Capsule Wardrobe, part two

Here is part one.

I put this wardrobe together with the help of my mother. We aimed for compact and flexible. A lot of the pieces can be dressed up or dressed down depending on what I wear them with, for example. Almost everything matches with everything else, and I tried to keep within the same color palette mostly. I picked a pink-purple-blue color palette because that's what I already own most of. For neutrals, I went with gray and black, because I had black ballet flats. Really the only exception to this color palette is my running sweatshirt, and OH WELL if my running clothes don't match!

Overall, this wardrobe has worked really well. I rarely run out of clothes (and when I do, it's my own fault for not having done laundry). One of the things I love about having a wardrobe this small is that when I have nothing to wear, I can tell. At home I would regularly pull open a drawer half full of clothes only to discover nothing that was clean matched with anything else. Here, chances are very high that if I have two pieces of clothing in my closet, they will match each other.

Another thing I love is that I am not struggling to make myself wear things that don't fit or don't look good. Not everything I have here fits perfectly, but I did try hard to bring only things I knew I would wear.

This brings up the age-old question: quantity vs. quality. I have to admit, I don't really have either here! I certainly don't have quantity, but honestly, my clothes are not very high quality either. Almost everything is either from a store like Ross or TJMaxx, or years old, or from Kohl's on sale. I didn't want to buy an entire new wardrobe, but I can really see why someone would go for quality over quantity. In fact, I decided even before planning this capsule wardrobe to be much more discerning in my clothing purchases. I would rather have one dress that fits well and is good quality than three dresses which fit badly and which I won't want to wear.

I don't have the money to go run out and buy a bunch of $100+ dresses, but I do think that as the clothes I have now wear out, I will try to replace them with higher-quality things, if only in the hopes they will fit better. Alternatively, one of these days once I get back from Germany I *will* learn to fit things properly!

My capsule wardrobe

I forgot to update you and tell you the results of my capsule wardrobe for Germany! I guess this way worked out better, though, because now I can update on how it has been working as well as what I decided. I was reminded of my capsule wardrobe my two posts, Peter's post on quantity vs. quality and Ashe's post at Already Pretty on developing a color palette for your closet. In an effort to prevent a giant post from taking over your computer, I'm going to introduce my capsule wardrobe in this post, and then talk about why I picked it and how I like it so far in the next post.

Here are two shots of my closet:

Moving from left to right, this is what you see:

Three scarves: Red pashmina, yellow decorative scarf, and purple wrap.

Two dresses: Gray and black, and black and blue.

Seven shirts: Black turtleneck, blue T-shirt, pink blouse, black T-shirt, purple half-sleeve shirt, navy blue blouse, striped tank top, and add one purple T-shirt, which I was wearing.

Three sweaters/sweatshirts: Black sweater, purple sweatshirt, and burgundy sweatshirt.

One pair of black chinos

Three skirts: One blue and green ankle-length one, one gray knee-length one, and my VHC skirt.

One slip

One running sweatshirt
One running skirt
Two pairs of running pants (one not pictured)
One pair of pajama pants, which I was wearing

That's 25 items. Not pictured (or counted) are socks, underwear, and tights. Also not pictured are things that I consider outerwear. So, for example, I have a few hats, a coat, gloves, and so on. I also have three pairs of shoes: my ballet flats, a pair of boots, and a pair of running shoes. What's pictured here is basically the things I consider it important to match.

Before I get into the big-picture opinion in the next post, here are a few thoughts:

*A lot of these things double as other things. Running pants, for example, can be pajama pants, and my purple and blue T-shirts triple as regular wear, sleepwear, and running wear.

*Almost everything here was something I already owned. I bought the black chinos and the purple sweatshirt for this trip, as well as buying a new coat.

*Some of these are pieces of clothing I have owned for years which are still holding up. I bought that pink blouse in 7th grade, for example.

Next up: The reasons behind this wardrobe, and how I think it's been working!

Settling In

I am finally starting to feel properly moved into this place. There are so many things that are new and different and so many things that are just the same. With that said, I can handle the differences, even the ones that I think are objectively bad rather than just different, like cat vomit staying in the stairwell for a week.

I have several sewing-related pictures to post which I acquired over the course of my travels. German tailor shops like to put vintage sewing machines in their windows. It's adorable. And I spent a day at a museum of German technology which has some incredibly interesting old looms and things.

