Spring-Summer 2018 Wardrobe (part 1)

I love those pictures on Pintrest that show you the nirvana of a capsule wardrobe. You know the ones I mean - 10 articles of clothing that transform magically into 60 (maybe a slight exaggeration here for literary effect!) different outfits, all beautifully accessorized and co-ordinated. I momentarily buy into this theory while I dream of a summer holiday wardrobe that will transform me from the reality of a hot, sweaty mess into a glamorous, groomed Boden / The White Company / Joules (or insert favourite aspirational brand here) model having the time of her life on the beach or in the bar. There is no indignity of chipped nail varnish or greasy sun cream stains for that glamour puss!

If I put all of my summer clothes onto my bed - I am presented with a riot of every colour imaginable. Each article is beautiful and about half are me-made with love, but nothing seems to go with anything else! So I wonder if I am going about this in the wrong way. Could I be disciplined enough to design my own 'mini summer capsule wardrobe' for Summer 2018?

I started by thinking about what clothes I might need for summer weather. I then spend a rather scary amount of time flicking through pattern books and searching on Pintrest and Instagram for summer looks that I like and a number of things keep coming up again and again. So maybe they are items I should think about making. T-shirt, linen skirt (maybe a long one to cover my legs), floaty blouse, beachy cover up, shorts....but I don't want to get carried away. I don't want to make a whole new wardrobe, just some good pieces that go with other things and fit in with my lifestyle.

So next I have a look at my fabric stash - and am drawn to a palette of grey, pink and blue. I pull a selection of fabrics out and cut a swatch of each to put onto a 'mood board' hoping that this will help me to focus. I start to think about which fabrics might be able to fit the bill for the various items I am thinking about. I have two beautiful linens - one grey and one in a chambray coloured blue so they will probably fit the bill for my skirts. I only have a small amount of the grey - so that will be the shorter length skirt.

DISCLAIMER - I am no artist and my teacher at school celebrated when I didn't pick art as one of my option subjects!

Sketching out in a very rudimentary fashion my chosen items with notes on the details and fabric sellotaped alonsgide my little summer capsule wardrobe is starting to come together.

The first item that I think I will make is the grey and pink stripey top / skirt or slouchy dress shown on the bottom right above. I made a t-shirt last year that has a similar shape and I think I will use this as a base for the pattern. If you would like to join me in making this top / dress I will be sewing it on Friday 2nd March at my Freestyle Friday session (book online or message me if you would like to join and make your own).

Have you ever tried this approach to a seasonal wardrobe? How did you get on?

I will share my pics as I progress and may even do a holiday 'lookbook' if I remember to take pics before I've dropped ice cream down myself!