A Capsule Wardrobe: Pattern Review 2024 Mini Wardrobe Contest

Two posts in the same week after a three year hiatus. I must be procrastinating, or maybe I feel the need to record my capsule wardrobe ideas to share with my friend Stephanie. As usual in life it is a combination of the two. October has also been a month for catching up and sorting out.

I have been away from my sewing machine for five months doing family things in the UK and despite a great deal of enthusiasm it's proving hard to press the sewing start button. The enthusiasm was ignited by the Sewing Workshop's Sew Confident project for October which is a colour blocked Hong Kong vest. It spawned a whole outfit concept. I needed four colours of wool viscose and I was lucky enough to find the colours I wanted fuchsia, orange, teal/petrol and chartreuse. The chartreuse was easy as I had scraps left over from a previous project. The other three colours I found at New Zealand shops. The only problem is that the teal colour bled and I had put it in a wool wash with the orange and fuchsia fabrics. The fuchsia survived but the orange was damaged irreparably. This accident wasn't a disaster as the orange was a much lighter fabric than the others so now the hunt is on for a similar weight orange fabric which fingers crossed I have found. Just waiting for it to arrive in the post. I've also washed the teal fabric a few more times and even soaked it in a white vinegar and salt solution to try and set the dye. I will wash it once more to double check there is minimal colour bleeding before I use it in the vest.

I am blaming the colour run hiccup on why I haven't started sewing but maybe it was serendipity because I discovered Pattern Review are doing a mini wardrobe contest starting 1 November. I may just be ready on time, although a month later than my planned start for the capsule wardrobe.

The ideas

My sewing friend Stephanie suggested the idea of a capsule wardrobe sewalong and of course anything that gets me down that rabbit hole of planning outfits is a fabulous idea. The plan was to start in October when my sewing machine and I were reunited. I put together a collage of the nine fabrics for my capsule wardrobe in August. At that stage I hadn't decided on which patterns to use but the middle fabric was going to be trousers and set the tone for the capsule.

From top to bottom left to right are a blouse, t-shirt, blouse, Sewing Workshop Eureka top (made), trousers, quilted jacket, blouse, trousers and Sewing Workshop Hong Kong vest.

During my sojourn in the UK I missed the creativity of sewing and bought the Pride and Bloom Liberty organic tana lawn on a visit to Guthrie and Ghani with the intention of hand sewing a Sewing Workshop Eureka top. I did hand sew the bust darts and one shoulder seam then spent a weekend with my friend Cath who also sews and magically the top was sewn on her machine with just the hems to hand sew. One garment down only eight left to sew.

Then I saw a picture of a pair of trousers with different coloured fabric used for each leg, which I thought was a fabulous idea. As I already had doubts about the silk matka fabric being suitable for the focus trousers even though I really want that fabric as trousers my thoughts swiveled in a completely different direction. This alternate direction was cemented by my idea for the colour blocked Hong Kong vest.

The capsule will be based on the four colours in my Hong Kong vest with the emphasis on pink and orange.

The rules

The Pattern Review mini wardrobe contest rules are pretty simple and more importantly I can bend my ideas to fit the rules. The first rule is for all work on the garments to be done between 1 November to 5  December 2024, ie five weeks. Secondly five garments need to be sewn, which have to make at least six distinct outfits with no additional garments added. The wardrobe can be for anybody and any combination of patterns can be used.

I believe I can make at least seven outfits from my five garments maybe even nine but we'll see.

The five garments

1.  Sewing Workshop Hong Kong vest in four wool viscose fabrics

2.  Sewing Workshop Picasso pants in two linen fabrics.

3.  Sewing Workshop Getaway jeans in four cotton drill fabrics

I couldn't find the inspiration picture for the two coloured trousers and ended up doing an internet search which led me to an amazing pair of colour blocked jeans by Loewe from 2022.

These could be tricky because I couldn't find chartreuse cotton drill so I have bought some yellow with the intention of dyeing it using a Dylon Dye pod in olive but maybe forest green. I am hoping the yellow base fabric and a green dye give me a chartreuse colour - good in theory but we'll see how it turns out. I also have to do the pattern work to make the Getaway a wider leg jean and then create the smaller inset leg pieces.

