Organising My Making Ideas: The Everyday Wardrobe Journal pt. 1

I have long been obsessed with the idea of the Everyday Wardrobe - the idea of spending my making time on items I actually wear. Over on my Patreon, I have devoted no less than 16 entries to the art of thinking through what we wear, how we wear our clothes, and what we choose to wear, but today I’m back here on my blog to share my Everyday Wardrobe Journal with you. It’s a relatively new tool to me, but I’m so excited to show you my thought processes.

The aim of setting up an Everyday Wardrobe Journal? It’s to guide me through my making year: it’ll help me remember what I need in my wardrobe and what I definitely do not need. My making time is finite and I have decided to spend it more thoughtfully and mindfully.

Caveats before we get started:

• I dress-make as well as knit, so I do include my dress-making in my journal. However, it’s easy to customise to just include your craft of choice (and also help you purchase the right shop-bought clothes instead of those pesky impulse purchases!).

• I work as a knitwear designer, so I include my design plans in my journal. That means rather than you getting pattern names to possibly hunt down, you’ll see places in which I write OWN. It just means this is a pattern I need to design/work out.

This is the basic set-up. On the left, I have a page devoted to my colour palette and personal style (these things will be familiar to Patreons) and on the right I have a sort of “wish list” breakdown where I analyse what I want, what I need, and what I make. I’ll break down what these two pages mean today and next week I’ll show you how I organise the rest of the Everyday Wardrobe Journal.

This is my master page.

This page sets out what colours I usually wear, and also tries to explain my personal style in a way that’ll help me assess whether a project is right for me or not. It might look fun, but what’s the point of making something if I’ll never wear it?

Colours: I have divided my wardrobe into Neutrals, Contrasts, and Accents. Don’t worry too much about the Main/Secondary categories - I get a bit finickity about colours and not everybody is like me!

Neutrals: I have chosen navy and brown as my neutrals. These are the basic colours in my wardrobe that go with everything else and which I tend to use for most of my core clothes.

Other people’s examples might be greys, creams, tans, black, or even dark, dark green.

Contrasts: I have chosen mustard yellow and hot pink as my contrasts. They’re the everyday additions that I love adding to my outfits. I would have added teal too, except I have teal hair and it’d be a bit much to have teal-on-teal! I tend to use contrasts for my big makes such as shirts, sweaters and cardigans - though occasionally I’ll add some summer culottes to the mix (as you can see from the header photo).

Other people’s examples might be purples, blues, navy (one person’s neutral is another person’s contrast!), moss greens, wine reds, etc.

Accents: These are the pops of colours I add to an outfit. Earrings, bags, hats, mitts, belts etc. I have added teal and rust as my main accents. When I dress-make, I love fabric that’s either one of my neutrals or my contrasts but which also has one of my accent colours in the pattern.

Other people’s examples might be pink, neon, red, periwinkle etc. It all depends upon your personal style.

You can probably guess that I wear my Catterline sweater a lot!

Then we come to style which is harder to explain briefly. I have narrowed down my style preferences in a way that helps me understand what I should make: 1970s-meet-Bauhaus. It’s not super-accurate but it helps me. Having a shorthand style mantra makes it easy to decide I should not make a cute 1950s tea dress nor should I design a neon-coloured brioche sweater dress. My note on materials>ornamentation also reminds me that I care a lot about the materials I use and that I’m more inclined to wear something which showcases the materials rather than obscure them with sequins, ruffles, or textured yarn/fabric.

Trying to figure out your personal style and making style takes time, but it’s worth it as you’ll stop using your Making time on things you’ll never use!

Now for the “wish list” page which is one that I use to figure out what I should be spending my time doing! You might think of it as a matrix.

I have three boxes: Want, Need, and Making - and then a fourth box that contains my current stash obsessions.

The things I want are not necessarily the things I need, and vice versa. You can see that I need two cosy trousers for the Scottish winter, but I want a cropped navy sweater. Those things are not the same, so some decisions need to be made. I also have my stash that reveals I do indeed have the perfect fabric for some navy cord culottes - so that project is moved into my Making box.

I constantly refer to the Want and Need boxes to figure out what should be next on my making list, and it’s especially helpful if I already have the materials in my stash. Rather than having one page of just Wants or Needs and my stash notes elsewhere, I can jump back and forth to balance my making plans.

Next week I’ll share more details from how I make the leap from Want, Need, Stash to the actual Making part, and I’ll share more spreads (including one of an actual project page).

