Capsule Wardrobe for Me

I’ve been really interested in this capsule wardrobe idea for a while now. Yes, I’ve done the SWAP on Pattern Review and even won it once. But for some reason, I never seem to wear those peices often or together. I hate, hate, hate having those pieces in your wardrobe that take up space and never really go with anything. I’ve been pinning capsule wardrobes for a while now (all my other boards on Pinterest) and I want to do one on my own just to see if I will actually wear everything together. Eventually I want to make a school appropriate capsule wardrobe for my kids. Especially the little one. She tends to either 1) wear the same items over and over again, or 2) wear all her crazy print pieces together. I think if I made a wardrobe and put up little pictures/drawings for her, she could pick and choose what goes together and actually look somewhat put together.

I have really fallen in love with the blog, PuttingMeTogether.com. She’s got great easy stuff and I like her laid back style. She’s got some great tips on how to make a mix and match wardrobe. She has a quick and easy formula and that’s what I’m using for this little experiement. I’ll be modifying this just a bit to include two scarves and as many damn pairs of shoes as I want. :) This is from my closet, not for a trip.

(from: PuttingMeTogether.com)

• 4 tops
• 3 different colored bottoms - skirts, pants, shorts, etc.  Each bottom needs to go with at least 3 out of 4 tops, but you'll maximize your outfits if they each go with all tops.
• 3 completer pieces - The more different they are from each other, the more varied your outfits will look.  For example, a vest looks and provides a much different feeling for an outfit than a cardigan while two cardigans of different colors might feel the same after a while.  Not always, though!  And if you don't care as much about outfit variety then it doesn't matter either.  This year I went with a pullover sweater instead of a third completer piece.  I like how it worked out!
• 2 pairs of shoes - I usually limit it to just 2, and in this case it's a pair of riding boots and a pair of ankle boots.  They're both neutrals so I can wear either of them with any outfit. 
• 1 scarf - Usually I've gone with 2 scarves, but this year I only felt the need for one and I think it worked out fine.  Plus, I realized scarves are actually kind of chunky and take up as much, if not more, packing space than adding another top.  I could have easily added a 5th top in the place of that 2nd scarf that I didn't pack.  
• A handful of necklaces - This year I think I only used 2 necklaces, whereas in the past I might have used more.  I think it's because I brought more patterned pieces this time. 

 

Here’s what I’ve come up with (shocking they are mostly Jalie, I know):

You can see I went with a blue/orange group of colors. If you followed along with my last SWAP from Pattern Review, you will know this is totally different than last time. I’ll give you guys updates along the way. I’m not planning on putting these pieces into rotation until the whole she-bang is done. Then I’ll take a billion pictures and you can let me know if you like the whole concept start to finish.

 

And because my dog is hairy, cute, and wet right now.

Jalie 3462 - Cora Shorts

I already ran 10 miles this morning so this is the real-deal picture. No make-up and no primping for you people. I made another pair of these Cora shorts from Jalie. I love these shorts for running long distances.

 

Here’s what I love the most about this pattern. The GIANT pocket. I fit my iPhone 6 and two sets of keys in this pocket this morning. Nothing bounced, jiggled, or moved. The pocket is awesome.

 

Here the phone is in the pocket. You can see how it fits in there.

 

The solid is a wicking polyester from Heddy’s in Las Vegas. The water color print is a poly/spandex from Spandex House. It looks like clouds and the sky at sunset. It’s a fun print. It’s the first print on this search page.

 

I’ve made this pattern several times and I’ve always been very happy with it. The only modification I make is longer elastic because I don’t like tight things around my waist when I run.

 

I have a fun project coming up!! Stay tuned!

Ottobre Tanks 03-2016 #22

Remember the shorts? Yea, well they needed a partner. Well, two partners actually. This is just a super easy tank pattern. I left off the fringe, but I do like it.

 

I tried to get coordinating colors so everything would go together. All the binding is done on my binding attachment. I am still in love with that thing. I put the front on the bias just for funsies . . .

 

This white fabric is from Girl Charlee.

 

This purple binding was hard to use in the binder. It wanted to curl.

 

I love how it all goes together!

I love these outfits!!!

Ottobre Shorts 03-2016 #21

These are just a very simple, cute pair of functional shorts. I tried to bling them up a bit and I’m very happy with them. I like how Ottobre gives you a bunch of basic kids patterns with a twist. The “twist” on these is a slightly gathered leg in the back of the leg at the hem. Of course, I opted not to do this, but I love that there are so many design details on Ottobre patterns.

