Wardrobe Making and Plans That Will Probably Change

I need work clothes.  I've been wearing the same two pairs of black polyesters pants, black socks, black loafers with various tops for so long!  I'm sick of it.  My original plan to make some dirndl skirts backfired so I pushed it out of my mind and continued to wear my boring old work clothes. 

 

Recently, I came across a blog article by Made by Rae titled Planning a Handmade Wardrobe.  This cool article led me to the Collete Wardrobe Architect series and then to Christine Haynes' articles titled 2016 Wardrobe Architect Project.  I'm still reading my way through them but I'm getting interested in building my own work clothes again.

 

I've been interested in Sonya Phillips and her 100 Acts of Sewing Patterns for awhile.  I listened to her interview on While She Naps and was really motivated to try to make my own work uniform.

 

These articles inspired me to try making my clothes again but with a different strategy.  Instead of dirndl skirts as the backbone, I decided to try Tunic Dresses that I can wear with leggings.  This led me to focus on three things to build my new work wardrobe:  Tunic Dresses, Wraps (cardigans, kimono wraps, any jacket type thing) and Shoes.

 

So I created some Pinterest boards as you do.

 

Tunic Dress

 

This pic from the blog Sugarbeans pretty much sums up what I'm going for with the Tunic look:  dress, leggings, cute shoes.  This is the Dottie Angel pattern, Simplicity 1080, that I have and hope to try soon.

 

 

 

 

Wraps

 

I want something to cover my arm meat. 

I've been dying to try this kimono jacket from Sew Caroline for awhile.  Not sure how it will look with a tunic but I'll give it a shot.

 

 

 

Shoes

 

While reading over the Collette Wardrobe Architect worksheet, I began to take a look at the things I like best about my wardrobe and when it comes to shoes it's my Converse.  They are just the coolest.  I also really love the vintage looking Swedish Hasbeens shoes and I had a pair of moccasins in junior high and I loved them!  Hopefully I can get some more.

 

 

I need to think more about color but right now I'm just sewing up what I have in my stash and then I'll be more purposeful in my fabric buying.

 

I'm going to start with this pattern.

 

I made the dress last June and it's a little loud but fits well.  I wanna start with something that I know fits because I really hate getting bogged down in pattern fitting.  It's depressing mainly because I don't really know what I'm doing. 

 

I might try the jacket with Simplicity 1620 but I don't really like the cut of the front.  For a casual wrap, I don't think it needs to come in towards the center.  I think it will fall weird on my front parts.  I prefer the straight line on the front of the Sew Caroline kimono instead.

 

I pulled some patterns from my stash and separated them into potential Tunic and Wrap options.

 

 



 

 

I'm not quite sure if I'll use any of them.  I don't wanna get too excited about it when I've had some really bummer sewing fails.  So I'm trying to remain optimistic but I'm a realist so I know there is potential for failure LOL.

 

Here's some funnies to lighten the mood.