Lastly, I am working on a creative project which some of my new friends inspired me to try. It's not a sewing project, but not totally off-topic either. Once my camera batteries are charged I will post pictures of that too.

Fearless February!

I'm joining Fearless February over at Ten Thousand Hours of Sewing! Here's my challenge to myself:

In the month of February, I will learn to sew buttonholes by hand. I will make as many as possible in order to improve my speed and my technique.

Anyone else want to join?

Diagnosis!

As some of you may know, I've been having joint pain issues for years now. Today, I finally made it to a doctor who would listen to me, and I have a diagnosis. Actually, two. I have the beginning of osteoarthritis in my hands and misaligned kneecaps.

I'm relieved. I had been thinking this was worse, because something that caused pain in so much of my body must be bad. It never really occurred to me that I might have two different problems! I have a nice conservative doctor who doesn't want to rush to medicine, and so I am under the following instructions: "Don't worry. Live your life. But come back in six months so I can check on you, ok?" He wants me to strengthen the muscles around my knees, which I will do, and other than that, not to take any serious steps. When I get back from overseas, we'll reevaluate.

Where does this leave my sewing? I don't really know. But he said not to worry, and he knows I sew, so I will continue to live my life, sewing and all, and we will see where that leads me!

Sewing meetup haul

Wow, I totally forgot to post about what I got at the sewing blogger meetup! Fail. Here it is:

8 patterns, an older edition of the Vogue Sewing book, and three fabrics. The one on the far left I bought from G Street Fabrics.

The baby fabric is for various random baby projects. I didn't really have a plan for it, it was just cute. The other two fabrics are stretch fabrics and I am going to use them to sew up the running skirt from Jalie 2796. I think it will require a fair amount of alteration, but it's the only running skirt pattern I could find. I'll let you know.

Much needed repairs!

It's been pretty chilly around here lately. Not super cold, but enough that you do want a jacket. However, my jacket looks like this:

No lining! I have a lovely winter coat my parents bought me for my 18th birthday, which is well made and has served me well. But last winter, the lining started to tear out along every single seam. The pockets tore, and stuff fell out. So I tore out all the lining. In typical Sophie fashion, I then didn't put a new lining in. I did cut out new pattern pieces, and I did sew some of them together, but then when May came around and I moved out of the dorm, my winter coat was put in a bag and forgotten.

See how crumpled the lining is? At least I was able to find it! I've been working on putting it into the coat since Wednesday, in small chunks when I have time.

At the moment, I have the lining all sewn together, and one pocket is all the way in and the other is halfway in. I am hoping to finish this up tomorrow, and then devote the weekend to two pursuits: writing final papers and going to G Street Fabrics for the DC sewing blogger meetup!

Sewing To-Do List

I have two sewing goals for this weekend.

1. Finish M's birthday present for her 18th birthday which was, er, on the 12th.
2. Put the lining into my winter coat.

We shall see how much of this I accomplish. I also have several miles to run, several things to mail, and a show to see. (#crazypants at CUA--I hear it's pretty good!)

Hair clips for Aisha!

I made two hair clips and we are selling them to raise money for Aisha.

Here's one:

 And here's the other:

The orange one is made out of a zipper and can be worn zipped or unzipped. The rainbow one is Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric edged with bias tape. Both start at a bid of $2.

Both of these hair clips would make great stocking stuffers for some little girl in your life!

How does this work? Go click on the link of the clip (or clips!) you would like to buy. Comment on the post with your bid. If you win, you pay the money directly to Aisha, email me or Teresa the donation receipt, and I send you the clip. It really is that easy. (Here are the official rules if you like, as well as the main page of the auction.

The problem with this time of year...

...is that I am sewing presents, so I can't post about them! No, really I actually do have another project, but I am lacking photographs of it. It's pretty fun, though!

The other problem is that as the semester winds down, the workload winds up. I have four weeks of school and seven papers left. And five exams. So work is pretty intense at the moment. In a few weeks things should be calmer, and then I can start with real Germany wardrobe planning.

In the meantime, since photoless posts are boring, I leave you with this rose.

New Pattern!

I won a pattern in an online giveaway! Hooray! I rarely win these things, so I am super pleased. I am now the owner of the Minoru pattern Trumbelina was giving away.

