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.

Liesl + Co Rush Hour Lagos Laurel Blouse

Good job no one is hanging out for my every word as despite sewing up a storm so far this year I have not been very productive on the blogging front. Sometimes this is because I am not very proficient at the photography stage other times it is a lack of inclination to write the words. However after a long hiatus (more than three months if anyone is counting) I feel the need to commit my projects to the blog. I enjoy flicking through to see projects of the past so I need to up my blogging game and catch-up with the 2021 sewing. Starting oldest first this top was made in early January (twice - but more about that later) when I was still enjoying the summer Christmas holidays. Now we are enjoying the downward rush to winter.

This knit top was made as part of the therapy to ween myself off Vogue 8710 which I have sewn so many times now it almost sews itself. Two of the things I enjoy most about Vogue 8710 are the slightly flared hemline and the princess seams for fitting the bust. The Rush Hour blouse has an interesting peplum (the reason I bought the pattern) and the princess seams. Sewing it before peplums become passé was another motivator.

The big question is does the Rush Hour blouse have enough similarities with Vogue 8710 to replace it in my affections? I was hopeful the answer was yes and set off on my new pattern adventure.

The finished garment

This is version one which would never have been made like this if I had read the reviews for this pattern on PatternReview. However as I only read them after the event this version saw the light of day. It was worn on an expedition to The Fabric Store. As I stretched to reach or pull various fabric bolts I could feel a definite draft around my kidneys. An undesirable situation according to my grandmother who often exclaimed "you'll catch your death" when as a teenager my tops got too short thus exposing my kidneys to the cold. Wise words I didn't appreciate at the time but I certainly do now! 

A top that is only suitable for quiet moments of contemplation doesn't really suit my lifestyle so after a few pattern alterations a second version was born. I can reach and stretch to my hearts content in this and there are no unwelcome breezes on bare skin.

In all of the photographs I am wearing the Megan Nielsen Flint Peggy Yellow trousers and Arche Ikhini Yellow Sandal.

The fabric

Another Liberty of London fabric from The Fabric Store. This time it is the Lagos Laurel Ganton jersey in colourway B. I also happen to have this fabric in the A and C colourways. Whilst I clearly like this design this is the first of the Lagos Laurel fabric to become a garment. It is also the most recent purchase fitting in with my current yellow obsession, and my imaginary Stitcher's Guild SWAP 2021.

This Liberty jersey doesn't have that much stretch and I took that into account when thinking about the size to sew. 

The pattern

I had long admired this pattern and resisted buying it because I felt the design would be easy enough to adapt from the ever faithful V8710. Eventually I succumbed and the pattern was mine to sit quietly with its friends waiting for its turn on the cutting table. This is the second Liesl + Co pattern to join the collection but the first one to be sewn.

Liesl describes this top as a "lined, fitted peplum blouse. The princess seams on this style allow you to customise the fit easily. View B, the peplum top, features your choice of short or long sleeves and an asymmetrical peplum, with an invisible back zipper. The pattern includes cup sizes, a Dior dart, and instructions for customising the pattern to fit your shape."

The pattern card

The pattern alterations

I can't really detail the pattern alterations for this make because I didn't use the original pattern pieces for the bodice. When I looked at the pattern I discovered that the bodice wasn't a true princess seam as the centre front piece had a Dior (bust) dart, which means it has a shaped side front piece and the centre front piece has a short dart. In fairness the pattern description does highlight the Dior dart it just never entered my consciousness until I started working with the pattern to achieve the fit I wanted.

Even though this pattern comes with B, C and D cup pattern pieces I knew that the front pattern pieces would require alteration to fit when what I really wanted was the cut out and sew simplicity of a TNT pattern. Given the reason I bought this pattern was the peplum the easy answer was to add the peplum to Vogue 8710. This should have given me a perfectly fitting top.

