time to figure it out myself!

I have so many projects in mind that I would also like to tackle this year if I can. It was actually really hard for me to narrow this list down, because of the much longer one I have! I’d love to make myself a new dress for Easter this year, because I’ve been either pregnant, nursing, or leaving the hospital just after giving birth for the last 3 of them, and wasn’t able to have any fun with my outfit. (If I hadn’t given up that ninth spot for the boys, this probably would have been the last pick.) I recently bought this adorable kids’ toy pattern that I would really like to make up for the boys’ Easter baskets, too. I have a couple of  more involved jacket patterns that I’ve been plotting out for a couple of years now, and other patterns that I’ve been hoarding that have had to get pushed to the side, like the Ginger jeans and the Sew House Seven Tea House dress/top. I have knits that are begging to get turned into Plantains and Renfrews, and the Ebony tee to try out. And that’s not even the whole list! But aside from the lack of pants, I think this group has some good mix and match potential in the silhouettes, as well as some good standout pieces. So here’s hoping that I’m not being overly ambitious, and here’s to happy sewing time in 2018!

I move slow and steady…

Man, where did August go? There’s actually been quite a bit of crafting going on in Casa Adagio. But I just couldn’t seem to get it together to, you know, actually finish something this month. But I do have several things in progress, so here’s my monthly update.

So here’s what’s been happening in my little world…

1. Knitting project the first. Awhile ago, I started knitting the Latte Baby Coat for Hobbit, after inheriting some bulky acrylic from a cousin who tried knitting and decided it wasn’t for her. I thought this would be a quick project because of the thick yarn. Boy, was I wrong! For one thing, I had to entirely frog and restart it, because I originally started to make the hooded version. Then I realized that I misread something, and was several stitches short. That, and the hood took nearly half of my main color of yarn. So I started again, with the admittedly less cute hoodless version. Hobbit currently hates all things resembling hats anyway, so I guess it’s for the best. And this is how far I’ve gotten. I had to buy another skein of yarn anyway, as this is much more of a yarn hog than I’d anticipated. I’ve discovered that bulky yarn is hard on my hands, too. So I can only do a few rows at a time. I’m glad that I started this as early as I did, since I’m not sure if it would be ready for the cold weather otherwise. You know, if he even lets me put it on him in the first place. He’s in full fledged toddler mode now at 14 months, so you never know!

2. Knitting project the second: I decided to mix it up and also start a long-planned project for myself. I’ve been wanting a nice mustard cardigan for awhile, so I finally started it. I still need to acquire one smaller cable needle for it. Amazon sent me the wrong needle size, and trying to wrestle Hobbit into the car seat to drive five minutes to the post office to do a return and hope they send me the right size doesn’t seem worth it. So I’ll just order another one sometime. Like in a year or two when I’m close enough to finishing this cardigan to actually have to think of button bands. Did I mention that I am quite possibly the slowest knitter on the planet?

3. Sewing project the first: I finally started the Grainline Archer shirt that I’ve had queued for, oh, two or so years. I think what was holding me back was the fabric. It’s a perfectly serviceable, lovely-feeling Japanese linen…but oh so plain navy blue. I just couldn’t get excited about that, especially since 2 of my 3 pairs of pants that vaguely fit are blue jeans. (I do have some gray denim to fill that particular wardrobe hole, but you see how long it takes me to actually sew things on my list…) But thanks to some inspiration from a fairly recent issue of Seamwork, I’ve gotten past my mental block, and am quite excited about my embellishment! This is the yoke and the collar, with the addition of sashiko embroidery. I’m also going to do this on the cuffs. I won’t go into more details now, since I’m also possibly the last indie pattern user on the planet to make this shirt and I’ll need something to talk about in the finished project post. But I am quite pleased so far. And, surprisingly, enjoying the process quite a bit.

4. Sewing project the second: I have fall sewing on the brain, and therefore cut out a shirt from some fabric that’s been in my stash for at least a decade. It’s stuck here for two reasons at the moment. My attempt to tea dye some stark white inexpensive crochet lace trim resulted in barely any color change at all, and I need to give that a second go. As you can see, it’s still too bright. Also, I ran out of thread that was even remotely matching, and couldn’t refill my bobbin until I bought more. But hey, I’m stashbusting!

