Being my Wardrobe Architect

Anyone else been following the Wardrobe Architect on Coletterie?  I thought it was cool at first, but wasn't really following until my great closet purge of '14.  I realized I want to be waaaaay more intentional about my clothes, both purchased and made.

So, although there have been ten "assignments" so far, I would break it down into 4 categories (excluding the beauty post, because I don't think that one really helped me).

Defining your style, Identifying silhouettes, Identifying your colors and prints, and creating a capsule wardrobe.

Defining my style

I'll be honest.  Reading the first questionnaire (Making Style Personal) is what turned me off this whole thing in the first place.  It just seemed...over the top?  I didn't think my family or culture really had an affect on my style.  And while I'm still not sure they do, I think this step helped inform the weeks to come.

But while my style is very, very different from my family and friends, I do think my personality, which is what draws me to certain items, is informed by them.  I come from a big extended family.  There are a lot of us, we are loud, we like to have fun.  Our last Christmas celebration was a night of karaoke, booze, food, and love.  I love us.  Between that, and growing up in the performing arts, I am not afraid to be expressive with my clothes.

I have also found that my mental health affects the way I dress in a huge way.  Dark, neutral, knits = low.  Bright, structured clothes that take a bit more effort = high.

Some other things that I think affect my style

• Climate.  It's hot, y'all.  I think the biggest effect this has is the lack of seasonal changes.  I don't have seasonal clothes.  The addition of tights, cardigans, and light jackets is really enough to handle our winters.
• Comfort.  I don't wear heels.  I won't wear heels.  I don't really like to wear pants.  I like to be comfortable.
• Animals.  I really, really, really love animals.  A lot of the prints I choose reflect this in a big way (this is also evident in my house.  LOTS of animal themed art).
• Philosophy.  This is something that is relatively new, but I'm trying to focus a lot on limiting my consumerism and being an intentional consumer.

For the second week, we had to choose style icons and words that described clothes we like, clothes we hate, how we want to feel, etc.

My icons had a lot in common.  Feminine, comfortable, easy.

Zooey Deschanel, Taylor Swift, Alexa Chung, Dianna Agron

I had a lot of words, but these are the five I eventually narrowed it down to.  This is how I'd like my style to be described.

Identifying Silhouettes

This section was really pretty simple for me.  I know what shapes I like.  Fuller skirts with slim tops and cardigans.  Skinny pants with slouchier tops.  Slim dresses with cardigan.

And sometimes boots, but nearly always - ballet flats.

Here are a couple of mine, but there were no surprises for me.

Identifying Colors and Prints

The most fun part of this whole thing has been the colors.  I love color, I love coloring, I just loved this.  I made my color chart on my iPad using the Paper app, which makes it really fun and easy to mix colors.

I have three of those colors on today (poppy, royal, and putty).  So I think it's a pretty good indication

Now, I love bright colors, but I also love prints.  Like most beginning sewers, I went crazy buying a bunch of novelty prints when I first started sewing.  Some of these were really great purchases, and things I'll get a ton of wear out of.  But it makes putting separates together a real challenge.  Still, I love a good novelty print and I'm not giving them up (I actually bought two more yesterday, and am psyched to put them to use!).

So I put these together to illustrate the types of prints I love.  Yes, novelty prints, especially involving animals (and especially especially involving cats).  But I also love florals, stripes, and abstracted geometric shapes.

What I'd like to focus on soon is what I call "effective solids."  So, not a solid, but something I can mix with other prints easily.  Keep in mind, one of my words is loud, so this may not be everyone's cup of tea.  But I would consider the stripe, the polka dots, and probably the watercolor floral in this group to be effective solids.

And talking percentages, I would say at least 50% of my wardrobe is prints, and that's how I would like to keep it.  I wear prints almost every day.  They make me happy, and the clothes I reach for over and over again are prints.  The sheep print in the bottom right, that makes up my very favorite dress, that I grab as soon as it comes out of the wash.  I have another novelty print coming that I'm going to make into the same pattern (which is very similar to the yellow dress above).  I just love it.

