fashion Archives - Page 3 of 8 - Handmade by Carolyn

10 x 10 challenge; summer

28/01/2018 2:59 pm \ 14 Comments \ Carolyn

In order to round things out seasonally speaking; I joined in with the next 10 x 10 challenge… I previously took part in the “spring” one, so this here is my “summer” one. I really did enjoy the last one in spite of a bit of whinging, hehe. The fact is that I simply cannot resist a wardrobe challenge! SO! 10×10; the brainchild of Lee Vosburgh of style bee and co-hosted by Caroline of Un-Fancy, the idea is that you pick 10 items of clothing, including shoes, but not including other accessories like scarves, tights and handbags, and you wear only those items for 10 days. The idea is to explore the mix and match-ability of your wardrobe? I gather? or to help yourself to discover what is really working for you, something like that. Whatever you get from the experience, it’s just a bit of fun, playing about with your clothing and your “look”.

What I chose:

3 tops, 3 skirts, 1 dress, 1 lightweight cardigan, 2 prs sandals… I made everything except for the caramel high heeled sandals. Yes, I could have chosen my own handmade clogs for a totally handmade 10×10, but I’m ok with wearing rtw shoes occasionally nowadays 🙂

from L to R, all items are linked back to their original construction post, with the exception of the white skirt which I made many many years pre my blog! I’ve linked to the first post it ever appeared in, instead… The number in brackets is the number of times each thing got worn during the challenge.

paprika cardigan, my own design based upon the Closet Case nettie bodysuit … (3)
blue split-back top, Vogue 8879, refashioning an old shirt of Craig’s … (2)
white drapey top; from the Japanese pattern book drape drape … (3)
clementine cotton blouse, Vogue 1247 … (3)
blue roses skirt, Vogue 1247 … (3)
kangaroo paw skirt, Vogue 8363 … (2)
white skirt, Vogue 7303 … (3)
floral dress, French Navy Forsythe pattern … (2)
red thongs, made by me … (5)
caramel leather heeled sandals, akiel, from an op shop many years ago … (5)

Les outfits:

So, I don’t have any fabulous new insights over and above those I came up with the last time, other than the obvious one that it’s a lot easier in the warmth of summer! When planning, I briefly considered choosing 8 little dresses and two pairs of shoes, because I just love wearing little dresses in the summer; but decided that would have been a bit cheeky, not in the spirit of the thing and also probably wouldn’t have made for a very interesting mixing/matching exercise. Which I suspect is the point of these things…

There are a coupla things I’m definitely getting rid of; that old white skirt for one; which I’ve nearly thrown out a few times but hung onto it at the last minute only to continue to never wear it… so I included it to help me make my mind up about it one way or the other. So now I have, yay. And that’s that it is reeeeally tired! The good thing is that I have no doubt it got its 30 wears in its day because this thing was my go-to for years. Which is why I kept it in the first place, obviously. Ironically, I find it much harder to get rid of things that I love, but are getting a bit shabby, than things that are un-loved, but in better condition! Aaaah, the dilemma!

So; will I do another 10×10? maybe I’ll take part in maybe two more seasonal challenges; autumn and winter, just personally, and to round the thing out for me in my own mind. Something I will not do is bombard instagram with a picture a day, because I can’t help but notice that the sewing community is not into this sort of thing at all and I guess it’s pretty boring for people to look at basically the same pieces of clothing day in day out! For all those who suffered through, I apologise! and thank you to those who stuck with me!

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Posted in: fashion \ Tagged: 10x10, wardrobe challenge

2017; a retrospective

31/12/2017 11:22 pm \ 30 Comments \ Carolyn

It’s the last day of 2017… and what a year that was! we made it, hurrah. Thank goodness for that, eh?!

So, in these end-of-year retrospective thingies I usually like to pick out some of my favourite photos/outfits/memories, just one for each month of the year… Not all of these pictures appearing here made it to ye olde blog at the time, some are just happy memories of a happy day, that I decided to include them just because Of course I am still wearing my handmade clothing in each one though…

January

ringing in the New Year at Eagle Bay, wearing my red gingham dress and ivory hat

February

wearing my totally local, hand-dyed and -knitted outfit

March

as Queen Rutela, for ComicCon… making this costume was a ridgy-didge marathon! LOVED EVERY MINUTE!

