That’s right, you read it, we’re talking about spring in January! I know, it seems too soon. It’s so hard to imagine enjoying the summer sun in dresses and shorts, while we’re all still bundled up at home in multiple layers of flannel, sweaters and throw blankets. In fact, while I write this this is what my local weather looks like…

It makes for a pretty picture, but at almost -30 degrees Celsius it’s the furthest thing from summer that you can find. So why am I thinking about my wardrobe for warmer temps? The short answer is because I make my own clothes!

If you’re a sewer yourself, or you follow my posts, you surely know that, while there are many wonderful things about being able to make garments for yourself, one of the downsides is that it takes time. Time, time, time. It’s not as simple as walking into a store or heading to your favorite online shops, and picking something out that can be purchased in moments. It’s a lengthy process that involves choosing fabrics, making or choosing patterns, and then of course all of the actual work of sewing! This means that if you want to make something that you hope to wear in April, you had better start thinking about it now.

Being the organizer that I am, I love this process though. It makes me feel like I have so much more control over what I wear, instead of being at the complete whim of whatever trends and looks stores are promoting this year. I can make sure that the items I sew are accurate representations of my personal style, and that I’m not just filling my closet with unnecessary and useless pieces. I try to make sure that I can imagine specific instances where the items will be of use, that I have other items I already own that can be worn with it, and that I don’t already own something too similar. Ideally, it’s also a style I’ll enjoy for some time, and not just a passing trend.

My favorite times of year to do this kind of extensive wardrobe planning are fall and spring, so that I can plan my projects seasonally, and focus on what I want/need for that period of time. I usually do my warm weather planning in January/February, and cold weather planning in June/July. So that is what brings us here today, talking about summer in January! I don’t have a strict process, and I like to change it up as I like, but my planning always starts with consulting the oracle that is Pinterest. I save images all year based on season, so that they are easily accessible to me whenever I need them. To see my full Pinterest boards you can follow me @velvetarchives2020!

This year I decided to use my saved pins to create a physical mood board. After an hour or two of good old fashioned cutting and pasting later, I actually ended up with several mood boards: inspiration for spring, inspo for summer, color palettes I like, and fabric swatches that work with both the colors, and styles of the other boards.

It was fun doing some simple crafting for a change. It didn’t require any great skill, but provided a fun creative outlet that let me focus on something that wasn’t stressful. I’m definitely learning to appreciate these types of activities more, since writing my last post on how important creative activity is for our overall health!

My first board is for spring project inspiration. In my area of Canada spring is not exactly the lovely season it’s portrayed as elsewhere: floral buds peaking through bright green grass, in sunny temps that have you wearing white sneakers. It’s more like a sloppy, wet mess of melting snow, covered in a brown layer of salt used to make everything less slippery for the past 5 months. Charming right? Practically speaking our spring weather still requires plenty of warm layers that offer protection from the chilly, rainy, dirty days ahead. So I’m usually still wearing lots of pants and boots, but start to gravitate to lighter colors and thinner layers that hint at the season change.

The images I ended up liking for my spring board contain a lot of neutral creams and browns, with some muted pops of color mixed in. There are many structured jackets and coats, mixed with flowy pants, skirts and dresses.

My summer inspiration board below has many neutral looks as well, but in the warmer months I always have a soft spot for shades of olive and khaki green, as well as pale blues, neither of which ever seem to go out of style. This year though I think I’ll also experiment with warm tones of rust and clay, as well as prints like small florals and ginghams.

Some popular trends this year that I’m interested in are feminine looks with loads of ruffles, gathers and poofs! However, if I decide to try making these kinds of looks, it will be in small doses through projects that aren’t too costly or time consuming to make. You never know when you’re going to get sick of a trend!

I couldn’t help but notice that this board contains many images of vintage-inspired blouses in classic cream and white, with fun collars and lace details. I think I’ll use these for inspiration to look further into vintage blouse sewing patterns from different time periods, for some classic blouse projects. I’ll definitely share whatever I find with you!

That brings us to the fabric board. Fabrics are possibly my favorite part of the planning process, because they’re where I tend to get the most inspiration. For me, there are many times when finding a fabric I like ends up inspiring a project, rather than the other way around.

Finding fabrics can be a major hurdle in the planning process though. I may have a very clear image of an item I want to make, but finding fabric in the color I want, that’s also the weight/texture/fabric content that I need, is something I don’t have a lot of control over. So when I’m brainstorming I like to incorporate swatches of fabric that I know are currently available, to ensure that I’m basing my plans on materials that I can actually access. These ‘swatches’ are images printed from online fabric stores that I like to frequent, because in my area there just aren’t that many physical fabric stores to choose from.

I like that there’s a mix of neutral, cool and warm colors in this board, giving me a broad spectrum to choose from. They are mostly lightweight, natural fibers like cotton and linen, with some lightweight wool and rayon swatches as well. I want summer fabrics to be breathable and comfortable for when it’s hot out.

Now that I’ve got my mood boards done and tons of inspiration to draw from, I’ll start working on sketches of specific items and their possible details, as well as gather sewing patters that I think will be useful. As I continue working on these I’ll fill you in, and as you see these projects come to life you’ll get a feel for the entire planning process from start to finish. I can’t wait to share the rest of this process with you, and I’m already looking forward to enjoying beautiful, warm, sunny weather in something that I’ve made myself.

Until next time, happy sewing!

~Amanda

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