Creating your Capsule Wardrobe

So this is the next step.  It came up while I was on vacation, so I haven't really started yet.  but I do have a lot of plans for clothes to make this spring/summer.  Too many really.

I'll probably do another post with those plans, but I'm starting this weekend with a dark olive green silk pleated skirt that I'm SO psyched about.  I think, now that I'm nearing the end of this process, it is really cool how all of the steps came together to help plan a wardrobe.  It's really helping me to think about things in an intentional way.

I have 16 pieces in the planning stages.  All are perfectly suited to our weather (including a cream terry sweatshirt that will be great for the air conditioned tundra that is the Southern movie theater).  5 are solids, 5 are effective solids, and 6 are prints that range from the novelty-est of novelty (the cat portraits above) to a small scale floral that's not quite so bold.  And many of them can work well together and work with things I already have.  I'm really excited about the plan coming together like this!

Look what's new at ModCloth!

Great minds, I guess?

ModCloth version:  $79

My version:  I'd say under $15

I haven't worn this one in a while.  I've found that my skills have increased so fast since I started making clothes, and when I go back to the first few things I made, I they just don't feel as good as the newer stuff.  Maybe I'll wear it tomorrow!  Still, it makes me want to take mine apart and make it gathered instead of pleated.  I think it would be way more flattering than the irregular pleats, which I was never a huge fan of anyway.

One Sweet Blouse

I'm back!  After a looooong and wonderful vacation, I'm back home and slowly emerging from my pile of e-mails.  I had an amazing time and so enjoyed seeing the differences in fashion between the US and UK/Ireland (Super short skirts, leggings as pants, madness all around).  But now that I'm home, I'm excited to get back to sewing!  I have a project for this weekend already picked out, and I'll be working with legit expensive silk for the first time.  Here's hoping I won't fuck it up!

And now for a project that I finished right before we left.

There were two things driving me to make this blouse.

First, a recognized need for more solids in my wardrobe.  I actually didn't own a white blouse before I finished this one.  Second, I bought these crazy adorable vintage milk glass buttons on Etsy and needed to make something with them.

I chose a plain seersucker because let's be honest, it's real hot where I live.  And I think this will work perfectly throughout the summer.

This is not something that I would reach for in a store.  I tend toward brighter colors, prints, and usually avoid button downs.  But that's exactly why I needed it in the first place.

I am really, really happy with how this turned out.  I muslined it first, and was super frustrated by the sleeves.  They fit, but it was really uncomfortable to move my arms up/to the front.  After a lot of research, I was able to figure out the issue.

Basically, when you look at a shirt laying flat (or a pattern illustration), the more severe the angle between the sleeve and the shoulder, the less room you'll have.  So a t-shirt where the sleeves basically stick straight out?  Lots of room to move.  A blouse where the sleeves are set in at a low angle?  Fat man in a little coat.

With that in mind, I redrafted the sleeves with a much more flattened sleeve head.  I was skeptical, but it totally worked.  It's WAY more comfortable and flattering.

This is SUCH a good basic.  I love how it's pairing with all of my skirts and bottoms.  I do wish it had just the tiniest bit more length so I was more comfortable wearing it with jeggings.

The best part, though, is the detail.  The seersucker is just so sweet, and the little detail of the glass buttons makes it.  This is one of those items that really doesn't "seem" handmade in person, and it looks pretty expensive.

I am going to use this pattern to make a blouse with some gray/white stripe shirting, and I'm really excited about it.  I think I can make some improvements in the fit at the high bust, and I'm going to add a cute bias detail on the back yoke.

I am really proud of the quality of my work here.  This was the first collar I've made, and I think it turned out pretty darn good!  These are by far the best buttonholes I've made.  And I'm proud of the finishing as well.

