An End of Year Plan of Attack

I realized that life got in the way, and I never published my Pile and a Plan post. I will soon, but here's my general ramblings that came up as I thought about my pile of fabric and patterns that I've yet to begin on. 

Due to minor health issues and an overwhelming influx of sewing orders for Christmas, I’ve yet to complete any of the items of clothing I planned to sew for myself. I made myself cut out the first pair of pants the other week before our last minute trip, but have yet to get anything sewn since we’ve been back. Hence, the implementation of a stricter schedule for myself. I’ve got to get things together if I want to accomplish anything in by the end of the year.

I like to try to start the year with a fairly clear schedule of projects. I like starting the year out with finishing a project, and starting a project, it's good luck, I guess. And having a clear schedule makes me feel excited about all the potential I have to get accomplished in the coming months.  So, I’ve got to finish as many of my WIPs as possible in the next six weeks. As someone who only gets weekends off, and Thanksgiving weekend and Christmas day, I don’t have a lot of extra time lying around in my schedule to get things sewn.

I’ve started diligently taking my knitting to work with me, and actually knitting on my lunch break. It lets me end each day knowing that I made some progress on something each day, even if no sewing gets done.

As difficult as it has been, I’m forcing myself to get up early again so I have time in the morning to get things done too. I’m very behind on an editing job, hopefully my last one for the year. And super behind on sewing orders due to our last minute trip. But the sewing ones are easy to catch up on once I find the time and motivation.

And, I really do want to regularly write. Here on the blog, as well as for myself. Stay tuned for updates!

And pictures. I’ll be better at getting pictures in my posts too. 

I'm Back (again)

I have to apologize for falling off the face of the earth (again), especially when I promised to post at least once a week! Life got a bit tough for a few weeks here, and I feel like I’m beginning to recover. All in all, I told myself I needed to set a schedule and stick to it for a few weeks to see if I can get my feet fully back under me.

I would love to give you all an update on how the Capsule Wardrobe is going so far! It’s been a couple of months since I began this project, and it’s definitely still a huge work in progress. I still feel like I have plenty of clothing items that I do not need.

But, I did do a huge tee shirt clean out, and pajamas, and pants. Some skirts and dresses too. And to be honest, I don’t miss them.

I thought I would, but I don’t. It’s a lot easier to get dressed on those days that I don’t wear my uniform at work.

Sundays are a breeze, and a lot less anxiety attacks are happening before church.

Even with a last minute trip out of town (meaning the first time I had more than three days in a row without a uniform) was fine without all those clothes to pick from and figure out what to bring.

I’m  really liking this whole minimal wardrobe thing. 

 Last Week, I was able to pattern test for Patterns for Pirates as part of a competition. While I didn't get selected, I did have fun! We made the Walk the Plank PJ Bottoms. They are a simple, quick sew, perfect for beginners. Plus they come in sizes from 3 months to adult 3XL!

As you can see, Little Bit here loved modelling her pair. And they were loose and easy to move around in, and we all know she's at the stage where getting her to be still for more than 0.2 seconds is impossible. 

BONUS- the pattern is FREE! Go here for the adult sizes and here for the kiddos.

Capsule Wardrobe: Pajamas

Let’s talk pajamas.

I have a relatively clear idea of how my Capsule Wardrobe is going to be. I know how many tops I want, how many pants and dresses. What sweaters and scarves I’d like to have. I’ve got it all figured out.

Except the pajamas.  I’d never really thought about pajamas before now.

“They” say  that you need at least 7 pairs of pajamas. With citations about germs and such, you’re ‘supposed’ to change pajamas every night and never EVER wear a pair twice without washing them….

But really? I’m supposedly ok to go months without washing my jeans but can’t re-wear pajamas? Make up your minds people!  

“They” clarified I can wear pajamas twice before washing. Ok. Whatever.

I’ve tentatively settled on 5 pairs. Enough to theoretically get me through 10 nights. I’ve got some already set aside from my current stash, and ordered fabric to make a couple more. Inspired by the video “"The Ten Item Wardrobe"”, I decided I need some matching, ‘fancy’ pjs.

 Plus that and the holidays are coming up and I want some matching pjs with the little Monkey. (check out my facebook business group for info about ordering your own holiday pjs!) 

Capsule Wardrobe: My First Problem to Solve

Since I have decided to have Capsule Wardrobe (or at least attempt to have one), I’ve run into a…. kink.

The Question

You see, long before I even came across the concept of a capsule wardrobe, I struggled with the concept of how many pants a woman needs. Jeans specifically. I mean, you can’t need 15 pairs, can you? I can’t really even imagine needing 5 pairs.

Since having the baby, I’ve gone pants shopping once. I found two pairs of jeans that fit my post baby body, and settled at that. Fast forward 6 months (yes, only 6 months), and I’ve worn through both pairs completely. At the upper thigh area, one of the places that got bigger and I didn’t really notice until now. You can see my undies.

Unfortunately, I just finished purging the fabric stash, and no longer have random bits and bobs of fabric around to patch the upper thigh chafe through holes on these still good jeans.

And so, yet again, the age old question came up yet again for me. How many pairs of jeans do I actually need?