April

sunrise at Eagle Bay in my apricot top and boyfriend jeans

May

that time I made a jean jacket using 3 pairs of Tim’s old jeans.. worn with striped skirt and white oxford shoes, all made by me

June

Wonder Woman-ing … in pink skirt, raincoat, roll neck sweater

July

camping and trekking in Alaska! I wore an almost totally handmade wardrobe for our trip, details here

August

camping and kayaking off Vancouver Island! my handmade travelling wardrobe stood up quite well to the test

September

we got Clara!! wearing my yellow “dog bed” dress

October

…out to lunch in the city, in a tee, skirt and shoes all made by me

November

my Lisa Carolina dress and handmade clogs

December

today, in fact!! in shorts, top and cardigan made by me

So, what happened this year, handmaking-wise? Well, I suppose I should mention it again though it seems so long ago now… was it really only February?!; but a huge thing was finishing up my Year of Handmade. That crazy year-long project in which I wore only clothing that I had made myself, for one whole year… including of course all shoes and underwear, in fact everything. Wow, what a ride… I can hardly believe I did it, even now! I was happy and so pleased and proud to round that up successfully ! The year in total can be viewed in my Year of Handmade album here, and my final summary of the year can be read here… and just updating with a post script: since I finished I have continued to wear my handmade clothing of course, since I have very few pieces that are NOT made by me! but have allowed myself to go back to wearing rtw shoes.

What did I make?

This year I made 70 clothing items; including 17 items for others and 3 prs of shoes. Yes, it seems like a lot! but it is definitely less than in previous years… see, I am really trying to be more careful with my time and resources, to work slowly and surely, to not be wasteful with materials, to finish things as neat as I am capable. But I guess there must have been quite a few quick and easy ones in there too!

I also discovered bookbinding and made a few little hardback books. I can’t really see this overtaking my interest in making my own fashion and clothing, though!

What did I wear?

I’m still faithfully keeping up my ootd blog, and noting what I wear and how frequently, which hopefully alerts me to what I do not wear! in an attempt to be more, I dunno, “mindful” about the things I’m adding to my wardrobe…. Here in a nutshell are my most worn clothing items for the year:

Apart from shoes, most of which are worn a heckuvva lot more that any of my clothes.I suppose because I have less of them?… my most worn clothing item for the year by far is my pale pink Kelly raincoat! It has been worn a total of 52 times, which is pretty outstanding for one year. Coming in second and third place is my ivory corduroy hat (21 times) and my navy blue Miette cardigan (also 21).

Favourite creations:

hmmm this is a toughie, I don’t know if I really have just one favourite this year? I feel like this has been a very sensible year, in that I’ve been adding mostly useful and nicely thought out items to my wardrobe. None of which are inherently “exciting” but which I tend to reach for over and over again. I’ve been uncharacteristically prosaic, actually. Maybe I can chalk this year up to “the year of being sensible” #yawn oh dear…

Oooh, no wait; I’ve just remembered my Queen Rutela outfit, which totally destroys any claims I might have to sensible wardrobe planning, obviously. You don’t get much less sensible than that ensemble! And gawd, it was fun! It was terribly involved and there was lots of nutting out how on earth I could even begin to make bits and pieces of the costume?! but I really do love a challenge and enjoyed making that so much. Plus Cassie and I had a blast at ComicCon! she isa already halfway though her costume for next year, so I’d better get cracking on mine. What am I going as this time? ooh, wait and see!

What are my plans for next year?

I think I just want to mostly continue along the same path that I set for myself this year; namely; to make everything that I can, and to make things that are useful, and well made, but additionally; maybe to loosen up and have a bit more fun with my wardrobe,, make some things that creatively stretch me a little bit more,

On another note; I’ve recently sorted through my fabric stash and done a HUGE tidy up and organization of it all… but I will save the specifics of that for its own blog post because I think it deserves it… but I’ll just say for now that another tentative goal for this year is to buy as little fabric as possible and to make from what I have, IF I CAN.

Aaaand thirdly, and I don’t want to jinx myself, but I am sooooorta thinking about making a pattern, hopefully early in the year #fingerscrossed

That would be called… a resolution? ooh the R word. Sorry. Other, things I’m aiming for this year, is to make something for someone else, at least once a month, and also to also refashion something at least once a month.

Any other thoughts?

Just the most important one, which is that I’d just like to sincerely THANK everyone who takes the time to read my blog! and most particularly to those who write a comment every now and then, thank you so very much, *mwah* I am so very grateful for each and every kind word. And I’d like to wish for all a safe, happy, prosperous and peaceful 2018; above all I hope the New Year brings you much joy and happiness! xxx

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Posted in: fashion, Uncategorized

Lisa Carolina dress

15/11/2017 10:28 am \ 32 Comments \ Carolyn

Hello!

