Even though some of us are still staring at snow, it’s never too early to start planning for spring sewing. 🙂 Made for Mermaids is excited to bring you our 2018 Spring Capsule contest, taking place the whole month of March! Two of the most frequent questions I see in regards to capsule sewing is where do you even start, and how do you find the time to finish it all?!? Hopefully this contest and schedule will help you tackle both getting started and finishing your capsule with ease!
What IS a Capsule?
Well, a true capsule wardrobe isn’t specific to a season. The goal is really to reduce quantity in your wardrobe, and instead replace with quality staples and accessories to create outfits that can be worn multiple ways. Our spring mini capsule borrows the general concept of a capsule wardrobe, with a goal of creating multiple outfits and looks for spring using only a small number of pieces.
Here are some of my past capsules to give you an idea of what I mean:
Getting Started – Loose Planning
Capsules can definitely feel overwhelming! Before I order any fabric, I try to jot down a general idea of what I want to make so I know roughly how much fabric to order. I know that for most patterns in my size, I need one yard for tops and bottoms, and two yards for most dresses and layering pieces. For my kids, I rarely need more than 1 yard for anything of theirs (they are a size 1 mashed with size 3 and size 4 mashed with size 5 in Made for Mermaids patterns).
If you’re really feeling wild, this is a perfect time to clean out your closet, too, and donate or pass on RTW pieces that you just don’t love any more. 🙂 Your “loose plan” can be based on whatever nine pieces you notice your wardrobe is missing, but I’ve included our plans for those of you that want more guidance than that:
For my spring capsule this year, I decided to do four tops, three bottoms, and two layers (for many of my capsules, I do three layers, three bottoms, and three tops; however, I went a little cardigan crazy this fall and winter so I really don’t need three layering pieces).
Capsules for my kids work a little bit differently. Neither of them particularly care about layering pieces. For spring sewing for the two of them, I stick to one long sleeve layer for those random chilly nights, and then four tops and four bottoms to round of the rest of their nine pieces.
Choosing Fabric
You may decide it’s easier for you to choose your specific patterns first, but my personal preference is to order fabric after I finish my loose plan. This spring, I took my inspiration from the Pantone Color of the Year for 2018, Ultraviolet. I own NO purple, and thought it would be a fun way to bring something fresh to all of my florals and stripes 🙂 While browsing fabrics, I tried to find prints and solids that would tie in with the Ultraviolet. My kids didn’t have a specific theme for theirs.
I find it most helpful to choose your busy fabrics first. I recommend 2-3 busy prints in items that won’t be worn together. For example, use those busy prints only for layering pieces, or only for tops. This helps maximize your outfit options because you won’t have to worry about the busy fabrics being paired with each other. We used our busy prints for our tops to make sure that each top would work with each bottom AND each layering piece.
After choosing our busy prints, I try to stick to mostly neutral colors – or prints that read as neutral, like the chambray polka dots below. We’re a little more liberal with the phrase “neutral colors” over here, but you can see in mine (left), the non-neutrals are solid colors pulled from the busy prints.
Here’s a quick look at our capsule fabrics:
Left – mine – TOPS: yellow floral woven (Hobby Lobby), purple geometric DBP (Knitpop), patterned rayon crepe (Sincerely Rylee Fabrics), white rayon spandex LAYERING: purple telio bamboo (Fabric.com), beige rayon spandex BOTTOMS: pink cotton spandex (Knitpop), stretch denim (Knitpop), gray DBP (Knitpop)
Center – my son’s – TOPS: green rayon spandex (Sincerely Rylee Fabrics), blue/white stripe knit (Sincerely Rylee Fabrics), burgundy bamboo lycra (Knitpop), jellyfish panel (Wanderlust Fabrics) with stripes (Knitpop) LAYERING: star French Terry (Knitpop) BOTTOMS: gray jersey, black DBP (Knitpop), faux denim DBP (Knitpop), and heathered gray French Terry (upcycle).
