How to ACTUALLY Sew a Hand Made Wardrobe | 10 Tips

Have you ever wanted to make your own

hand

made

wardrobe

but felt like it was totally impossible and unattainable and only for those perfect seamstresses on Instagram and YouTube and not for someone like you? Well, I felt exactly the same and in today's video I'm going to share with you my top 10

tips

on how to make your own

hand

made

wardrobe

. If this sounds interesting, stay tuned. We'll jump into my 10

tips

in a moment before we move on to my 10 tips. For making a handmade wardrobe, I would like to mention Anna Louisa jewelry. Anna Louisa creates classic, timeless jewelry pieces like the ones you see me wearing.

They are all from Anna Louisa, but they do so at affordable prices and use real jewelry. gold and the best part is that they are ecological. They are

actually

a certified carbon neutral jewelry company, meaning that anything they do that could affect the environment, they work very hard to counteract it, giving them carbon neutral certification. recycled materials wherever possible, we'll probably know that if you've watched this channel for a while. I really love timeless classic trends when it comes to what I choose to wear instead of just modern fashions and Anna Louisa jewelry really shines when it comes to creating high quality timeless classic jewelry pieces, but like I said at a price which is more affordable for most of us regular folks, I've never been a big jeweler but I can see Anna Louisa changing that for me just. because look at this as really bringing your wardrobe together, even if you're having one of those days where you're feeling a little gross and you don't want to wear makeup and you don't want to wear anything fancy. or getting your hair done but you still want to look good, it's as simple as putting on these beautiful pieces of timeless jewelry and I instantly feel like a queen even on those busy, tired days we all have, so I absolutely recommend checking out Anna Louisa. beautiful collection of jewelry, the link will be right in the first lines of the description and if you want to buy pieces of jewelry from them, their pieces start at only 39, they are super affordable like I said and if you use the code that is in the description Catherine Sewing10, you will get 10 off your first order, so I recommend you check them out.

Let's move on to my top 10 tips on how to create a handmade wardrobe. Enthusiasm and realism equal success. So what do I mean by that? a big believer in starting a new hobby with something that really excites you, that really lights your fire and makes you excited and passionate about it, even if it's not a project that would normally be considered beginner-friendly, like I'm thinking, you know when? people start sewing and they're told, oh, like sewing a tea towel or you know, knit a tea towel or whatever, like a baby blanket, and that's fine, and if that's the way you like to work and you get easily overwhelmed by doing more difficult things and That's what you want to do great, but I know this personally and I think many of you will have this in common with me: what drives us to sew is not necessarily the sewing itself , but it has this particular and very specific creativity.

Vision of a certain garment or even a certain wardrobe that we want to create for ourselves and simply using sewing as a means to achieve that thing in real life, like that Vision that we have in our head to make it a reality, that has always been my drive to sew and I always knew that if I had seen sewing as boring and just creating basic utilitarian items for my home, like curtains, tea towels or baby blankets, I wouldn't have done it. What got me excited about sewing was making a corset first, that's what really got me into garment making specifically in the later years of my life and that's not something that would normally be considered a beginner friendly project, but I did it anyway and was successful, it wasn't the best corset in the world. but I was able to finish it and it started me on my sewing path and where I am now, so that's my number one topic or my tip here is the enthusiasm part, it's important to start with something that excites you even if it's not. .

Traditionally beginner friendly, that being said here it comes to the realism part, enthusiasm plus realism equals success, so let's use a basic set as an example. Let's say you're really excited to get a custom corset made. Well, you absolutely can. Go in and go for it, but I would recommend going with a simpler corset design, for example, my first two basic outfits that I'll show you now were very basic and utilitarian. They were both underbust corsets which made them much easier to shape and fit and were simply made in a single solid white or beige color.