 

I added a little pocket bling to them and love it. This is a cotton/Lycra fabric from Fabric.com? I’m not quite sure where I got it.

 

The pattern calls for two patch pockets, but I only did one.

 

I bought a bunch of this stuff at the National City Swap Meet. It’s rhinostones afixed to a plastic webbing/mesh? You don’t have to deal with gluing on rhinestones or anything.

 

If you look carefully, you can see the purple topstitching thread. I really like the look of it. I can also see it being used down an arm on a sleeve. Hmmm, that may be coming next. I love this stuff! You buy it by the yard. It’s about 5” wide and on a spool.

 

Hmmmmm, this is for my littlest. She may need a top or two to go with this . . .

Jalie Leotards

As you know (maybe), my neice is a big gymnast. I make leotards for her. She really likes glitter, glam, and pizazz while Dad likes a little modesty with the gym-short type of leg. I loved this Jalie 3465 pattern for a while but I am lazy when it comes to modifying patterns. Then I was looking at something recently and literally had a forehead-slapping moment. I totally forgot that Jalie 3465 and 3466 have interchangeable bottoms!! How awesome is that? Look at all my options!! And no modification for the Lazy-Dawn-Beast. Look! There are my boy short bottoms!!

 

This is the bodice piece on Jalie 3465, truly bizarre. The part on top is the bodice.

 

1) How FREAKING cute is this leotard. 2) How FREAKING big is my dog??

 

The back is my favorite part. The only part that doesn’t please me is that she won’t be able to undo-redo the clasp by herself. These are my twins showing off the two leotards. My twins are smaller than my neice. She is definitely more muscular and these will look better on her. You can tell these are too big around on the torso.

 

Here is the other one. Same things, different colors.

 

See how ripply it is around the side of the bodice? Too big for this girl, but it will fit the cousin just fine.

 

On the mesh, they have you serge on 1/4” elastic, flip it to the wrong side, and topstitch it with a zig zag. I LOVE this finish!

 

These are winging their way to San Diego as we speak.

Jalie 3135 Skinsuit - Wait for it . . .

Lovely Darling: Hey mom, I volunteered you to sew something today.
Me: WTF?!?!?! (in my head) Oh? (out my mouth)
Lovely Darling: YEA, Mr. __________ said if most people sign up for the race, he’ll wear a head to toe pink outfit that you make.
Me: Did he say what kind of outfit?
Lovely Darling: He’s thinking like pink shorts and a pink t-shirt?
Me: *evil grin* But do I have to do pink shorts and t-shirt?
Lovely Darling: *looking slightly scared* Um, no. He said he would wear whatever you make.
Me: MWAAAA HAAAA HAAAAAA. MWWWAAAAA haaaaa haaaaa!
Lovely Darling: Um, mom? Mom? Stop doing that. No, really. Stop.

 

And that, my friends, is how I got a teacher to wear a head to toe hot pink sparkle suit made by yours truly. He’s the best teacher ever! Introducing Jalie 3135, my new friend.

 

I had to take his measurements and he fit into the Y size range. He, however, is not 5”6”. I added 2.5” in length to the torso, arms, and legs.

 

Feel the pink. Love the pink.

 

On me, you can see it’s kind of a baggy mess. A pink, sparkly baggy mess.

 

Oh yes. My precious.

 

Poor guy. It must have been 70 degrees that day. I let him wear the shorts. Cause I’m nice like that. His students were extremely excited to see him.

 

I chuckled the whole day. The. Whole. Day.

Another Jalie Swimsuit

So you guys have seen this swimsuit numerous times. It is the same one I always make. I really need to switch things up a bit. I used Jalie 2446 for the top and Jalie 3247 for the bottoms. The bottoms are part of a gymnastics pattern and I did modify the legs to make them a bit shorter. I detailed the changes here.

 

How fun is this fabric. You’ve seen the fabric before here in this kids’ Jalie swimsuit.

 

Could I have made the clasp any more off center? I am still boggled by how I did that.

Next? Think sparkle pink and CRAZY.

Merino Wool for Sale on Etsy

If you want some, I just put it on Etsy. I used to have just three colors, blue, gray, and green. Now I have six! It’s 100% Hi-wick Polyester face and 100% Merino wool grid back. It’s 58” wide and amazing. My Etsy Shop.

These are all things I have made with this fabric. Happy shopping! Mwaaa haaa haaa.