5. I did the worst closet purge of my life. I had to part with so many me mades this time that still just don’t fit anywhere remotely close to well. A few things that I couldn’t bear to fully let go of, like this jacket and all of my Thurlow pants, are going into the refashion bin. Maybe those pants can at least be revived as kid’s shorts or pants, because I only got about one year’s use out of them and the fabric is still in great condition. Plus then I get to keep the buttons. Still, I’m rather bummed about this whole process.

6. I did buy some fabric. Mostly for Hobbit’s Halloween costume this year, which I’ve gotten as far as tracing some pieces and sketching out for some hand-painting that needs to happen with it. But I also did some selfish shopping for a sewing dare. Gillian dared me to make myself an everyday outfit based on Lord of the Rings costumes! So I bought a piece for my main component. (I needed something for free shipping on Fabric.com anyway.) More on that later, since the Halloween project has to take higher priority.

7. On top of all of this, I’ve sloooooowly been making a fourth and hopefully final batch of cloth diapers, which will hopefully last through any growth spurts that may come before Hobbit is ready for us to start the dreaded toilet training process. I’ve got the covers done as of this month, but need some time to do the inserts. It’s just serging around rectangles and adding some stitching for fold lines, but I still have to cut about half of them out in the first place, too.

I think that’s all of it! So I’ll have something finished to show. Eventually.

summer sewing daydreams

Well, here we are…about 2 1/2 weeks before my due date. Sadly, I’ve reached the point where it’s just too physically difficult for me to start any new sewing projects, other than the hand-stitching I’ve been doing on a second quiet book. (Thanks for all the kind words on the last one, by the way! It was fun.) Between my back refusing to let me sit comfortably anywhere for longer than 5 minutes, and my belly getting in the way of both the sewing machine table and my ability to get the leverage needed to work the foot pedal, I’ve just had to accept that I’m just going to have to wait and see what sort of time I can carve out to delve back into this with a newborn. I have managed to finish a couple of things this month, which I’ll show soon. But I’m coping in the meantime by playing around with pairing patterns and fabrics in my stash to figure out some potential projects that will be forgiving of the changes in my figure that will still be happening/easy to adapt to my new lifestyle of mostly stay-at-home mom. I do plan on picking up the music/sewing lessons I teach again, hopefully around mid-to-late August. So teaching-friendly clothes are ok, and I don’t have to do all yoga pants. I don’t even own a pattern for yoga pants, anyway. So there’s good incentive to not even go there!

(Honestly, I’ve managed to stay within the recommended range for pregnancy weight gain, even though it sounds like Hobbit is going to be a bigger baby than I’d expected–not a 9-10 pounder, thank God, but still bigger than either of us or our siblings. I guess all that nausea has been good for something after all! So I’m hoping that means that maybe all of those Thurlow pants will fit again this fall, since I didn’t have to give them up until almost the second trimester. That would help sooo much.)

Anyway, here’s some of the potential ideas I’ve been bouncing around:

1. Megan Nielsen Darling Ranges dress. This one is at the top of the list, honestly. I’ve had this pattern/fabric combo bagged up with notions for about 2 years now, with the intention of sewing it for the summer-to-fall transition. But other projects kept getting in the way. I still really like this rayon challis print, though, and I’d like to see it become something. The bonus is that there’s so many colors to pick from in the print that it’ll be easy to adapt to fall layering with boots and leggings. Plus, it’ll go great with the next cardigan I plan to make for myself, whenever I finish the quiet book and can get back to knitting instead of hand-stitching! The gathered/tie back waist should make it forgiving for whatever’s going on with my waistline, and the button front means it’ll be great for nursing.  I am thinking that maybe I should wearable-muslin this first, since I do have some bedsheets in the muslin bin with a similar drape to this fabric, and my bust measurement is already a whopping 5″ bigger than it used to be! (Good thing I hadn’t traced this one out yet, right?)

2. Sewaholic Rae skirt. I bought this one kind of on a whim during one of her past sales, since it looked like it would be a more flattering fast skirt to sew than some of the older patterns that I had. I’ve never made it, but elastic waists are sounding pretty good right now, since they’ll be a little more adjustable as I lose some of these pounds I’ve put on. Also, I could use some bottomwear, since I have basically zero shorts that will fit me this summer, other than a couple of elastic-waisted pairs I picked up at the thrift store recently that I’m just hoping will fit–not like I could try them on to see. I’m also not sure how many of my skirts I’ll be able to squeeze into, or how quickly. That’s what I get for generally preferring the fitted waist aesthetic, right? I probably won’t do quite this many, but here’s a couple of things I found in the stash that might work. (If I combine the black linen-looking stuff and the camel linen, at least– I don’t really have enough of either to make anything, since they’re both leftover pieces, but have been thinking for awhile that they might pair nicely.)

