Summer Capsule Wardrobe, Make One: A Vintage-Style Halter Top

Hot damn! It's my belly button. Call the police and the fireman oh wait no, just get me a bottle of self-tanner. Clearly I haven't seen much sun lately, but that's not stopping me from showin' off my first make of 2015. It's a floral halter top using Simplicity 1365, a revival of a 1970's pattern that fits in perfectly with my Summer capsule wardrobe plans. I found the fabric at Britex a few months back, along with matching vintage-style buttons (have you ever seen Britex's button wall? It's majestic).

I'm pretty happy with the fit, although the button closure in the back pulls a bit (this is because I was out of interfacing and too impatient to buy more... my bad). But my favorite thing about this pattern is the clean finish. It's fully lined and requires the you "stitch in the ditch" to secure the straps from the inside. This means that I have a beautiful, fully-finished garment without the use of a serger. So much better than using pinking shears or dealing with French seams! I'm already planning a version using some of the black Nanette Lepore eyelet I have stashed away.

In other news, I've been working on adding variety to my poses, as evidenced in the diptych below. Probably still needs some work.  

St. Augustine

These shots are from our trip to St. Augustine, Florida, the country's oldest city – and probably the only place in the U.S. that was a balmy 80 degrees on December 29th. At first I was a little hesitant to post these pictures because I'm showing my midriff (gasp!) and I look a little hungover (no further comment there).

I think they're worth sharing though, if only because they feature a handmade necklace I found at a night market in New Orleans a few days before. Crafted from black onyx and other reclaimed materials by Shell and Bone, I call it my Black Heart of the Ocean necklace. And it works for me... on dark and sunny days alike. 

Crafting and Ethical Wardrobe: the Knee-Length Skirt

The knee-length skirt is another of my professional staple pieces. I say "knee-length" instead of a particular silhouette because I think any skirt that falls at or slightly above the knee is a good bet for work. Of course this depends on where you work, but I never feel comfortable in anything shorter than that in a professional setting, even with tights. Call me a prude. Or 31.

I like to balance structure with flow, so I usually opt for a snug pencil skirt with a looser blouse or a fitted sweater with an a-line. As part of the Wardrobe Architect project, I put together some of my favorite silhouettes during week four; you can also use these handy templates (built painstakingly in Illustrator by yours truly) to find your favorite combination.

Two Trina Turk skirts styled by City Tonic and Good, Bad, and Fab. Original posts here and here.

Where to buy it:

Trina Turk is a great choice for a variety of professional pieces, and much of her line is now made in California. I'm especially in love with a grey pencil skirt I recently found at Nordstrom Rack. The fit is perfect for my particular shape (narrower at the waist with plenty of room for the ol' hips), and the construction is amazing. I usually look for Trina Turk on sale; otherwise, her stuff can run a little steep.

If you're more interested in shopping fair trade, try People Tree, Annie Greenabelle, or One Mango Tree, all of whom usually carry a pencil skirt. I also love Mata Traders' Speakeasy skirt from their Fall collection.

How to make it: 

I've had one of Colette's Zinnia skirts cut in a lightweight navy wool and ready to assemble in my sewing drawer for... oh, I don't know, eight months now? At any rate, I love it, and hope to finally finish mine before the end of the year (modest goals, folks). I also bought By Hand London's Charlotte skirt pattern in the hopes of making a floral version like Oona's below. Just lovely. A few more options include Sewaholic's Hollyburn skirt, Tilly's Miette, and Deer and Doe's Anemone. By Hand London also has a great tutorial on creating a simple gathered skirt — no pattern needed.

 

Image credits: Oonabaloona from Kalkatroona and Colette Patterns.

Colette Violet Revisited

As excited as I was about my inaugural sewing project, I find that I rarely wear the resulting Colette Violet blouse. I think it's partly because a bright white blouse is hard to pair on its own without looking too much like a uniform, and because a pan collar can look pretty juvenile without the right styling (seriously, I have got to get away from that beret). So I decided to revive this shirt with some more sophisticated elements: my J. Crew No.2 Pencil skirt in poppy, a navy blue sweater vest (thrifted), and my trusty Paolo leather flats.

Also, if you ever find that your necklace is too short to fit around that collared shirt, simply safety pin the ends underneath the collar. Viola!

The eight hour shirt/ exceptionally slow fashion

Two things:

1. I made these photos look all old timey to make up for the fact that they are underexposed.

2. I still pose for pictures like I am in the third grade

On the other hand, I MADE A SHIRT! From scratch (well, ok, from a pattern). I had no idea how empowering that would feel. And at the risk of sounding melodramatic, in times like these (scary times, Big Brother times), it's important to feel like we can do a little something to stick it to the corporate powers that be. Even if it's buying one less unethically-made shirt.

This was my first attempt at following a pattern, and it was actually much easier than I thought it would be. It might have taken a total of eight hours, but heck, it's winter and a good time for indoor activities. I followed

Colette Patterns' Violet

 (beginner), and I am looking forward to ordering more. I found the organic cotton at a local fabric outlet, and it was the perfect material to start on (not the least bit stretchy). Look forward to more sewing-centric posts - I think I've found a new obession.

In the meantime, these are some sewing-related blogs I've been purusing:

Tilly and the Buttons

A Fashionable Stitch

Also, a great article on slow fashion that I meant to link to a while back:

The History of a Cheap Dress