Hope you found this interesting and maybe something that helps you in your own making journey!

Making & Doing: Shawl, Skirt & Teaching

Happier times ahead. We had a photo shoot yesterday for this asymmetrical shawl knitted in three colours of Ripples Crafts BFL 4ply. I'll be writing much more about this shawl later (including my source of inspiration, why it's the next instalment of Authors & Artists, and how it is constructed) but for now let's glance downwards..

Hello skirt! This is one of the first things I've whipped up since I started dress-making again. I made this skirt in just a few hours and it worked perfectly for the photo shoot.

I use the super-simple Burda 6682 and made View B. The fabric is a slightly stretchy cotton poplin I found in a remnant bin in Glasgow's Mandors. I had around 0.75m and still managed to eke out a knee-length skirt. The construction couldn't be simpler: darts front & back, side & back seams, zipper, waistband, hem, done. I had never inserted a regular zipper before (it's always been invisible zips until now) but even that went without a hitch. I'm not entirely happy with how the waistband was attached - it was easy but looks a bit sloppy on the inside - so I'm going to try a slightly more fiddly waistband next time. I think my perfectionist tendencies are rearing their heads again..

.. but the skirt is super-comfortable and fits well. Its no-nonsense style makes it a good, basic pattern that I can see myself making again and again. Well, I am trying to make an everyday wardrobe, after all! The next skirt will be made of a medium weight denim that I picked up at the same time as the pattern. I have a bit more fabric to play with this time, so I might add a bit more length.

I'm off to Manchester this weekend for the Joeli's Kitchen retreat. There are going to be all sorts of amazing people there and I cannot wait to see everybody.

Next Wednesday I am going to be at Kendal's finest wool establishment, Williams Wools. I'm teaching a class on colourwork and how to design it yourself. I know people have lots of ideas in their heads, but it can be difficult translating those ideas into a project. I'll also talk about how to find the right colour combinations because that is probably one of the questions I get asked the most!

Then Saturday the 6th I am back up in Dundee's Fluph Shop doing c-c-cables in the morning (sorting out those C2R, CNB, and T3R abbreviations!) and Shetland lace shawls in the afternoon. It's never dull teaching at Fluph and I expect a fair amount of difficult questions flung at me!

I'm late updating my workshop page due to Life Happening, but hopefully that'll whet everybody's appetite! I'll return with more details about the new pattern and some Edinburgh Yarn Festival lowdown!

The Joy Of Making Stuff

Oh, but the joy of making.

Recently I have begun dressmaking again. I had previous forays into dressmaking around 2011, but I have not been seriously sewing clothes since I was a teenager. This time around I have discovered how relaxing I find the rituals and processes of dressmaking. Casa Bookish is fairly petite, so I do my sewing on the dining table which presents its own challenges. Despite a pressed schedule and lack of space, I am really enjoying myself.

Which brings me to this outburst:

LET'S MAKE STUFF and make the world a more creative, imaginative, happier, more colourful, and enjoyable place.

Some times I worry we overthink the act of making.

We swathe it in mystique (all those "15 Things You Need To Know To Unlock Your Creativity" pieces).

We become consumers rather than creators ("You cannot do origami unless you buy authentic unicorn paper from this off-shore Japanese monastery").

We are tourists rather than inhabitants of MakingLand (spending more time browsing Pinterest and blogs rather than make all the things we pin and queue).

LET'S MAKE STUFF and make the world a more creative, imaginative, happier, more colourful, and enjoyable place.

I know that a full-time job and family life leaves us with precious little time. I know it'd be amazing to have a whole weekend just making stuff. I know time is a scarce resource.

But if you have 30 minutes free every Sunday, you too can make stuff! Don't feel you need to have tonnes of free time. Make when you can! Make when you are on the train! Make in your lunch break! Make whilst the pasta is boiling! Make whilst watching TV!

LET'S MAKE STUFF and make the world a more creative, imaginative, happier, more colourful, and enjoyable place.

So, I'm dress-making.

A) I feel really happy when I wear something I have made.

B) I have become increasingly aware of my making needing to reflect my everyday wardrobe.

C) I want sewn clothes that fit me as well as my knitted items do.

My main reason for dress-making is wardrobe, so my main focus is to find a basic dress pattern that I can make over & over with a few tweaks. I wear dresses all the time - occasionally skirts - so I am not to bothered about keeping up with what's the latest trendy pattern to make in the sewing world.