3. Seamwork Adelaide dress. I was really excited to see this one in the current issue, because it looks like it’ll be a really forgiving make as far as sizing goes, though still a little more flattering because of the belt. And, again, it’s a really nursing-friendly option. I do have a pattern subscription at the moment, so the pattern is safely downloaded and awaiting printing. I’m thinking maybe this twill for it–it was given to me for free and I have quite a bit of it, so it’s not a huge loss if the pattern doesn’t work for me. My one debate is whether to hunt down those snaps, or to just use buttons, since I do have a lot of buttons. Particularly, I have these sparkly red ones that I got to make a Beignet skirt that never happened–I later ended up deciding that a red skirt isn’t really something I’d use much, and swapped the fabric–and I think that and maybe some red topstitching could provide some much-needed interest to this otherwise rather boring fabric. Thoughts?

4. Grainline Archer blouse. I’ve had this pattern, and this Japanese linen fabric that I specifically bought for it, for about a year and a half now. And since this is a looser shirt by nature, I probably won’t have to size it up quite as much as I would other patterns. Which will make it more forgiving for (hopeful) weight loss, too! The pattern is printed, but I do need to assemble it.

5. Colette Mabel skirt. Another pattern I own/have printed, but haven’t tried yet. It’s not like I haven’t gotten plenty of practice sewing knits lately, but I do have a couple of interlock jerseys from Joann’s that are a little on the thick side for tops (I know, because I’ve used them for a couple of tops), so this could be a good candidate for fast, easy bottomwear. This color is the only one I have that’s large enough by itself, but I do have some brown as well that might work if I pair it with something else. Or just buy a little more fabric. I bet Joann’s still has it.

6. A nursing top or two. I think I could make one pretty quickly from Simplicity 1469, since I’ve already used that one and I have some knits that would work well together for a sleeveless version. (I just might want to reduce the width of the back a little, since I won’t have to make it quite so maternity.) I’ve been advised by a couple of helpful sewcialists that the smaller nursing openings will probably work better than I thought, so thank you for that tip! Another option is to play around with altering one of my more basic knit top patterns. I’m thinking maybe the Deer & Doe Plantain to start, since I won’t have to worry about the waist sizing, given that it fit me as it was until probably month 6! Also, Heather was kind enough to pull out some of her old nursing tops awhile back and Instagram a few pictures for me so I could get some ideas, and the Plantain looked like a very good candidate for some similar hacking. (Thanks, Heather!)

Other possibilities already in my stash for maybe a little more down the road, when I have a better idea of sizing…Some, but not all, pictured here: a nursing-hacked Renfrew, the Granville blouse, the Yaletown blouse, the Maria Denmark Edith dress/blouse, the Espresso leggings (because I’ve decided I like leggings for layering under skirts, and definitely not because I’ve decided I like leggings as pants!), this random Simplicity shirtdress that I forgot I had, Butterick 5084 looks like it would be fairly easy to hack for nursing based on tutorials I’ve seen, and I could possibly adapt Butterick 5206 to be a real wrap top instead of a faux wrap top. I’ve been wanting to revisit that pattern for awhile anyway, and I think one of my Paris fabrics could be perfect for it!

I’m trying to look at this as more of a list of ideas, and not an actual project list. After all, I’m not sure how quickly I’ll be able to sew anything, especially if I can only grab 10-15 minutes here and there. It’s hard to predict, without knowing how well this baby will nap and things like that. I know I’m prone to overly ambitious lists of what I think I can get done in any given season, and I don’t want to put myself in a position where I’m frustrated about how little I’m finishing when I’m already going to be sleep-deprived and trying to learn a whole new skill set to enable tiny human survival. At the same time, Future Zombie Me will probably benefit from having a more narrowed-down list of possibilities for when I do have some time here and there to work on something. It’s going to be hard for me to not have a concrete list of plans, but hopefully I’ll be able to adapt and go with the flow a little more for now.