The challenges of version one were because instead of using the length of Vogue 8710 minus the peplum length, I used the length of the Rush Hour blouse. It should be noted that the finished back length of the Rush Hour blouse is not stated.

The starting point for me for any pattern is choosing the size based on the finished garment measurements. For the Rush Hour blouse in a knit fabric I chose size 8 (D cup) at the bust grading out to size 16 at the bottom of the bodice pattern pieces (3, 4 and 5). There would be zero ease at the bust (the ease comes from the stretch fabric) and 2½" of positive ease at the waist. For no logical reason I can remember I chose the length of size 8. For a woven fabric I would choose the size 14 at the bust grading to the size 16 at the bottom of the bodice pattern pieces.

In short the bodice pieces of Vogue 8710 were cut at the size 8 length, shaped at the side seams to match the peplum / bodice seam width, and the original Rush Hour peplum added. This was done by:

• laying the TNT centre front and back pattern pieces for Vogue 8710 on top of the Rush Hour Blouse bodice (pieces 3 and 5) matching centre front / back, size 8 at the shoulder neck edge and shortening by chopping the pattern off at the size 8 length
• shortening the Vogue 8710 side front (piece 4) at the hem to match the seam where it joins to the centre front pattern piece
• removing the ½" centre back seam so pattern piece 5 is cut on the fold and the zipper omitted
• shaping the side seams on pattern pieces 4 and 5 so that the bodice seam length where it joins the peplum was the same as the size 16 peplum
• cutting the peplum (pattern pieces 12, 13 and 14) as a size 16 with no alterations.

Other alterations were:

• lowered the back neck edge ⅜"
• lowered the front neck edge 1⅜" and altered the shape to more of an elongated U
• used the sleeve pattern from Silhouette Patterns 195 Sweater Set (my favourite knit sleeve) which is the same sleeve used in my TNT Vogue 8710.

As I said at the beginning of this post this resulted in a top that was too short for anything but quiet contemplation and a few more alterations were made, as follows:

• bodice lengthened 1½". As I had used my Vogue 8710 TNT pattern pieces I just cut them off 1½" longer than version one. If I had been using the original Rush Hour blouse pattern pieces I think I would simply have added the extra length at the bottom rather than the lengthen shorten line. For reference my lengthened pattern pieces are ⅞" longer than the size 16
• back bodice side seam increased ½" at peplum seam line tapering back to nothing at the armhole.
• front peplum (pattern pieces 12 and 13) lengthened ½" at the side seam hem blending back to the original size 16 at centre front
• back peplum lengthened ½" at the hem and widened ½" at the side seam. I also wanted the back peplum to have more swing so I slashed the pattern piece at the hem up to the bodice seam line and curved out the hem edge until it was 1½" times larger than the bodice seam length
• ¼" dart made in the curve of the U as the front neckline gaped slightly.

If the original Rush Hour blouse comes in B, C and D cup sizing why would it require fit alterations?

• the bust dart tip is just over 4" from centre front (size 8 4⅛" and size 16 4½"). For most women this would result in the dart tip being at the bust apex, as generally the distance between the most prominent part of each breast is 8". From a pattern drafting perspective it is not incorrect as the dart can end anywhere within the bust circle. However as Ann Hathaway in that pink Prada dress will attest this is not the most flattering look. For me having a larger bust the dart tip is generally about 2" away from the bust point, as the more the bust is rounded the further away the tip of the dart will be from the bust point, with the dart stopping short of the flat part of the front of the bust
• the bust point is not marked but measuring down from the shoulder / neck edge point, based on where the dart tip is, it is about 10" (size 8 9⅞" and size 14 10⅜"). I need the bust point to be 11½"
• other alterations may be required but the reality is I can't ever see me making the Rush Hour blouse with the bodice pattern pieces. I have a good knit version now using my TNT Vogue 8710 and am most likely to make a woven version by adding the peplum to my TNT Silhouette Patterns 400 Traditional blouse.

