2022 Spring Capsule- Melissa

I have a confession to make…. EVERY season I get it in my head that I am going to sew up an AMAZING capsule wardrobe filled with pieces I can mix and match to fill my closet. I sit down and start to plan out my makes and get SO OVERWHELMED. Between deciding what pieces I want to make, all the fabric choices, pattern options I struggle so hard to come up with a cohesive plan that doesn’t involve 9234 makes.

That’s why when I saw that Ash and Elm was going to offer capsule boxes I JUMPED at the opportunity to sew one up!! It took a big portion of the decision making out of my hands. Now instead of trying to pick just the right fabrics to go with just the right patterns, all I had to do was wait for the fabric to speak to me and let me know what it needed to be made into.

When I got the shipping notification for my box I STALKED our UPS delivery driver until it showed up. When I opened the box I was SHOCKED at how stuffed it was with FABULOUS fabrics!!! Double Brushed Poly, Stretch Corduroy, Luxe Double Brushed Poly, and French Terry…. It was AN AWESOME variety and allowed me to try a few new bases! While I LOVED the bases, the thing that really struck me were the GORGEOUS designs. I was INSTANTLY drawn to the Peony Double Border Print on Navy Linen!!!

 

@mcumings Eekkk I’m LOVING the fabrics I’m the NEW @ashandelmlimitedtextiles Spring Capsule boxes 😍😍 Link on my profile!! #sew #sewing #sewingtiktok #fabric ♬ Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper

 

So now that I had the fabrics I needed to wait for inspiration to hit…. I had SO MANY IDEAS for this capsule. First I was thinking maybe some leggings and mom wardrobe type items, you know things that are comfy for wearing around the house, but you don’t feel uncomfortable wearing them out to the park or grocery store either. After stewing on that idea for a few days though I just was not loving it and decided I needed to go looking for inspiration. 

Inspo Dress from Zutita www.zutita.com/denim-ruffle-sleeveless-dress

I jumped into the rabbit hole that is pinterest, and surprisingly found something pretty quick!!! I spied this jean dress with ruffles and KNEW it needed to try my hand at it. I had grabbed the FREE Rain City Patterns Tight Tank Top when I was planning my first wardrobe out and thought it would be PERFECT for this make.

I lengthened the tank by 4” and then made a ruffle to go on the bottom. While I was working on perfecting the pattern to get it as close to my Pinspiration as possible I decided that I needed to draft some CUTE butterfly sleeves to get that ruffled sleeve look from the pic. Once I did that all of a sudden the rest of my capsule came flooding to my brain and I got SUPER EXCITED!!!

I still didn’t have a name for my capsule, or know exactly what pieces I wanted to sew up, but I FINALLY had a vision…. Ruffles, Flowy, CUTE!

Now that I had a general vision in mind I was flooded with ideas. I had a general picture of what I wanted my next piece to look like, the only problem was that I wasn’t sure which pattern I could use to make my vision come true. I knew I wanted something that would make a STATEMENT, something that made me feel and look AMAZING…. Ohh and it had to have ruffles of course.

 After doing a bit of searching around I found Rebecca Page patterns and ABSOLUTELY FELL IN LOVE with the Frill Dress!! It was going to take some finagling to get it to work as it needed a tad bit more yardage then I had, those frills are fabric MONSTERS, but I remembered I had just gotten in some FABULOUS Heathered Red in French Terry and it complimented the Pink Chevron so PERFECTLY! 

Now my next problem…. The pattern is drafted for wovens. I was using Double Brushed Poly and French Terry. I decided to throw all the “sewing rules” out the door and give it a go anyways. Because I was using knit fabric that had stretch to it I knew I wouldn’t need to add in the zipper which allowed me to cut some of the pieces on the fold rather than in mirror image meaning less seams YAY!!! I will say though this pattern was a tough one to sew up. After two full days sewing and MANY hours seam ripping I FINALLY got it though and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE how it turned out!!!!

By the time my Frill Dress was completed I had already started envisioning my next piece. I decided it was time to tackle the GORGEOUS Stretch Corduroy that had been SCREAMING at me for DAYS to become a peplum. I was a bit nervous though because I’ve never actually worn a peplum! I wasn’t sure if it would accentuate my mum tum and make me look pregnant or if it would actually help hide the lumps and bumps having 4 babies has given me. I figured there is no time like the present to find out and grabbed the FREE Sinclair Valley Knit Skater Dress Pattern and got to work! 

I finished up my peplum and while I LOVED how it fit, and the drape it seemed like it was missing a little something. I went hunting around my sewing studio in the hopes that I would spy something that would work. After digging around in one of my drawers filled with miscellaneous trims I grabbed some black lace trim and decided I would give it a go! At first I just added it to the bottom hem…. It solved 2 problems for me that way, it zhuzhed up the top, and it made it so I didn’t have to hem it! Win win in my book!!