Have you ever had a season where you knew sewing time was going to be a rare commodity, or you were going to have some serious measurement changes? How did you deal?

the March round-up, and April/May plans!

I’m really liking these monthly round-ups. Since I’ve been mostly doing finished project posts lately, it’s a good way to keep tabs both on my stashbusting attempts and the longer-term projects/quickies that don’t necessarily need individual posts.

Projects finished this month: 6 total. There was the diaper bag, the skirt and matching baby pants, the top I blogged the other day, and 2 more baby projects.

Project #1, with backstory: The bulk of the clothes I’ve gotten for Hobbit so far have been courtesy of my mother-in-law, who keeps finding people who are getting rid of baby boy stuff and snagging it for us. For the most part, it’s been like-new or very gently worn, so I think we’ll be able to use most of it–though I did send a stack of newborn onesies to the thrift store, because they were specifically labeled 5-8 pounds. Given the weight updates I’ve been getting at my ultrasounds, and the weights that both Doug and I were at when we were born, he’d probably fit those for a week, tops. And I also passed a few things on to one of my best friends, because neither Doug nor I cared about keeping the sports-themed clothes (they never have hockey anything on them and he doesn’t care about any other sport), she and her husband actually like football and stuff, and she’s due to have a boy about a month and a half after me–instant friend for Hobbit! Yay! She had a girl for her first baby, so all she really needs for this one is clothes, and I don’t mind sharing. Anyway. There were also a few things that I thought were generally cute, and mostly in good condition, except for some obvious staining around the necklines. I had a little mental battle between my cheapness thriftiness and not wanting to dress my kid in clothes with mystery stains that he didn’t make. Then I remembered that I can sew, and therefore I can still get some use out of this stuff!

So I took these cute-but-stained pajamas, and this organic cotton onesie that was in excellent condition, but a little boring. And I cut the frog applique off and hand-stitched it onto the onesie–I wasn’t sure how well my machine would navigate those little tiny openings, since the side seams were already closed up! (The only before picture I have was on my phone. Yes, that’s Doug playing with toys in the background–if you follow me on Instagram, you know all about my excellent thrift score on a box of K’Nex over the weekend!)

Ta-da! Much cuter onesie, in about 20 minutes. And I still have other unstained parts of the original pajamas left–maybe I can hack the legs and sleeves into a little hat or something?

Project #2: Since hockey apparently doesn’t count as a sport in the minds of people who design fabric for baby clothes, I’m having to get creative. After all, if I can make geeky stuff for the baby, I should accommodate Doug’s interests too, right? So I used some fabric left over from the one hockey bib that I made a few months ago to make a project that I promised I’d do.

He mostly gets flak for being a Pittsburgh Penguins fan, since we live in Flyers country, but his other favorite team is the Colorado Avalanche, and it’s a lot harder to find pre-made anything for that team for some reason. Even on the internet. But I did find some quilt cotton. So now our kid has Avalanche pants. The pattern is Simplicity 1330, slightly adapted because I didn’t have the right size elastic and partially because I didn’t want to bother putting the elastic in the bottom of the legs. The waistband came out huge with the length they said to cut, too, and the casings weren’t cooperating well with my wider elastic, so I also cut a few inches off. Hopefully they’ll fit him ok–these are supposed to be 6-12 month. Otherwise, super-easy–I had these cut and completely sewn in an afternoon.

Stashbusting totals for the month: About 6 1/2 yards used up. I still need to figure out what to do with the rest of that Avalanche fabric, since I have maybe 1/4 yard left. I also bought 1 yard of quilt cotton from Jo-Ann’s, because it was another hockey-themed print, and I don’t see those often. Still, used more than I bought. So yay! Total for the year so far: 27.75 yards down, just under 360 still here.

The in-progress stuff: The good news is that the newborn and small-sized diapers are completely done! I just need to finish up with the mediums, and my mom got a good chunk of that done. So I just need to finish with leg elastic and snaps. It’s definitely easier (and less boring) doing that sort of assembly-line sewing with someone else. As for my Lord of the Rings-themed quiet book, I haven’t made as much progress on that, since a nice chunk of the time I’d normally be spending on that was spent on diaper snap installation. But I have finished up to page 5 of (I think) 11, aside from machine-sewing the backing page on two of them, and am working on the 6th. So I’m about halfway there.

