My Wardrobe: The Spring Plan

I've been reading about Capsule Wardrobes for the past year or so.  In a nutshell, it's breaking down your clothing into fewer pieces that can be worn in many different, complimentary ways.  I clean my wardrobe every season change (so fall and spring, lol), and always get rid of things that I didn't wear even once the previous season.  I have kept a few black things and a white dress shirt for concert wear and some dresses for "mandatory fun" (i.e. a work dinner with J).  Other than that, I'm down to bear bones.  I am also finding myself being more critical of the things I keep.  Does it fit?  Does it flatter my figure?  Is it comfortable?  Now that we are living in Italy, I am having a terrible time finding things to wear in the stores.  1) I am NOT a mall shopper.  Not even in the US where I have an idea of what stores sell what. 2) The markets sell things, but you can't exactly strip off your current  shirt to try on whatever you are looking at, and there are no returns 3) The NEX has eclectic taste, which does not mesh with mine... to say the least.

This leaves me to sewing for myself (gasp).  So I ordered some fabrics and some patterns and decided to really work on this.  Things I have made before never fit right, or I hate it after one wear.  This throws me into a tailspin of body hate and tears.  Which I then self-talk out of (thank you years of therapy and Dr. Lluy).  It's not the clothes, it's my body.  And it's my body in a kinder sense.  It's my body in that it is unique and fearfully and wonderfully made.  I embrace it's lumps and bumps and curves (and non curves).  And now, my tears will be over adjusting patterns and ripping paper rather than over the parts they are trying to cover.

Okay, on with the show.  There are several different ways to create a Capsule Wardrobe.  I am totally visual, so I decided to try the Soduko method.  In this method, you have a 4 x 4 grid full of clothing.  You have 4 bottoms, 4 tops, 4 shoes, 4 accessories.  You make them fit in this grid and magically, you end up with 10 outfits.  I plan on printing it out and taping it to my wardrobe, lol.  If you look closely, you will notice I only have two pairs of shoes.  That's because I only really wear two pairs of shoes.  I also only used two sweaters. My plan was to make all but one of my tops.  I have one done and spring has sprung, so we will see if I get any more done ;)  I'm okay with this since I'm still parading around the house in ratty clothes that really need to be washed more often than they are because they are warm and cozy ;) I'll let you know!

Outfit 1: Sabrina Slim pants in gray, Margo Blouse in raspberry, navy cardigan, black sandals
Outfit 2: White cardigan, brown sandals, jeans, Margo Blouse blue shirt
Outfit 3: Black sandals, white cardigan, Mama Lauren blue blouse, jeans
Outfit 4: Coral Shirt (no picture), gray skirt, brown sandals, navy cardigan
Outfit 5: Sabrina Slim pants in gray, white cardigan, black sandals, Coral Shirt (no picture)
Outfit 6: Margo Blouse in raspberry, brown sandals, white cardigan, gray skirt
Outfit 7: Navy cardigan, jeans, Mama Lauren blue blouse, brown sandals
Outfit 8: Black Sandals, Margo Blouse blue shirt, jeans, Navy cardigan
Outfit 9: Sabrina Slim pants in gray, brown sandals, Mama Lauren blue blouse, navy cardigan
Outfit 10: Black sandals, jeans, white cardigan, coral shirt (no picture)

My Wardrobe: Sabrina Slim Pants

I finally buckled down, tossed my fears, and attempted a pair of pants for myself.  Baby steps, right? So it needed to have an elastic or yoga band waist, stretchy (i.e. forgiving) fabric and not too many complicated parts.  This is slightly ridiculous because I have done plenty of fitted, non elastic waisted, complicated pants in kid size.  But trying to fit them on myself is a completely different matter.

So, I decided on the Love Notions Sabrina Slims.  I read tons of reviews both online and in sewing blogs and decided they would be a good pair to try.  Plus, I had similar pair that I wore the seat out of years ago, so I figured I already sort of loved them!



I was very studious and created a muslin pair of shorts.  It was from the same fabric type but in this maroon-y color that really did nothing for my legs.  I cut them out, basted them together and threw them on.  I made very fast observations because it was super cold (well, after taking off my purple, paint stained, fleece pants and slippers, anything would seem cold).  Then I tweaked a few things, froze trying them on again, ignored kids pounding on my door wondering what I was doing, threw my hands in the air and decided that was good enough.

And then, I made the real pair.  There are  more things to tweak, namely widening the legs, because I do not really like skinny legged things.  This should solve some of the gathering at my knees.  I really don't want to adjust for a big calf, which is surprising because I have chicken legs. I will probably also remove the back pocket but leave the welt... or make a faux welt because I like that it adds to my pancake rump, but I do not like that you can see the pocket from the outside, and my phone pulled my pants down when I stuck it back there today, so I probably won't be using it anyway ;)  Maybe I should tighten up that elastic a bit, lol

On to the next project... non stretchy pants.  Sigh.

P.S. I would have provided a full body shot, but every picture my husband took had me staring off into outer space.  Except the one of my rear, I have no idea where I was staring for that picture.  Unfortunately, therefore,  I had to cut off my head.  Well, then I was just left with a chest and legs, which looked equally odd.  So, I focused on the legs. You will have to use your imagination for navel north!