So, the stats:

Project:  White seersucker blouse
Pattern:  Colette Violet
Fabric:   Plain white seersucker, bought at High Fashion Fabrics in Houston (my fave fashion fabric store)
Notions:    thread, interfacing, 7 buttons (I had 6 so I just redid the spacing)
Skills involved:  setting sleeves, gathering, buttons/buttonholes, attaching a collar
Changes made:  Changed the button spacing to eliminate one button, redrafted sleeves for freer movement of arms.  I don't remember exactly the sizing changes, but I know I cut at least 2 sizes smaller at the shoulders than at the waist/hip.
Fuckups: None, actually!  I concentrated on taking my time here and I think it paid off.

A $5 dress

Don't you love these projects that come in at crazy cheap prices?

I bought this fabric at the weirdest store in my parents' town.  They have the most random stuff.  Gift bows, dishes, tinsel, tools.  I don't even know what to call it.  But my grandma told me I should go there for fabric.

I didn't have a ton of luck.  They did have a lot of old fabric, but I felt like for the most part their prices weren't great.  Once I went to get the two things I did find cut, I figured out that the prices are merely a suggestion.  Also they're terrible at measuring.  I told her I wanted 5 yards of this but I would take whatever they had.  She said they had under 3 yards and charged me like $1.50/yd for it.  Grand total $4.50 plus tax.  But after making this dress I still have over 1 1/2 yards.  I think it probably was closer to 5 when I started!

Anyway, as soon as I saw this dress I knew what I wanted to do with it.  Well, I knew I wanted to do one of two things.  Either a vertical striped bodice with a horizontal circle skirt, or a bodice cut on the bias.  I decided to try the bias since this fabric was so cheap, and if I couldn't figure it out, so be it.

Well, it took me quite a bit of time, mostly because these stripes are not totally consistent and don't match exactly.  But after an hour or so I had the bodice pieces cut.  The funny thing is, I was looking and looking for a pattern that would work, and I thought I would have to really alter one I already had.  Then I noticed my halloween costume balled up in the floor of my closet and realized this pattern was PERFECT.  It was made to be cut on the bias, and I love it.  This made the cutting a lot easier for me, although there was still a bit of work to do to match up the stripes.

So here it is!  I was happy when I looked at the weather and realized it would be perfect for today.  I didn't line this as I wanted a cool, breathable summer dress.

I am having some unfortunate issues with dart bubbles, which is usually not a problem for me.  I'm going to try to fix it tonight.

Check out those perfectly lined up stripes though!

The back is also a vee, which is really cute.  I love how this pattern sort of slopes off of the shoulders.  It's perfect for this fabric.

I only used the pattern for the bodice, and just did a dirndl skirt.  The pattern also calls for a dirndl.  But it's LONG and FULL which I wasn't looking for.  This silhouette is much nicer for me.

I'm trying to decide what to do with the rest of this fabric.  It's pretty distinctive so I'm not sure I want another real piece of clothing.  It's SO soft though.  Maybe pajamas?  Or I might say fuck it and just do a shirt.  Everyone knows I sew a lot of my clothes anyway, so it wouldn't be a shocker.

I'm a big fan of this dress.  Weirdly, none of the stripes are colors that I particularly love (or love on me) but I'm really drawn to it as a whole.  Brett said it looks like a grandma's couch.  "Not your grandma, but A grandma." I like how he clarified because he knows my grandma is too cool to have a couch like this.  I'm not sure he's converted yet.  But he'll have to get used to it, because I can see myself wearing this a LOT this summer.