Very simple construction style. Now, fast forward several years, being able to complete those first basic outfits that were very simple gave me the morale boost I needed to eventually continue down my path of making more complex Victorian corsets, lace-up corsets, intricate embroidery, floss, lace and such. of things, but I started with something simple, so the important part of realism is choosing something that excites you, but doing it in a way that is realistic for you and your life your time limits your abilities if you know you are someone who gets stuck easily on a project, then choose something that is a little simpler but still excites you and will lead to sewing success, yes, okay, then my second tip on creating a handmade wardrobe is all about with aesthetics and planning.

I'll admit right away that this is not my strong point, especially the planning part. I'm not the best at planning things, although I am. It has grown on me over time as a mother. I've had to learn to plan things more, but I've seen people who are very good planners when it comes to creating a capsule wardrobe, for example, and that's never been my strong suit. but it's something I'm working on and now I'm talking to you as a teacher. I can tell you that it is very important to plan the wardrobe you want to create or even just a certain item of clothing you want to create and how it goes. to fit in with your current wardrobe or the dream wardrobe you want to create, but let's first talk about the Aesthetics point before we start getting into the nitty-gritty of planning certain items of clothing that you are going to make.

You need to think about your overall aesthetic. Inspirations like what excites you, what it looks like, what clothes, what styles excite you and what it makes you look like, you know an image and you're like, oh my gosh, I want to look like that or I. I want a garment like that, you know what I mean and when it comes to aesthetics, one of my biggest draws to learning to sew has been the fact that what I'm personally drawn to, like historically inspired clothing or even inspired clothing In fantasy, it's never been available in store-bought clothing when it comes to store-bought clothing it's like this one size fits all there's a certain style that exists at any given time and that's what you have to choose and if you want something else also bad, that's why I learned to sew and I think a lot of you probably feel the same way, so what do I mean by aesthetic?

This could be a number of influences, it could be Cottage Core, historically inspired clothing history, boundary fantasy, inspirational, classy vintage. These kinds of things and the beautiful thing about it is that any number of these aesthetic influences can be combined to create your specific wardrobe that really lights your fire and excites you, so this bird can be really simple, it can be as simple as looking Pinterest. or Instagram or YouTube or blogs and just looking at the clothes and seeing what excites you, you can create a Pinterest board and pin the different clothes that you like and that you eventually want to make and that can be a really good way to have a visual representation . of what excites you, what draws you to the aesthetic, okay, once you have an idea of ​​what excites you about the aesthetic, what you want to include in your wardrobe, it's time to start planning the nitty-gritty of the question of your wardrobe.

So speaking from someone who is not a planner per se I can tell you that this doesn't have to look a certain way, it doesn't have to be super strict and structured, you don't have to get too involved unless you want to, so for me this has always been as simple as a few color sketches in a notebook and looking back, it's always amazing to look at those sketches and say, "wow, I really made that garment." It's amazing to see the sketch become the actual garment and plan anyway you choose. Whether it's some simple sketches in a notebook or if it's as complicated as you know, creating some sets of paper dolls in physical form and being able to mix and match them on a paper doll to see how they work together or have some type of online software.

Computer software for planning your wardrobe, however you choose to use it, will be a really useful way to plan the specific items of clothing you would like to have or need to have in your wardrobe, as well as the colors, fabrics and patterns they will use. They work well with each other and in your current wardrobe, this all applies more to someone who plans to create an entire capsule wardrobe in a relatively short period of time, but if you're like me you may not have the time or money to invest . in just creating an entire wardrobe in one go, so I would recommend using a simpler but mindful approach to creating your wardrobe, which is obviously making one garment at a time, but being very aware of that garment and thinking about the style of it. the type of garment, the fabric, the color and how it's going to work with your current wardrobe and having a rough idea of ​​what you might want to create in the future to go with that, that's always been the approach I've used because I've never had time to just sit down and create an entire wardrobe for myself in one go, but when I'm planning a garment that I'm going to make, I think about it very consciously and plan it that way.

I hope that advice also helps you choose your battles and what I mean by this is that you should prioritize sewing what is most important to you, especially when you are starting out, it can be very easy to get bogged down in the minutiae of trying. to create a lot of different things, like for example, I think of people who are getting into historical costumes and I really admire those people who just decide that I'm going to create a complete 18th century outfit, starting with the most basic underwear and tiny and working up to the most complex outer garment.