How I did with March’s goals: Well, the diaper bag is done, and I managed to make 2 pieces of clothing for myself instead of one, so I did well! I haven’t actually started that massive cooking project yet, save making a massive grocery list and at least figuring out which recipes to start with. But that is definitely on the agenda for this month, since I decided that it would be better to wait until closer to the time that we would actually be eating this food. Less freezer burn that way.

April’s plans (and beyond): 
 

I mentioned this sewalong in my last post, and since everything I’m sewing right now fits one of the three categories, the timing is perfect! I’m not entirely certain what order I’ll end up making things in, so I’m just going to list all of the sewing that I’m hoping to get done before June by category, and see what actually happens.

1) Baby Clothing
Not 100% sure of my plans here yet, though I do have some things set aside and some ideas.

• I have a few knit scraps pulled out that should be just enough to make a baby t-shirt. I’m also planning on freezer paper stenciling it since both fabrics are plain–with a geeky reference, of course! 
• I do have two more partially useable free baby clothes that could also get the refashion treatment. 
• I also have a couple of patterns lying around that would be fun to try out. Including one for adorable soft-sole baby shoes, and a button-down shirt one that I recently acquired. I even have an old work shirt of Doug’s hiding in my refashion bin that I can use for fabric, and I think it would be cute (and free!) to cut down Daddy’s old shirts for little boy clothes!
• And I guess finishing up those diapers can count as clothes, right? I mean, he has to wear them…

 
 2) Baby Accessories and Other Items, such as quilts, toys, burp cloths, bibs, etc.
I should be solid on bibs and burp cloths, mostly thanks to my mom!

• But I do want to make a portable changing mat to go in the diaper bag, since I have fabric left over from that. 
• I have a scrap quilt in-progress, which I’m planning on just using as a throw-on-the-floor play mat, but that’s probably lowest on my priority list right now. (A, he won’t be able to sit up for awhile, and B, that might be an ideal project to work in 5 minutes of sewing here and there shortly after he’s born, since it’s all stitching strips onto blocks.) 
• The quiet book definitely counts as a toy, and I did get some suggestions about maybe turning the rest of that Avalanche fabric into a stuffed toy, via the Stashbusting Sewalong group on Facebook.
• I also have leftover towel fabric from when I made a baby gift (for the same friend mentioned earlier) a couple of years ago, so I’d like to see if I can squeeze a hooded towel out of it. 

3) For Parents

• I have one more nursing/maternity maxi I want to make, as mentioned in my last post. I think that, for ease/speed of assembly, I’m going to just mash up the Tiramisu bodice, which I’ve already made twice and I know has some room for expansion, and the already-altered Simplicity skirt pattern from the black dress.  Which means that I’ll probably do the invisible zipper nursing alteration trick again, so maybe a tutorial post will happen?
• As mentioned in my last post, I may give that Megan Nielsen pattern another go, with a few tweaks, since I’ll need something sleeveless for the hot days too. 
• Given the colors of either project, I can also use the scraps to alter a not-quite-nursing bra that I picked up recently. The straps are the type that can snap closed in the front, so it just needs a little tweaking. 
• I also need to make myself a nursing cover. I’m pretty sure I know which stashed quilting cotton will be sacrificed for this cause, I just need to do it. 

Hopefully this isn’t too overly ambitious. But I’m determined to cram in as much time with my sewing machine as I can now, because I suspect it’ll be hard to do for awhile!

FESA plans!

It’s that time of year again! I do love this sewalong, and this is the 3rd year I’ve participated. You all know how I feel about the cold, and my ironically wool-phobic skin doesn’t help matters. (I say ironic, because since I got married, my last name now starts with Wool! Go figure.) So this is a great way to keep me focused and excited about making things to get me through the winter.

So without further ado, here are my plans for the next couple of months. I’m keeping things rather conservative this time, so maybe I can actually finish everything?

Fashionable Foundations for Frosty Weather: I have some stashed knit to try out the Espresso leggings, and I’d like to knock out a pair or two of them. Since woolly tights are a sad no-go for me, I think this could be a great way to keep my legs warmer for wearing skirts. (I wear boots with skirts a lot, so the no-foot-coverage thing won’t be an issue.) Not to mention it’s a layer I can wear under my jeans while I’m shivering my way through the last bit of October at the outside register at my retail job. (I have some black, too, but it’s a much bigger bolt since I’d also bought this fabric with that aborted attempt at a Red Velvet in mind. Oh well. I can always use black knit somewhere, right?)

