Sunday, April 9, 2017

Capsule Wardrobe Progress

Planing a capsule wardrobe has been a blast! It has come with plenty of editing and changing of plans too, on the other hand!

I found a better floral fabric and then decided to base the rest of my wardrobe colors around that. I have less colors altogether that I am working with but I think it works better! I made an Everyday Skirt in a denim fabric that was more thick than I originally thought so I took the skirt in some until I liked it. I added a scallop skirt I made a long time ago to the wardrobe and I made a Pendrell blouse that I think turned out fantastic (the fuchsia one above with the ruffles)!

I made a navy striped shirt that did not turn out! It was my first time sewing with knit fabric and even though I took it apart and resewed it a three times (!!!) it was still not right. It was too big and I'm tired of working on it now. I put it in my repair basket and perhaps I will try to fix it later, but maybe I won't! I made plans for another kind of shirt just in case.

Below is my updated plans for my capsule wardrobe! We'll see how it changes as I move forward but I'm liking the plans I've made so far.

After all this you may ask, what is a capsule wardrobe? From the everygirl.com it says, "A mini wardrobe of really versatile pieces that you love to wear". If you are wanting to delve into the process of making your own capsule wardrobe, use the formula above (which can give you 96 different outfits) or look up Wardrobe Sudoku and use that method. The Wardrobe Architect series on the Colette Blog has been so helpful for me and I also loved the book The Curated Closet

It's been fun to take a look back at all changes I've made trying to make a wardrobe that works for me. I hope this month that I can sew my floral shirt and skirt! Wish me luck! 

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Dress Like Your Grandma Challenge



 I find the subject of family history endlessly fascinating. When I heard about Mrs. Hughes' Dress Like Your Grandma Challenge where one gets to sew an item of clothing to recreate an ancestor's picture, I knew I had to join in! Sewing and genealogy?! Yes please!


I used the top of pattern Butterick B6212
to make this shirt. I have a few things I still want to tweak about it, but it is good enough for now!

I chose to make a copy of my Great Grandma Jackie's sweetheart shirt because I always thought it was so pretty and it was from one of the few family pictures I have. 

My Great Grandma Jackie was a very different person than I am. She was very funny and popular. That information always intimidated me, a very introverted nerd! She was an extremely talented pianist and she was very fashionable.

Doing this challenge was so much fun! I get that I am not the greatest hairstylist and maybe this whole look works better for my grandma, but it's still neat to see oneself besides an ancestor! It's cool to look back and think about where one's family comes from and hear the stories of their lives!




And because I can, I am also adding it to the 2017 Vintage Pledge Pinterest board!