There are a few reasons why I like Eléonore Klein’s Wearability Project: it’s funny, refreshingly sincere, useful and inspiring. It’s also in French, but Google Translate should help you with that unless you want to do a 2 in 1 and learn how to improve your wardrobe and French at the same time.
Eléonore, the mastermind behind Deer and Doe, and the inventor of the popular Plantain Top sewing pattern, has decided to review and edit her wardrobe, specifically the garments she sews for herself and to identify the outfits she best feels in – and basically – to sew more of those. For me this makes a lot of sense, as one of my sewing resolutions for 2014 is to sew less and better.
She documents her whole process, from dying garments she is not wearing, to identifying bad cuts and bad styles for her and also talks about accessories she loves but don’t fit with her day to day style. That is maybe what I like best about this project: how much she adapts it to her day to day use. She introduces an interesting concept in designing one’s wardrobe, and that is cost per use. What she’s saying, and I can’t agree more is that price (of fabric, accessories used, pattern, time spent making) is a relative thing: a super cheap t-shirt you made in 2 hours and never wore is more expensive than a 50 euros shirt that you wear every week.
I also like that she’s getting those garments and even fabric that she’s not 100% happy about out of her closet: either selling them or giving away or recycling them. This is something that is also very important for me.
The other day I was having dinner with my friends and they had the idea to organise a garment reconstruction/clothes swap, which sounds like fun. Except, I almost don’t have any clothes to swap; I’ve either given them away when we moved or put into the remake pile and that’s not a very interesting pile for my friends, I am sure. They were also very surprised to hear that the only things I bought since September last year were workout clothes and a leather jacket that was actually a gift.
I’m excited though, I’ll tell you how that goes. Have a lovely Sunday!
Thanks for introducing me to the wearability project! It’s so relevant to home sewers 🙂
Yes, I wish I’d thought about it three years ago! 🙂
I hadn’t heard of Eleanor’s project. Thanks for sharing. It’s exactly what I’ve been doing as well.
Yes, I’ve noticed you also talk about “icing”, but that last dress you made is so beautiful!