I have made a very special dress lately… actually I am super busy at the moment sewing up Christmas goodies but I have deviously made sure I always have something on the go for myself at the same time too, hehehe. And I knew I wanted to devote some of my time to making something from this deliciously cheerful and sunny dandelion fabric sent to me by my dear friend Lisa, of Lisa’s Carolina. Thank you so much Lisa!

Lisa has also made something for herself in it too.. . a Lotta Jansdotter Pilvi jacket. I really loved how she bound her seams inside using a yellow gingham, and I shamelessly took a leaf from her book and used small-scale yellow gingham for the facings and bindings inside my dress too. Thank you for this super pretty inspiration, Lisa!

armhole edge

skirt facing and pocket binding. and hemline binding. gingham galore, in fact…

For my piece, I decided to make the Wings dress, which is the cover dress of Burdastyle 04/2014; pattern 108. I’ve previously made this pattern up once, here; and that is one of my favourite dresses to wear, so I wanted to make another one for this summer.

I very much like this style of simple, fitted little flared dress, the “wings” have lovely roomy pockets in them which is just the most perfect arrangement!! and I juuuuuust managed to squeeze my pattern pieces onto the piece! though doing this took a little bit of placement magic… Like I mentioned in my initial review of the pattern it is quite boxy in the bodice so I slimmed down the bodice by about 3cm from the centre, and also by shaving off some width from the princess seams at the waist…. the design is more slim-fitting up top now but is has plenty of wearing ease enough for me, I think.

Also, I forgot to mention this the first time I made the dress, in which I did this exact same thing, but in order to avoid having visible topstitching on the “wings” that outline where the pockets are inside, I interlined the pockets with a light, white cotton voile. The back part of the pocket, that you see inside when the wings flap open, is the self-fabric.

This little strip of gingham inside the pockets was put there by my mistake understanding the pocket construction … but then I left it in place because I think it’s kind of cute 🙂

Details:

Dress; Burdastyle 04/2014;108 slightly modified, in a slubby woven cotton, slightly spongy and wholly delicious

Shoes; made by me, details here

Clara is such a lovely addition to our family, so fun and full of life and love and doing very well. And growing up fast. I can even take her for walks now without having my arm pulled from its socket

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Posted in: fashion, sewing \ Tagged: Burdastyle 04/2014-108, Clara, daily outfit, dress

not another striped tee

21/10/2017 10:04 am \ 29 Comments \ Carolyn

New Inari tee, sort of.

I bought this striped fabric from Fabulous Fabrics at the same time that I bought the striped fabric for my zebra striped skirt… that I made nearly two years ago… oops! I was going to make a matched set.. but I got distracted, as you do and just never made the top. I have now, obviously. Finally.

dressing to match your puppy. it’s a thing, ok?

Not sure if the skirt and top look too… er, costume-y together?? Is it just me or are stripes feeling just a shade on the side of… last year? Not that I don’t like stripes or anything… I DO! we’ve all bought into the stripe-hype that stripes are a neutral and go with EVERYTHING for years now… but everything runs its course. Not to mention, and speaking as a seamster, they’re an absolute pain in the bottom to sew. Crazily; I bought enough of this striped fabric to make a Named patterns Inari tee dress for Cassie, but I don’t think I have the intestinal fortitude to face two entire dress-lengthed striped side seams right now. I need time to recover.

failing to match my puppy

Modifications: I redid those blasted striped side seams several times… but I think it was worth it in the end. Behold, attempt number one. The stripes are all matched perfectly fine, but the V-ness they make as the side seam tapers outwards looks kinda weird.

so I unpicked those perfectly matched stripes, sobbing only just a little bit, re-pinned and restitched. Hallelujah for the cropped-ness of the Inari!! shorter side seam, naturally; phew. Now, my side seams still taper outwards some in the spirit of the Inari, but the angle is more subtle, and I just think the way the stripes are now is visually a lot more pleasing to the eye.

My other alteration was my now usual one to widen each of the sleeve hemline and the cuff by a good 10cm (4″) using this method described here.