I spent a bit of time on a disastrous pattern which I nicknamed The Apron Dress. I had seen some pretty versions of the dress on various people I know, but the fit was so, so awful. The lack of any actual structure (i.e. darts, supportive seams and shaping within the pattern itself) means that I was wearing a cutesy apron dress in which my bust looked to be extending outwards! The overall effect was not good. Fortunately I was just making a toile using cheap charity shop fabric - lessons gained and no beautiful fabric lost.

Moving on, I have been playing around with the Emery dress pattern by Christine Haynes which comes with beautifully clear instructions and structure. I've really hacked'n'slashed the Emery bodice. I've added extra coverage for my bust, moved the darts, and I'm about to alter the waist a tiny bit too. The first toile was almost spot on - I just had to move the bust apex a bit, lower the waist darts and .. well, I am having fun. when I was dressmaking as a teenager, I had no notion of fit but this time around I'm geeking out.

And there is knitting too, but I am in the midst of 'stuff' that will be unveiled at a later date. There is nothing more frustrating than some very pleasing things I cannot discuss. Fortunately there is always, always making stuff.

Thinking Slow Fashion on a Budget - Building a Handmade Wardrobe Pt. 4

This is the last entry in my series on how to make things you love to wear. We've looked at how to examine your wardrobe, how to identify what you need to make, and how to approach this. But I will be the first to admit that building a handmade everyday wardrobe takes time and money - so I thought I'd devote a post to how to 'do' slow and sustainable fashion on an everyday budget and with an everyday lifestyle. For me slow fashion and handmade go hand-in-hand.

1. The Keyword is Slow

I am not going to wake up tomorrow with a 100% handmade everyday wardrobe nor are you? Things take time - especially if you are knitting a 4ply fair isle cardigan by hand.

But slow fashion is its own reward - you get to imbue your finished cardigan with a lot of meaning which you wouldn't get from buying it in a shop. One of my favourite cardigans was nearly completed during a relaxing knitting retreat with a stunning view. Whenever I wear it (and I do so often), I think back upon the snow-capped mountains, the open fire crackling in the living room and the fine company I was in. Another favourite cardigan was partially worked whilst sitting on the beach. Whenever I wear it, I think back upon a fantastic weekend I spent with far-flung friends drinking exquisite coffee and looking at insane Regency architecture.

I am a big believer in things taking time. If you take a long time to make something, chances are you will also be wearing it a long time.

2. Choose Carefully, My Friend

In the not-so-distant past I worked for a big yarn company and I got to knit four garments of my choice every year. I started out by knitting statement pieces - things that used a gazillion balls of yarn and an equal amount of techniques. I never really wore the finished items and now I no longer work for the yarn company, I have given them away. So much wasted making time!

If you only have time to finish one or two big projects ever year, make them count. Choose your projects with care: don't work with a colour you'll never wear and don't make something in a style you'd never wear. It's easy to get tempted to get sucked into making things you see other people making, but be mindful of your crafting time.

If you have limited making time and budget, you need to think about your colours, materials and wardrobe style. Look back at the previous instalments in this series (1, 2 and 3).

3. Recognise Privilege When You See It

It's so easy to feel disheartened when you are still on the first sleeve of your wool-blend cardigan six months down the line, and you see someone looking swanky in their 134th unicorn yarn project of the year.

But a handmade wardrobe can so very easily slip into privilege: some people don't have to work; they can pay other people to mind their children, clean the house and make dinner; or they may even pay others to make their things for them (true story). Or maybe they've saved for several years to afford to make that expensive Alice Starmore kit.

You are still on your first sleeve of your cardigan but I bet you have been busy with other things. Own your achievements rather than compare yourself to other people whose lives may be heavily edited. You just never know. 'Handmade' should never be a competition about who is most worthy. Handmade should always be about your own wardrobe needs.

 4. Think Sustainable When You Shop

Very few of my non-knitted clothes are handmade - but most of them are things I have either upcycled, found in second-hand shops (my favourite winter coat is 1960s 100% wool which cost me £12 in a second-hand shop. It had been labelled with the wrong size and never worn); or thrifted from friends.  I cannot always afford to buy things from an ethical retailer, so while I cannot check the provenance of things nor guarantee that the original seamtress was paid a fair wage, I know my money goes towards a good cause if I buy second-hand from a reputable charity shop. I also know some of my money goes back into the local economy which is important to me.