The sewing

There is nothing interesting about the sewing and I didn't use the pattern sewing instructions. Apart from the hems it was sewn on the overlocker with four threads and a ⅜" seam allowance. The pattern uses ½" seam allowances so I increased the circumference of the peplum by ½" and at the bodice peplum seam line. 

The peplum hem was stay stitched at ⅜" and turned up. The open side of the right front peplum hem was mitred, using the same method as detailed here. The sleeve hem was turned up ½". All hems were sewn with a straight stitch (length 3.0).

The neck binding was a 2" wide strip of fabric folded in half and sewn to the neck edge with a four thread overlock stitch and ⅜" seam allowance to give a finished ½" band (⅛" is taken up by turn of cloth).

Sewing construction was: sew centre and side fronts together; sew front to back at right shoulder seam; attach the neck binding; sew left shoulder seam; sew the sleeve in flat; attach the back peplum to the bodice back; turn up the hems on the two front peplum pieces before attaching to the bodice front; sew up the side seams; hem the bodice and sleeves.

Take two

I wrote a lot of notes about what didn't work in the first version and decided it was unlikely to be worn as I don't want to expose skin when I reach forward or raise my arms. Luckily I had made this top from a relatively recent fabric purchase that was still available at The Fabric Store. Before I rushed off to buy more I got out the left-over fabric to see how much more fabric I would need to purchase. An amazing thing happened and the shapes of the left-over fabric were perfect to cut out a whole new top without the need for a fabric purchase. Think the cup of tea helped.

Outfit of the day

Whilst I was very happy with version two of the Rush Hour blouse it took until April to be worn in real life (for a whole day as opposed to the few minutes it takes for blog photos!)  It was worn for work and the outfit was recreated for these photos as I don't have the photographer with me during the week.

I do think I need to learn how to take timed pictures with my phone as I would like to record my outfits everyday as it gives a lot of useful insight both into what in the wardrobe gets worn as well as the different styling choices.

The Rush Hour Lagos Laurel blouse was worn with the Untouched World Weekend jacket in colourway Kowhai; Megan Nielsen Flint mustard check trousers and Ernest Wyler Keesha Sunflower ankle boots.

I preferred it styled with these mustard check Flint trousers rather than the peggy yellow ones. Both of these trousers were sewn for the never entered Pattern Review Endless Combinations 2020 competition.

The photographer found these photographs challenging to take as he kept capturing the moment I had my eyes closed. He also captured the moment I was futzing with the outfit.

Pattern Review Wardrobe Contest 2020 Unfinished

Why do I always disappear down the rabbit hole of wardrobe contests? So far I have never managed to put together sufficient garments within the timeframe to enter one so why am I fascinated by them? Maybe it is the rules that make me want to join in. They always seem so simple - my creative juices start whirring, fabric and patterns flashing across the mind and then... No sewing.

The problem this time wasn't no sewing it was unfocused sewing. At the end of two months I had five out of the ten required garments sewn, plus a few other things that weren't part of the plan.

So is it just the planning that appeals? Capsule wardrobes fit in with my lifestyle and I have long since given up making or buying orphan pieces. The Endless Combination competition was the closest I have ever come to an entry, even had enough finished garments - close but still no cigar.

With the Endless Combinations plan my downfall was not having pictures of the finished garments. This time I took pictures of the wardrobe combinations as the garments were finished, unfortunately this is pretty much the wardrobe - not quite ten finished garments.

The ideas

The changing seasons, a wardrobe contest, great rules - ooo lets put a wardrobe plan together or three.

Wardrobe plan version 3

Wardrobe plan version two

Wardrobe plan version one

Plan one was based on the Prince of Wales check trousers sewn over the weekend of 19/20 September. As well as the black and white there are stripes of red, purple and green. I was also really keen to sew another version of Vogue 1836 the Issey Miyake coat this time in a shocking pink waterproof fabric. The other fabrics were chosen from this starting point.