4. Sewing Workshop eTee adapted to a tiered midi dress in a stretch mesh 

I have made a dress like this before but using a non-stretch fabric and the Sewing Workshop Maison top as my starting point with four tiers, each 1½ times wider than the one before and eight inches finished length. The stretch mesh is allegedly a Diane Von Furstenberg fabric.

5. Sewing Workshop Origami blouse in a merino poly blend knit

As you can see the five ideas for my PR mini wardrobe bear no resemblance to my original nine piece capsule wardrobe so let's see if I can complete these five without changing my mind again.

After the five...

Once I have made the five garments for the contest I have many more ideas to add to my capsule wardrobe! I don't feel any pressure to have these made by early December it will be an ongoing project over the next few months (or maybe they will be my second capsule of five!!!).

My original Hong Kong vest outfit concept included this Gardenia blouse in a check cotton shirting which I am thinking of cutting on the bias if there is enough fabric.

Whilst searching through fabric options I found this Kaffe Fassett quilting cotton called Koi Polloi which now wants to become a Sewing Workshop Origami skirt and I think will be great with the Gardenia blouse.

Then as you always need more tops than bottoms there is the eTee in an orange viscose rib knit and the Vogue 2814 Issey Miyake blouse in a cotton knit.

And did I mention that I want to make a Sewing Workshop Tosca dress in a Liberty tana lawn print called Ziggy because I have quite a few RTW mesh blouses that I could wear underneath.

Plus for when the weather gets colder I am knitting a variation on the Martin Storey Reed cardigan from Rowan magazine issue 74. I started, three times before I was happy, knitting whilst in the UK and I am not that far from the finish line.

Vogue 1729 Rachel Comey Starstruck Trousers

Three years between blog posts was not my intention however the desire to sew was stronger than the desire to write about it, resulting in my blog taking a very long nap. On the plus side if the blogging desire returns properly there are lots of projects to catch up on. Will need to pencil in some time with the photographer first though. Remembering the ins and outs of the pattern alterations and sewing may also be a challenge!

There is much discussion about are blogs dead as the time between posts lengthen and other forms of social media rise (I'm hopeless with Instagram too). I don't believe they are dead as a means of sharing our sewing adventures with whoever comes across them. This blog was my personal sewing journal, helping me remember what I did, the patterns I've sewn, what changes I made, etc. and maybe it can be again. Blogs as a source of fame and fortune seem less likely now. Posts are fewer and comments less plentiful even on those blogs with a large following. In some ways this appears to mean blogging whilst not quite dead is very somnolent.

The finished garment

I am not returning to blogging in chronological order sharing instead a pair of trousers sewn for the Pattern Review 2022-23 pants contest. With all the valid reasons for people not reaching the finish line I felt pretty feeble as my trousers were finished a couple of days before the 7 January 2023 deadline but I lacked any motivation to take pictures. Once finished I was just happy to have joined in the conversation and made some trousers and didn't feel the need to actually enter the competition. I even started a review (along with this blog post) before the competition close but got distracted before finishing it.

A flat shot of this outfit is all I have even though I enjoy wearing these trousers with the Trelise Cooper Double Scoop Top from Spring 2022 and JW Anderson Lid Mini Pocket Bag.

I find it a challenge to style these trousers and even though I like them on their own they are not worn very often. Now they are just too big so it may be time to have another go at making this pattern.

The fabric

A stretch cotton sateen from The Fabric Store which was only available online. Always a challenge as I end up buying more fabric than I need to get free shipping - such a false economy. Checking back on that November 2022 order I have used only two of the seven fabrics I bought. No need to wonder why my fabric stash is so enormous. The other fabric used was a blue and white striped cotton shirting with cut out and embroidered stars which became a Sewing Workshop Venice shirt to wear with these trousers. Unfortunately they don't look good together as the shirt is too long.

It was a good fabric choice for these trousers as it held the structure but was light enough that the side pleats weren't too bulky.

The pattern

Fitted cropped pants with side front pockets, side pleat hemline detail, invisible side seam zipper. Suggested fabrics: linen blends, crepe, sateen.