Chic Chemises for Cool Climates: The definite is that I’d like to finally finish up the Roheline cardigan that I’ve been knitting since August 2013! (Though I really didn’t get it started until last September, since I had to restart no less than 7 times.) I’m so, so close to finishing the sleeves, which means I only have the yoke and buttons to go, so it’s not unreasonable. Depending on how the time goes, I also wouldn’t mind trying out the Archer blouse, since I didn’t get to that in my summer plans.

Fabulous Frocks: I would like to do a Darling Ranges dress if at all possible, since the colors will be great for taking it into the winter. Also, I meant to make it last year, so it’s time. I’m hoping to knock this one out next month, since The Monthly Stitch’s theme is “Frocktober” anyway. I’ll just need to find a layer to go over it–I have yarn to knit a yellow cardigan that will pair nicely with this, but there’s no way I’ll be able to finish 2 cardigans in this time span.

Baby It’s Cold Outside: My old peacoat that I made in 2007 is starting to fall apart. Replacing that will be first priority! (Even so, 7 years, including the polar vortex of wintry doom that we had this past year, is not bad at all for my first me-made winter coat!) I’m hoping to play around with a few more tailoring techniques, but I’m using the exact same pattern as the first one, so at least fitting won’t be an issue. I actually have started cutting this one out already, but since there’s 4 layers involved, I’m still on the outside. (The black and white tweedy fabric has been cut, but I’m underlining most of the pieces with that greyish silk organza that’s right next to it. And that’s taking a little longer. Especially given that I haven’t been able to touch it since Saturday.)

Other projects: I’m hoping to knock out a skirt before the end of the month, because a long-standing project I’ve been making for my sister-in-law is perfect for Scraptember! I may knit up a scarf, too, since I’m strongly leaning towards a one-skein project to take on my upcoming trip to France. (Next weekend! Eeeeee!) After all, I have a lot of plane/airport time, and at least 6 hours on a bus to get to Normandy and back, and I’m not sure how well my Kindle battery will hold up for a cross-continental flight. Also, I know from experience that I sadly cannot read on the bus without getting sick.  Maybe I’ll have better luck with just keeping my hands busy.

I’m also beginning to plot out what I’m going to make for the Disney sewalong that Katie and I are co-hosting in November, but that project is still a secret!

Wardrobe Architect, weeks 9-11: The Capsule Wardrobe

I’m combining the last few weeks, since it makes sense to put them all together anyway. Plus I got kind of stuck on the silhouette thing for a bit. I came to the definite conclusion to not worry about spring in my wardrobe plan. Honestly, I’m still wearing a lot of my winter clothes, and it’s April! What’s up with that?! Plus I know I have limited sewing time for awhile, so I’d rather work with what I have now and sew for the next season. I also thought it best to try to work with fabrics and patterns that I have as much as possible. Because, you know, stashbusting.

So with a focus of summer into early fall, here’s what I have in mind for my capsule wardrobe:
Silhouettes:
1. Fitted to semi-fitted top, knee-length flared/A-line skirt. I figure this can be either dresses or separates, and I’m thinking along the lines of this, minus the seasonal transition half on the right side:

2. Maxi-dress! This one shows with a denim jacket, which is probably good for summer layering as needed. Alternately, a maxi-skirt with a fitted top would work well. I do love me a flowy skirt in the summer.

3. Fitted top with fitted to semi-fitted pants/jeans. I may have to throw shorts into this category– I avoid wearing them when I can, but sometimes you really do need a pair or two for situations where a skirt is overdoing it. Like hanging out at the park. Or my retail job where I’m sitting outside in 90-100+ degree temperatures for hours. Ugh. And I really don’t have many shorts at all by this point.

Color palette: 
Like I said, I wanted to go with things that are in my stash as much as possible. And I already had several projects in mind. Mainly involving these 3 fabrics:

Fun, right?

So this is the palette that I pulled from here:

The yellow is mostly going to come through in the prints, but I do need some warm colors in my wardrobe! And no green this time (aside from what’s in that one print), surprisingly, but I do have quite a few green things by now, and I’ve been feeling a need to have more purple in my closet for awhile now. And royal blue, because I don’t have a ton of that at the moment either.

