Blog posts are a bit like a diary, so whenever we are preparing to write a new one, we go back and read previous posts on the same topic. Rae, readying her final post from France during her winter visit, was surprised to find the stars align for this post on wardrobing. She stitched several components to refresh her wardrobe while in residence at her riverside home during the cold and rainy winter months. Now she will tell you about these Fresh Wardrobe Makes.
Last January I wrote a post about Sewing Intentions. In that post was this photo of some terrific new boots that were shown with a swing top, denim pants and a very large and lovely scarf. Shoes and scarves are my favorite accessories! I was anxious to incorporate them into my wardrobe rotation. I needed to replace the very tired denim pants, which was accomplished last winter. This led to the purchase of three pieces of coordinating jersey from Fabric Mart to add another wardrobe component. On close inspection, many of my knit tops were looking a bit worn around the edges.
The boots and the fabrics had been ordered online and upon arrival they were decidedly brown. Sometimes fabric prints and accessories will coordinate with a variety of colors, but I could not find much in my wardrobe that felt like a good match. You can read about another time this happened in the summer of ‘24 in the post Add New Color to a Core Wardrobe.
After some internet searching, I ordered brown stretch twill for the perfect pants. That was months ago and I was regularly glancing at the boots wishing for the right outfits to compliment them.
Our winter trip to France was scheduled for five weeks, which seemed like a good time to sew five brown items. I pre-washed all the fabrics that had been gathered for these brown coordinating projects. The pants were pre-cut on my large cutting table in the US. All the required notions were put into a big tote bag with the fabrics and an envelope with my patterns neatly stored. The French studio is stocked with many things, but I had never made pants there and the closest fabric stores are about an hour away.
You have already read about the soft pink surplice sweater that I stitched up first to coordinate with a lovely but lonely scarf in my collection. The Bears with Umbrellas Tabula Rasa Vest was also discussed here on the blog. It was a rather complicated project, but lent itself to our quiet nights in France. It will get its final finish when I get back to the states and have access to the one tool I forgot to bring, my plastic clips to use with the brown suede front band.
In the final two weeks, I turned my attention to the collection of knits still awaiting a project and the brown pants. The pants went together quickly and fit reliably well with a bit of adjustment in the width of the leg. Check out Pants in a Jiffy to read about my reliable favorite pants pattern.
The knit fabric group became two Tabula Rasa Knit tops. One is a swing side tunic with ballet neck from Wide Neckline Variations. It’s a very reliable style in my wardrobe that works well on a print with strong horizontal lines. The second top became a surplice front Clever Crossing Variation, reminiscent of an old favorite in my wardrobe. It is a lot of print, but I hope to enjoy it along with these other new wardrobe additions as winter becomes spring.
By the time you read this I will have arrived back in the US, where there are a number of classes and events to manage over the next two months. Good thing I have all these new wardrobe components to energize my busy days! It felt like this trip was my own personal sewing retreat. I had organized and transported my projects and each one led to the next to keep me engaged. It did help that the patterns chosen were old favorites and no fitting assistance was required.
At the Fit for Art Spring Sew Successfully Retreat, you can get your projects designed and launched and have fitting and technical sewing advice at the same time. Plus, there is the excellent company of like minded creatives to inspire the next project! Reserve your spot now. I hope to show off some of my fresh wardrobe makes during our time together.