My Answer 

After thinking about it long and hard (okay a day or two in a panic over not having any pants), I decided on 2-3 pairs depending on what I could find that fit me. Being short but not skinny, I have a rough time finding pants that fit well. I’ve been hemming my own pants since high school.  With the skinny fit trend, and post baby, I’ve had to figure out what size I am and what actually fits without being too tight.

Honest moment here: I’ve gone up 3 sizes since having baby. The hips don’t lie. This size change is holding true across several brands (Do we need a post on vanity sizing?).

Why 2 pairs? Since I would love to promote up in my job, I’ve decided to dress for the promotion I hope to get in a couple years now. That way I don’t have to scramble to get a whole new wardrobe when the time comes to no longer wear the uniform. Technically, the uniform is only the shirt, so pants will make me look more professional, or not. 

Also, last time I went jeans shopping I tried on about 50 pairs and found 2 that fit. If I want more than 2, I’d have to try hundreds on and I don’t have time for that.

I’ve already bought and received the fabric for a pair of dress pants. Maybe 2, depending on how the muslin looks it could enter the public clothes arena. I plan to add to my 2 pairs of jeans 1 pair of plain black dress pants, a pair of pinstriped dress pants, and either khaki or navy dress pants.

So in total I will have 5 pairs of pants.

If you’re having panic attacks over this number, keep in mind this is just the pants. We haven’t gotten in to skirts yet!

Stay tuned to see how making my dress pants goes! 

A Capsule Wardrobe: Plan of Attack

Here we are, I'm a couple of weeks into this Capsule Wardrobe project, if you count all the thinking about it first. You see, I like to think things through so I feel like I know what's going on before I take the plunge.
I've come up with a loose plan and 'rules' to get to my capsule wardrobe after giving a lot of thought to it, and starting. I recommend taking one baby step first, to see how you work, then move forward after making any adjustments you might need to make.

The First Step: Out with the Old

 First, I've gone through about a third of my current wardrobe and have filled a big black garbage bag with clothes that no longer fit. I'm not going to hold on to them in the hopes that they will eventually fit again, because let's be realistic, I had a baby and my hips are several inches bigger than they used to be. And hip bones don't shrink.

I did sell some clothes. We might do a post on that later ;)

I've would like to try a 1 in, 3 out rule, until I hit my goal number of each piece. So, since I've made one dress (sort of), I have to take out 3 dresses and either sell or Goodwill them. I already had been thinking about my dresses and I can easily move 3 out.

One thing I am trying to keep in mind is my career path. I do plan to promote up in the next few years, so I may store a couple of pieces that I can use in the future. However, I will have to pull them out every few months, try them on to make sure they still fit and look good. If they don't, out they go.

The Second Step: In with the new

The rest of my plan is to start making new clothes for me.

Why am I making most of them? Because I know if I make them they will fit. I can take my time and practice so I get a good look for me. This is going to slow down the overall process, but I will feel good about Every Single Piece of my wardrobe.

I did keep a few tops, most of my pjs, some scarves, and pants. As I make more items, some of these will have to move out, but hopefully I will be confident enough in my new stuff to happily let them go.

To be honest, I don't have a specific end number in mind right now for anything but pants. (Which you will hear about in next week's post.) So, until I promote up and no longer have to wear a uniform, I'm not sure how bit my wardrobe will actually be. I do know I want it to be smaller than it currently is by quite a bit, I just don't know specifics yet.

Thanks for visiting!

If you are wanting to start a capsule wardrobe, or making more of your clothes, let me know how it's going! I love questions, so if you have any about either process, ASK, and I will try to answer.

A Capsule Wardrobe: What Is It?

I've heard people talking (mostly online) about capsule wardrobes, and minimalist living, and KonMarie (or something like that) and I admit, I would love to do it, but I'm super skeptical about how it actually works and if these people really are pulling it off or if they're just all talk.

Over the course of the past year or so, I've been feeling really overwhelmed with clutter. Mind, we don't have a lot of stuff, but it often still feels like too much. I've been de-stashing my fabric and yarn (huge black garbage bag gone!) but still feel like I could do better with things.

I came across the idea of a capsule wardrobe. This, in the simplest of definitions, is a wardrobe of only about 30 pieces. A few pants, shirts, dresses, and layering pieces (like sweaters).

One good resource for information on this is this TEDx talk "The Ten Item Wardrobe" (thanks Sarah!).

Well, almost a year post baby, and I'm still having some body image issues. I'm actually not sure if "issues" is the right word for it. I'm adjusting still to my body and how it has changed. I think that instead of beating myself up and hating the way I look in my pre-baby clothes, I should start getting rid of them in exchange for some really great clothes that fit me now.

Another factor in this journey is that I wear a uniform for work. So I really don't need all those clothes that I never wear because I'm in uniform.

So what is my interpretation of a Capsule Wardrobe?

Right now, I am thinking of it being:
5 pairs of work appropriate pants
about 7 shirts
3 skirts
2 pairs of black leggings
3 dresses
and some sweaters

Additionally, I like to have stay at home clothes so:
2 stay at home pants
3 or 4 stay at home shirts (probably university team shirts...)


That's the tentative plan for now. I will keep blogging about it and we will see how it goes!