I really admire people who can do that, but I see that for a beginner it could potentially be a lot like discouraging the kind of potentially bogged down process to focus on sewing everything, even all the little things that you're not necessarily excited about sewing again. I've always recommended starting with something that really excites you. Now, when it comes to creating an everyday wardrobe, for me this has felt like focusing on sewing clothes that are very hard to find. in stores, like creating a beautiful, one-of-a-kind custom dress with a historical inspiration from the 1950s, for example, or a historical inspiration from the 18th century, that can't be found in stores and especially once it comes to a custom fit, it really is a battle worth choosing, because because Obviously, you can't buy custom clothing in stores.

You know, one of the hardest parts of sewing clothes in today's era of fast fashion is simply finding that internal motivation to spend hours and a good amount of money sewing something you can. Buy for a lot less money than you spent on the materials and a lot less time you spent on it and that can be hard to figure out for some people. I know that was something I thought about, like why does this take a long time to make and I could buy it for less now. If you're super interested in avoiding fast fashion, then this would be a no-brainer for you because obviously fast fashion has a lot of problems.

There's a reason everything is so cheap: it's because people are paid a living wage, high quality materials aren't used, it's not well made, except etc. So if avoiding fast fashion is a strong personal motivation for you, then that won't be a problem, you'll understand the benefit of sewing your own clothes in a slower way, but like I said, another way to motivate yourself to sew would be to simply focus on garments that would otherwise be very difficult or impossible to find in stores or otherwise. be extremely expensive, so for me personally another example of corsetry is this, that's why I started making my own corsets because you can buy many beautiful and very well made corsets, custom made according to your own measurements, but you are going to pay a high price That's because it involves a lot of work, work and planning, which is why I personally chose to start learning how to make my own corsets and by the way, if you want to learn how to make corsets, I have an online course aimed at beginners. learn how to make Victorian corsets and that, as always, is linked in the description of your trusty fabrics.

This is something I talked about a lot in myFabrics 101 video and it's basically the importance of finding fabrics and fiber types as well as sources of fabrics that you know that you like to work with that work that fits your budget for your wardrobe and that you like to sew and that you know that they come in a variety of colors, that kind of thing, so for me this has been linen. because I've been able to find online sources for linen that are relatively affordable and I love working with linen, it practically sews itself, it looks really great on me wardrobe, it is more of a sturdy everyday type of fabric, but it is still very beautiful and elegant and looks good on basically any type of garment you want to make it into, but it may not be linen for you, it may be any number of different fabrics and it's something that will come with experience, of course you won't know what fabrics you use.

I like to work with it until you try it, so don't worry because there's no way to know until you dive in, but keep it in the back of your mind as you start your first few projects. Always ask yourself: Did I enjoy working with? this fabric or I think there might be something better and once you find the fabric that works for you don't feel bad about just making clothes with that fabric which was me with linen. I went through a phase where I basically just sewed with linen for a long time and that worked for me within my budget and I was able to find the colors I wanted so just find what fabrics work for you and that will be a major simplifying factor for you by creating your own handmade fabric. wardrobe, okay, so my fifth tip is to take a shopping break, what do I mean by that?

I know it may sound a little intimidating, but basically what I mean by this is to consider not buying any more clothes for yourself now that there will be a Rest maybe for six months or maybe a year before buying clothes. This may seem a little intimidating, but keep in mind that most of us already have a wardrobe full of clothes that already work for us, so I'm not saying to throw away all the clothes you already own, that wouldn't be a smart decision, just keep using what you have and don't buy. anything else, instead focus on sewing, you know, clothes that you love, that are high quality, that enhance your wardrobe and that will gradually replace those store-bought clothes as they wear out or maybe you start to use handmade garments more.

