The Sewing You Already Own

Today's post is about the sewing you already have. Yes, the closet full of clothes that has spilled out onto the floor.

"But I didn't sew that!"

True, you didn't, but someone did. Someone else designed and manufactured every item in your closet and then you bought it. You were only involved in the last step, acquisition. By learning to sew, you are consciously choosing to take responsibility for the design and manufacturing of at least some part of your wardrobe. This means that you need to learn something about what you already have.

Many people shop for clothing without a real sense of purpose. They wander through the department stores looking at clothes until they spy something they "just have to have." We've all done it. Combine the "Oohhh look! That's pretty." with "OMG, it's 60% off!" and "They have it in MY size!" and we are all doomed. It can be a lovely way to spend an afternoon, but if we do it all the time we end up with a closet stuffed full of clothing and nothing to wear.

So the first step in learning to sew your own clothes is learning about the clothes you already own. Many wardrobe clean out advice columns begin with emptying the whole closet and making piles around the room of "give aways" and "charities" and "trash". I find this doesn't work very well for two reasons. The first being if all the clothes are piled about what you end up with is a wrinkled mess. Secondly, you also end up with multiple piles of clothing to go out the door to new destinations at the same time. They don't make it out the door that day....they languish in the corner until the weekend and the weekend becomes next month and then half or more of what you have discarded is back in the closet.

Below I have a seven step process for find your true wardrobe. Don't do it all at once. It's should be done in multiple sessions with the goal of each session being the removal of the discarded items from the house that day. Your time and decision making process are most valuable. Plan your discard action before starting to weed your closet. Having cast-off's crawl back into your closet through second guessing yourself is being disrespectful to yourself and your time. You can make the right decision up front. Prepare to back your decision with action.

The first step is to look carefully at the list you made from the previous post, the one about your various roles in life. Have this available to you as you begin to evaluate your closet. Have also an index card with you for any new clothing you may desperately need after you are ruthlessly brutal with yourself. Yes, at the end you may get to go shopping.

STEP ONE: LONG TERM STORAGE
Remove from your closet all items of clothing that would be better off in long term storage. These are usually things that are too sentimental to part with but you'll not be wearing them again. Your closet space is too valuable for things like wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, old boyfriend's flannel shirts and your precious signed Grateful Dead tee shirt. Vintage items that are too fragile to wear also fall into this category. Take these items out and store them appropriately elsewhere.

STEP TWO: THE TRASH
Remove the trash from your wardrobe. The stuff that is so torn, stained, and old that you would only wear it when changing the oil in the car, nursing vomiting children and or applying fake tan for the first time in the privacy of your own bathroom. Be ruthless....trash the underwear too!   Put it all into a trash bag and get it to the curb today. What you don't want it is to have this stuff sneak back into the closet. You are better than that and you deserve clothes that are not rejects from a charity shop. Throw it out! There is one caveat here....look at your roles list if you need trash clothing you are allowed to keep some of it. Be very honest with yourself. If you renovate old houses on the weekend, you need two to three complete outfits for painting and plumbing, but not sixteen. If you work in an office, live in an apartment and are able to keep your nails manicured 365 days per year you'll need nothing in this category. Remember keep only what you will wear between being able to wash.

STEP THREE: RECYCLE
Remove from your wardrobe anything that doesn't fit but is still nice enough for someone else to wear. If it is too small, remove it. If is too large, remove it. If you don't like, remove it. If it was a gift that just wasn't right, remove it. If every time you wear the item, it just doesn't seem right, but "oh well, I've got nothing else", remove it. Do this step by yourself. Don't rush this process. Use the mirror and your camera to get a good idea if you really should be wearing an item. If in doubt, throw it out. Now, depending on your local resources, all these items need to be taken to charity or a consignment shop right away. Get them out of the house. There should be no second guessing your hard work a day or two later.

STEP FOUR: WHAT'S LEFT
What's left? It should fit and you should feel good about wearing it. There's one more round of weeding that needs to be done. Fitting your wardrobe to your lifestyle. Take a look at what's left. Have you got 15 little black dresses and you really only need two. Keep only the two you love the most. Do you have 30 pairs of jeans and only need 3 pairs? How many tee shirts can you wear in one week? Eliminate the excess, even if it fits keep only the items you really love and balance the number of items against your specific lifestyle activities. Take these items to the appropriate charity right away also.

STEP FIVE: OFF-SEASON CLOTHING
What's left now? It might be painful is a few spots, but we are not finished yet. I mentally divide my clothing into three groups, the core, summer clothes and winter clothes. My core wardrobe stays in the closet year round. This includes things like blue jeans, white tee shirts, white blouses, ....a navy cardigan sweater. There are real basics that I wear weekly and year round. This is where I spend most of my clothing dollar. My summer and winter clothes are just that, clothes that get stored for half the year, anything from sundresses to ski sweaters. Remove these items from your wardrobe and store your off-season clothing.

STEP SIX: WHAT'S LEFT?
Now you should be left with clothes that fit, you feel good about and what's in season. You may also feel that you do not have enough to wear. More than likely you have just what you need, but there may be a few items that need replenished. Examine your lifestyle list against the clothes that you have remaining in your closet. It's time to make a list for shopping and sewing. You will need to carefully and conservatively make your list. Err on the side of too little. Remember, as you learn to sew, you will add to your wardrobe as easily as shopping for ready made items. At this point, you may need to replace underwear and bras, jeans, basic tee shirts and specific clothes needed for your job. Write up your list on the index card. Do you need the back of the card or multiple cards? Re-examine the shopping list and think about the minimum you need. At this point you should need only one card for your purse. Shop at this time only for these items.

STEP SEVEN: YOUR WARDROBE
You've got it. Just what you need and want in your closet. Take a step back and look. What's there? Can you identify a color palette that you are naturally drawn toward? How about cut and fit? Fabrics? Easy care or dry clean? Write these down in your idea book and compare them to the images you've collected. Reflect on what you have learned and refocus your idea book.