After adding the trim to the bottom though I thought it was still missing a little something. I headed inside to ask the hubbys opinion and the response I got when I walked in was EXACTLY the inspiration I needed to know what to call this capsule wardrobe I was making…. Flirty Date Night was officially born! Now that my capsule had a name I needed to put the finishing touches onto my third piece and move on to pieces 4 and 5. Hunny suggested I add some of the lace I used on the bottom of the peplum to the waistband portion except have it facing up instead of down. I went with it and while I do really like the look, I kind of wish I would have just put it going down like I had it on the hem…. Ohh well I still LOVE it and feel AMAZING in it. It is SUPER comfortable, and yet because the fabric is a little shimmery and textured it feels LUXURIOUS and the PERFECT top for a date night!

With piece 3 done it was time to move onto the fabric I’ve been drooling over for DAYS…. The Double Border Peony!!!! I’ve never worked with a double bordered fabric before so I was SUPER EXCITED to cut into this, but at the same time I had SO MANY IDEAS for it that I struggled to just pick one. After looking at my other three pieces though I thought it might be nice to add something not so…. hmmm how to say this…. Attention grabbing. I wanted a comfy piece that I could wear out on a more casual date night, something that I could put on with a pair of leggings and tennis shoes and go to the pub and eat a burger in. I went searching for the perfect pattern and stumbled across Simple Life Pattern Company's Womens Sapphire V-Neck Sweater and knew it would be PERFECT!! I would still have the flirty bit with a lower cut neckline, but be more comfy and relaxed. 

I struggled a bit with the V-Neck on this one and had to redo it 3 times. I usually am not so picky with them, if it’s on and doesn’t look awful I call it a day and move to the next step, but I wanted this to be 100% perfect so plugged away until it was just right. I originally wasn’t going to band it and chose the mid thigh length, but when I tried it on before hemming I realized it wasn’t going to cover my booty, and since I want to wear it with leggings that’s a MUST, so instead of hemming it got a band and I must say my pattern matching with it came out AWESOME!!!

I was in the homestretch…. Just ONE MORE PIECE TO GO!!!! Of course I had no clue again what I wanted to do with the GORGEOUS purple Lux that had been staring at me the entire process. Leggings…. Not really I’ve made 4 pairs already this year with at least two more scheduled in Sew-Alongs. While brainstorming ideas my eyes landed on the black lace I had used for my peplum and an idea was starting to form. I jumped on Pinterest to see if I could find inspiration that would help me fulfill the vision I was starting to form, and again I scored big time! I found 2 different pieces I LOVED, but thinking back to my theme of Flirty Date Night, I decided to go with a cross over front piece with some lace added in. 

I had sewn the Blake from Petite Stitchery & Co during testing and LOVED how it looked so much! It was the PERFECT pattern to help me complete my capsule. I started to cut everything out, but remembered how the flutter sleeve was a little shorter than I preferred. I had JUST enough fabric to cut out the regular flutter sleeve, so had to go back to the drawing board again. 

Since I had everything already cut out I either had to come up with a plan that would work with what I had, or I would just have to say it will be okay and move forward. That’s when I noticed a lilac double brushed poly scrap that I have had FOREVER and never knew what to do with it. It paired PERFECTLY with the purple Luxe and so I decided to cut another flutter 3” longer than the first to create a layered sleeve look. OH.MY.WORD I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!! It BLEW my original vision away!!! 

All that was left now was to add the lace and I’d be done! At first I added it to the hem of the top the same way I did the Peplum I made, but I wasn't completely LOVING the look, plus I had already used it that way in one other piece and I didn’t really want them to be quite so matchy. So instead of having it hanging down I flipped it up making sure to hem towards the top of the lace points (I should of been more precise and stitched the lace by following the design but I really didn’t feel like spending 12382472384197 hours working on all those little points) and tried it on. 

FINALLY it had all come together!!! The pieces all complimented each other so well, but were statements in their own right! Now is it a “true” capsule…. Probably not as I can’t really mix and match everything to create a dozen different outfits from just a few makes, but it is a capsule I needed in my life and didn’t know and THAT is worth every single minute I spent working on this project!!! After having 4 kids in 5 years my date wardrobe was non-existent…. Everytime the hubby would want to go to a restaurant I would try and find some excuse as to why we should just stay home, but NOW I am BEGGING to go out and show off these new pieces!! I have to say the CONFIDENCE creating this capsule has filled me with is so empowering!!! I feel FABULOUS, I feel GORGEOUS, I feel FLIRTY and I’m ready for a night out on the town with my man!!!!

Xoxo- Melissa 😘