Project:  Bias stripe dress
Pattern:  Vintage Vogue V8789
Fabric:   Some old soft cotton?
Notions:    thread.  It calls for a 12" zipper at the side.  I eliminated this because there's enough ease to pull it over my head
Skills involved:  Cutting on the bias, matching patterns, gathering, putting in a zipper if you're not shaped like a triangle!
Changes made:  Eliminated zipper, self drafted (too strong a word. I cut out some rectangles) the skirt to eliminate some fullness.  I was originally planning to put the zipper in the back, so I split the skirt in the back and sewed it all together with the back open, which I think made the gathering of the skirt quite a bit easier!
Fuckups:  I originally sewed the skirt on inside out.  That was fun to unpick!  Other than that, no mistakes!

Lighter than Air

This is another garment that I am just so proud of. Because this didn't really have any new skills hat I haven't used before, I really focused on quality and finishing. There were times when I would see the end of a task (ironing pleats!) in sight and get so excited, only to realize I had to do the same thing to the lining. Argh!

But! All of the hard work was definitely worth it. This is the first thing I've made that to me, doesn't feel home-made. And it actually feels pretty expensive!

When I found this fabric, I thought it looked familiar. Then I came back across this dress on modcloth and realized why. 

It's adorable. It's $80 and it was sold out in my size.

So I snapped up some of the fabric (from superbuzzy.com), and thought about what to make. I chose a fairly simple knee length dress with a pleated skirt and cap sleeves.  The pattern called for a lined bodice, but I also lined the skirt because this was a pretty light fabric. 

So, here it is!

Love it, love it, LOVE IT. 

It's so comfy and flattering and adorable. 

The first time I wore it, the clerk at the gas station asked me if I was a teacher. Um, are you trying to imply that anthropomorphic hot air balloons are anything other than professional, sir?

The sleeves have this really adorable pleated detail that gives them a little volume, but not too much. 

But really, what I'm most proud of is the finishing. 

The inside is almost as beautiful as the outside!

Look at this encased zipper!

The seams in the bodice are all stitched and pinked. The skirt seams on the lining are French seams, and the skirt seams are all bound with bias tape. The hem of the lining is bound and the skirt hem is finished with grosgrain ribbon.  All of this gives it some nice weight and will make it last if I take care of it. 

I am really so proud of this dress. And it's shown me that if I am patient and take my time, I really can do this.

Project:  hot air balloon dress

Pattern:  Simplicity 1873 (by Cynthia Rowley)

Fabric:  Balloon Ride in Garden (bought from superbuzzy.com)

Notions: 22" invisible zipper, I used 2-3 packages of bias tape for the seam binding, one package for the lining hem, and probably 2-3 yards of ribbon (this skirt is heavily pleated and it has a really long hem).  But that is all optional. 

Skills involved:  placing an invisible zipper, fitting a bodice, pleating
Changes made:  I fully lined the dress, instead of just doing the bodice. And I also eliminated some of the pleats on the sleeves because I wanted a little less volume after I did the muslin. 

Fuckups:  I didn't pay enough attention while cutting and the layout wasn't meant for one way designs, so I ended up with two upside down panels. Luckily they weren't too far off square so I was able to flip them and just trim a bit. 

Truly adorable!

Follow your Arrow (but not in this case)

This skirt sucks.

I wrote a big long post about it, but dude.  It sucks.  So that's what I'm going to say.

I'm kind of upset about it because this was the first item that I had a real clear vision for when I got my new machine.

I love arrows, and I loved the colors in this fabric.  And I knew I wanted a skirt with a border of them around the hem.  So I ordered the arrow fabric and a coordinating solid from Spoonflower, and got to work.

I used a new pattern and didn't do a muslin because I'm dumb.  So the skirt is a little tighter than I would prefer across my hips.  I can easily fix that next time, and it's not the real problem with this skirt either.

The problem is the fabric.

It's the cotton poplin from Spoonflower and it was 20 freaking dollars a yard!  But I liked it so much I was okay with paying that.  I chose the poplin because it was suggested for skirts.  But it sucks.  It wrinkles like CRAZY.  Which I could honestly deal with.  I have an iron.  But it also sticks to everything.  Tights, underwear, even my silk top.  It just grabbed everything and would not let go.  Which made the back zip a bit of a challenge.

