capsule wardrobes

The military jacket is finished. As soon as I get some pictures of me wearing it I'll post a review.

In the meantime, I've been thinking a lot about capsule wardrobes. After failing (miserably) to even really get started on the Timmel SWAP, I started thinking about tackling it in smaller chunks. I realized, while trying to decide on 11 pieces for the SWAP, that I actually think in 4-5 piece chunks. I would always end up with one or two pieces that did not completely coordinate with the rest of the bunch, but broken into two separate mini-SWAPs they worked perfectly. I decided to focus my spring and summer sewing on this concept - especially now that I have time, space and motivation to actually plan some and have it come to fruition!

Right now, I have two mini-wardrobes planned. One revolves around two floral prints for skirts (one skirt is completed) with two coordinating tops (one completed). The second is a darkwash denim skirt, tan faux suede military-style jacket (both completed), a pair of darkwash denim trouser jeans and a top.

Yesterday, while reading Carolyn's blog I saw her mention the June capsule wardrobe contest at Stitchers Guild. They are doing a similar contest at Pattern Review, but during the month of May. Without sufficient time to plan for a contest that had already started, I decided not to worry about a May contest and figured I would enter the contest they are holding in August. Then, after reading Carolyn's post, decided that a June contest is perfect. Make four pieces with at least one top and one bottom, and one accessory. One can be made ahead of the June 1 start date and one can be purchased. I don't want to purchase anything, but I think I'll use my faux suede jacket as the pre-made item and expand my capsule to include one extra item (since I can't use the skirt I've already completed if I'm using the jacket I just completed). The biggest challenge is that there can be NO BLACK! This is the exciting part for me. I have a lot of black in my wardrobe and much of my stash is black, or contains black, so this is going to be a good challenge to get out of my comfort zone and create something entirely void of black.

I'm thinking I'll use the jacket, a pair of darkwash denim trouser jeans (using Hot Patterns Weekender Jean Jeanius pattern), a t-shirt type top and a blouse. For the accessory I'm thinking jewelry since I have a pretty extensive handbag collection that would already coordinate well with a neutral color palette. The June 1st start date gives me ample time to plan and perfect the fit of the patterns I'm thinking of using.

Tomorrow, (or tonight if I get a chance to take pictures) you'll see the military jacket and the skirt that I promised to post a week ago.