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Saturday 30 September 2017

Seasonal Wardrobe Switch in progress

Sandals, summer blouses, skirts and trousers are now up in the loft.
Wool jackets, polo necks, boots etc have come down.
There are a lot of garments so even once I check things for fit, wear and palette I should still have enough to wear!

Wednesday 27 September 2017

Thinking aloud - sewing room sort out

The sewing room is over stuffed making it hard to use.

Thoughts
 Donate old ironing board once checked out the new one.
Work through fabric resources and remove lengths of fabric which don't fit my palette. Decide what to do with the fabric, donate? If so to where etc.
Get access to the fabric which is suitable for the charity craft stall especially velvet, felt, fleece, lining fabric etc.
Donate excess patterns ( hard to do). Same place as the fabric?

See if could reduce fabric storage down to two shelving units rather than 3 and put hanging rail in corner. Would be a lot of work to reorganise.

Shorten net curtain to fit window better.

Tuesday 26 September 2017

Thinking aloud - seasonal wardrobe switch

I have a fairly small wardrobe area in the bedroom so keep other seasons in the loft. I switch these twice a year and use it to have a sort of and rethink. I've not done it yet for the autumn Winter so these are my thoughts for when I do it.

Keep fairly seasonless items like tailored trousers, shirts, blouses and mid weight tops in the wardrobe.
Remove lightweight summer trousers, linen and cotton jackets and sandals.
Think about short sleeved items and perhaps store in airing cupboard rather than in loft.

Bring down all the winter things and check them against the new ' sophisticated ' colour fan. Try things on and put to one side anything which is slightly too small. If too small and wrong colour then donate. If fits ok but wrong colour but could be dyed then dye. If wrong colour and can't be dyed then donate.

Use leather dye on shoes ( and possibly belts, bags etc) which are wrong colour, for example mid warm brown shoes to dark brown etc.

Spend some time making work suitable outfits. Check tights and see if need to buy any extra colours.
Polish shoes and boots. Spray suede boots with protective spray.

Coats - get out all the coats and jackets and check them against the colour fan. Wash and re waterproof the navy coat with hood. May need to keep bad colour coats until they can be replaced to avoid being too cold!!! Sadly the red coat is probably too bright now but perhaps keep until can replace in sales. Dark Brown wool coat is good colour but very worn. Could it be refreshed with a fur collar and cuffs? Check in fabric resources for something suitable.

Check through the various activities I do and make sure I have suitable coats for all of them. Note where anything is needed and add to wardrobe holes list.

Check gloves and hats. Donate anything not in colour palette and note where need to buy new. Throw away any gloves with holes as no one will want them :-(

Check through handbags and compare to swatches. Donate anything which doesn't work. Decide on a good storage location for all the bags where they are easy to access.

May be worth buying some new short wellies as the old ones perished last year.

Take donations to charity shop.
Organise wardrobe and drawers so it's easy to find things.
Prep clothes for the week on a Sunday night to reduce stress in the mornings for work.

Monday 25 September 2017

Thinking aloud - Autumn wardrobe sewing ideas

Another post of thoughts without pictures.

I have a dark grey green jacket which has been partially constructed for a while. I previously made a skirt and trousers but they wouldn't fit now and have either gone or are in the loft somewhere.

I do have some small remnants of fabric which coordinate with it and could be used for skirts, one is a piece of stretch ponte which I fancy as the skirt from Vogue 2989. The other some wool Tweed which I want as a lined skirt with pockets. Both would be knee length and worn with dark tights and one of several pairs of green suede boots.

I also have some remnants of burgundy sweater knit and some gorgeous burgundy print viscose ( rayon) Jersey which I could use for some other pieces. I'd like the jersey to be a two piece dress which I could wear with my new tall burgundy boots. I will have to play with the sweater knit to see what I can make with it, perhaps a waistcoat, simple sweater or combine into a multi media cardigan jacket.

I have previously sewn other items in the dark green and burgundy coolourways so probably have some options with those already.

The Christmas charity sewing is going to take precedence however so I hope there's enough autumn clothing to wear that I don't need new things.

Sunday 24 September 2017

Thinking aloud - Christmas Stockings

Apologies these next few posts are me recording my thoughts about upcoming projects as such no pictures, and may well get deleted later.

A colleague and I have planned a charity craft stall in November.
We will reuse any leftover stock from the last time.
However I also want to make some Christmas themed things, mostly Christmas Stockings and maybe wrapping paper storage bags. My colleague will sew more shopping bags.

For the Christmas stockings I will use a pattern I already have used before and make a variety of stockings from traditional green and red versions but also velvets, tartan ( plaid) and faux suede.

I might also use my leather scraps to make some small gift purses / wallets / money pouches for when people want to give a gift of money.

I could also make Christmas cards, Christmas bunting strands and perhaps some Christmas decorations.

Another thought would be fleece hats. Quick to sew using fleece scraps and can be lots of fun. I have some cute cat themed fleece as well as other prints and plains.

I have a Pinterest board where I have been collecting ideas.

I will try to remember to share all the makes as I go for those who are interested.