Now, what fabric to use to make it? Hm.....

Wardrobe design

I'm not entirely sure who reads this blog. Probably about 50% of my hits come from family or friends. But for those who don't know me in real life, I'm going to be spending the Spring semester abroad, in Germany. BUT! I'll be going on the German semester, which means I'll be gone from February to July. And, due to the fact that I am flying on a cheap student ticket, I get to check one bag.

This means I need a very focused wardrobe. It also needs to be very varied, because this is the Freiburg temperature map:

(Image source: weather.com)

In other words, I need to be prepared to dress for temperatures in between 29 and 78, with the possibility of it getting cooler or warmer. Yikes. I don't like extreme temperatures, and both of those ranges sound unpleasant to wimpy me!

So, here are my thoughts, in no particular order.

1. Skirts are more versatile than pants, because they can be worn with tights in cold weather and without in warm weather.
2. Skirts and tops are more versatile than dresses, because with two dresses you have two outfits and with two shirts and two skirts you have four outfits.
3. I should have at least one pair of shoes that I can do *lots* of walking in.
4. I should have a pair of warm boots, which I can do *lots* of walking in. So I guess really I need two pairs of shoes I can walk in, since I won't be wearing winter boots in the summer.
5. I probably need at least a week's worth of outfits, but do I need more? If I do laundry every Saturday, I could theoretically repeat the same clothes every week for six months. Theoretically. That would be pretty boring!
6. I should probably limit my clothes in terms of colors, so pick one neutral color to be my neutral colors for the semester. Then I won't have to bring as many shoes, for example.

Has anyone else done anything like this? Does anyone have any advice? I don't want to be too spartan, but I also am starting to worry about packing, and if I decide to sew a bunch of things I want to know sooner rather than later!

Detour to fundraising

So, it's November 2nd, which means that the Reece's Rainbow fundraiser has started. My twin sister is fundraising for a child who goes by the name of Aisha. (Her real name is masked for privacy reasons.) The goal is to raise $1000 between now and the end of the year.

I am going to be sewing some things to sell to raise more money for her, but in the mean time, would you consider making a small donation? Even $5 would help Teresa reach her goal!

You can find various ways to donate, which range from buying things like fun noodles to making a simple donation of cold hard cash, at Teresa's blog. (If you donate $35, you get a Christmas tree ornament!)

I promise I won't bother you with more straight-out begging for money. But I do plan to post pictures of the things I sew, and those might come with a reminder of why I'm making them. ;)

Juggling the pieces of life

I'm sorry my posting has been a bit boring lately. I have three essays due this week, two of which I need to write in a foreign language, and one of which I have to record and mail to Chicago.

At the moment I feel like I'm juggling things. Nothing has fallen, and I don't think anything will, but I pick each thing up for a few minutes, make a tiny amount of progress, and then put it down again. So I haven't made any progress worth blogging about on my sewing projects.

I should be done with all my essays by Friday, and the weekend will be devoted to finishing the vest, because Halloween is on Wednesday. (Right?) I've also started a new project in the costume shop, which should be exciting. I hope.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know the reason for my silence. Once the number of balls decreases, I'll be in better shape to post something interesting.

FBI vest: started

Maybe. I mean, it is started, but I don't think it's actually an FBI vest. I don't actually know what I'm making, because I can never remember. (Sometimes I am so feminine I feel guilty. Then I try to talk sports with my friends and I feel so masculine I feel guilty.)

Anyway, I cut out the pieces, just not the batting yet. I haven't quite decided what to do about that. Are sewn bulletproof vests quilted?

This is my inspiration sketch. Yes, I am considering a career in art. I will be starting a PhD program as soon as I finish my degree in photography. *sigh* Seriously, though, I am saving up for a camera and I hope to have one within the month.

Sew-along

I just joined the Male Pattern Boldness Halloween Sew-Along. Hopefully this will motivate me to, er, start sewing that costume. I'm just so busy with school work right now. Maybe I can get started while watching the Orioles play the Yankees tonight.

Want to see some beautiful costumes?

Ok, this past week has been pretty much hellish. But now it's over. Yes, I know, it's technically still Friday, and still part of the week. But my oral exam in my graduate class and my presentation for German class are both over, and I consider the week survived.

