Sewing in Collections
Historically, I haven't been much of a stash keeper, especially of garment fabrics. However, as I've been collecting Spring fabrics from Hobby Lobby's newest seasonal line, I realized how many of them go together as a sort of collection. I also had a black and white fabric in my stash that I knew exactly what I wanted to make with and realized I had a few other fabrics that could go with that one and form a little collection too!
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I've been a long time follower of Emily Hallman Designs (love her!) and love how she sews seasonal collections. Not really capsule wardrobes, but just groups of garments she loves, out of a group of fabrics that go together. She wrote a post specifically about this here, but talks about it all the time on her blog and on Instagram because it's just how to operates as a sewist and it's super entertaining to watch. Mine won't be as extensive and fancy as hers, but I am always so inspired by what she puts together.
So, I decided to start with my black and white dress and go from there. I plan to add a unique denim jacket using this pattern as a topper to tie it all together. Since I had the jacket idea, I’ve already thought of all the ways I’ll wear it with these pieces I’m planning, so I’m excited to get to that project.
I grabbed a few new patterns during a sale last week and sort of planned out some ideas while I watched the Super Bowl. I also realized I have a few pieces I made last year that will be perfect additions to this little collection, like my white linen jacket. I would love to shop for a bottom weight fabric and make a pair of Spring pants to go with the two tops I plan to make. I'm so excited! This is such a fun way to plan my sewing in a way I've never done it before. It's always good to have a plan, especially when life is busy, as it certainly is for me right now. (Did I tell you we have fresh orders to move to Charlotte in June!?)
Helpful Resources:
I started looking around for posts about this topic and found several that are helpful, so I want to share those here for you. Maybe it will get your collection-sewing wheels turning too!
Emily Hallman, like a said, wrote about this concept extensively here, but be sure and hang around her blog and follow her on Instagram if you need ideas for how to put collections together.
If you need more of a step by step how-to on how to plan your wardrobe so that it’s full of pieces you wear and that you can mix and match, you can access Collet’s entire series called Wardrobe Architect.
Cortney, from S is for Sew, who I started following on Instagram last Spring, has recently started sewing in collections and she’s been very inspiring! Follow her on IG, but also read her series on collection sewing. Part 1 is here.
Mood Fabrics has an article on building a capsule wardrobe.
This book has been on my wishlist and I might just buy it to get wardrobe inspiration: The Curated Closet: A Simple System for Discovering your Personal Style and Building your Dream Wardrobe.
Here are more books along those lines:
I also have a set of fabrics all ready to go for Summer that I’m excited to start planning projects for. The biggest thing I’ve realized while thinking about collections is that while dresses are my favorite to sew, I don’t really need a whole lot of them. In the Summer, I do wear more casual dresses as everyday wear, but I don’t need that many church or event dresses. Looking at these, I realize I need to keep myself open to solids! They may seem boring when I’m fabric shopping, but basic solid pieces are obviously so useful in an actual wardrobe.
I think before I started thinking in terms of wearable collections, I would have made several of these fabrics into dresses, but now I realize that maybe one dress and several tops would be more useful to me, along with maybe a pair of shorts and a Summer jacket or kimono. So I think this is going to be good for me and will help me stretch my wardrobe! Plus, I’ll have a closet full of useful clothes that go together — no stragglers!
Do you sew in collections? What are your thoughts on this, I’d love to hear them!
P.S. I did finish my black and white dress and it’s beautiful! I’ll share details soon :)
