Warm welcome to my new blog! Since you clicked here, you might be looking for garment-making inspiration, especially around sewing your own clothes, and planning your self-made wardrobe. In this article, I’m sharing my personal approach on the process as a professional dressmaker who is struggling with wardrobe planning.
1. My wardrobe goals and dressing philosophy
I want to sew and wear clothing that fits me really well and accommodates my curvy body shape. I prefer styles that emphasise the waist, which means a relatively close fit, as opposed to a loose fit.
I enjoy stylistic and aesthetic references from history, vintage and fantasy, especially those that connect to nature. (All through history, inspiration for beauty and balance has been drawn from nature.) When making clothes, I prefer to choose natural materials whenever possible – although I don’t practice absolute rigidity with it.
History of clothing also provides a concept that you can dress both aesthetically and purposefully at the same time – you don’t necessarily need to compromise either. For me, this means that I would like my clothing to be both functional and beautiful in all situations and environments of my life; through days, weeks and seasons.
Functional means that I want my clothing to be comfortable, allow movement and support my lifestyle and activities; and beautiful means a good fit and a silhouette that emphasises the waist, harmonious colour palettes and thoughtful, nature-themed decorations.
2. Lifestyle and environment
In my everyday life, I enjoy a DIY lifestyle close to nature and rural environments; engaging in dusty, sweaty outdoor activities like gardening, long forest walks and renovation. On the other hand, I love taking those romanticised, quiet coffee and cake moments in an urban cafeteria with a book to read or a laptop to work with. Both of these scenarios feed my creative and innovative spirit, when balanced with each other. I also have formal work occasions where I put on a long dress and high-heel shoes, or a costume, and head to the stage as a performing singer.
I live in North-Savonian Finland where we have extremely contrasting seasons: summers with +30 degrees celsius and the sun almost never going down, and winters with down to -35 degrees, one meter of snow and very little to practically zero daylight. So, it’s safe to say my lifestyle and environment puts quite a lot of varying demands for my clothing.
3. Clothing values
In terms of values, it’s important for me to practice the principles of essentialism. I don’t want to make garments that I don’t need or use. The same goes for my sewing room: I dream of a well-organised, functional sewing room that has all the essential equipment (but no extra clutter or gadgets) and a set-up that makes the sewing process easy and enjoyable.
I want to practice recycling and upcycling of materials. When buying, I try to think how the material could be recycled or reused in a sustainable manner. I like to visit secondhand shops and flea markets for older garments that would potentially provide quality materials for my new makes, but I also think that some projects are just better to start with new fabrics; it’s not always sustainable to force the recycling principle.
In conclusion, I have a strong urge to create a coherent, capsule-like wardrobe where every piece would be carefully curated and optimised for my lifestyle and activities, while thoughtfully following my principles of material sustainability. The wardrobe also should be beautifully fitting and stylish, made with craftsmanship, and encapsulate the aesthetic essence I’m after; my poetic, practical and passionate spirit.
Essentialism, sustainability and craftsmanship are beautiful values, but I humbly need to admit that sometimes they slip into perfectionism; these dreams inner requirements easily lead me to a paralysis.
Therefore, let me present…
4. The challenges in my sewing practise
I’m a professional dressmaker and sewing pattern designer who has a special interest in patternmaking and design… so how on earth I still don’t have my dream wardrobe?
The simple explanation is this wild mind of mine. I get overwhelmed by my inner demands, constantly flowing ideas, plans and frameworks, but never actually make it to the work itself. I have an under-developed sewing room, waiting for “the perfect solutions”, that also ends up being a messy sewing room – so it’s difficult to start the projects.
Even with all the knowledge, skills and experience in patternmaking, garment fitting and sewing, it’s that overwhelm – the thundering storm of ideas; the indecisiveness in the face of endless possibilities; the desire to optimise all parts and aspects neatly… that cuts the wings of my dynamic action process.
This makes it extremely difficult for me to put the theoretical knowledge and practical skills into action and reach the eventual goal.
This is why I’m beginning this process and sharing it with you. I’ve understood that in order to create the wardrobe I want (and not be completely overwhelmed and exhausted) I need to create a personalised, flexible and systematised process for my sewing practice that will bring me long-term clarity and peace in my endeavours. I believe that being transparent and sharing this process will truly help me – and, if it will inspire you as well, never better.
FREE Wardrobe planning worksheet:
5. My DIY mindset anchors
The first anchor: From the beginning, let’s embrace the thought that “a dream wardrobe” doesn’t equal “a perfect wardrobe”. Same as anything in life, my or your set of clothing will never be completely “finished” or flawless.
I believe our wardrobes are meant to serve our lives; and life itself is an endlessly changing entity. Our environment, schedule, body size, interests, directions in life – they might change, and our wardrobes should be flexible in that change. Sometimes this means we need to be able to let go of a piece of clothing, if it doesn’t serve us anymore. Accepting this might feel difficult, especially after putting so much time and effort in creating something as complex as a garment. But throughout the process, welcoming this acceptance will free more energy and flow towards the productive and enjoyable part: passionate creativity and learning.
The second anchor: These things are allowed to take time. I know I’m not in a rush. I know that by slowly adjusting my DIY process and garment sewing practices and being consistent with the new principles, I will eventually be changing the outcomes as well.
The third anchor: Even if I’m talking about a self-made wardrobe, I don’t mean 100 % self-made. There is wisdom in knowing which garments to make and which to buy.
The fourth anchor: Same as the wardrobe, my sewing practice is not a fixed process or a rigid framework that I’m going to create and then just leave as it is. It is also going to be woven into my lifestyle and evolve with it.
6. Conclusion
I’m starting to plan and sew my dream wardrobe that:
– is well-fitted for my curvy body shape;
– has stylistic references from from history, vintage and fantasy, as well as elements from nature;
– encapsulates my desired aesthetic essence (which I would describe as poetic, passionate and practical);
– is designed to practically serve my everyday close-to-nature life, and
– can be sewn preferring natural materials.
More importantly, as I frequently face a state of mental and inspirational overwhelm and have troubles threading that inner thunder into fuel for action, I want to create a peaceful sewing practice that is – just like my wardrobe – a good fit for my life.
Welcome to the adventure, fellow DIY person.
Warm wishes, Katariina
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