Dear Reader, yes you; have you sewn a capsule wardrobe — ever? I am now a firm believer of capsule mini collections in my wardrobe. Remember my 2020 neon wardrobe, where I made bright wearables with a measure of abandon? I guess when everything is neon, it all goes together. Follow the link above to see the complete post.

Now, I much prefer a subdued palette, no more than 4 or so garments in the mini capsule. This summer, the inspiration was right there in the newsletter from Roz of Sew Much Fabric. Of course I bought 4 out of five featured fabrics and got to work. I skipped the striped linen in Roz’ capsule because my stash was already replete with striped linens.

Vacation was coming up soon; I quickly decided on a silhouette and pattern. These days I am loving the midi-over-loose-pants look. Who am I kidding — I spent my South Asian life replete in this silhouette.

In the short-ish time I had, only three pieces were completed. Be patient — I’m working on the other two (striped linen and the white Lyocell). The striped will become a midi shirtdress and the white Lyocell will be easy fit pants. Yep, keeping to the same silhouette du jour. Any other ideas for these two?

Capsule items 1 and 2

The printed rayon twill was made into a bias dress, using my envelope method. This bias fold technique was printed 20 years ago in Threads (issue #107) but I will demonstrate it here some day if random copyright laws are not broken. After the “folding” was done I used a pattern tracing from my 20 year old bias dress.

Pants are in ponte knit for which I used my go-to pattern —Vogue 1411, except I cut the pants straight down from the hip to keep them well-fitted on top and loose below the hip. Love these!

Capsule item 3

The third capsule piece is the moss green ribbed knit and inspired by Roz, I made it into a maxi, using the same pattern as above, but it was sewn closer to the body, being a stretch knit and all that. Also at Roz’s recommendation, I added a thin knit lining all the way down; it was attached only at the neck and armholes, and roamed free the rest of the way to the hem. I discovered that lining the dress somewhat smoothed my bodily outline. (Do you think I ought to buy Spanx?). The lining peeks out of the side slit though — will work that out some day. Nothing wrong with a pretty lining showing on the sides, I always say.

Be prepared to see these again, because I have tips to share with you in another post. No earth shaking tips, but the young ‘uns need to learn.

Stay cool, everyone. I’ll see you later…

Samina