And I think about how much I actually need. When I started doing my wardrobe assessments, I was surprised by how much I didn't actually wear. Rather than throwing things out (hello landfill) I decided to donate a lot of things so other people could benefit from me no longer having to wear business casual.

I still buy underwear, socks and tights from regular stores (I am no saint!) but I try to think about what I actually need. This also frees up extra pennies to spend on nice fabric or yarn.

5. Be Kind to Yourself

Think of your handmade wardrobe as a journey or an ongoing adventure. Remind yourself why you are doing this: you are being kind to yourself, you are making things that will get worn again and again, and you are doing it because you love making things. If you find yourself sewing an intricate organza gown on no sleep and a deadline three hours ago, then it is probably time to reassess your commitment to a handmade wardrobe (unless you wear organza gowns every day and, if you do, I admire that level of commitment).

Also consider your time investment to be a kindness to yourself. It is a powerful statement: "I choose to spend this amount of time on myself making things that will make me feel good, that will remind me of beautiful moments, and that works with my lifestyle." You may not get a handmade wardrobe overnight, but the journey there is part of the pleasure.

Now go forth and make beautiful things that you will keep wearing. Have fun.

What You Need to Make - Building a Handmade Wardrobe pt. 3

So far we have looked at the joys of wearing handmade and how to discover what you wear. Now it is time to figure out how to combine the joys of handmade clothes with your everyday life.

Does What You Make Match What You Wear?

For a long time I kept knitting cardigans that were big & cosy. One after another hit the wardrobe shelf and they stayed there. After I did my own wardrobe assessment I realised I kept wearing short, fitted cardigans in navy, grey and mustard. No wonder I never wore my moss green cardigans!

If you have done the big wardrobe assessment I mention in part two, you should know what things you keep wearing. Look at your handmade items - and do they match what you wear? Are you making things in colours you actually wear? Are your handmade clothes the same silhouettes as your shop-bought favourites? Can you combine your shop-bought favourites with your handmade pieces? Why (not)?

Think Colour & Fibre

Jackie made a great point during the last instalment: you need to think about the fibre you'll use as well. Make things in fibres you know you like wearing and which will work with the project: cotton or cotton-blend shirts; alpaca cardigans; wool/nylon socks.. make sure the material you choose to use is practical (which is a broad church depending upon your lifestyle) and works for what you are making.

Also think about the colours you will be using. Aim to make something in your neutrals but also something in your core colours and accent colours. Make the colours work with what you are already wearing.

How To Figure Out What To Make

While I am a big fan of making very special handmade items - a delicate shawl for a wedding or an amazing fair-isle hat to show off my colourwork skillz - I am an even bigger fan of wearing handmade things every day. So, let's think about the things you'll keep reaching for again and again.

By now you should have a good idea of what you tend to wear and in which colours. You should also have an idea of what items have proven to be wardrobe staples and which ones linger at the back of the shelf. Can you make any of these wardrobe staples yourself?

Basics Need Not Be Dull!

You'll probably want to make some basic staples for your wardrobe, but remember that these do not need to be all grey 4-ply stocking stitch cardigans or black trousers! Find some great everyday patterns and start thinking about which neutrals you keep wearing. Remember, you are not trying to imitate a machine-knitted cardigan from a high street shop, but you will be making a handmade item that fills the same spot in your everyday wardrobe.

Some examples of jumpers and cardigans I would knit/have already made for my own wardrobe: + River Pullover by Cecily Glowik MacDonald + Stevie Cardigan by Sarah Hatton (long-sleeved version) + Acer Cardigan by Amy Christoffers

As you can see, they are fairly simple projects but have a bit of interest at the same time. Likewise, I designed my Scollay cardigan with the same notion: easy to wear but with some knitterly interest. Think about your favourite silhouettes and styles - and then start trawling Ravelry! Pinterest is also a great source of inspiration. I lean towards vintage & feminine - so make sure to seek our patterns that cater to your style.

Don't Stick To Basics!

I know. Counter-intuitive. However, your wardrobe consists of more than just basics. Think about your accessories as well. Do you keep wearing the same hat? Do you like to pep up your day with colourful brooches? Do you drag big tote bags around with you?