Right – my daughter’s – TOPS: white floral DBP (Sincerely Rylee Fabrics), pink floral spun poly (Sincerely Rylee Fabrics), black/white striped rayon spandex (Sincerely Rylee Fabrics), floral/stripes knit (Hobby Lobby) LAYERING: rose colored rayon spandex (Sincerely Rylee Fabrics) BOTTOMS: stretch denim (Knitpop), gray DBP (Knitpop), black DBP (Knitpop), polka dot chambray (Hobby Lobby)
Narrowing Down Patterns
This part is always the hardest for me because there are just so many to choose from! Things to think about are versatility, dress codes for you/your children (if applicable), climate, and comfort. I work from home and my daughter isn’t in school yet, so our focus is usually on versatility and comfort!
I like to do a mix of old favorites and patterns I either rarely use or have never used when I make my capsule, but you can certainly do whatever works best for you! You can see my son is a little more particular. Here’s what we’re using at our house this spring:
Left – mine – TOPS: P4P Brunch Blouse, modified Megan tunic, P4P Timeless Tunic, modified Mama Catherine LAYERING: Mama Isabel (will also be worn as a dress!), Mama Darcey BOTTOMS: Mama Joy Skirt (you may see me wear it as a scarf!), P4P SOS Skinnies, and P4P Pegs.
Center – my son’s – TOPS: Short Sleeve Rowan Raglan and Short Sleeve Dylan (check out Brittany’s hack for removing the side panel!) LAYERING: Rowan Raglan hoodie BOTTOMS: Lexi + Lou Lounger Long Shorts
Right – my daughter’s – TOPS: Catherine, Nina, Kourtney, Joy (all of hers will be done in dress length, so she can wear them as tunics as she continues to grow!!) LAYERING: Darcey BOTTOMS: Olivia Bloomers (1 woven, 1 knit), Bonny shorties, Lexi + Lou short shorts
Contest Schedule
February 19-March 5 – time to organize your capsule, choose fabrics, and narrow down your patterns! Be sure to search the FB group if you need more inspiration! In order to be eligible, patterns must be from Made for Mermaids or Patterns for Pirates.
Week 1 (March 5) – Tops –
Monday – print & assemble patterns // Tuesday – cut fabric // Wednesday & Thursday – sew // Friday – sew/hem // Saturday & Sunday – catch up & post pictures in FB group
Week 2 (March 12) – Bottoms –
Monday – print & assemble patterns // Tuesday – cut fabric // Wednesday & Thursday – sew // Friday – sew/hem // Saturday & Sunday – catch up & post pictures in FB group
Week 3 (March 19) – Layers –
Monday – print & assemble patterns // Tuesday – cut fabric // Wednesday & Thursday – sew // Friday – sew/hem // Saturday & Sunday – catch up & post pictures in FB group
Week 4 (March 26) – Outfits/putting it all together
Finish up your capsules, pair with shoes and accessories, get your pictures ready to share!
Contest ends – March 31
PLEASE keep in mind that this contest is meant to be fun. If you find that your fabric arrives earlier than March 5 and you want to start early, go for it! More details about prizes and contest details will be available on March 5th when we “officially” begin, so stay tuned for announcements in the M4M Facebook group! We can’t wait to see what you sew up.
PSSSST! Want easy photoshop templates to create boards for your capsules? Check out Megan’s templates and directions here.
Nikki Strong/Debby Duke says
I sent you a DM on Facebook with some questions. Also, is there a hashtag or something that we should be posting with our picks?
Colleen says
The blog post with all that info will be published on Monday! Still finalizing those little details 🙂
Christy Ireland says
I just wanna say how extremely excited I am to have found this post!!!! Even though we are into summer by now, I have been trying to figure out on my own how to do a capsule and getting way too overwhelmed! Thank you so much for all you do! I am new to all of this and appreciate all the help I can get! Your blog posts are so helpful!
Colleen says
<3 I'm so glad to hear it was helpful to you! :)