The pieces:
Sarai suggested going through your closet and seeing what you already have that fits the palette and silhouettes first, so I’m going to start with that, and then make my sewing wishlist.

What I have:
Tops: my purple Sadie tank, my French Vanilla knit top, black and ivory camisoles, a basic black v-neck tee and tank, a longer/flowier black tank with ivory trim, a drapier cowl-neck ivory tank, a black semi-fitted pullover blouse, my knitted Odyssey tank, a thrifted plum-colored short-sleeve knit top, a couple of graphic t-shirts
Bottoms: A basic black a-line skirt, a shorter dark denim skirt, my TARDIS skirt, my charcoal and navy Thurlows. (Charcoal’s close enough to black for this purpose.) Also a couple pairs of jeans. I’ll throw my sunflower skirt into this as well, because it does have the blue and purple.
Dresses:  None that fit the palette. Honestly, I had to recently get rid of the majority of my dresses due to some weight gain/fitting issues. (No, I’m not pregnant, I just gained a little weight after the wedding, probably from basically eating out at fancy restaurants for every meal during our resort honeymoon–and maybe a few too many strawberry daquiris–and I’m having trouble getting it to go away again.) So this is an area of my wardrobe that could use a few things for sure.
Layering pieces: a plum 3/4 sleeve jacket, my reconstructed black short-sleeved cardigan

What I hope/plan to make: (all from stash unless otherwise noted)

Pile o’ stash!!

Tops:

1. A navy daisy-print tank, most likely a slightly modified Sorbetto.
2. A royal blue button-down blouse, from a Burda mag. I’ve had the idea for awhile now, but I’m too lazy to look up the pattern.
3. A navy Archer blouse, which will probably be closer to the fall.
4. A striped ivory knit tee–hoping to use the Plantain but we’ll see if I have enough fabric. Done, cardigan-style.

Bottoms:

1. Fitted/skinny-ish jeans. I think I’m going to attempt to use up the denim from the TARDIS skirt to figure this out, because I have an idea for how I can make it a design feature if I need to make them a bit roomier, thanks to the shiny side.
2. Thurlow shorts. I think I might have just enough of the navy and charcoal denims from the pants to squeeze some out. And it’s not like I don’t know how to fit this pattern by now, am I right?
3. Solid black Thurlow pants, which I do not currently have fabric for.
4. Possibly some black Clover pants– I have fabric that will work, but have not tested this pattern yet. So we’ll see if I get to it.
5. If I have time, a Pavlova skirt. The fabric I have is currently white with black polka dots, but I’m planning to dye it.
6. I also have a plum skirt that I can do a quick refashion of to make it a better skirt.

Dresses:

1. A navy/ivory Cambie (which is actually going to be one of my next projects) Done!
2.  A plum/yellow/royal/white Darling Ranges. This may be closer to fall, it depends on whether I decide to stick with the elbow-length sleeves or make them shorter.
3. A yellow/white/turquoise Reglisse dress. I’m planning on fully underlining this in gold Bemberg, both for opacity and in hopes that it gives the white a little more of an ivory tone.
4. A plum/green/white/ knit Tiramisu maxi-dress Done!
5. A black tank knit maxidress, from McCall’s 6559. (I know, it looks a lot like the Mission Maxi, and normally I’d be all about supporting the indie designers, but I got the pattern from less than $1.)

Layering pieces:

1. a 3/4 sleeve jacket, from the ivory/black embroidered twill I got at Mood and Simplicity 4491 (which I’ll modify to shorten and cuff the sleeves.)
2. An ivory Carmine shrug. I wanted to make the jacket, but I only have a yard of the knit. Oh well.
3.  a yellow knitted cardigan, which I already have yarn and a pattern for, but starting it will have to wait until I finish my grey cardigan.

I’m hoping this isn’t horribly over-ambitious of me. Especially since I still have some costume sewing to do (or start– I just finished cutting the one part of my Tauriel costume out on Tuesday), some refashion projects I’d love to get to on the side, I do need some summer pajamas, and I also would love to get a Cooper bag made up before the end of the summer. And I do have a winter coat that will need replacing, which I really should try to start by the beginning of September. I figure the knits will go fast, especially since they’re mostly patterns I’ve used before. So we’ll see how this goes.