Plugging The Holes In My Wardrobe . . .

I'm very happy with the sportswear section of my wardrobe--I love my Autumn wardrobe! I wore my forest green top with my purple shawl collared cardi yesterday and was happy as pie in it!!! :-)

But the other areas of my wardrobe are . . . uh, almost non-existent!

When I cleaned out my closet, I got rid of almost all of my suits and sheaths. I only have a few suits left. And believe it or not, I don't have a single fitted LBD hanging in my closet. Not even a simple one. I donated them all.

Let's see--I don't have a trench jacket or a black pant suit. No fitted white shirts. Zero fitted black dresses. And no black and white printed skirts. Black pants? Uh, no, except for 2 pairs of black yoga pants. I need some basic black and white pieces in my wardrobe.

Sooo . . . I'm making the following, all with stash:

3 black fitted dresses
1 black trench jacket--either the one on my concept board or the trench from BWOF 02-2009
1 black pant suit--can't wait to make this!!!
3 fitted white shirts--all OOP
1 black and white skirt
1 pair of black pants


Voila . . . my concept board:







Well, the black knit pantsuit is out the window! :-) I thought about it a little more and I really don't like knit suits of any sort, so I'm using the knit fabric for a yoga set instead.

Yesterday, I finished my plum corduroy jacket and tweaked some of my Autumn clothes. Then I got started on the 3 black fitted dresses. They'll be perfect for some things that are coming up fast! I'm using TNTs and will be finished with them by the weekend. After the dresses, I'm working on the black suit, then the trench, tops, skirt and pants. Or I might save the trench for last.

I'm going to try very hard to zip through this wardrobe. I want to finish all of it before the New Year--I don't want to carry over unfinished sewing projects from this year into next year.

To make it happen, I'll be squeezing in a little sewing every single day for the next few weeks.

Busy hands=happy me!
Em

S2818 - My Plum Corduroy Jacket - ALMOST DONE!

I didn't sit down to sew until late in the day on Saturday, so I didn't get to finish my plum corduroy jacket, but I did get a lot of it done. All I have left are the buttonholes and buttons, and sewing the lining down at the hem.

I used a plum colored corduroy and a navy lining. I used my walking foot and the fabrics were a breeze to work with.

I chose to make this jacket because of the style of the collar and I wasn't disappointed. I really like this collar! It's high in the back, but not in the front. And the gathering gives it a very stylish look. I also like the princess seams and love that the empire line of this jacket is not too high--it's a good length. The pleated sleeves and flap pockets are also style elements that I really like. The jacket is nicely fitted, too--not baggy or loose, which is exactly what I wanted! I'm so glad I decided to make this!

Here it is:




And here's the pattern that I used:





I usually don't look at instructions, but I did for this and they were excellent! Great graphics, too! I like the steps of construction that Simplicity laid out for this jacket--I really like the way they constructed this jacket and the instructions made everything quite easy to do.

I thought the way they tacked the pocket flap down was neat-o--sew along the topstitching on one end of the flap, and at the end of the stitching line, sew diagonally down to the corner of the flap. It's the first time I'd ever sewn a flap down like this and I really like this technique!





I also really like that the pattern pieces are precision drafted--everything fit together perfectly! Just perfectly!

I did make one little mistake--an operator error. I cut my sleeves a little too short and didn't have enough to turn over for a decent hem that the lining could be stitched to. I didn't have enough fabric to cut another set of sleeves, so I cut a facing for the sleeves. I sewed it on with a narrow seam, turned it, hand hemmed it--the length is perfect and I now have enough of a hem so I don't have to line the sleeves to the edge. I can sew the lining to the facing the high end RTW way--where the lining overhangs and ends a little above the bottom edge of the sleeve.

Other than correcting my error, there are only 2 things that I did differently when I sewed this, and they both concerned the sleeves' open pleat. 1) Rather than sewing the pleat as an inverted pleat, I turned it towards the back. It's more streamlined this way. 2) I sewed the pleat closed on the lining only. When the pleat wasn't sewn closed, my fingers had a tendency to get caught in the open end of the pleat when I put the jacket on. After I sewed the pleat closed, the problem disappeared.

But that's all I did differently.

All I have left to do now are the hem, and the buttonholes and buttons--I will probably use black buttons for this.

Then, on to my black knit pantsuit!

Enjoy the day,
Em

A Black Knit Pantsuit

After having worn my ruffled jacket:





I decided to build a suit around the jacket style, so I'm going to make this black knit suit this weekend:


I graphically cropped my jacket (I would say photoshopped, but I don't use photoshop) to look as short as I want my suit jacket to be. I'm making the suit out of a 60 inch wide black knit fabric.

