Category Archives: Monthly Updates

The Self-Made Wardrobe is a project where I only wear garments I’ve made.
It’s sort of a year long experiment in getting dressed without clothing labels.
This is the wrap up for Month 6 of the project – January 2015. You can find more information about the project, and follow along with more in-depth blog posts here, at hollychayes.com

Basic Black Tank Top – 31
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt – 11
Not-So-Straightforward Basic Purple Sweater – 10
Blue & Green Archer Button Up Shirt – 9
Black Maxi Skirt – 9
Deconstructed Sweater – 7
Boring Black Sweater – 5
Hand Knit Sweater Dress – 5
Cascading Flowers Skirt – 3
Moonstruck Cardigan – 2
Pirate Skirt – 2
Birds & Wheels Flare Skirt – 1
Versio Sweater – 1

In some ways December felt very much not like winter. We had a couple storms and some cold days, but it didn’t really scream winter.

This year, winter definitely and absolutely started in January (and has very much continued to make it’s presence known this February.)

That being said, I relied very heavily on a couple of excellent layering pieces throughout January, specifically, my Not-So-Straightforward Basic Purple Sweater,* my Archer Button Up Shirt, my Deconstructed Black Sweater, and my Boring Black Sweater.
*why was it a not-so-straightforward basic sweater?

Those tops along with my go-to skirts – my Black Maxi Skirt, and my Graphic Silk Circle Skirt – made up the majority of what I wore in January.

Seeing that, and knowing that we have a stupid amount of winter still to go, I think I’d like to set a few wardrobe goals (the horror!).

Goal 1: another chunky sewn sweater, like my Deconstructed Sweater – I want something intended for layering over other sweaters, that’s chunky and warm and cozy.

Goal 2: another thin, long sleeved pullover, like my Not-So-Straightforward Basic Purple Sweater – something that looks great on it’s own, or under another sweater.

Goal 3: another 3 quick, easy, simple, wonderful skirts – simple skirts, elastic waistbands, projects I can put together in an afternoon.

Goal 4: jeans… I sound like a bloody broken record. I have my pattern. I have my fabric. My just got back from being serviced after it’s last big theater job – now is the damn time already.

That’s it.
Nice, loose, flexible goals* that will produce clothes I love to make and to wear (which feels kind of like finding the holy grail.)
*because my wardrobe and I are grand adventuresses!

The Self-Made Wardrobe is an experiment in getting dressed without wearing store bought clothes and exploring personal style without labels, follow along at hollychayes.com.

The Self-Made Wardrobe is a project where I only wear garments I’ve made.
It’s sort of a year long experiment in getting dressed without clothing labels.
This is the wrap up for Month 5 of the project – December 2014. You can find more information about the project, and follow along with more in-depth blog posts here, at hollychayes.com

Basic Black Tank Top – 31
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt – 13
Blue & Green Archer Button Up Shirt – 6
Versio Sweater – 6
Black Maxi Skirt – 6
Boring Black Sweater – 6
Moonstruck Cardigan – 5
Cascading Flowers Skirt – 5
Deconstructed Sweater – 5
Hand Knit Sweater Dress – 3
Pirate Skirt – 3
Blue Kimono – 2
Birds & Wheels Flare Skirt – 1
Transitional Weather Sweater – 1

I’m a couple months behind on writing these posts and December (Month 5 of the self-made wardrobe) feels like it was forever and a half ago, so I’ll keep this short and sweet with just a couple of thoughts.

Thought 1: I wore about the same number of pieces as I did in Months 3 & 4, but because I was layering I wore each piece more often – so there aren’t as many pieces that I wore just once or twice, which is kind of cool. I really like knowing that the pieces I make are pieces I want to wear again and again.

Thought 2: I forgot exactly how damn warm it was at the beginning of December. I’m writing this in the middle of February after weeks of snow and freezing temperatures – Boston is breaking snow records left right and center – and here in NYC today’s low is supposed to be 5 degrees Fahrenheit. After what feels like forever of doubling up on tights & socks I really miss what I wore December 1st.

Thought 3: At the beginning of this wardrobe project I wasn’t super good about posting my finished projects – bad blogger no coffee – I was still trying to find a photo set up that worked, while still making clothes quickly enough so that I’d have something to wear – and something just had to give. The thing that gave was posting detailed posts about each individual project. Sad panda.
So! I’m now catching up, and there are only really two pieces (my black tank tops & my cascading flowers skirt) that I wear on a very consistent basis that I haven’t posted about – so I’m calling that a huge win!

Thought 3.5: I’ve also instituted a “must not wear item until it has been blogged (or at least photographed)” rule, which I’m hoping will get me into the habit of photographing & blogging projects soon after I’ve made them.
Fingers crossed.

And that’s that! Three (and a half) thoughts to wrap up December with. Expect January’s wrap up in about a week or two.

As always you can follow the self-made wardrobe project more closely over on hollychayes.com.

The Self-Made Wardrobe is a project where I only wear garments I’ve made.
It’s sort of a year long experiment in getting dressed without clothing labels – like, literally, my clothes have no labels in them, (which in some cases makes telling the front from the back tricky.)