• Having a gorgeous hat/cowl/gloves set that matches your favourite winter coat/jacket is a great way of wearing handmade with pride.
• Making your own brooches not only get you an excuse to visit bead shops and haberdasheries, but it is also a nice way to introduce handmade items into a wardrobe that may be too formal to allow flamboyant knitted shawls (except on weekends).
• Become the woman who always carries a stunning handmade purse with her. I know a stunning lady in her 50s who always looks immaculate - and her purses are always killer. Imagine my face when I found out she makes all her purses herself from re-purposed textiles!
• I find having a rainbow of scarves/shawls invaluable - even the most neutral of outfits can be pepped up with a seriously bright shawl

Accessories are small, achievable projects - this is often important when embarking on making your wardrobe more handmade.

The last instalment will discuss how to gradually adopt the slow wardrobe approach - and how to do that on a budget and a regular life. Most slow fashion blogs I have seen tend to cater to people with far more disposable income and time than anybody I know, so I'll discuss how I'm approaching it and hopefully give you a few ideas!

From not knowing what to make to making things I love to wear: L-R - Jess, Brygga and Scollay.

Happy making, folks x

Discover What You Wear - Building A Handmade Wardrobe, pt 2.

In the first post in this series, I wrote about discovering the joys of wearing handmade clothes. This post is about looking at your existing wardrobe and find out how you can slowly turn it into a handmade wardrobe. Key adverb is slowly! I know a lot of lovely people who have a (mostly) handmade wardrobe but it is a long process to get there. A handmade wardrobe is also always a work in progress and about mending things you have already made. With all that in mind, let us look at how you can figure out what you need to start making. No use making something you won't wear!

1. Throw Things on the Bed

Open the wardrobe and take out all the things you keep wearing. Do the same with your jackets and coats - everything goes on the bed! Try to grab the fifteen or thirty things you keep wearing - from belts and scarves to skirts and cardigans. If you want, you can arrange them into the outfits you usually wear.

See if any trends emerge at this stage. Do you have more clothes than you thought? Do you have only a very small selection? Do you wear the same five things over and over? Can you sort them into piles of near-identical items (i.e. grey t-shirts) or do you have a very eclectic selection?

2. Time to Look Closer: Colour

Now you need to look at the colours you see. I'd suggest you sort the colours into three categories:

1. Neutrals: the colours that bind everything together.
2. Core Colours: the non-neutrals you keep wearing.
3. Accent Colours: the occasional splashes of colour.

Your neutrals could be colours like black, grey, ecru, beige, khaki, fawn, brown or navy blue.

Your core colours are very individual to you. These are the colours you see again and again in your wardrobe - this can be anything from more neutrals to rich jewel colours or maybe soft pastels.

Your accent colours are the colours you only occasionally wear but you still see them again and again. What colours are your scarves? Your hats? Your jewellery? Maybe you keep being drawn to prints that have tiny bits of green or pink in them?

Becoming aware of what colours you keep wearing will make it easier to decide upon the colours you need to use when sewing or knitting something for yourself. I used to knit a lot of moss green cardigans until I realised my favourite cardigans were deep navy blue and grey!

3. Time to Look Closer: Style & Lifestyle

Many people tell me "Oh, I don't think about fashion - I don't have the time nor the inclination" and I hear you on that. Everyday life can be so hectic that many of us just grab whatever we can afford and what more-or-less fits. However, I promise you that subconsciously you are drawn to similar things again and again, and that your wardrobe will reflect this.

Ask yourself:

• What items of clothing form the skeleton of my wardrobe?
• Do I have anything that's really too ratty to wear any more, but I cannot bear to throw it out because I don't have a replacement? What is this thing?
• What words can I use to describe the things I reach for again & again? Classic? Country? Romantic? Urban? Punk? Unisex?

4: Think About Your Discoveries

This process is designed to make you think about your everyday wardrobe. I trust you will be honest with yourself here - no embellishing the truth and lying to yourself about being a slinky Bohemian kimono-wearer when you are actually a sweatshirt & jeans girl!

When I first did this exercise, I was surprised to find that I didn't have any jeans and that I leaned towards wearing dresses with bold complementary colours. I had no idea I was so "dressy" in my everyday life! I was especially surprised to see how very little black I had in my wardrobe - I used to live in black clothes! - and how much I used navy as a neutral. The first thing I knitted after all this was a fitted yellow cardigan which has now become a wardrobe staple despite my misgivings! It works!

In the third instalment I'll talk more about how to decide what to make and how to plug wardrobe gaps.