I'm NOT making elastic waist pants. I've made elastic waist pants as part of knit pantsuits a few times this year and last, and found that although they were super quick and easy to sew and looked fine, they were too comfy for my taste. When I wore the knit suits with elastic waist pants, I felt like I was wearing yoga pants. Not good. All of the elastic waist pants that were part of knit suits have either been donated or relegated to the yoga pants part of my wardrobe.

This time around, I'm making dressy zippered knit pants. I'm making a boot cut version of OOP Vogue 2920, which is a pattern specifically for knit pants:




The jacket is going to take around 1.5 hours. I've never sewn the pants before and will be making a pin fitted muslin first, so I don't know how long the pants will take, but I'm getting started on this suit as soon as I finish my plum corduroy jacket.

Enjoy the day!
Em

What I Like About Wardrobe Plans . . .

It's usually so busy here that I'm usually running around at the speed of light and can't always respond to comments on a timely basis, but I do read them, and I want to thank everyone for stopping by and for leaving comments! I want you to know that I truly do appreciate them! THANK YOU!!! :-)

A while back, as in waaaay back, Karin said that she doesn't think she could plan a whole wardrobe because she'd change her mind too often.

Karin has a point. I agree that planned wardrobes are not for everyone. But they are F-U-N!!! Picking fabric and picking patterns and picking notions for an entire wardrobe, then deciding how you're going to tweak everything, and making a concept board to cover it all--now that's HUGE fun!!! I feel like I'm playing 'clothing designer' when I'm in that stage of the process!

If the possibility of changing an original plan is what's keeping anyone from sewing a wardrobe, please don't let that stop you. It's ok to change your plan . . . as many times as you want to. My plan went through a gazillion iterations! :-O I made so many changes that I stopped updating my concept board because it was taking up too much time. :-)

I'm totally ok with lots and lots of plan modifications because my wardrobe has to work for me. And besides, designers do this all the time with their collections. It's great to sew an original plan as is, but changing the plan is ok, too. It shows that you are thinking about the possibilities and are striving to make it better.

What I really like about sewing a planned wardrobe is that because everything in a capsule coordinates, it's incredibly easy to throw an outfit together. Before I sewed my first capsule, I had days when I'd have a top that I wanted to wear, but no skirt and maybe no jacket or sweater that matched because the styles or colors clashed. That style and color clash thing used to get me a LOT!

When I started sewing capsules, everything changed. I've been sewing wardrobes for several years, but just with the smaller Autumn capsule that I recently completed, I can close my eyes and pick a top, and I know I'll be able to wear it because I have bottoms and a cardi that I sewed to specifically match it. From the 10 pieces, I have 20 different combos without the cardi, and 20 with the cardi--that's a total of 40 different outfits I can throw together from the 10 pieces:







With my fuller Autumn wardrobe, I have more choices because I sewed jackets and several other cardis that will match it, too.




For me, wardrobe sewing is one of the greatest sewing things ever!!! I'm hooked on them!

If anyone hasn't tried a wardrobe plan, yet, definitely give it some serious consideration. If a 10+ piece plan is too big to stick with, you can always try a smaller 4 piece capsule--2 tops, 1 bottom and a topper.

So, I've covered the upside. Now here's the downside. I have found that the biggest pitfall about sewing a planned wardrobe is getting sick of it before it's finished. It's happened to me in the past--usually when I'm working with styles, colors or fabrics that I'm not crazy about. If this happens to you, for whatever reason, change your plan. Or complete the piece you're working on, then call it finished. If you get sick of planned sewing, definitely don't force yourself to stick with it until all of the pieces are finished. If you do, your mojo might decide to take a loooong vacation.

BUT if you create a plan around colors, fabrics and styles that you are mad about, you will probably be able to stay with your plan and complete it.

Wardrobe sewing is definitely not for everyone.

