The Mediterranean Collection

I have been inspired recently by the lovely black hole of Instagram to try the idea of sewing a capsule. It seems like a very sensible idea for those of us trying to get a more cohesive wardrobe, the idea is inspired by the fashion world and there are a number of approaches to it however they can broadly be split into two:

1. Just a matching collection of items – think Emily Hallman. This is where you follow a rough colour pallet or maybe just a print (e.g. all checks) the items won’t all go together in every combination but if you put the items next together you get ‘the vibe’.
2. A set number of items- think minimalist capsule wardrobe on a smaller scale.

The idea of having a very set number and type of items doesn’t really appeal to me although I may have to try this at some point but, I am not that organised at the moment. Therefore I am going for much more of a ‘feel’ then a fixed formula of exactly what I need to make.
With the whole ‘no summer holiday’ thing I wanted to make some clothes that feel nice and summery but also cool and slightly vintage. After doing some Pinterest digging I came to the conclusion that I wanted to make a Mediterranean collection with lots of whites and blues… and lemons. There is a chance that I fell in love with the fabric below and then decided that the Mediterranean was the way to go! I mean look at it! No idea what I’m going to do with it but🤷‍♀️.

With the general gist down I decided to go fabrics and rough ideas first. Now pre-lockdown I didn’t really do online fabric shopping – you can’t get a feel for it. But right now that’s not an option so I delved into the online fabric shopping world. So as you may have guessed the lemon fabric came first. I bought it from SewOverIt because at the time they had the best price, once I was set on this fabric I also had a look round the store and found the beautiful floral crepe which was all the colours I wanted in the collection in one abstract print. 

I then turned to Minerva crafts looking for some kind of gauze fabric for a floaty summer top and found this lovely one and also this cotton with a really bold print which should make a lovely dress. 

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I also went fabric shopping in my stash where I found a few fabrics that were just perfect for the look I was going for. The first is this kind of cut out cotton (maybe – I believe it was cheap so probably has some polyester mixed in) which I only have a meter of but should work well as a top of some kind. The other thing I pulled out was this blue dress I started last year but just am not feeling the fit or the shape so will pull it apart and start again. Lastly, I also have this Viscose but not sure if it is really what I am looking for (its more green in real life).

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Once the fabric arrived I pulled together this Mood board of what I had and also identified some gaps. I need some plainer items to pull it all together so will see what I can find either second hand or do some more fabric shopping (what a shame) once I have made the initial pieces.

Once I had the mood board completed, I was able to start seeing what items I will be making. Although this will be fairly fluid depending on how I feel as I make the pieces up and what they look like they need. So all still to come!

So far on my to make list for this collection:

• Lemon shorts
• floral top x at least a few!
• navy skirt
• summer dress

I’m keeping this list short as I feel it will expand as I get side tracked or realise gaps as I go.

I hope you enjoyed this post and the startings of a plan, any pattern suggestions so far?