So, I will be sewing soon, I hope. In the meantime, let me throw out a plug for those in the DC area. Come see Hedda Gabler! According to CUA's facebook page, you can get 75% off a ticket with the code Celebrate. I don't know if it's still working, but I honestly think the costumes are worth the $15 ticket price. Every time I see some of the dresses, they take my breath away. I want them! Haha.

I am not familiar with the play, nor the actors who are in it, so I make this recommendation based solely on the costumes, but I make it wholeheartedly.

After the show closes, I will probably have a few pictures of costumes to post.

Next project: Halloween costume!

My next project is going to be a Halloween costume. Not for me, for B. He wants to be...you know, I'm not actually sure what he wants to be. But he wants a bulletproof vest, and so I am sewing it for him.

I'm planning to just wing it. I don't know where to find a pattern for a bullet proof vest, and he isn't a very picky child. So I will take some gray wool we have that's a little bit moth-eaten, and make a quilted vest with pockets. That sounds more or less like a bullet-proof vest, right? Right??

Do bullet proof vests have pockets?

Skills I want to learn

I need to work on my skills gradually, because my current method of sewing is stupid. Currently, I pick things I like and do them as well as I can--if there's something I don't know how to do, I skip it or do a poor job of it. I wind up with ill-fitting or badly constructed clothes, and this makes me unhappy.

So. These are the skills I want to learn, in no particular order. Please recommend your favorite resource for learning them--book, video, blog, class, whatever!

1. Bodice alterations. My particular issues are narrow shoulders, slumped shoulders, and a small bust. I think probably a princess seam is the easiest to alter, so I may start with that.

2. Pockets. I can easily sew pockets if they're in a pattern, but I would love to know some pocket theory so I can add them to patterns that don't have them.

3. Buttonholes. They're easy on a machine, but my machine can't do them, and my handmade ones are sad and pathetic.

4. Facings. Mine never work right. They always flop and stick out. I need to learn either how to do them properly or replace them with a lining. Or something.

5. Underlining. The one time I tried it, it did not work well. I don't know what I did wrong, but the top layer stretched out and got all baggy. It's not pretty.

6. I don't even know how possible this is, but it would be nice to know how to alter RTW tops. (See fitting issues above.) I don't really feel like sewing complicated things like jackets, at least not yet, but they never fit me!

Any other skills I should know, but clearly don't?

Costumes and clothes

I am first and foremost a clothing seamstress. It's what I do best, what I enjoy most, and what I find most useful. And yet the vast majority of my sewing these days is in the costume shop at school. I spend 10 hours a week there, plugging away at all sort of things--making quilt squares, fixing stuffed animals, altering patterns, altering clothes, making muslins, and all sorts of things. I enjoy this job, I really do. It enables me to keep up and improve my skills through tons of sewing.

But at the same time, sometimes it feels like taking a path that runs right next to the one I would really like to be on. I am getting better at sewing. Since starting to work at the costume shop, I've learned how to do things I didn't know how to do, like cuff men's pants or make machine buttonholes. These are useful. And yet if I had the choice, I would cut back my costume shop hours and spend more times sewing clothes. Costume sewing is sometimes more and less precise than regular sewing, and I find this to be frustrating at times.

It's helpful for it to be more precise, when it is. I have a tendency to say good enough and let it be. On stage, the bright lights make it easy to see flaws such as poorly done hems or color mismatches. The need to get these things right is good for me.

However, there are times when you can cut corners in a really serious way, and it's fine. Last time I was in the shop, I altered a pair of pants. I needed to make them smaller. I picked them up, and this is what I saw:

 

The pants had been too small for someone else, and had been altered by sewing a triangle of flannel into the back of a pair of dress pants. It looked awful. But in the costume scene, it probably didn't matter--the actor probably wore a jacket to cover it up. Since costumes will be used for specific, designed movements with preordained matching clothes, there's no need for them to be able to be worn in any other circumstance. As long as no one will see it, you can cut corners in a pretty serious way. That, I think, is not so good!

For as long as I need to work this many hours a week, I will continue to be grateful that my job is in a field I love. But if I ever get the chance to step it down at the shop and up at home, I will be, as a friend would say, on it like Blue Bonnet.

Anyway, I'm sorry for the total lack of sewing reports lately. My Very Hungry Caterpillar dress has taken an unexpected and major deviation, but I should be able to report on that soon. Maybe by the end of the weekend? We'll see.