I’m a girl who loves a challenge. So when the Curvy Sewing Collective posted about their mini capsule wardrobe month my interest was piqued. I’ve been stitching a couple of years now, and would call myself an “advanced beginner sewer” (actually I’d call myself a “impatient, prone to lapses of concentration, fabric obsessed , crumbs of talent but needs focus, sewer”…fit that on a badge if you can?). The issue is my tendency to see a shiny new pattern, some pretty fabric, an amazing outfit idea….and be blinded by the light (with apologies to Manfred Man). If you can picture a 44 year old woman running around a candy store doing a mad Golum impression and exclaiming about “my pretties”, well don’t, its horrible.
So, to reign in my excesses? A focused mini wardrobe, small enough to feel achievable, but every element earning its keep. As you can see from the second post on CSC there is a lot of information available on this topic. I even brought the Marie Kondo book a while ago. She advocates a pretty extreme mode of “decluttering” which, while I could see the concept behind it, felt a little extreme for me. I also found her quite frankly a bit bizarre. If your teenage years are spent figuring out ways to declutter your bedroom, you need to get out a bit more. I say that as someone who grew up in a house that was always bursting at the seams. I feel physically irritated if there is to much crap cluttering up my space, but I think you can take things a bit far.
So my approach to the whole exercise? I have realized wearing too much black, or very dull colours makes me feel, well, dull. I was intrigued after reading the second post in the series. I am clearly an Impulse Buyer, in which case a capsule wardrobe could really work for me. However I’m also clearly a Pattern Lover, how to reconcile the two?
For me, it starts with fabric. Then print. Then colour, the thing that will reconcile the two. A couple of complementary colours that make my heart sing, then as much print as I can get away with! In this case, a Navy Blue & a Plum crepe. I have found a couple of house pegs & trusty Diana my dressmakers model (she’s no dummy darling) invaluable for playing with fabric combos. I left the fabric tops over the plum crepe looser as I see that as a skirt, the blue crepe as high waisted pants I would tuck tops into , hence some peg action at the back…
A capsule wardrobe could work for many areas of your life, I decided to start with my work wardrobe, I work full time, so to get up & be excited by my outfit choices, without having to think too hard (this is pre-coffee people!!) is a win.
I’ll leave you with a couple of my potential outfits (with apologies for the terrible lighting, if its daylight, I’m workin’ for the man), feel free to leave thoughts/opinions/your experiences in the comments, I’m off to get this thing going…!
Next post, actual outfits, on actual me. No pressure then. What would your capsule wardrobe look like?
Kristina xxx
Plum Kitchen 
Great post. I aspire to a capsule wardrobe rather than a collection of clothes randomly sewn or bought because I liked the colour/print/fit. I have been sewing quite a lot recently as I challenged myself to take part in Me Made May for the first time and realised that my clothes don’t actually go together. In other news, were we separated at birth? Both 44, birthday last week and similar sense of style? 😂
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Ha ha, we must have been, if you also like cats & Chardonnay I think we may actually be twins!? I’m a little obsessed with the capsule thing, I have a holiday coming up later in the year & I’m already aspiring to be one of those people who take 5 things & look fabulous every day (instead of my usual mega suitcase stuffed with things I bring home unworn!)
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I love your combinations! I am EXACTLY like you – I get distracted by sewing blogs and Pinterest to the point where I am constantly ordering patterns and fabrics that someone else has made but which do not “satisfy” me when I make them. I do have a capsule wardrobe – have enjoyed the freedom of that for many years – but my sewing items do not fit into my capsule. Ah…. no wonder I always am disappointed with them!!! They are stand alone pieces that seem out of place. Believe me, this new series on Curvy Sewing Collective is really making me think. I have made my first tee shirt in a fabric that does fit into my wardrobe and I already LOVE it… and have worn it 3 times, 3 different ways this week alone. So I look forward to seeing how yours turns out and how you feel about it. Good luck!
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Thank you! Oh that’s awesome, I’m hoping after all this thought & planning I’m also thrilled with the results! 🙂
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Hahaha! Your first paragraph had me in fits of laughter! I can picture it all too well because it’s me….. other than the fact I’ve been 45 for almost a month and I’m a centimeter too tall to be a hobbit, you’ve described me perfectly. Even my friend in Dunedin knows my first ‘must do’ thing is to go fondle fabrics and drool over the ‘pretties’ I can’t get locally, darting back and forth through the rows like some half crazed lunatic! Anywho, back to the subject at hand, I seriously need to embrace the whole ‘capsule’ wardrobe………. my overflowing drawers are a testament to that! I have clothes I’ve not worn in years that I just can’t bring myself to toss just incase maybe I might one day want to. The fact they will be seriously ‘last, last season’ is totally beside the point. This capsule business may just be the push I need for a serious declutter and restart afresh with some up to date fashions 🙂 I look forward to seeing your creations!
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Now you made me laugh! I’ve got visions of us running around fabric stores squealing & running into each other!😂 I’m quite excited to see if I can make this capsule thing work, it’s actually really fun planning & playing with fabric (although it’s so tempting to buy more fabric…sigh!)
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Absolutely love your print choices.
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Thank you! I can’t go past a pretty floral or birds it would seem🤗
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