ON another note; I actually made everything I am wearing in all these pictures, including my shoes… not something that happens all the time now my Year of Handmade is over, but just every now and again 🙂

Details: (above, with striped skirt)

Top; modified Inari tee by Named patterns, with modifications, slightly spongy striped knit
Striped skirt (above): Vogue 1247, striped woven, details here
Denim shoes (above); made by me, details here; these are getting pretty old now, which is making me sad 🙁

Details: (top picture, with floral skirt)

Floral skirt: Vogue 2894, floral cotton lined with purple
Black clogs; made by me, details here

So that’s it! I decided to wear it with my red floral skirt, for its maiden voyage into the city today to meet my friend J for lunch… the stripes/floral combo still feels fresh and springy to me and I really love it. Cassie came around later in the evening, coincidentally wearing her little cottages Inari tee that I’d made for her! and mentioned that she really loved this outfit. Oooh, praise from a daughter; that’s high praise!!

location: Elizabeth Quay, Perth

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Posted in: fashion, sewing \ Tagged: Clara, daily outfit, inari, named patterns

10 x 10 challenge; spring

18/10/2017 10:45 am \ 32 Comments \ Carolyn

Just for funsies, I decided to take part in the 10×10 challenge, brainchild of Lee Vosburgh of Style Bee and co-hosted by Caroline of Un-fancy … the idea is that you select ten items of clothing that you will wear for the next ten days. I just heard about this cool challenge recently, apparently it’s been a big thing in the fashion blogging world for years! I thought it sound like fun, a good way to explore the versatility of your wardrobe, and not something that’s totally outside the realm of what us sewing bloggers do for me-made May and One Week One Pattern, my own 6 different ways roundups that I do, and other little wardrobe challenges that are sweet little diversions in the serious business of getting dressed… 😉

Technically, this round is called the Fall 10×10 but of course it is Spring time for us southern hemisphere-ers. I checked out our weather forecast and glumly noted that it was going to be all over the shop; we were expecting everything from a cold 18C roaring up to 31C in my ten day quota. So weather versatility was absolutely key!

I chose for my ten items; 1 dress, 4 tops, 2 skirts, 1 jacket, 1 pr winter boots and 1 pr oxford shoes; all navy blue and white, toasty brown and orange and my acid-yellow dress. I made everything except for my black boots. Yes, I could have chosen my own handmade black boots, but I really love my rtw ones so I plumped for those instead.

From left to right, and all items are linked back to the original construction post. The number in brackets after each item is the number of times it got worn during the 10 days of the challenge:

blue and white check shirt … Burda 7767 I originally made this shirt for Tim; he recently did a wardrobe cleanout and lobbed it back to me. Score! (1)
plain white Tshirt with navy blue edging ….Closet Case Nettie (5)
tobacco brown silk blouse … MN Sudley (2)
navy blue suedette blouse … MN Dove (2)
navy gingham cropped jacket … Burda 10/2009/108 (3)
terracotta pleather skirt … MN Axel (3)
navy blue mini … Vogue 1247 (5)
acid yellow dress … Vogue 1316 (2)
rtw black boots, Roberto del Carlo, from Zomp shoes (6)
my handmade white oxford shoes (4)

Accessories like bags, hats, umbrella, hosiery, jewellery and scarves aren’t counted in your 10 pieces… which is awesome because when you want, nay NEED tights and scarves so you don’t freeze to death, being able to add those things to the ten items helps a TONNE!!

SO! My outfits for the ten days…

Thoughts:

I did thoroughly enjoy planning my 10-piece mini-wardrobe… I LOVED my colour scheme and I really love all the pieces I picked and how well they worked together. I even enjoyed wearing my outfits for like, the first five days or so. After that I was kinda like; I wanna wear something different noooooow! inwardly whining like a spoilt little brat. I mean, I loved all of my combinations, but once I’d imagined them all in my head, then it felt like a bit of an anticlimax to actually wear them. I suppose I like a bit of surprise and spontaneity when it comes to getting dressed each morning.

On the plus side, there was no need for agonising “what to wear?!” and I could just toss on one of my outfits happily without worrying about it anymore. I did like the mix-and-matchability of my choices, was pleased it catered for both casual and nice-ish, and was a little sad I didn’t get to wear some of my planned combos due to weather unsuitability.

Several remarked on IG that it didn’t look like many clothes… it’s not! 10 pieces really is quite a challenging restriction. Laundry alone… well yes that’s an obvious issue too. I had to do several random “spring-cleaning” washes, just so I could toss in some of my 10×10 items that needed to be worn on consecutive and near-consecutive days. I guess that’s not a bad thing though, hehe; all my cushion covers and beach towels are fresh and sparkling ready for spring!