The pattern alterations

As with many of us the COVID years and a lack of exercise were less than helpful in containing middle aged spread and I graded out to a size 24 at the outseam but retained the size 16 inseam and crotch curve. With the fitting adjustments I made the final size is somewhere between a 16 and 24!

The interesting thing about these trousers was I tried the Ruth Collins Top Down Centre Out fitting method. I appreciated her thought process and enjoyed listening to the Threads podcast and watching The Crooked Hem series on YouTube. It was a new slant on things. Something to think about and try as we search for that elusive perfectly fitted trouser. 

Having tried TDCO my preference is the pants fitting method taught by Peggy Sagers - her LCD (Length Circumference Depth) methodology makes sense and gives me good results. Maybe TDCO would have worked better for me if I had started with a curved waistband which is what suits my body but not what came with the pattern. Whatever the reason I like having both legs for my toile even though I only make changes to one of them. 

The crotch curve fitted after using TDCO but I did check it against a TNT pattern to make sure. One thing I haven't noticed others mention is to remove the seam allowance in the curved part of the crotch of the toile otherwise you can't see how it will fit. 

For the circumference I had to make changes in the finished trousers at the waist (removed ⅜" from each side seam and centre back a total of 2¼") making sure hip to waist still followed the shape of the french curve. I found it difficult fitting on my own to really assess circumference with only one leg. So as with most things in life there are different paths to success and we need to use what works for us.

I was attracted to this pattern because of the above ankle length and interesting side pleat detail. I think it is worth making again but the fit needs perfecting. Given the circumference alterations made it would probably help it I started with a different size - ignoring the pattern sizing and using the finished garment measurements to guide my choice. A lesson I really should have learned by now especially with the ease allowance used in Vogue Patterns.

The sewing

These trousers were a bit of a battle to sew, nothing technically challenging just a bit of inattention and stupid mistakes resulting in quality time spent with the seam ripper. A bit of an acutal blood sweat and tears project. On one of the reverse sewing occasions I pricked my finger not realising it had drawn blood so I got little blood spots on my trousers easy to fix with stain remover but duh... Sweat because we have been enjoying some true summer days and tears well more of a mini tantrum when I got fed up with myself and the stupidity which were turning these trousers into a major sewing project.

I am becoming more critical of the Vogue pattern sewing instructions. The glossary explains terms but not in enough detail for a beginner to understand what to do. Likewise they don't give pressing instructions. This pattern has a beginning statement to encase all raw edges with double fold bias tape after the seam is sewn with limited detail. For example can you encase the seams together or bind each separately and of course no mention of the possibility of a serger which is a perfectly adequate solution to neatly finish the edges of a cotton sateen. If you were a beginner sewer a good sewing book would definitely be needed to help you along the way. As I follow my own path generally this level of instruction is fine although this designer pattern won't be helping me improve my sewing. The addition of the fly front zipper necessitated a different sewing order anyway plus I added back patch pockets to break up the large expanse of fabric over my bottom.

For a fly front zipper I use the instructions from The Sewing Workshop Getaway Jeans which are clear and simple. Normally they are clear and simple with these trousers I stuffed up on the first step by sewing the right hand zipper tape rather than the left, then spent ages wondering why I couldn't make the next step work. No matter how good instructions are they can't compensate for an idiot operator.

To enable the trousers to easily be taken in at each side seam and centre back I divide the curved waistband (and facing) into four to have a separate piece attached to each leg piece. I add the waistband before sewing the centre back and side seams.

Outfit of the day

The outfit of the day pictures were taken at the Shipwreck Memorial on Gibsons Quay, Hokitika on a sunny Thursday in early January 2022. The memorial commemorates the 42 ships wrecked crossing the Hokitika river bar between 1865 and 1982. It is a concrete replica of the schooner Tambo (and its actual anchor) which grounded in a storm in 1866.

Rachel Comey Starstruck trousers are worn with the Sewing Workshop Venice Deux Spotted Gingham Top and Keds Triple-Up Rainbow People (designed by Elizabeth Olwen) sneakers. Plus it being Summer in New Zealand there is the ubiquitous straw hat for added UV protection.

At Sunset Point looking across the Hokitika River back to town