The Self-Made Wardrobe Week 17
The Self-Made Wardrobe is a project where I only wear garments I’ve made.
It’s sort of a year long experiment in getting dressed without clothing labels.
DAY 113 – NOVEMBER 21th
Moonstruck Cardigan
Woven Scarf
Black Maxi Skirt with a Slit
Grey Tights
Brown Boots
Various Rings
It was one of those crazy bright, freezing cold sort of days. Note to self: your really really need to get the rest of your winter boots resoled. Like yesterday…
DAY 114 – NOVEMBER 22nd
Deconstructed Black Sweater
Basic Black Tank Top
Cascading Flowers Skirt
Brown Boots
when u was making this sweater I didn’t think I would absolutely love it quite as much as I do. But then again what’s not to love about a huge cozy black sweater? And the fact that it works with absolutely every skirt I own, just makes it that much better.
DAY 115 – NOVEMBER 23rd
Versio Sweater
Basic Black Tank Top
Khaki Scarf
Gingham Skirt
Sneakers
Various Rings
All of the colors! Because why the heck not.
DAY 116 – NOVEMBER 24th
Blue Kimono
Basic Black Tank Top
Khaki Scarf
Black Maxi Skirt with a Slit
Black Flats
Various Rings
But seriously, what else can you wear under a 100% alpaca coat when it’s 60 degrees at the end of November. (In fact I ended up taking off the kimono, and was still too warm.)
DAY 117 – NOVEMBER 25th
Blue Kimono
Basic Black Tank Top
Pirate Skirt
Bicycle Clock Necklace
Various Rings
It wasn’t 60 degrees, like it was on day 117, but it was still warm enough not to need a sweater.
DAY 118 – NOVEMBER 26th
Boring Black Sweater
Basic Black Tank Top
Cascading Flowers Skirt
Victorian Lady Necklace
Various Rings
Some days require more multi-tasking than others.
DAY 119 – NOVEMBER 27th
Boring Black Sweater
Basic Black Tank Top
Woven Scarf
Black Maxi Skirt with a Slit
Black Tights
Black Flats
And it’s proper November weather again! Hope you had a fantastic thanksgiving, if your in the US, and an all around great Thursday, if you’re not!
Knitting my “Boring Black Sweater”
I have a love-hate relationship with basics.
I love wearing them.
I hate making them.
This creates a little bit of tension in my self-made wardrobe.
I’ve talked a little bit before about the disconnect between what I love wearing, and what I love making. I love making really complicated & technically challenging, colorful & intricate & interesting things, while I love wearing basics – tank tops, jeans (they’re coming! – eventually…) and straight forward stockinette sweaters.
Sewing basics is pretty boring.
Knitting basics is a nightmare of boredom.
But a nightmare that’s kind of worth it.
I’ve dubbed this sweater the “Boring Black Sweater.”
It’s a solid black, basic pullover, knit in stockinette stitch, in lace weight yarn on a US size 4 (3.5mm) needle. Which, if you don’t knit, is tiny yarn on a not-so-tiny-but-certainly-not-large needles, in a very basic knitting stitch.
The yarn is “Forest Hills” from Cascade in color #3 “Anthracite” (black). I love this yarn for shawls. But I wouldn’t really recommend it for garments because of how much this sweater is pilling.
The pattern is a basic, yoked pullover, worked from the top-down, with a wide neckline, and turned hems on the sleeves and body.
Knitting it was really boring.
It was so boring, in fact, that I knit the sleeves too way short. And once the sweater was all done I cut off the cuff, picked up the stitches on the sleeve, knit a couple more inches, and graphed the cuff back on.
Even so the sleeves ended up being bracelet length, which isn’t what I had in mind, but works fine.
Even though it was kind of a nightmare to knit, I love this sweater. It works with just about everything in my wardrobe, and is the perfect thin layer to wear under or over something.
From now on though, I think I’ll stick to sewing, instead of knitting, my basics.
The Self-Made Wardrobe Week 14 – a new sweater!
The Self-Made Wardrobe is a project where I only wear garments I’ve made.
It’s sort of a year long experiment in getting dressed without clothing labels.
DAY 92 – OCTOBER 31th
Boring Black Sweater
Khaki Scarf
Black Tank Top
Black Maxi Skirt with a Slit
Black Flats
Long Necklace with Spinning Pendant
Various Rings
Halloween! I’m not a huge dressing up for Halloween person, I figure I made things for every other day of the year, and so I just can’t get myself excited about October 31st. But I did go with all black, and those shiny things on my shoes are skull beads… so we can pretend that was intentional, and not just coincidence.
DAY 93 – NOVEMBER 1st
Deconstructed Black Sweater
Black Tank Top
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt
Black Tights
Black Shoes
Various Rings
This sweater is new, but not quite finished. I wore it all week because this week has been particularly cold and rainy, and this sweater is pretty warm (especially if I actually cover my shoulder.)
DAY 94 – NOVEMBER 2nd
Deconstructed Black Sweater
Black Tank Top
Striped Pirate Skirt
Black Flats
Various Rings
This sweater is sewn out of a nice thick, cushy, sweater knit, so it’s warm and cozy. However the exposed seams do have a tendency to shed, I’m continually sweeping up yarn pills (but that’s nothing new). The original plan was to stitch down all of the seams, but I think I want to over-lock them instead.
I must not be the only person who wears a new handmade garment multiple times in a row. I do it partly because its new(!) and I want to wear it. And partly to get a sense of how it’s going to hold up, and if there’s anything I should go back and fix/rework (like finishing the seams on this sweater.)
DAY 95 – NOVEMBER 3rd
Deconstructed Black Sweater
Boring Black Sweater
Black Tank Top
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt
Black Tights
Sneakers
Various Rings
This sweater is acting a lot like a fall jacket would, since I didn’t have time to make a proper fall jacket. And with another sweater under it, in this case the boring black sweater, it becomes particularly cozy.
DAY 96 – NOVEMBER 4th
Colorful Knit Sweater Dress
Black Tank Top
White Underskirt
Black Tights
Black Flats
Bead Crochet Bracelet
Various Rings
I spent one of the only warm sunny day this week sitting at my desk, looking longingly out the window…
DAY 97 – NOVEMBER 5th
Boring Black Sweater
Khaki Scarf
Black Tank Top
Black Maxi Skirt with a Slit
Black Tights
Black Flats
Bead Crochet Bracelet
Various Rings
Back to black. I definitely prefer this skirt without tights, since they kind of negate the effect of the side slit. It’d probably work better with different tights in a different color.
DAY 98 – NOVEMBER 6th
Deconstructed Black Sweater
Jade Cropped Sweater
Black Tank Top
Cascading Flowers Skirt
Black Flats
(I actually turned around at my front door and changed into boots.)
Various Rings
The Jade Sweater was one of the first things I made for this project, but haven’t worn until now because of a dropped stitch that needed fixing.
This was the perfect day for staying inside with tea. But I didn’t. It was also the kind of day that turns you around at the front door to change into boots. Cold, rainy, and grey. Perfect for brightening up with some flowers. I’m never quite sure how I feel about wearing a skirt with flowers in the middle of fall, but I think for this particular day it worked.
Also! We’re almost at day 100 of the self-made wardrobe project!!!
