2022 Spring Capsule- LC

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2022 Spring Capsule- LC

Hello humans! I’ll start this off by introducing myself- I’m LC (she/her & ND) and you might not know me...yet...you might if you are sewing along over at the Ash & Elm sew along page. I reside in the beautiful Arizona desert with my spouse, child, and two felines that think they rule the roost. I was super stoked to be selected as a guest sewist for this capsule release! One of my 2022 goals is to better document the garments I make and this capsule fits perfectly into my goal. We were not permitted ANY sneaks before our packages arrived. It truly felt like I was a child waiting for Christmas morning and if I’m being real, this box DID.NOT.DISAPPOINT.
Awkward stills of my genuinely excited/happily surprised face.
Moving onto the planning portion, I mentioned living in the desert and I have a legitimate need for pool/lounge wear. I generally struggle with having a cohesive wardrobe and even more so with lounge and poolside clothing. Having an already curated box of coordinating fabric DID make this whole process
easier for my brain. But I really ruminated over the mix and match aspect of this collection. Here is what I decided-
Who says pool wear has to be made out of swimwear and who says that your pool wear can’t be lounge wear? Delving deeper into this thought I used some of my patterns in an absolutely un-traditional way. In a fashion true to my nature I took a risk (and it paid off). I now have ELEVEN, yes ELEVEN pieces of
coordinating clothing that totally works for activities such as- hanging out by the pool, laying around the house, running to the grocery store, drinking coffee, and all my other favorite activities that don’t require me to leave my house/building. I will leave you with this disclaimer- I do not recommend making hybrid
lounge/undergarments/poolwear if you are say, going to swim laps every day during summer. I’m more of a dip my toes in kinda gal so this works for me. For all of you that really only pull out your swimsuits for laying out in your backyard a few times a year this would be a fantastic use of your beautiful Ash & Elm
fabrics.
This is about as far as I ever go in the water. Fun fact- chlorine removes self tanner.
Choosing my patterns was not as hard as I anticipated it to be. Heres what I came up with and the logic behind my choices.
Sinclair Patterns- Joanne wrap top dress & Cleo culottes. Joanne is one of the patterns I really reimagined as something else. I love the look of a wrap top as a rash guard/swim top so I used the Joanne bodice to create a short sleeved crop top that could be used as a rash guard or even simply a crop top with jeans. I really like having my shoulders covered when I am out in the sun and I am SO
pleased with how this top came out. The luxe double brushed fabric was really the right choice for this garment as it felt thick enough to double as a swim garment and draped just beautifully.
My second Sinclair make was a pair of the Cleo culotte shorts. I’ve always admired the look of vintage tap pants and wanted my own modern knit version. I knew the stretch corduroy was “the one” as soon as I ran my hand across that nap. It is such an elegant fabric and lent itself so well to my vintage inspired
thought. These shorts are SOOOOO comfortable, look so high end, and surprisingly were easy to style into multiple outfits. Be on the lookout for a rock inspired look in my Cleos!
I had a few scraps of the pink and white geometric and I had a kids panel hanging around so I did some creative cutting and whipped up a Xena top. These scraps are too beautiful to let go to waste! I wanted some type of cover-up so I went with the Love Notions Compose robe. Since this will likely be
my most worn piece, I selected what I felt to be the foundation/showstopper fabric of the capsule. The border print french terry takes this robe to the next level. I opted to skip the front pockets in favor of inset pockets because I didn’t want to interrupt the print of the fabric. I’m really pleased that I thought of doing
that, the results speak for themselves.

Fussy cutting paid off.
Moving on to my faux suit- I went with one of my tried and true favorites the Petite Stitchery & Co Norah sleep shorts/undies. This pattern was calling for the purple solid as I used the ruched option and it really
allowed that ruching to shine! I also ended up with a bonus PSCo make I wasn’t planning on- the new release Colby bralette. Holy moly it's a KEEPER just like Norah. Also made in the regal purple DBP.

For my faux suit part deux I went with two different designers. I mashed the Rad designs Ororo bralette front with their (free.99) 25k bralette back. I prefer a straight back and this was a fairly simple hack. An
adventurous beginner could tackle this mash. For the bottoms I used the Rebecca Page two piece swim set bottoms. I was able to get these two pieces PLUS the Joanne wrap from above out of the luxe DBP. Can I just reiterate how stoked I am to have a 3 piece coordinating set?


I promise I’m getting to the end. I knocked out 2 Greenstyle items. The Venice shorts out of that bomb french terry and another scrapbuster piece the Corset bra/top. Both are super comfortable and could be worn SO many ways.


Last but certainly not least I made the Rain City Bodycon dress & I took quite a few liberties with this design. I wanted something that could take me all the way to date night but it needed some FLAIR. The pink and white geometric pattern was the perfect choice for this. My spouse was really into the fabric
because it reminded him of tire tracks. I added to the seam allowance for the Bodycon dress and added a channel for a drawstring. My Bodycon now has an adjustable hem with ruching in whatever place I decide! I also added a few gathers around the bust area (because I just can’t help myself).


A channel + drawstring = easy, elevated element.
I am so grateful to have the opportunity to sew and show off for all of you. I truly LOVED working with Ash & Elm. These fabrics are more beautiful than I could ever articulate to you and were a dream to sew with. I hope that anyone reading this takes at least one nugget of inspiration with them. I can’t wait to see
what everyone creates with their own boxes of Ash & Elm magic!
Sew on friends,
LC


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