My main issue with the fabric was first that it wore so easily.  I noticed this on another skirt I made with the same poplin.  But when I washed it once, the color was wearing away on any edges or seams.  After ONE wash, on gentle, and being hung to dry.  And when I pulled out this fabric to make it, I noticed that where I had folded it when I washed it, the printing was wearing away from the folds.  Just from being folded and sitting in my craft closet for a few weeks.  It's really ridiculous that this is what I got for $20 a yard.

Another huge issue was the fact this it shows needle holes so easily.  I mean, look at this where I took out some basting stitches.  I don't expect it to completely disappear but this is ridiculous.  Holes from pins look the same way.  It's not leather, it's cotton!  It shouldn't require this sort of care.

Anyway.  It's the worst, and I'm sad about it.  I'm going to try the pattern again.

Baa Baa

I love this dress!!

It's actually a good thing I made this right before the arrow skirt because I was still on a high and not TOO upset about how horrible that turned out.

This one is all about the fabric, for sure, but I also love the button front bodice and the silhouette.  I had used the skirt part of this pattern twice (on the bird skirt and another one I haven't posted, and might not ever. It's quite a bit too short!).  I liked it, but didn't feel it was super flattering with the uneven pleats.

I did do a muslin of the bodice for this, and pinned it to the bird skirt for fitting purposes.  This fit me almost perfectly as printed.  I just needed to take a little bit of length off the shoulders, and take it in at the sides slightly.  This wasn't unexpected as the bird skirt was a bit too big.

I cut the skirt pieces for one size smaller than the bodice, but I didn't pleat them.  I gathered them instead and just spread the gathers to fit.  I wanted it to be a bit less full than the last skirt and I think it was perfect.

I loved, LOVED this fabric from the minute I saw it.  It was not cheap ($18/yard), but I just loved the print so much.  This light mauve color is one of my favorites to wear, and the adorable sheep and sheepdogs was just right up my alley.  It also washed wonderfully, and it has a great weight and feel.  It's probably my favorite fabric I've ever used, no joke.

Because it is a little cutesy though, I wanted to stick with a somewhat clean, classic design.  I think this pattern was spot on for that.  The button front gives it a bit of interest, but there's not too much detail and it's a very simple silhouette.

I took these photos immediately after I pulled it on this morning (because I am somewhat triangle shaped, I generally can pull dresses on without unzipping.  Am I the only one that does this?  It just makes it easier getting dressed by myself in the morning), and it's pulling to one side.  Dangit.  It doesn't do this all the time, I promise!

The bodice is not very fitted, which I really like with this style.  It's so comfy!  I do think I could stand to do a slight small bust adjustment next time, but it really does fit well.

All styled up for the office.  Side note, I got upgraded so a corner suite with tons of windows this week, so I couldn't resist using it to take outfit photos.  We also start work a bit later at this office, plus it takes me like 5 minutes to drive to work from my hotel.  It's such a nice change to go to work when it's already bright and sunny!

So, the breakdown

Project:  Sheep dress
Pattern:  Cynthia Rowley for Simplicity 2215
Fabric:  Sheeeeep by Cotorienne, bought from superbuzzy
Notions:  9" invisible zipper, 4 7/8" buttons
Skills involved:  placing an invisible zipper, making buttonholes, sewing buttons, fitting a bodice
Changes made:  I gathered the skirt instead of pleating, and also did a full lining on the skirt.  The pattern calls for 1 yd of lining, but that's just for the bodice.  I think I used roughly 2 yards of a 60" width lining.
Fuckups:  somehow the bodice back ended up longer than the front on the zipper side.  It's not a really visible error, but it was pretty funny the first time I noticed it (photo below!).  I also should have finished the hem of the lining better (I just pinked it but that's not really suitable for the fabric at all).  I might cut it off and do a bias binding to give it some weight.

Whoops!