A Good Wardrobe

I can’t believe the deadline has arrived, but my Fall 2011 Wardrobe Challenge is over! Although I don’t consider it a failure, I only managed to put together eight pieces out of my proposed thirty. Where did I go wrong?

• No clear theme

Although I had the best intentions, I only managed to make one theme post. Even with that theme in mind, I wasn’t clear how I wanted to incorporate that theme into my wardrobe. The next challenge is going to have a clearly defined theme with a plan of how to incorporate it into each of the pieces.

• Too many pieces

Honestly, thirty pieces is way too many for me. I can’t imagine bringing in that many pieces because each time I made an item, I was amazed at how it opened up my closet. It was also too difficult for me to plan for this many pieces and because of this, my motivation took a major hit. For the next challenge, this number is going to be greatly reduced and I’ll work up to more pieces later.

• A complicated palette

Although I loved my palette, it was difficult to find fabrics (especially considering how many yards I needed for thirty pieces) that were in my budget and fit into my vision for particular garments. While I’m still learning,  I’ll gather fabrics before deciding the palette or pick a simpler palette to work from.

• Restricting usage of commercial patterns

Since I was enrolled in a patterndrafting class, I wanted to utilize my new knowledge and (originally) restricted myself to self-drafted patterns. Unfortunately, I miscalculated how far I would be in the program and kept waiting to make certain projects until I had the ability to draft the items (for example, blouses). Instead, I chose to work on projects outside of the challenge. This is a serious reason why I only made a few garments. Next time, there won’t be a a restriction on the types of patterns I use.

I’ll be unveiling my next challenge on Monday and I can’t wait to share it with you. I hope to take what I’ve learned here and make this next challenge a success!

Oona convinced me to take a leap and order the Kimono Sleeve Dress from Pattern Runway. I spent Wednesday printing (ran out of ink, of course), cutting, and taping together the pattern. I really appreciated the printed grid and the paper edges that aided in the taping process. This was something that I hadn’t experienced with the free Burda and Colette patterns that I’ve printed at home. I also spent some time reading through the instructions and looking through the tutorial.

Yesterday, I cut the dress from muslin and ran through the construction. I hope you can forgive the dark photos but I finished as the sun was setting.

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Pretty much any fabric is more flattering than muslin, thankfully! Looking past the fabric, though, the overall form is nice. I was expecting to have to make some alterations but I’m so pleased with the muslin’s fit that I don’t think I’ll change anything. Although my hips and bust were a perfect size Medium, my waist is closer to a Large. Due to the elastic waistband, however,  I resisted cutting the size Large and I’m glad that I did. There’s a lot of ease in the design and I wouldn’t want more fabric around my hips or bust. If I were really picky, I would shorten the pattern at the armhole to accommodate my petite height. Comparing my muslin with the garment on the dress form (here), the proportions seem about right though. Given this, I’m going to proceed without alteration. There is a chance that I’ll end up raising the hem but I don’t see any harm in cutting the pattern as is and see how the drape affects the length (and the appearance on me).

Although I won’t be making any adjustments, I’m glad that I made a muslin. I mentioned that I’m going to be cutting this from my precious 4 ply silk and I can’t begin to tell you how nervous I am. I feel like a fraud working with such amazing fabric and I’d really hate to ruin it. I keep telling myself that I’ve purchased ready to wear that was more expensive than this fabric and then never wore the garments so ruining this fabric can’t be any worse.

I’d like to take the project slowly and keep notes on my experience so that others who are working with this pattern (or 4 ply silk) might benefit. I haven’t found any other bloggers (or burda members) who have written about this dress – if you have, please let me know. I’d love to see your finished project and read about your experience. Happy weekend, all!

What a week! If I had known what I was in store for, I would have saved my mental vacation. Between a back-breaking work week and my school work, I’ve had it. Since I have very little new to show you, I thought I’d go through my closet and pull some garments that I expect to use in my fall wardrobe.

From left to right: a black skirt from JCrew, black jersey dress by She-Bible, grey tweed jacket by Tabitha, blue silk habotai camisole from JCrew.

Fairly straight forward garments but I think they’ll mix nicely with the ones I have planned. I’ve had the majority of these pieces for quite a while and for the most part they’ve held up. I need to get the jacket cleaned to see if it will pop back into shape. The arms have definitely stretched out and it looks a little sloppy at the moment.

In other news, I’m working hard on my class projects in the hopes of using my own patterns for my fall blouses. My deadline is looming though and I’m definitely feeling the crunch! This week has been all about dart manipulation and I hope to have everything drafted and sewn by the end of next week. I should have some progress pictures for you on Monday.

Hope you enjoy your weekend!