Colette Sewing Handbook!

Got mine in the mail the other day, and it's been a nice pick-me-up from the sweater fiasco. (Which, by the way, I'm now about 2/3 through the chart for the third time. And double-checking every single section as soon as I finish it. I just started the decreases last night, and have about 7 rows to go.)

I haven't finished reading it from cover-to-cover yet, I've only had time to flip through it. But so far, I like what I've seen. I'm certainly not a beginner seamstress, but I like the whole philosophy and aesthetic behind it--the "slow fashion", that anyone can start making well-fitted and well-tailored clothes right from the start, etc. But I think my favorite chapter so far is the second one, about a thoughtful plan.

I think this is where I run into trouble-- I tend to choose the clothes I make based on things like "I love the look of this pattern", without taking things into consideration like how it fits into my lifestyle. So, inspired by Tasia's post from yesterday, I wanted to do the exercise about choosing five things that I love to wear.

One thing I did realize while thinking about this is that I seem to have an entirely different aesthetic between my warmer- and cooler-weather wardrobes. (Probably due to the fact that I get cold so ridiculously easy that all I want to wear when it's cold is sweaters.) So, this is basically going to focus on what's in my closet right now, since all of my warmer-weather stuff is packed away under the bed.



5 things I love to wear (the cold-weather edition)

1. This vintage 70s leather jacket passed down from my mom

It's kind of an oddball color, but that's one of the things I really like about it. Even though the sleeves are a little too short for me, I wear this thing all the time this time of year--it's pretty much the perfect in-between jacket. (One of these days, I will get good enough at knitting that I can make some longer-wristed gloves to go with it! And the thought that it would go really well with this jacket was actually what inspired me to choose the yarn that I did for my Counterpoint Hat.) Wearing this always makes me feel really fashionable, even though it's older than I am!







2. A brown hooded cardigan sweater that I purchased about a year and a half ago from ModCloth. It felt like a big splurge, because between sewing my own things and my thrifting habit, it's very rare that I pay more than $20 for a ready-made garment. (Yeah, not counting cost of fabric in that estimate.) But it looked like the sort of thing that I'd wear a lot....and, well, I'll admit that the fact that the sweater was basically named after one of my favorite Weezer songs. It's just fun to sing along to! And this really has become one of my most frequently reached-for layering pieces. I like the fun wavy ribbing, and the pops of turquoise. (Though I did pull the hanging strings inside the sweater, because I wanted to be able to wear this for work.)






3. My Ayden shirt. It's proved to be a good transitional piece, since it works well with the sleeves rolled up to 3/4 as well. And it's easy to layer, so I'm warmer!

4. A pair of thrifted jeans (no pic, because it's just a basic pair of boot-cut jeans.) The thing is, they fit perfectly. Exactly the fit I want when I tackle jeans yet again later this fall!










5. This necklace/earrings set, which seems to go with everything that's not black. It's definitely one of my most go-to jewelry sets in the colder half of the year.


I find it interesting that most of the things I picked are NOT things I made. If I were to do this again for the warmer seasons, I think at least 4/5 things would probably be things that I'd sewn. The color schemes are also completely different. In the summer, I gravitate most towards cool, bright, watery shades like green and aqua and teal. In the winter, my wardrobe seems to be dominated by dull, dark colors. So I actually like my fall clothes better--everything I've been wanting to wear lately are spicy, warm shades like browns and mossy green and even the occasional orange. My usual love of prints is also not very well-represented by this "mini-collection" of sorts, other than my plaid shirt. If I look behind me at my closet, I see swirly, leafy prints, paisleys, and some stripes and florals. (I'm much more likely to go for a funky floral when it's warm, I think.)


So what do I think this means? I certainly don't think it means I feel best in clothes that aren't prints! I seem to be most drawn to things in funky prints with interesting construction details, like all of those piped seams on the jacket and the pleats and gathers in the plaid. I like color. I need more of it in my winter wardrobe, but up until now I've been largely limited to what I can find in store-bought sweaters. If I can just get past this Cadence chart, hopefully I'll be well on my way to remedying that. I like layering things, especially when it's cold. I'm more likely to wear pants when it's cold, though I'm hoping maybe I'll branch out from that this season, since I have some really nice skirts that I've made so far in the Fall Essentials collection. (In the summer, I'm much more likely to wear skirts and dresses, because I feel more comfortable going out in those than in shorts.)


Actually, in light of this thought process, I think I did a pretty good job in choosing the other things I want to make for FESA! And hopefully I can continue this thoughtful planning into the next season as well. Especially once I get my stash a little more pared down, and I have some plans for that.


Also, this may completely defeat the entire point of this post....but I kind of want the Truffle dress.