How Sunday - How to plan your (handmade) wardrobe

Coming back from our summer holiday always seems to be a cornerstone for my wardrobe. This is even truer this year because 1. we experienced a drop of 10° as soon as we arrived home (yes I even considered putting the heating on), 2. heatwaves have been replaced by rain (hello frizzy hair), 3. In 2 months I will going back to work and that reality seemed to have sank in..

To be perfectly honest I have never planned my wardrobe before – only because I never used to make my own clothes in earnest. I made accessories (scarves, beanie hats) but not 'real' clothes I would actually wear.

But I want to carry on making my own clothes whilst going to work – and obviously take care of Baby MiH – and there is only one way to do this: O-R-G-A-N-I-S-A-T-I-O-N. And the first step is planning. I have loads of clothes – but never the right one (of course!) – but also I want to try to separate each area of my life better – work clothes for work, loungewear for when I come back and run after Baby MiH around the house, going out clothes when (if) we go on date night etc.

Here is how I went into planning my wardrobe

 

•      Tidy up your existing wardrobe – whatever you are not wearing is space wastage, give them to your local charity shop, sell them on Ebay. I love getting rid of things, it is like a detox for me, but I know it is harder for others. If you have not worn something for 3 years, are you actually going to wear in the next 6 months?
•      Make your wardrobe fit you today – do you fit in all your clothes (could you vacuum pack some because they are too small?), summer is over here and it is time for me to get rid of the tropical prints and other linen tops (some fabrics just say summer).

My small wardrobe is now looking like it needs more clothes.

• Identify the different areas of your life – what do you need clothes for? I ended up with 5 main areas: sleep time, work time, mummy time, creative time and going out time. Of course some areas will have similar clothes: Mummy time and creative time for instance, but I would like them to be separated nonetheless.
• Go through your existing patterns and books/magazine, and separate Autumn/Winter from Spring/Summer. For me having too many patterns to choose from is the obstacle to making any of them. I have the Spring/Summer pattern pile ready to go to the attic. I will probably store my summer fabrics away as well.
• Identify the gaps in your wardrobe – I found 4 pairs of black trousers for work, I am guessing I will probably not need another pair for a while. However I seem to have gotten rid of my grey ones (my pregnant hormonal self probably did not fit in them anymore and could not see the sight of them).

• Choose quality over quantity and invest time in your projects: What pattern to choose – I think I will try to match them better to my shape, same as the colours that suit me better. With Ravelry and BurdaStyle I am also able to see how others have interpreted a pattern and learning from their experiences is always an important step in my making process.
• Create a flexible plan and be realistic: How many garments can I actually make in one month? How long does it actually take me to knit a jumper? The last thing I want is to get too stressed because I have planned badly, because I know I will, so I need flexibility as well. And there may be some stuff I just don’t want to make because what I can get in shops is just so cheap or so amazing.

I suppose this checklist could apply to any crafts – so how do you plan your projects? What are your tips? Or you may have never thought of planning ahead, is it something you would consider?

          *Just in case you want to grab yourself a free shawl pattern for your new Autumn wardrobe, enter my giveaway here*