This is the wrap up for Month 4 (November 2014). You can find more information about the project, and follow along with more in-depth blog posts here, at hollychayes.com

How often I wore what:

Basic Black Tank Top – 30
Deconstructed Black Sweater – 11
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt – 9
Boring Black Sweater – 8
Black Maxi Skirt with a Slit – 8
Cascading Flowers Skirt – 6
Moonstruck Cardigan – 6
Blue Kimono – 4
Pirate Skirt – 3
Hand-Knit Sweater Dress – 2
White Underskirt – 2
Gingham Skirt – 2
Transitional Weather Sweater – 2
Jade Sweater – 1
Versio Sweater – 1

Winter Coat – 2 shown, but really, I’ve thrown it on every time I left the house since Day 105 (even though it’s still missing pockets…)

Thoughts:

This was the month I lived in basic black tank tops (like always), the Deconstructed Black Sweater, my Graphic Silk Circle Skirt, Black Maxi Skirt, and my Boring Black Sweater.

I’m not super surprised since they’re kind of the most basic, versatile and comfortable pieces in my self-made wardrobe. Not the most interesting pieces to make, and not the easiest pieces to photograph, but definitely the easiest pieces to throw on in the morning.

There were a couple staggeringly warm days so my other sweaters didn’t get as much wear as I would have expected them to in November – but they’re definitely getting a work out this December & January, as I expect they will be for the rest of the winter.

November was surprisingly low on “new garments made.” I finished the Deconstructed Black Sweater right at the beginning of the month, but that was it I don’t think I finished any other pieces in November – that didn’t change much in December, but really really needs to change (and has started to change!) in January, because I’m getting sick of my closet again.

I’m working on December’s wrap up (Month 5) and am hoping to get it posted before February.

As always, if you’d like more frequent weekly updates, you can find those every Friday on hollychayes.com.

The Self-Made Wardrobe is a project where I only wear garments I’ve made.
It’s sort of a year long experiment in getting dressed without clothing labels – like, literally, my clothes have no labels in them.

This is the wrap up for Month 3. You can find more information about the project, and follow along with more in-depth blog posts here, at hollychayes.com

I’m one quarter of the way through the year! And just a couple days ago I made it to Day 100! Yay!

Today is Day 109 so just 256 days to go…

How Often Did I Wear What In October?

Black Tank Top: 31 days
Blue Kimono: 10 days
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt: 9 days
Black Maxi Skirt: 9 days
Moonstruck Cardigan: 6 days
Boring Black Sweater: 6 days
White Underskirt: 4 days
Cascading Flowers Skirt: 3 days
Colorful Knit Sweater Dress: 3 days
Versio Sweater: 3 days
Pirate Skirt: 3 days
Gingham Skirt: 2 days
Transitional Weather Sweater: 2 days
Jersey Wrap Dress: 1 day

What’s New?

There are a couple new pieces this month:
The Versio Sweater
Colorful Knit Sweater Dress
White Underskirt
Boring Black Sweater
Transitional Weather Sweater

They’re mostly sweaters because fall has actually come around and it got sort of chilly in October.

What Am I working on Now?

It’s a couple days past the halfway point in November, and I’m still on my sweater knitting kick.

I just finished the knitting on my winter coat, now I need to pick up a zipper, add pockets, and figure out a plan for the lining.

A couple friends and I have an Archer* sew-a-long planned, and I have enough fabric for 2, so I’m planning on jumping the gun, and sewing one up sooner.
*Archer is a button up shirt pattern, put out by Grainline Studios.

In more sewing news, I desperately want another black maxi skirt, and I’m hoping against hope I’ll be able to dive back into the jeans experiment soon.

If you had asked me before this project if I could go three months without wearing a pair of jeans, I would have said “there’s no way in hell.”

But I guess I was wrong…

The Self-Made Wardrobe is an experiment in getting dressed without wearing store bought clothes and exploring personal style without labels – a project in which I only wear clothes I’ve made for a year.

This was the Month 3 wrap up, you can follow the project throughout the month on hollychayes.com

I restarted the Self-Made Wardrobe Project at the beginning of August.
When I restarted it, I decided to move the posts over to hollychayes.com. Keeping up 2 separate blogs, on top of building an entire wardrobe, on top of everything else, was one thing too many.

This is the second month’s wrap up post, and was originally posted on hollychayes.com.
If you want to read more about the project & sign up for updates, you can here.

How Often Did I wear What?

Black tank top: 29 days
Black maxi skirt with a slit: 8 days
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt: 8 days
The easiest jersey vest ever: 8 days
Cascading flowers maxi skirt: 6 days
Red & white striped pirate skirt: 4 days
Blue kimono: 3 days
The birds & bicycle flare skirt: 2 days
Moonstruck sweater: 1 day
Jersey wrap dress: 1 day
Gingham skirt: 1 day

Why Did I Wear What When I Did?

Black tank top – my default always. I have a couple of them that I rotate. Next I think I’m going to try perfecting a camisole.

Black maxi skirt with a slit – I always feel a little lost for what to say about this skirt. It’s a black maxi skirt with a slit. It’s easy to wear, it was easy to make, it’s easy to style, it’s easy to run around it. It wins this month for ease.

