I've been feeling more and more intrigued by the idea of capsule wardrobes, although I still think I'm rather more of a maximalist and like having lots of variety and standalone prints in my wardrobe. Still, thinking of sewing in capsules appeals to me.
I've looked at some capsule planning guides, like the Canadian Capsule Planner by Couturious and the Mood Capsule Creator planning guide. Both are free, and downloadable and printable if you are also interested. They both gave me some really good ideas.
And of course I've been playing with MyBodyModel since I first got my croquis back in March. So I decided to make a plan for next month's sewing using a capsule framework combined with the MyBodyModel 3x3 technique.
I took a piece I just made, the Adrienne Blouse, as the keystone of this one, and looked at some of the other patterns and fabrics I've been wanting to make. Here is my plan, which I think is doable, to get some matching options in my wardrobe for the summer.
I'm adding two more tops, a McCalls 4591 (a thrifted pattern c.2004) and the Edith Blouse by Maria Denmark. Both of these are stash fabrics, although I bought the fabric with the Edith Blouse in mind at least 3 years ago! Where does time go?? (But isn't this fabric fantastic?)
And I'm going to try out the Peppermint Pocket Skirt, a community hit, in a brick coloured linen that tones with all three tops. I'm going to add a fitted knit skirt (Pirate Pencil Skirt), and a pair of wide leg cropped pants from Vogue 9364 - both in black - for good measure.
Well, at least that's the plan! I also have a big stack of dresses I want to make this summer, and with those I don't worry about matching with anything else :) I may want to make a couple of lightweight cropped summer jackets to go with the dresses but that's about as much matching as I worry about there. Dresses are a great way to be fully dressed without having to coordinate anything further than my shoes, so I love to use my bright prints and novelty fabrics for my multitude of dresses.
Are you more into capsule planning or mood sewing? I haven't really been a plan maker in the past, usually just looking at my fabric and deciding what I wanted to make next by feel. But I'm kind of enjoying the sketching and fabric matching process, and while I don't think I'll ever plan every single make, I'm finding it fun and helpful to whittle down my huge mental queue of things I want to make into a reasonable month-at-a-time plan. I will always have more that I want to sew than time available to do it -- but this is a great process to prioritize things I need most in my wardrobe.
