Wardrobe Architect Progress, Part 2

Have you been following along with Colette Patterns Wardrobe Architect?  This week we are working on defining our own core style.  I saw the title of the post "Defining a Core Style" and thought "Pffft!  This is easy!"  I soooooo already know my core style.  Every single day of my life (that I leave the house) I wear some version of the following: a skirt, tank top, and a cardigan.

I didn't have to dig too far to find just three examples of this.

One of the activities for the Wardrobe Architect was to list 3-5 words which describe your core style.  The words I came up with are:

Eco-friendly: I like to buy second hand pieces to keep them out of the dumpster and give them a new life!

Feminine: I wear a skirt allllll the time!

Hobbies: Both of my hobbies include making my own clothes (knitting and sewing)

Career: My style has definitely swung more towards the dressy side of the spectrum due to my career. 

The next activity was to find pictures to demonstrate our 3-5 words and parts of our core style.  I didn't actually find pictures for each of the words, but while I was searching I realized that I tend to gravitate more towards pictures of A line/full skirts.  I found this interesting, particularly because most of my wardrobe consists of straight skirts!

Below are some pictures I found which visually demonstrate what I think my core style is.

Grosgrain

Bloglovin

I can't wait for the next installment of the Wardrobe Architect!

Colette Pattern's Wardrobe Architect

As a knitter and sewist I tend to lean towards making more pieces for my wardrobe than anything else.  Lately I've been knitting sweaters and (attempting) sewing skirts and dresses.  The finished products don't always match with my current wardrobe and/or lifestyle which can be a huge downer... Enter the Colette Pattern Wardrobe Architect project!  When I saw the post on this project, I instantly knew that it was something that I wanted and NEEDED to participate in!  The Coletterie blog will be posting weekly on this topic helping us to take ownership of our own wardrobe and really make it what we want and need it to be.

Their blog post explains the process best:

"We’ll start with several posts on defining our own styles, and how it relates to who we are. We’ll then get into more pragmatic techniques, like creating uniforms and planning capsule wardrobes. Last, we’ll talk about editing and culling."
-excerpt from Coletterie

I'm so excited for it to get started and am planning on regularly blogging on my progress!  If nothing else, I am hoping that committing to regularly blogging on it will make me more accountable to stay on track.  Wish me luck!

Is anyone else planning on following along?

A Beignet and a Renfrew

The title of this post sounds like the beginning of a really corny horrible joke...A beignet and a renfrew walk into a bar.  The beignet says to the renfrew... Hahah!

Anyways, I finally have pics of my grey wool Beignet skirt and my first Renfrew shirt.  The Beignet skirt is made from a thrifted wool skirt which I deconstructed and used for it's fabric, and the Renfrew is made using interlock knit.

Check it out, the skirt even has pockets!!!

I think I really need to work on my pocket construction.  When I sit down, they stick out so much that I think if I had anything in them it would spill out.

 Seriously, what is this pose??!

Other than the pockets, the skirt fits really well.  I'm really happy with how it turned out.  I still need to add the belt loops, however, I'm having issues with making them big enough.  I think I may end up just adding a thread belt loop and calling it a day.

As for the Renfrew, I would love to know what I was thinking when making this.  I measured myself to be a 12, traced my pattern for a size 14, then cut the actual fabric waaaay larger than a 16.  Hmmm. I then sewed the shirt up, tried it on, and surprise surprise...it was way too big.  In order to selvage it, I created a seam down the middle of the back and took it in about 2 inches.  I found that taking it in along the middle back not only eliminated the gaping in the neck but also narrowed the shoulders and got rid of the excess fabric in the mid section. 

After I made those changes, I'd say it turned out pretty good...if I do say so myself :)