Graphic silk circle skirt – part of what I love so much about this skirt is that it’s easy to throw on and very comfortable, but since it’s a silk, it looks more put together than it would if the same skirt were made in a cotton. (Now, I sort of want a version of this skirt in cotton, and one in wool.)

The easiest jersey vest ever – no seriously. the easiest vest ever. 1 yard of light weight jersey with two slits cut in it. That’s it.

Cascading flowers maxi skirt – I think it’s interesting that this skirt dominated August, but September had more balance between my black maxi skirt, my graphic silk circle skirt, and this skirt.

Red & white striped pirate skirt – arrrggghhh!

Blue kimono – sometimes the quickest projects and cheapest makes turn out the best. This kimono gets complements almost every single time I walk out the door in it. I think it’s the fabric.

The birds & bicycle flare skirt – It’s interesting to think about how frequently we wear certain garments, and how that changes over time. A couple summers ago I absolutely *lived* in this skirt, now I only pull it out every once in a while.

Moonstruck sweater – (I figured out the name! and it turns out I guessed correctly!) This was one of the first successful sweaters I knit. The pattern is the “Moonstruck Sweater” from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, and the yarn is Dream in Color “Classy.” I don’t wear it often, because I keep meaning to add a hook & eye to keep the bottom from gaping. Even though it’s a 15 minute alteration, I just keep putting it off, so for now I’m using a safety pin.

Jersey wrap dress – I forgot about this dress a little bit this month.

Gingham skirt – maybe this skirt has a superpower that means I can only wear it once a month? But probably not, it’s more I have a couple alterations that I want to do to it, and I keep putting them off in favor of making new pieces.

This Month In Blog Posts:

: Week 5
: Week 6 – I just want a pair of damn pants
: Week 7
: Week 8 – sweater weather is here

: 8 clothing related reminders from Month 1 of the Self-Made Wardrobe. Because reinventing the wheel every time sucks.
: The Versio Sweater – a body, sleeves, and a change of plans.
: Some thoughts on selfies and self-portraits.
: The Perfect Transitional Sweater – Hopefully.
: The Versio Sweater – hood, finishing, and making twisted cord.

The Self-Made Wardrobe is a project where I only wear garments I’ve made, for one year. You can read more about the project here.

I restarted the Self-Made Wardrobe Project at the beginning of August.
When I restarted it, I decided to move the posts over to hollychayes.com. Keeping up 2 separate blogs, on top of building an entire wardrobe, on top of everything else I already do, was one thing too many.

This is the first month’s wrap up post, and was originally posted on hollychayes.com.
If you want to read more about the project & sign up for updates, you can over here.

Since it’s almost the end of the second month of the self-made wardrobe project, I figured I should probably get around to posting the first month’s wrap up.

August was the month of figuring out systems and routines for this project.

Creating a wardrobe building “plan.” Figuring out how to seamlessly take a photo every day, and then turn those photos into a post every week. A new laundry routine. A different kind of sewing & knitting practice.

Finding routines, making plans, figuring out systems, and streamlining thing – that’s what August was about.

How often did I wear what?

Black tank tops: 28 days
Floral Maxi Skirt: 11 days
Handkerchief Hem Circle Skirt: 8 days
Red & White Striped Pirate Skirt: 4 days
Black Maxi Skirt with Slit: 3 days
Jersey Wrap Dress: 2 days
Blue Kimono: 2 days
Black Racer Back Mini Dress: 1 day
Alice in Wonderland Skirt: 1 day
Gingham Skirt: 1 day

Why?

The Black Tank Top – my default.

The Floral Maxi Skirt – sort of took the place of jeans throughout August, easy to throw on and comfortable.

The Handkerchief Hem Circle Skirt & the Red and White Striped Pirate Skirt – I love both of these too, but they weren’t quite as easy to throw on as the floral maxi skirt.

Black maxi skirt with slit – adore. But the length really only works with flats.

Jersey Wrap Dress – I wore this on an overnight trip, I wanted something that was super comfy for the train ride, and that I wouldn’t mind wearing two days in a row.

Blue Kimono – this was one of the first pieces I made for this project, but I didn’t need it much in August.

Black Racer Back Mini Dress – I can’t believe I wore this with tights & the kimono on Day 3 – it was a cool/chilly day, but it was still August. I haven’t worn it more, because it’s a pinch to tight, so I want to add tuxedo stripes, and a touch more ease.

Alice in Wonderland Skirt – as much as I love this skirt, I have to be in the right mood to wear it.

Gingham Skirt – I finished this late in the month, it’s not my favorite piece ever, but I like it.

In Case You Want to Catch Up on The Project

: Day 1
: Week 1 – the first 8 days of the self-made wardrobe project.
: Week 2 – getting a handle on everything.
: Week 3 – starting to look towards fall.
: Week 4 – the end of month 1.

: The basic plan is balance – well, unbalanced balance.
: The Versio Sweater – beginnings.
: What’s the difference between knitted & woven fabric?

The Self-Made Wardrobe is a project where I only wear garments I’ve made, for one year. You can read more about the project here.

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