Because you simply like them more, when you sew a garment, simply add it to your closet and it won't be long before you start having more handmade items than store-bought items. Honestly, this is a great way to develop your sewing. skills and also gradually build up a handmade wardrobe without it being so stressful where you tell yourself you have to sew a whole wardrobe in a weekend or something crazy. I don't recommend it for me, that's how I built my handmade wardrobe. It wasn't even something where I consciously sat down and said, "I'm going to have a completely handmade wardrobe." In any case, that was always like a pipe dream to me.

I would see people saying they had a handmade wardrobe and I would think, oh, that's cute, but I'll never be able to achieve it, but because I got so interested in sewing, I naturally stopped buying clothes because I decided I'm going to do that instead and Learn how to do it better. and I learned to adapt it to my body and eventually it wasn't long before I discovered, hey, I'm wearing a handmade garment like every day, now I have a handmade wardrobe and that's another point. You'll be surprised how much I can do. Handmade items start to appeal to you much more than store-bought items, if only for the fact that they are custom made for you and your tastes, and simply the love that goes into making a handmade garment.

It's viscerally better than a store. - I bought a garment that was made in a sweatshop somewhere or whatever, you know what I mean, okay, that brings me to my next point, which is kind of a warning for the last one and that is that it doesn't Don't sweat the small stuff, so what do I mean? So if you're like me and you get really excited about a new hobby like sewing, you can easily burn out if you start taking it too far and tell yourself that you need to sew absolutely everything for yourself, so by all means.

For example, maybe you really love sewing, you know, dresses, blouses, skirts or whatever, but you don't love the idea of ​​sewing underwear, for example, but maybe you start to feel this kind of obligation, but how do you know how to sew? , you should really make your own. underwear because you could save money or whatever, believe me, I've been down that road of feeling like I have to do everything myself. In fact, I'm still recovering from this type of attitude and I can tell you personally that it leads to burnout. and you don't really need to sweat the small stuff, so when taking a break from shopping, I would always continue to buy underwear, socks, stockings and even bras.

I recently started learning how to make my own bras. please don't go crazy or burn out because that's definitely a danger, just focus on sewing the things you really like and it's okay to buy other parts of your wardrobe that you don't find particularly interesting. On the other hand, do it, if sewing underwear or bras or knitting your own socks or tights really appeals to you then do it for me, that hasn't been something that appeals to me very much, but if you like it then do it next time. Advice is a stitch in time, saves nine.

We've all heard this old saying. I don't know what you call a sewing slogan or a saying or something and basically to me, in the context of making your own wardrobe, what it means to me. is taking the time to create very high quality garments so you don't just take something off quickly just to say you did it but then maybe the seams come apart after a month of wearing it or you know it starts to fray or you just don't it holds. get it right, but rather taking that extra time to use high-quality sewing techniques or couture sewing techniques that require more time but result in a garment that will last you much longer.

The beautiful thing about this type of slow sewing is that not only does it create garments that will last you much longer, but by necessity, it makes you much more conscious of the garments that you choose to spend so much time on because it is an investment of time and possibly of money if you wish. Using higher quality materials really makes you think more consciously about this garment and whether you are going to wear it and it really makes you more conscious of choosing a garment that you know you will love, that you know will be timeless and will last in your wardrobe for possibly years and now Another way of saying it applies, of course, to the topic of mending.

Now I've known how to sew since I was a little kid, but I never loved the idea of ​​mending, mending was always one of those. things that seemed like I had to fix this and I could just, you know, quickly put some big stitches in a tear or quickly sew on a button that had fallen off, but I just didn't like it at all and I still don't love mending, but having seeing the amount of time, effort and money that goes into creating a garment completely from scratch has really shown me the value of the old mend and make do statement, for example I have had dresses that I have made for myself that I loved to the end. point where they started to wear out or maybe a tear here and there or a button that falls off and naturally I wouldn't want to just choose oh I love mending I'm just I'm going to sit down and mend but at the same time it's so much more It's easier to just patch something up than to make it completely new, a new one from scratch.