Then the Cone Mills Loomstate mustard yellow denim arrived and I couldn't wait to sew that so out went the DP Le309 Boyish trousers in a pink alphabet stretch cotton. The Liberty Satin Cloud Linford brushed sweatshirting replaced Vogue 1836. There wasn't enough of the bright flowers fabric to make the Tom and Linda Platt Vogue 1348 dress (more is on its way) and so it went on until I ended up with version three.

The rules

The contest was discovered on the weekend of 19 September so rule 5 was a non-starter but for the others lets get planning and sewing.

1. Between 15 September and 15 November sew ten unique garments (a topper, two bottoms, two tops, an accessory, plus four other garments which can be any of the former but no more than two dresses and/or one additional accessory) 
2. Everything must be sewn by machine or hand; using any pattern (or no pattern)
3. Everything must form a cohesive wardrobe ie each top must look good worm with each bottom; the topper must be able to worn over each top and go with each top, bottom or dress
4. The wardrobe must be sewn for a human (adult or child) no pet or doll wardrobes!
5. Fabric may be pre-treated before the contest start and patterns muslined but no fabric can be cut prior to the start
6. A review needs to be written for each item sewn with at least two pictures plus a composite review linking all of the individual reviews and including a photo of all the combinations

The topper

Instead of Vogue 1836 the Issey Miyake raincoat the topper ended up being Style Arc's Palermo jacket in a Liberty of London fabric (Satin Cloud Linford brushed sweatshirting). The pattern and fabric entered my stash at the beginning of October and were made in time to be entered into the Pattern Review Warm and Cosy competition. Not only did I manage to write a blog post about making this shrug I also wrote the required review and competition entry on Pattern Review. A miracle!! 

This has to be one of the quickest garments to sew and I can see many more in my future.

Style Arc Palermo jacket and Liberty Satin Cloud B Linford Brushed Sweatshirting

The bottoms

Both pairs of trousers were made using the Megan Nielsen Flint pattern. This has become my go to trouser pattern and has been made too many times to remember. These latest versions of the pattern have been changed to a fly front zipper. One day they may get a blog post of their own to explain the various pattern changes made to alter the style.

The style for the Cone Mills Loomstate mustard denim is based on a pair of ready to wear boyfried(ish) trousers that get worn a lot. My intention originally was to make the DP Le309 Boyish trousers but they were much wider in the leg than my RTW pair so Megan Nielsen Flint trousers were adapted to my vision. The smile lines over my tummy didn't appear until I stitched the waistband facing down and as it is generally covered by a t-shirt I decided not to unpick and fix it, especially as it would have required the removal of the belt loops too.

Megan Nielsen Flint trousers and Cone Mills Loomstate mustard 9.5oz denim

The fabric for the Prince of Wales check version of the Megan Nielsen Flint trousers was bought from House of Fraser on Oxford Street in London way back in the late 1980's. I was just about to graduate from university and needed some smart work clothes. Enough fabric was purchased for a jacket and skirt which never saw the light of day. The fabric made the long sea voyage to New Zealand inside the shipping container with our other worldly possessions, has survived many fabric culls and finally became a finished garment. I love these trousers, really have to make a conscious effort not to wear them to work every week.

Megan Nielsen Flint trousers and Prince of Wales Check fabric

The dress

This Sun Daisy Liberty tana lawn has been on my list of must sew since last summer. I originally purchased two metres of fabric to make a sheath dress then decided I really wanted another Lynn Mizono Vogue 1410 dress. Unfortunately there was not enough fabric and Liberty had sold out. Some weeks later when the summer sale came along so did this fabric and I was able to buy another two metres. Once the dress is made I need to decide what to do with the left overs!

Vogue 1410 and Liberty Sun Daisy Yellow Tana Lawn

I am hoping that this merino knit is stable enough to be successfully made into Vogue 9243 The Twirling Dress. I love this pattern and in the last year have made a midi and knee length version. This ochre merino knit from The Fabric Store will be made into the midi version. A versatile addition to my wardrobe.