Only having two pairs of shoes was kinda difficult too. My feet often start to hurt a bit if I wear the same pair of shoes too many days in a row … and even though these boots and shoes are both very comfortable, I find that even with the most comfortable of shoes, I still need to mix it up every few days for my feet to really be happy little vegemites. Exception to this rule: thongs aka flip-flops but sadly it’s still too cold to wear thongs on the regular. On that note… COME ON SUMMER!! oh please excuse me, didn’t mean to shout. Oh, ok then, I did. Like everyone in Perth, I can’t stop whinging about the awfully cold and wet spring we’re having and everyone’s desperate for some more summery weather. We keep getting little tastes of totally glorious sunshine-y warmth but then it reverts back to cold and rainy again. Booooo!

So, will I do a 10×10 again? Maybe. Maybe not. I’m moaning here a bit, picking out all the negatives, but it was a fun diversion, really. It’s always a good exercise to explore the possibilities of a restricted wardrobe for a little while. Almost like a little mini-travel wardrobe! Oh, except without the fun, actual travelling part, of course, haha.

All said and done, I enjoyed it. I’ll see how I feel about it when the next one rolls around.

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Posted in: fashion, Uncategorized \ Tagged: 10x10, daily outfit, travel wardrobe

their choice

07/09/2017 8:58 pm \ 32 Comments \ Carolyn

So, for the past week I’ve been wearing outfits chosen by Craig, and I’ve chosen his outfits for him too… how did it go? well the good news is that we’re still happily married and I did not get sent out in just underwear and nothing else, haha! in spite of what a few thought could happen, lol

The “diary”…

Day 1:

Craig said he just wanted me to be warm and comfortable for a day working at home and with Clara. He spent quite some time holding different tops up against different skirts and such, trying to find things to co-ordinate… to be honest, I think he’s a little overwhelmed with my wardrobe, hehe, and is still coming to grips with everything I’ve got!!

I chose Craig’s outfit firstly because I think he looks great in blue, and these shoes are my favourite. I really like how the caramel brown looks with his blue jeans.

I made; my chocolate cardigan, my scarf, skirt and socks, and Craig’s hoodie

Day 2:

I’m meeting Cassie for a morning of fabric shopping and morning tea-ing… and Craig just wanted me to be warm. I was a little surprised by navy tights with a grey and red outfit, but Craig thought they all looked really good together.

I chose his outfit because I also think he looks great in charcoal!… he bought this super warm Icelandic hoodie during our holiday there and I absolutely love it on him. Same shoes as yesterday, because, yep, they’re still my favourites!

I made everything I’m wearing; my sweater, hoodie, coat, skirt and my navy blue tights, and I knitted Craig’s red beanie

Day 3:

Craig reckons I suit an earthy “textured” look so today dressed me accordingly… and it’s funny; at first in this challenge Craig was saying I have SO many clothes, and this morning he had decided my wardrobe was definitely lacking and gave me a little list of things I need to “round out” the items I have! ooooh, what is this.. permission to sew more things for myself?? mmmm, I think so!!

For him I got out this awesome, distressed leather jacket that we bought in Melbourne yeeeears ago, it’s deeply cool in an edgy sort of a way and it’s been a long time since he wore it… I dug it right out of the back of the wardrobe. Paired with chocolate brown jeans and a duck-egg blue sweater that I also think he could wear more often… 😉

I made my jumper, matching dress, leggings and scarf

Day 4:

Apparently this mustard dress is one of Craig’s favourites… who knew? Not me!! I was on the verge of throwing it out, hehe. Maybe I should hang onto it for a little longer 😉 I was glad though that he picked out this trench coat, because I LOVE it! and feel quite super sleuth and sorta glamorously chic whenever I have it on.

His outfit: well, he only wears it for a portion of the day because he’ll be in scrubs for most of it…! but I get to choose his outfit for some of the day, at least! He’s had this jumper for about 20 years, it’s such wonderful quality and suits him so well… plus cocoa brown chinos and his Burberry scarf that we bought together in Milan during one of our holidays there. Plus adorable puppy accessory, of course.

I made; my dress and my trench coat

Day 5:

I really love this dress, so I’m happy that Craig likes it too! He’s been dressing me in warm toasty colours a lot, I’ve got lots of colours in my wardrobe but these are the colours I’m “supposed” to be wearing… so I’m pleased that he actually likes me in them, I was wondering if he would pick out for me the colours that HE looks good in, you can’t help but be influenced by that at least a little bit! but he hasn’t really been affected by his own personal colour preferences. He also got out my moto jacket because it was cold in the morning but the day warmed up beautifully so I shed that pretty early 🙂

I, on the other hand, picked out Craig’s orange jumper so it may well be argued that I was unfairly influenced by my own personal colour palette! Craig actually does wear it a lot, in fact all the pieces I selected for him today pretty frequently, but very rarely together. However I love this orange/blue combo on him, particularly with his blue shirt collar peeking out to “protect” him from the orange, so to speak.