But I definitely like it . . . sometimes. :-p

Enjoy the day,
Em

The Full Version of My Autumn Wardrobe

At the end of 2007, I couldn't stand most of what I had in my closet, so I thoroughly cleaned it out. And I cleaned it out again at the end of 2008. Throughout this year, I've been cleaning it out regularly, so for all of this year, it has always only been partially stocked. With this Autumn wardrobe, it's still only partially stocked, but I am getting closer to fully stocking it and am finally getting my wardrobe to where I want it to be. I actually like all of the bottoms and little fitted tops that I've sewn. This is the full version of my Autumn wardrobe--mostly purple and shades of, in styles that I really like:








I'm trying very hard to stick to my resolve not to keep anything that I don't truly like and in keeping true to that, I did get rid of one piece that just wasn't me--this one:



I love the style, but the color, lavender pink, was a little too pink for me. I rarely wear pink, so I donated it. A couple of the tops in my wardrobe might appear to be lavender pink, but IRL, they're lavender blue. And the tops that appear to be pastel blue are actually lavender blue, too--it's a hard color to capture.

I still have to finish 5 more things for Autumn, and then my Autumn wardrobe will truly be complete:

This plum corduroy jacket, which is already partially sewn:





And a denim style jacket that I'm making out of navy corduroy--it'll go perfectly with the purples and plums in my Autumn wardrobe. It's going to be similar to the jacket below (the P&P McCalls pattern), but not exactly because I'm using a different pattern. I really like this style and have been wanting a nice fitted denim style jacket like this for a while:


These 2 skirts are already cut out:





And last of all, this pair of tan pants--I love tan pants for Autumn:



The queue never ends . . . and I'm very glad about that! :-)

Enjoy the day!
Em

The Topper & the 3 Tops

I used recently OOP McCalls 5533 for the topper:




I made the short version and used a black knit. As is, it's drafted to be very boxy, so I put in some side shaping and a shaped center back seam to make it more fitted. I also sewed this with 3/4 length sleeves.

I really didn't like that the front ruffles weren't full, so I didn't use the front ruffle pattern piece. I used the pattern piece for the sleeve flounce, instead. I cut it on the fold, cut open one end and attached it to the front edge. It doesn't go from neckline to hem, but it was perfect for me because I wanted it shorter than the hemline. I also wanted a double layer of ruffles and cut a second layer that was a little narrower than the first. The ruffles are full and I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

This was a super easy and super fast pattern to sew. I don't know about anyone else, but I sometimes sew things on the same day that I want to wear them--this is that type of project. If you're going out and at the last minute decide that you want a new topper for the occasion, this is definitely one to consider! It only took about 1 - 1 1/2 hours to complete, and I hem by hand. If you hem by machine, it would probably take even less time.

For the lavender ruffled top, I used Simplicity 3684:





I made the version with the front yoke. I added 2 columns of narrow full ruffles on each side. And then I worked on the fit. It has back vertical darts and front side darts, but it isn't drafted to be fitted. As is, it's as poufy as it looks on the model in the pic above. I wanted it more fitted, so I increased the back darts in the waist area, added side shaping and vertical front darts. I'm happy with the fit.

At first, I made it with the mandarin collar. In the pattern's pic and in the line drawings, the collar is shown open a little, but sewn up, it overlaps. It overlaps so much that you could actually put a button there. I ended up taking off the collar because it looked too buttoned up and stuffy on me. I thought about several ways to finish the neckline and finally decided on a high vee. I've been wanting a yoked ruffle top for a while and I'm glad that I finally have one.


For the reddish purple top, I morphed McCalls 5803 and Simplicty 2564:





I wanted a sleeveless top so I used the McCalls pattern for that part, but I made several changes. I eliminated the front band and used button and loop closures. I added a modesty panel, too. Instead of the long ruffle from the the McCalls pattern, I wanted a flared ruffle with a bandless collar, so I used the Simplicity pattern for that part. I don't know if it's the way I sew, but the pieces from the different patterns fit together without any difficulty. The fabric that I used was very difficult to deal with, but the pattern morph was not.


And lastly, I used OOP Vogue 7826 for the green top:




I used a woven without any stretch. I made my usual petite adjustments and eliminated the back band and the sleeves. Because of my petite adjustments, I had to reposition the open darts, but that wasn't difficult to do.

Out of everything, my fave piece from this wardrobe is the wrap top:




From OOP Vogue 8269:





If you ever see this pattern and like this style, scoop it up right away! What I really like about this top is that it has cut in shoulders paired with a wing collar--it's a very vintage 40s style, but what's exceptional about this pattern is that it's not backless. A lot of patterns for similar styles are backless, but I don't care for backless styles because the back tends to droop on me. I'll probably be making a gazillion of this top.


I have a couple of other projects to finish up and then I'm going to start on a suit--still trying to decide on the style, but I'm leaning towards this one by Tracy Reese:





Enjoy the day!
Em

My Autumn Wardrobe - All Done!!!

Whew! Finally finished it!





Enjoy the day!
Em