Autumn/winter sewing plans

Inspired by The Modern Sewing Co and her excellent newsletter, I decided this season to take a different approach to planning my upcoming makes. Hetty wrote recently about her process planning an autumn capsule wardrobe, following on from her similar post back in May about planning her summer makes. I really enjoyed following her summer plans; from inspiration board and fabric swatches, though to the final pieces. As someone who can be easily caught in the trap of sewing a pattern because it’s new and shiny, or because I have fabric in my stash I want to use, I can end up in the sad position of having wardrobe orphans. I’m excited to see if planning my makes in advance will help reduce the incidence of unmatched pieces and improve my chances of sewing items that will actually be worn.

Please excuse the ever-present dog hair. I started by laying out all my sweaters, cardigans and over shirts. I find these are the items hardest to coordinate when I sew shirts, so I wanted to start by having them all in sight. I took out all the pieces of fabric from my stash I was considering sewing this season and, one by one, laid the fabric next to the clothing. I quickly eliminated a green plaid and a large blue check from my potential sewing projects, since they didn’t have matching partners in the knitwear section.

My rough aim was for each piece of fabric to ideally coordinate with at least two of the top wear pieces I already own, ideally one lightweight for spring/summer and one heavy weight for autumn/winter. The issue I have encountered in the past is sewing clothing that only works under very specific weather conditions, meaning I only get to wear them a fraction of the year. Whilst I’m not against wholly seasonal sewing, I’m more a fan of clothing that can be used throughout the year.

I’m really pleased with my selections, I think I’ve been quite sensible about what I can achieve over the next few months. I decided to make these projects over 6 months, from September to March next year. That feels a manageable amount of time for four fairly involved projects and, best case scenario I’m done early, I can always add more to the list in time.

First up, as this post was inspired by the Modern Sewing Co, it seems right to start with one of her patterns. I’ve made the Over Shirt pattern before (you can read about it here!) and loved sewing it. The navy version is a real work horse but, inspired by Carmy from The Bear, I’m excited to try a plaid wool version. Embarrassingly, this fabric has been in my stash for several years and I have zero recollection of where I bought it from. It’s a beautiful lightweight wool and I know I bought it in a sale, but beyond that I’m drawing a blank. If that’s not a sign it’s been in your stash too long, I don’t know what is…

These two have been in my stash a fair few years as well. The herringbone wool was definitely thrifted and I’m pretty sure came with me from my old flat, which means I’ve owned it over 8 years. The blue denim is a remnant from my Queen’s Gambit inspired jeans, and originally came from a deadstock shop on Etsy.

My plan is to turn both of these, hopefully, into the Pomona Pants by Anna Allen Clothing. I’ve never sewn this pattern before, or any others by this designer, but it appears to be a tried ‘n’ true of the online sewing community, with over 5000+ hash tagged posts on Instagram. I’m going through a phase where I’m finding tight, restrictive waistbands to be uncomfortable and the first thing I do when I step through the door of my flat, is get into joggies (soft trousers FTW). It would be nice to have some trews I feel comfortable wearing all day, and I’m hoping this pattern might tick the box of ‘smart soft trousers’. I thought I would start with the blue denim, since I know that colour already works in my wardrobe, then move onto the wool second. The herringbone is a bit of a wildcard but I’ve pinned several similar styles (see below for an inspo pic!) so I’m hoping it will slot right in. It’s certainly a colour that coordinates well with several knitwear options so fingers crossed…

Last up is this beautiful pale blue cotton shirting I originally bought from Roberta Cummings on Instagram. It’s deadstock and is lovely high quality Italian fabric. I originally bought it for Craft & Thrift shop but when that closed, I kept it for myself. I wasn’t sure it would work in my wardrobe, but I think it will go nicely with my blue PetiteKnit sweater and my navy knitwear options. I’m planning a Deer & Doe Melilot first, since I’ve made that pattern before and know it works for me. I also have the Helen’s Closet Gilbert shirt to try as well, if I get that far! I’m interested to try the Gilbert, it’s more of a V neck style, which isn’t my normal preference but I’m open to experimenting.

In between these four projects, I plan to continue sewing smaller things so this definitely isn’t an exhaustive list. It’s nice to feel like these are projects that will (hopefully!) slot straight into my wardrobe, without that frustrating feeling of birthing a wardrobe orphan. I’ll report back over the next few months on my progress.