It’s funny that our outfits have sorta kinda matched a lot… I’ve been selecting Craig’s outfits early and laying them out on his chair, and he’s been choosing my outfits later on… and I think he’s subconsciously, or even consciously? picking out similar colours for me… gonna have to hide my selection tomorrow and see if it makes a difference 😉

I made my dress and moto jacket, and also Craig’s blue linen shirt

Day 6:

It must be the rather delightfully warm and springy wind in the air today; we independently chosen florals for each other! Haha, whenever I hear of that association I get a mental image of Meryl Streep in the Devil Wears Prada uttering “florals for spring…. groundbreaking…” in that DELICIOUSLY cold-bucket-of-water-over-the-head way… laugh!

Love that Craig chose this dress for me today… and my reaaaaaally old apricot cardigan to go with it, which does go rather nicely and also my cream cotton hand knit for if I felt cold… I didn’t. Apparently I also need black shoes desperately, which is pretty hilarious since I feel like I have a million pairs of black shoes! but none of them are “right” 😉

For him; I chose the floral shirt that I’d made for him last Christmas, and his edgiest blue jeans to toughen it up, a favourite combo of mine. Of course, Craig and “edgy”… well that’s a pretty subjective thing! The interesting thing is that I didn’t set out for us to “learn” anything, but we really have learnt things nonetheless! Will touch on those things in a summary after the week has finished 🙂 One day to go!

I made my dress and Craig’s shirt

Day 7:

So, for today Craig chose a dress that I’ve just barely finished, hot off the sewing machine and haven’t even blogged about yet, haha. I think he’s disenchanted with my entire wardrobe and thinks I need some new blood in there! Well, alrighty then!! It’s still a little crisp in the mornings, thus my trusty navy blue cardigan, which matches those contrasting strips, and my reeeeally old caramel sandals which are a bit high for day-to-day use but they sort go with everything and are not terribly offensive, so meh.

For him, he’d warned me that today he needed to be dressed up in a smart suit, so I abandoned my previous plan of dressing him in a clown suit…. hehe, just kidding. He has a few nice suits; I chose my favourite light grey one, a crisp white shirt, his tie with whales and dolphins on it, and his pony-hide shoes that we bought in Iceland during our holiday. Sharp!

I made my dress (not yet blogged) and my cardigan.

Summary:

well, this week has been a lot of fun! though to be honest I was pretty sure it would be!

I’m so pleased that a few ladies joined me in this challenge; Sue (@suestoney), Megan, (@meggipeg) Julie, (@sewchicasewww) Raquel (@rseydewitz_sewtospeak) and Caroline (@caroline.jg)… thank you so much ladies for being a part of the fun! xxx

Now for the lowdown… so, one thing I hadn’t taken into account was that I, being the one in charge of laundry in the house, was a LOT more familiar with both our wardrobes; I know pretty much exactly what Craig has in his wardrobe and am pretty up with the combinations he tends to put together regularly. And obviously I’m very familiar with my own wardrobe too, because… well, it’s mine!

On the other hand, Craig is not at all familiar with what’s in my wardrobe. He doesn’t do the laundry very often, and furthermore my wardrobe is a lot bigger than his… and furthermore! women’s outfits are a lot more complicated than men’s clothing. Men wear either jean or shorts, with a top or two. Women wear dresses, skirts and tops, jeans and tops, and sometimes leggings and tights with those skirts and dresses, and we usually have a wide variety of shoe types each of which are specifically designed to go with certain outfits/occasions. Even mens’ shoes are a far simpler affair; Craig has a few pairs of desert boots, lace up shoes, slip ons, his hiking boots and athletic shoes, and that’s pretty much it. I’m not even going to confess here how many pairs of shoes that I have!

So what did this mean? well, in a nutshell, Craig had a far more challenging week than I did! He spent a lot of time, and I mean a LOT, going through my clothes and putting together outfits, searching through skirts, tops, cardigans and scarves, tights etc, sometimes putting together some quite bizarre combinations that had us in fits of laughter when I modelled them! It was really hard to bite my tongue sometimes and avoid from making “little suggestions” as to how I’d normally do things, because it wasn’t supposed to be about that… and also Craig did not want help!

