So, five months into this whole learning-to-make-clothes lark, I have approximately two dozen finished garments of varying quality, a stack of unused patterns, and a cupboard full of fabric which boasts extremely limited compatibility with any of my pattern stash (used or otherwise). I'm not sure I like this whole stash thing; I think I'd much prefer to see a pattern I want to make and then go out and buy fabric for it. I have no plans for at least half the fabrics sitting in my cupboard and most of the projects in my queue will require me to go out and buy yet more stuff, and any attempts to do that will result in so much pressure to only buy the exact right things for these very specific projects that panic will ensue and I will end up with yet more stuff I can't actually use. Ask me how I know.
My wardrobe in general feels a bit all over the place at the moment. Vintage Swing Dancer is fighting with Sleek Lines which is fighting with All Of The Colours which is fighting with Please Don't Notice Me (ugh, depression) which is fighting with Please Explain To Me Why I Am Not Phryne Fisher Yet. All of which is fighting with my tendency to impulse buy things I will never wear, or will only wear for a very specific occasion which may or may not ever happen. As a result, most of my clothes don't go with each other and getting dressed can be a bit stressful. I would rather this wasn't the case, especially right now when I've just quit my job and am trying to recover from a year of fun with anxiety and depression.
I go back and forth on whether I would want to develop a uniform, or at least a go-to shape and style. On the one hand, SO much easier. On the other hand, limiting (my boyfriend has a very specific personal uniform and sometimes complains that it's now impossible to get dressed up for anything because all his clothes are exactly the same). I used to have this - short-sleeved jersey minidresses with short sleeves, fitted bodice and flared skirt, with black tights and flat shoes. It mostly developed for practical reasons; i.e. I spent all my time dancing and that was the most comfortable thing to wear. Plus with sleeves and black tights I didn't have to bother about keeping a regular waxing schedule NOT EVEN SORRY HAIR REMOVAL SUCKS BURN THE PATRIARCHY. This go-to died out because I was buying cheap dresses that lost their shape and/or shrank pretty quickly, and when I stopped dancing as much I didn't really have the incentive to buy more of them. I don't think that's where I want to go back to; I tried one on the other day and felt "meh" enough about it that I didn't buy it even though my mother liked it and it was an amazing bright blue colour that I really ought to wear more often.
So I've decided that in order to make my wardrobe, my sewing, and in some small way my life make more sense, I'm going to write a bunch of posts to help me work through it. I'm going to attempt a multi-part trial and error series, borrowing a bit from Colette's Wardrobe Architect project but mostly just me futzing about. There are a lot of traps I could fall into here:
1. Searching for a pattern that most closely resembles my previous go-to dress, regardless of whether that's still the right thing for me
2. Not finding the right things immediately and latching onto something that isn't really me
3. Not finding the right things immediately and giving up in despair
4. Trying to make myself fit into a particular style rather than finding a style that fits me
5. Thinking I need to have all the answers before I publish anything and getting stuck because it turns out that I don't
6. Writing so many lists that I never get beyond the list-making stage
Ideally, I would like most of the garments I acquire next year to be working towards a broad common theme, with the occasional ridiculous experiment thrown in because we still have to have some fun here and ruts aren't fun. Hopefully through a combination of planning, reviews, analysis, experiments and reminders that it's fine and actually helpful to be shallow every once in a while, I can achieve Wardrobe Happiness at last and not stumble into quite so many sewing blocks. Here goes.
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