That's another point of having a handmade wardrobe: learning the value of mending and continuing garments. wardrobes for longer by repairing them when they need a little TLC. My next piece of advice is to slow and steady win the race. Well, something that is absolutely important for me to impress upon most new sewers out there today is the fact that really good, high-quality sewing takes a lot of time and that's absolutely fine in today's days of Instagram and YouTube as a new sewer, for someone who is just coming into the Hobby, can be very easy. I think looking at these amazing Instagram or YouTube sewers and seeing them.

You know, quick video edits that show a garment being made from start to finish and it looks like it was created very quickly, but what you're not seeing is the fact that this garment probably took weeks to make, but of course. it was edited together and it was edited together in a way to keep the viewers attention and I know this because I'm guilty of it myself. I edit a lot of videos of myself sewing a garment and that's how social media works. You have to edit. things in a way that keeps people's attention, otherwise what are we here for?

And you know, posting photos of things you've done can easily give others the impression that you were just pulling things out like a machine gun here, when in reality that's just not the case. Rome wasn't built in a day and the scene relies on a handmade wardrobe. You really just need to focus on doing one thing at a time and let it take as long as it takes because that's where the real learning happens and that's where high quality garments are created, it's in those long periods of time that we think things and we take our time to sew by hand using those higher quality sewing techniques we talk about, so please don't put unrealistic things. pressure on yourself that comes from social media that says you have to do things faster than they

actually

take, okay my ninth tip is to schedule a sewing practice, this is really what it all comes down to In my opinion, you are not.

You'll be able to create even one garment, let alone an entire wardrobe, if you don't have a consistent sewing practice now before you become overwhelmed. I don't mean that you should necessarily sew for hours every day or even sew every day. day or even every week you have to consider your own life and your own time constraints and how sewing can fit into that and my main point is to just schedule something, whether it's a sewing practice that you do every day for an hour or whether Whether it's once a month you have a day where you have time to sew whatever you want for your life, just try to be conscious of scheduling time to prioritize your sewing because if it's not a priority and it's not scheduled in Your busy life probably won't happen and then you will get discouraged and won't be able to finish anything, so remember that you know that slow and steady wins the race, as I said before, this also applies to programming, even if you only have a very If you have a small amount of time to dedicate to sewing on a regular basis, if you are consistent with it, it will be surprising what you can achieve in those consistent periods of time.

Well, my last tip on how to sew a handmade wardrobe is to consider using second-hand clothes. fabric now, this is a great way to save money and also be more environmentally conscious with the use of our materials and things that use second hand fabrics. This might mean buying secondhand pieces of fabric that people donated, but what I'm thinking about most and what I think will be most applicable to most people is simply searching thrift stores and finding clothes that are made from good quality materials, preferably natural fibers, find a garment and then take it home and transform it into something you like. all kinds of tutorials and ideas for doing things like this and I'm not a huge expert on it, it's something I want to learn more about in the future but I think it's a great option for people who have more of a budget but who still want to sew it is more of a type of remodeling sewing and it is very useful as this type of thing has been done throughout history of taking an old garment and remaking it into something new and there are all kinds of options for this if only They have time to look around and keep an eye out at second-hand stores to find good quality clothing that is made from natural fiber fabrics.

It can be an excellent option. Well, everyone. I really hope you found these 10 tips helpful. I'd love to know if any of you have your own tips on how to create a handmade wardrobe or even a single handmade garment. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section and also if any of these tips helped you or really spoke to you. Be sure to check out the blog post that accompanies this video, which will have everything I just said in written form, as well as photos of several handmade items I've made in my own wardrobe over the past few years.

Another thing I would like to mention that I recently added a thank you button to my videos, which basically means that if you appreciate my videos and the content I share with you and find it useful, I would really appreciate it if youyou decided to thank me. it's just a little way to say thank you, like five dollars, two dollars, whatever, it's just a way to show your appreciation and help me make these videos and I would really appreciate any of you who decided to do it and it's just in the bottom of the video screen and finally, don't forget to visit Anna Louisa for amazing, elegant, yet affordable jewelry pieces.

Be sure to check out the link in the description and use the discount code Catherine Sewing10 to get 10 off your first order. you in the next foreign video