It’s also quite refreshing to see my clothes through another’s eyes… Craig pointed out a few things he really didn’t like, and there were a some items that I’d thought of fondly as my favourites which I had to acknowledge were embarrassingly shabby.

As far as personal tastes go, I’ve discovered my husband prefers coloured tights over black, and he likes mini skirts and jeans on me. I know he didn’t actually dress me in jeans during the week, but they were definitely part of ensembles that eventually evolved into other outfits that didn’t happen to have them in anymore! And from the point of view of ME choosing HIS outfits… well, it was for all the reasons above a much easier week for me! I know all his clothes so well and simply picked out my favourites. I loved seeing him in all the things I liked the best 🙂

For both of us, we’ve identified things that need throwing out and things that need replacing. For that alone it has been worth it. As well as the fact that we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

Finally; will we have another “their choice”? Yes, I think we will! Maybe next year 🙂

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Posted in: fashion \ Tagged: Clara, their choice

their choice; a challenge!

29/08/2017 8:24 pm \ 18 Comments \ Carolyn

Does anyone want to join in a fun dressing experiment/challenge? I read recently this article about Caitlyn whose husband Colin chose her outfits for her to wear for a week, and she was surprised and delighted by his choices! I thought it was really cute, sounded like a lot of fun and I’ve decided to give it a go … and wondered if anyone else in the sewing community would like to play along in solidarity too!

it’s pretty simple really! Just get someone else to choose your outfits for you every day for a week… and if they are willing, you could choose their outfits for the week too! But of course it’s absolutely fine if it’s just you. Or them… 😉

I’m aiming to do this thing between 1st September until 7th September.

You can partner up with your partner, your child, a parent, a sibling, a friend… anyone really, just someone who obviously cares enough about you not to send you out in a bikini and ball cap if the weather is freezing cold and raining, of course! I will be doing the challenge with Craig. He’s often quite interested in what I am wearing and makes styling suggestions and observations; which I listen to um, occasionally…! and I’m excited to put together a few ensembles I want to see him wearing too 🙂 We might not “learn” anything at all from the week but if nothing else, I thought it would be a fun thing for us to do…

I’m going to post the outfits here in a week’s time… and I’ll post my own outfits to instagram as well using the #theirchoice hashtag. In fact, I think I’ll make that #theirchoice17, just in case lots of people have used it already. But I’ve already made my picture without the -17 on the end, sorry about that! 😉

Please join me if you are willing and able… use the #theirchoice17 hashtag so I can find you because I would love to see how it goes for everyone! I’ll even work out how to do a link party and host it here on my blog… if I can! #technologicallychallenged

Who else is in?!

Note: the above picture is an old one and does not reflect what I will be wearing for the week… I have no idea as yet and am actually pretty excited to see what is in store for me!

Posted in: fashion \ Tagged: their choice

Alaska USA and BC Canada; a travel wardrobe

13/08/2017 1:05 pm \ 44 Comments \ Carolyn

Time away:

24 days

Where to:

Alaska, USA and British Columbia, Canada

Season:

Well… “summer”… inverted commas since in reality we experienced all extremes of weather, from freezing sleety rain with some snow, all the way through to blazing sun and actually quite warm!

Expected activities:

LOTS of hiking; 2 separate camping trips, one was very remote in the mountains of interior Alaska, one was our 3 day kayaking excursion off Vancouver Island, plenty of animal watching and sightseeing mostly in rural areas, a 1 day bicycling tour, a day of rafting, and necessary interludes where you’re just getting from A to B. Yes, it was AMAZING!!!!

Colour scheme:

the ubiquitous grey-scale neutrals … but with plenty of strong solid blue/red/pink/green to give things some pep!

