Wardrobe Wednesday: Clean out 2

Well, it turns out that school is counter-productive to wardrobe reform. 

But.  Fall is not.

As the seasons change, I have a great desire for cohesion, friends.  And a touch of paring down.  Nancy’s Week 1 has been my guideline, and I really do want to work on it, it’s honestly about the time to do so right now. 

I want to organize, and get control of things while it’s still warm enough to clean out, and run back and forth to my car, throw open the windows, and pare down Summer before I have to add Fall and Winter clothes into the mix… because here in Georgia, it may be fall according to the calendar, but it certainly doesn’t feel like it.  And the cleaning? Well, we won’t get into that.  This is, after all, Wardrobe Wednesday, not one of  Sarah’s crazy nesting/cleaning/home-making post.  Go here for that. 

I’m on an organizing kick, and I’m going to link to some things I think will help me, and maybe they’ll help you too!  There are some links that are general, but all are on my current wavelength. 

• Apartment Therapy has collected closet things. 20 beautiful ideas that gave me a serious case of closet envy.
• When you see these, you’ll need something attainable to aim for, go look here for a very comprehensive, picture-heavy post.  Organizing Made Fun is great AND attainable for all of us. 
•  Discardian’s hanger trick: flip em around, and when you’ve worn something, it gets to be flipped back.
• Lest these things seem expensive, go check out The OrganizedHome’s post on frugal organizing- not everything needs an expensive system.
• Peter over at Male Pattern Boldness is always great, and his Daily Ditch is an inspiration.  
• And on removing general clutter in our lives, Discardia is great.

Be inspired, friends! Clean out those closets before winter sets in!

Wardrobe Wednesdays: cleaning up and clean out

It's back to school time, and I confessed to you already, I've done my shopping.

Now Labor Day has come and gone, and with it a massive amount of cleaning, and it's time to talk about what came out after all of the going-in that happened.

There are many schools of thought as to how much clothing a woman need own, and I'm thinking it through here in front of my wardrobe, too... And I've decided to start with a good solid culling of excesses before any other step.

So, I took a "before" tally of my wardrobe, pre-clothing switch, and as I was going through things, I had some questions written in dry-erase marker on the mirror.

Nancy Nix-Rice asks a great list of questions in the first week of her series on style:

Is it in good condition?

Is it a good color for me?

Does it fit? Really?

Is it comfortable?

Have I worn it recently?

Friends, the resulting pile of clothes and shoes wasn't as big as I thought it would be, but Nancy has some great thoughts on putting things where you can see them that I hope to implement, although I don't have as much hanging up space as she does... Or the space for my closet to be just for clothes.

Traditionally, one changes seasonal clothing on Labor Day weekend, but I'm anticipating more warm weather, and many summer pieces are transitional.  But, I'm glad I went through and got rid of some things.  And the re-organizing? Crucial.
I need to do more one day when I'm in an unforgiving mood... I'll only keep the really good stuff then!

Getting to it

Home Dec sewing really isn’t as bad as I thought it would be… lots of getting things ready and measurements before I sew a bunch of straight lines.  The hardest part?  Getting to it.  I washed dishes to avoid it this afternoon.  Seriously.  And if you know me in real life, you know how much I ABHOR dishes. 

But you know what?  I bit the bullet.  Sitting cut out and pinned are the covers for both nightstands.  The old pillow covers have been dismantled, leaving me with 2 forms and piping, plus more of an idea as to how the construction is supposed to work.  Fabrics are chosen.  The last bit of piping is tracked down, measurements are taken… Crazy how simple it becomes when you stop griping and just do it.  Knock it out!  It’s been SO simple, friends.  I didn't have to go out and buy anything new, and I can't wait to see what my bed looks like.   I now wish I’d done it sooner, like a lot of things we put off and put off.

I should probably get back to it… This could be the return of Finish-it Friday!

Wardrobe Wednesday: A day late. Sorry friends!

Well, there really is a good reason to be late sometimes.  Being home and hugging my mama?
Qualifies.  She gives the BEST hugs.
Right.  Wardrobe planning.
There are soooo many websites that will try to tell you about how to plan a complete wardrobe, and they have merit, but who is to say what is right?
Real Simple gives their guidelines here, with a list of basics by season.
For me, this won't quite work.... I think it's geared toward professionals more than students. And the number of pieces of outerwear and designated pairs of jeans? Not quite me, but this list has good things to it too. It covers a range of footwear nicely. It is built around classics. And it's seasonal. And I think it's going at it from an angle of someone getting in on the ground floor of the wardrobe train.
A blog post entitled the Academic Wardobe caught my eye for reasons I'd think woukd become apparent when juxtaposed with my student status...
I liked this article much more, because it takes an analytical approach, inviting you to look at your life, and make up . I think this is a better starting point for me than square one and the basics... So go see it. This is where we will begin next Wardrobe Wednesday!

Wardrobe Wednesdays: A confession

I confess, as I have in the past...

I bought things.

Not thrifted, bought.

Not as spectacular as when I bought things in Turkey...

But Gap and Old Navy this time.

You see friends, I have not conquered pants.

