Tuesday, May 31, 2016

How I Plan a Seasonal Wardrobe #2

Here are some more pieces in my wardrobe already:



The leather jacket is one I bought a couple of seasons ago in Florence, Italy.  I have worn it with the ivory silk pants shown in the previous post, but it deserves some other partners.

The second jacket is one I made for the American Sewing Guild Jacket Challenge in 2014.  The fabric is am Italian animal print laminated linen from emmaonesock, and I think the pattern was a McCalls, but I didn't make a note of it at the time.  It does have princess lines, which I like for the fitting opportunities.  I did a Hong Kong finish on the seams (purchased bias binding), as it does not have a lining.

Just as my fall/winter basic color scheme is black and gray, my spring/summer basic color scheme is brown and beige.  Jackets are the base of my wardrobe, because here in Southern California we have "May gray" and "June gloom" to contend with, weather-wise. So, while the calendar may say Spring, the thermometer says that every outfit must have a layering piece.

So, how do you organize your seasonal wardrobe?  How do you start?

Sunday, May 29, 2016

How I Plan a Seasonal Wardrobe #1

First I look at what's in my closet already.

Here I am at the Los Angeles Music Center, where I recently attended a wonderful performance of one of my favorite operas, "La Boheme."  I had made this jacket and pants last year with silk fabrics purchased at a local store.   The pattern for the jacket is S2284, which I like because of the princess style seams, allowing for lots of fitting.  The pants pattern is some version of a sloper that I keep tweaking.

Next let me show you a close-up of the fabric, which I love for all the options for accessories.  On that day I chose to go with an aubergine RTW knit top and necklace of (fake, I'm afraid, but that's another story) Murano glass, which I also made.  There are rust and coral threads, even teal, in there as well.




The lining is stretch silk charmeuse (#41033) from emmaonesock.  It has a lovely luxurious weight and comes in 96 colors.  You can ask for a swatch for color matching, or you can order the color chart and see all 96 colors for yourself.