I had planned to share my new shawl today. But the auto focus on my camera has been broken for months now, leaving me entirely dependent on others for pictures of myself. Clearly, or not so clearly as the case may be, low-light, late in a very windy day, did not make for ideal conditions for an amateur photographer. This was the very best of the three photos taken. I’ll try again soon.
Last week I bought myself two new pairs of leggings. I feel guilty about it, because I don’t think I should be spending the money right now, but also so relieved! I’m covered, with bottoms anyway, and it just takes away a level of stress. I now have the yoga pants, my grey luna’s (the blue linen ones are too light weight for our current season), the two new leggings- one grey and one black, and my olive velour leggings. That feels like enough. I can work with that.
Part of the idea behind having a capsule wardrobe isn’t just having a minimalist wardrobe, it’s also about having enough. It’s a balancing act. I think one of the keys to a handcrafted wardrobe is prioritizing. Some day I would like to make all of my own clothing, but right now, that’s not practical. Investing in a couple of basic pieces that I can easily find ready made, that fit and work exactly as I need them to, makes sense. And it leaves me the freedom to concentrate on the sorts of things that are difficult to impossible to find or very expensive. Which also happen to be the sorts of things that I derive more pleasure from making. I can buy a pair of black leggings with ease. A linen nursing dress or very specific style of wool sweater? Not so much.
What are making versus buying priorities for you?
I’m not going to bother with the link up for a bit. If people would like to share, feel free to leave links in the comments!
This is going to sound like sacrelige to all those knitters out there.. but… knits! The kind of yarn I want to wear is so very expensive. When I factor in the time to create a project… plus, knowing that I won’t be able to try it on until it’s done… it just makes sense to try on and buy rather than make. This is opposed to sewing, where I can sit down for a hour and make something, tweak it if necessary.. out of repurposed (in other words, free) fabric… and be wearing it just hours after thinking about it!
I do love to knit though and allow myself a project or two per year just for fun. Last year I cast on for a much needed winter hat for myself. I checked the gauge carefully, but after a month of knitting, the finished hat was too small. So, I frogged the whole thing over the summer and am starting again on larger needles. Perhaps it was a good investment – that expensive yarn is providing 2 years worth of projects for me!
You have a way with words so in my mind it’s picture perfect! I’m quite excited you have most of your pants selection sorted. I keep waiting to feel well enough to get sewing. I have to get every thing out and sew on the dining table so it’s not so easy in this tiny house. But when I do get started I just can’t wait to get a week’s worth of tops sewn.