What I packed:

everything is linked to its original construction post…

top row, L to R:

blue dress
black corduroy jeans
khaki hiking pants

4 long sleeved tees + 4 shorter sleeved tees:
paprika, charcoal striped
white striped, dk green, lime green
purple, white
pale grey

white fleece sweater
khaki sunhat
leather satchel, borrowed from Craig
pale pink raincoat
charcoal knitted beanie
goretex jacket (borrowed from Mum)

2nd row, L to R

pink zip-up hoodie
blue corduroy skirt
cherry-red neck warmer
black shorts for kayaking
orange hand warmers
pink hand warmers, a holiday project!
1 pr black tights + 1 black leggings

bottom row L to R:

charcoal mini skirt
bathers
selection of handknitted socks
blue thongs
hiking boots
white sandshoes
black walking shoes
water shoes (borrowed from Mum)

not pictured:
selection of underwear
pyjamas
toiletries bag
knitting
a small-folding backpack for hiking

My daily outfits:

Thoughts:

Sometimes, I enjoy planning my travel wardrobe almost as much as I love the travelling itself! … note; almost… Partly because I love the concept of a capsule wardrobe, paring right back, packing super-light and living with minimal options; and living out of a suitcase forces you to embrace that concept and fully explore its mix’n’match-abilities without the temptation of your entire wardrobe at hand to waylay you from seeing it through.

Having said that though… packing for this particular holiday felt like the biggest packing challenge! 24 days is quite a long time, we covered a lot of ground, moving about a lot, and with a few stretches of roughing it and camping with no laundry opportunities. But mostly because the extremes in weather were, well yes, EXTREME. We were pre-warned to prepare for everything… and we got it!!! from freezing sleety rain and high winds, hiking through bonafide snowy patches, all the way through to quite warm days with blazing sun! and everything in-between… weather continuously bouncing up and down and all over the shop. I kind of needed something of everything.

And how did it go? Well, as expected for a fairly minimalist pack, everything I brought got worn pretty hard. A few random notes:

1) We were advised to bring water shoes for kayaking, in fact the tour notes specifically said “no thongs” So I borrowed some water shoes from Mum and wore them. But I’m not a fan… the water shoes took aaaaaaaaaaaaages to dry, and this is a real pain in the neck when you’re travelling. This was a little surprising actually, since you’d think that water shoes should be designed to dry quickly, right?! they’re made of scuba fabric, mesh and rubber, which I would have thought would dry pretty quick, but no. I really thought thongs would have been fine!

2) My hiking pants were great, but are getting a little tired. I think I need new ones… 😉

3) I occasionally cursed myself for not tossing in a second pair of black tights because the pair I brought got washed and worn VERY frequently. I’d packed 1pr black leggings as well, specifically to wear with the black shorts for kayaking… and they got worn a few times underneath my hiking pants as “thermals”. And then the kayaking leg was too warm for them after all, haha! SO hard to anticipate what to expect… oh well, I managed!

4) My ivory/pink raincoat… freaking LIFE SAVER and fabulousness in every way. I love that thing equivocally, and as well as being a completely practical item it looked chic, smart and quite stylish too, and not like everyday, rough-and-tumble travel wear at all. Honestly, I think it’s the superficially impractical colour that gives that impression, and yet you can toss it in the machine and it comes up like roses. LOVE IT!!!! It received a few compliments during our trip and people seemed flatteringly surprised that I had made it!

5) Taking the summery blue dress was a risk… that paid off since we had a few days that could almost semi-qualify as almost hot! Thinking style wise though, if I’d stopped to think more I kinda wish I’d packed my red dress rather than the blue one… since I felt I had a LOT of blue in my suitcase. Also, my white canvas tennies were kinda excess to needs, strictly speaking, but I was glad of them… it was nice to have something cute to slip on for the sunny and warmer days.

6) I always pack my bathers, just because you never know, and they don’t take up much space. I didn’t ending up swimming at all on this holiday… too cold!! but Khutzeymateen Wilderness Lodge had a sauna which we used once -and can I just say so faaaaaabulous!! Also I wore the bikini bottoms as “undies” underneath my shorts each day that we kayaked and let them both dry out in the tent overnight.

Final note: I have to admit that even though I’d been warned; the weather was far colder than I expected and threw me for a bit of a loop at times. I’d been told to expect it; but even so a small part of me was like… but it’s summer, right? how cold can it be? The answer, VERY!! doh! Fortunately, I’d made several fleece items…. SAVIOURS!!! and the importance of a goretex jacket was impressed upon me, so I’d borrowed Mum’s from their Antarctic excursion and boy was I glad I had that thing too! Camping in the Talkeetna mountains was bitterly cold, with hard driving rain, and even snow.

And now I really want to make my own goretex jacket, but this could be a slow long-term project… watch this space! I also want to make a cross-body messenger bag like this gorgeous caramel leather one that I borrowed from Craig. It’s his “work” bag! I begged for it and he graciously allowed me to use it, haha! and it was absolutely brilliant. The perfect size, looks super cool, and pretty darn tough and hardy too. WANT 🙂

below: what I wore on the plane…