Vogue 9243 and Ochre 180gsm Premium Merino

The tops

First the only top that actually got made. Yep another version of Vogue 8710 and there will be more. I already have the ochre coloured merino version (part of this wardrobe plan) cut out although it might be Christmas before it is sewn as there are other more pressing things to occupy my sewing time now.

The Happy Flowers fabric came from eQuilter and it too spent minimal time in the stash before becoming a finished top. I took this and the ochre merino away with us in October and whilst I took the pattern envelope my traced off version of the top was missing. So this version is made from a new tracing of the pattern with a two inch full bust adjustment. The last version I made had a 2½" FBA but seemed a bit big. In hindsight think I should have stuck with the 2½" FBA.

Vogue 8710 and Happy Place Flowers Cotton Jersey Knit

And here are the other ideas that didn't come to fruition, even though I am desperate to make both the Style Arc Georgia Peplum and Oki Style Sine tops.

Style Arc Georgia Peplum top and Prince of Wales Check fabric

Oki Style Sine top and Middle East Animal Print Rayon Lawn

Vogue 8710 and Ochre 180gsm Premium Merino

The accessory

The idea of an accessory being a must have component of the wardrobe was especially motivating as I was keen to make an Arden shawl carefully explained in Silhouette Patterns Let's Sew Episode 175.

No pattern Arden Shawl and Ochre 180gsm Premium Merino

I will do a full blog post on the making of the Arden shawl once I have made another one. This first version made using the measurements Peggy gave is much smaller than the inspiration version. As I am never likely to find The Row's Arden Shawl in a shop in New Zealand I have spent lots of time measuring the picture to try and work out what the measurements need to be for me to get the same look. Luckily this ochre coloured merino is still available at The Fabric Store and I was able to purchase another piece for my next version of the Arden shawl.

The extra fabrics

As always when I start doing a wardrobe plan I have lots of other fabrics that didn't quite make the final top 10 but could be made over the Summer months or stored in their plastic boxes for a few more years.

What's a sewing blog with no sewing? ...neglected

Thank goodness nobody is hanging on my every word, as nearly two months has passed since my last post.  Once again there was a plan but no sewing, why?

A sewing deadline makes me want to either sew things other than those planned or not sew at all. My everyday life is ruled by deadlines and I am normally very driven to meet (exceed) expectations. I discussed the inability to translate this drive to my sewing with a friend and we decided it was all to do with the enjoyment. Meeting sewing deadlines removes the fun and becomes more of a task. My mind rebels against more nagging for completion and the sewing ceases.

The plan but no sewing...

For the second year in a row my good intentions of participating in the Pattern Review wardrobe contest came to nought. I was even further away from an entry this year than last, having not completed a single garment in my mini wardrobe plan.

The three tops and two pairs of trousers that are still but a twinkle in the eye

Not quite finished - Silhouette Patterns #3300 Lana's Jeans in deep red linen metallic blend

Between the start of the Mini Wardrobe competition on 15 April and today only one of the planned items has been even partly sewn. The red linen/metallic Lana's jeans have been in the partially sewn state you see above since our Easter holiday. Pretty pathetic for an ambition to sew five garments in four weeks. Part of the issue is that I overlocked all of the pieces before we went away so they could be sewn on my Singer Featherweight but I forgot to overlock the back of the pants where they sew to the yoke. My overlocker currently has cream thread in it and it's inconceivable that the threads would be changed to black just for that little bit of sewing. Pathetic but true.

So if the mini wardrobe hasn't been sewn has anything else?

Silhouette Patterns #4000 Swing Dress

One of these has been completed, another is in progress and a third is a dud.  I will write a proper review one day about this pattern but in the meantime here is the dud. This lovely border print ITY knit (also from Silhouette Patterns) was carefully cut so the black border was down the middle with one of the patterned sections cut on and the other sewn on.