And it's waaay easier to go with what you know works sometimes. And so, a pair of khakis, pictured, from Old Navy(25% off) and a pair of jeans from the Gap(40% off) now call my wardrobe home...

...Oh, there were tops, too.

2 knit tees I could easily have made, but so much more easily picked up at 70% off.

1 knit top that will be a pattern for a refashion, pictured top left (Finish-it Friday is returning, friends!)

1 woven top that will beget lots of shells for church, pictured in the middle... Just had to get the sample, and it was on sale too!

1 cardigan that I have eyed for a loooong time, bottom left, now sold out...

and 1 great vee-neck sweater(at half off) whose softness reminded me of boyfriend sweaters and whose shape was a nice little hybrid, and the color? A beautiful green that pops for this redhead.

Oh... Sorry I couldn't stalk the internet for pictures of everything for y'all. gap.com has something against showing wardrobe staples, apparently.

Something I am learning to be okay with is where I am right now in a lot of ways, including what and how much I sew. I sew because it brings me joy. I could sew everything I wear, but then I'd stress so much over holes in my skills and failures that I wouldn't get the joy anymore. So sewing the things I can, when I can, is how it is for now, and I really am okay with that, even if it means less to write about here... I will, however, continue to try to fill my wardrobe with good things I make, I'm just not good enough to make them all, and that's okay with me.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the start of something pretty nice. I'll be tracking my journey in forming that wardrobe- the one I like with things I make that fit my lifestyle- on Wardrobe Wednesdays. It'll be my journey toward a cohesive kind of style, and I couldn't be more excited to share it with you all!

I want to make this skirt.

This, friends, is the Lunch Date Skirt from Spotted Moth.

If you haven't looked around this website, you should. It's dreamy, wonderful sewing eye-candy and man-oh-man, what fun.
... and I have an idea of how to make this cute little skirt, but time? HA!

I have made an epic fail of getting summer sewing done. Life just... gets in the way.

Really, Greek just gets in the way.

For my sanity's sake, Finish-It Fridays may make a glorious return...Heaven knows the refashions awaiting are plentiful... But until I conquer Greek, it's anybody's guess...

How do y'all do it?

How do you balance sewing with life?

Anybody wanna make some curtains and slipcovers for me?

Ugh. Home dec sewing...

Ah yes...

That most dreaded, but necessary chore, doing any form of sewing for the home. I am not looking forward to lots of squares and rectangles, but they're coming...

-bedskirt

-at least 3 pillow shams, if not 5 or 7(living and bedroom)

-curtains, maybe

-covers for nightstands

Fun times, but SO glad to have a big girl apartment to sew for!

For the first time in a while yesterday, I flexed sewing muscles and altered a pattern to fit a very dear friend. Today, well, writing a sermon should take the front burner, and it may yet, but I'm also thinking about putting together this men's shirt, or at least reading about doing so... I don't know, though.

There is a deadline involved... Which should motivate me more. It's still tough though. Something is standing between me and this. I don't know what it is... I do know I don't like this feeling.

Finish-It Fridays: Week 1

On the docket this past week was a big finish and 2 little ones.

The big finish: My first year of Seminary. Finals are over and oh, has it been a whirlwind.

The little ones: Changing a halter dress into a strapped dress. 5 minutes and 2 lines of stitching later, I can wear a real bra with this dress, and stains that were on the wrong sides of the straps are hidden now. I anticipate MUCH more wear out of this now!

Also, I did the hand-stitching to fix a pencil skirt.

Not really picture-worthy.

What did YOU finish this week?

Kay has been working on a lightweight jacket... It's going to be pretty awesome!

Attack!

It's official, my sewing space has been taken over by UFOs... Un-Finished Objects. While cleaning up after not for a really long time, I laid them all out nicely and photographed them... And I was kind of saddened by the numbers and types of things that need to be done. SO many of these would be so easy!

-grey pants: hem

-wine skirt: Buttons and a hem

-McCall 5801: Collar and put it all together... Oh, and the princess seams from hell.

-blue knit dress: take in, shorten

-Easter dress: Take in properly, fix facings, add the contrast, make cute 50s-style bolero/jacket to match

-wine dress: The hem is pinned in... I just have to stitch it. And fix a belt out of the old fabric. And cut the old hem off and add my fun hem lace.

-Red pencil skirt: teeny little bit to take in at the hips, and it'll be GREAT for fall.

-Pink dress: Really, this could still be a work-in-progress. My self-drafted top didn't work well... at all. As in, it'll take a friend helping pin the things behind me after I elasticize some parts and do some other things to make it work... Great concept, it just needs help.

-2 pairs of pants to take in for a friend. He's too skinny and tall for his own good.

-a dress that really needs some strap carriers

-a bag for summer that probably shouldn't be counted as a UFO yet either... but that's beside the point.

THE POINT:

12 things. And they'd all be great additions to my closet(except for my friend's pants) and get worn on a regular basis. And I'm guessing I'm not the only one with this kind of pile. So confession time and motivation time. Anybody want to do a UFO challenge? I'm thinking of having Finish-it Fridays. Where you do your best to post a picture of something every Friday. We could all encourage one another! Wouldn't it be nice?? Comment below if you're in.