The flat lay outfit photographs make this dress look reasonable but it is not a flattering dress to wear. I am still playing with the hem to see if I can make it into something wearable but am coming to the conclusion that it is the bold back stripe down centre front which is causing all the problems.

Unflattering dress styled with Mulberry mini Lily bag, One Trick Pony Geddes nude loafer and DKNY self-drafted leggings

Self-drafted leggings

These could be considered a match your shoes outfit (the current competition running on Pattern Review) except the tops are all ready to wear. Cobalt blue is one of my favourite colours and ITY knit makes great leggings so fabric and pattern were a perfect match. Coincidentally I happen to have this pair of United Nude bootees with the flash of cobalt blue.

Left and right: Moochi Rule dress in cobalt;
Top centre: Double diamond ITY knit self-drafted leggings and United Nude Jacky Lo bootee;
Bottom centre Lace: tabard with Andrea Moore dot mesh body in cobalt

Maybe I could make this Issey Miyake V1563 dress before the end of July as an actual entry for the Match Your Shoes Pattern Review contest.

KonMari-ing a bit more of the stash

Aside from trying to store all of my fabric unobtrusively (a really lost cause) there are far too many patterns for the old storage method. Added to which the plastic boxes ended up behind the sewing cabinet and difficult to reach. The over-flow of patterns were housed in old copier paper boxes.

Enter the new storage idea 30cm cubes with fabric box inserts, which are now stacked five high (two more have been purchased since this photo). These are fabulous for my Vogue designer patterns. Four of them have the Vogue designer patterns in numerical order, then a box each for Donna Karan (& DKNY), Issey Miyake, and Marcy & Katherine Tilton. The last three boxes contain independent pattern brands, one for The Sewing Workshop and two for other assorted brands.

I am debating the purchase of another column of cubes as I still have a plastic container of Silhouette Patterns as well as a copier box with Diane Ericson and assorted accessory patterns. This would however require a new spot for Dorothy my dressmakers mannequin.

The set of plastic drawers which used to live next to Dorothy are now hidden at the back of the sewing table with the bottom two drawers reorganised to contain small format big four patterns (mainly Butterick and Vogue) in numerical order. The top drawer is still home to my felt and interfacing collection.

Now that the patterns are neatly stored I should really invest in a cataloguing system then I might be able to find them and not buy the same style (or exact same pattern) again.

With the release of two plastic boxes some more of my fabric stash was tidied away.

Top: a recently empty plastic box housing fabric for some new outfit ideas
Middle: another box sorted for the 2019 red white and black wardrobe
Bottom: various unfinished class projects re-homed from the bottom two plastic drawers

The multi-coloured rectangles (Kobayashi squiggle squares cotton twill) fabric in the top photo has been made into a dress from a mish-mash of patterns and I have also sewn a Style Arc Toni designer dress from the Liberty fabric below. Hopefully I will get to reviewing both of these on the blog soon.

Liberty Argyll Swim fabric in design Mike, colourway B 

Alterations

This is an old RTW cardigan bought in the era of over-long (to the point of ridiculousness) sleeves, rediscovered during the sorting of the wardrobe jumper drawers.  The colour and overall style of the Juo cardigan still appealed but the sleeves needed to be shortened if the cardigan was ever going to be worn. As the colours fitted into my red, white and black wardrobe concept the alteration was executed pretty quickly. The sleeves were chopped off ⅝" past the grey band, 4½" removed from the black sleeve and the red/grey cuff part reattached using the overlocker. The stitching line is on the edge of the grey band and is invisible on the outside.

Left and middle the overlong sleeves; right after shortening

Wardrobe sweater drawers: Top drawer pre KonMari; Middle and Bottom drawers post KonMari

Poppy brooch

And finally this gorgeous poppy brooch made by my friend Cath. Looks great with my black and white fur bomber jacket. At the moment it is pinned to my Horizontal Hold Trench. Just fabulous.