Closet Catalogue – Sewing Resolutions

As I mentioned in my sewing resolutions post for 2012 one challenge (and possibly the most important) was to catalogue my entire wardrobe. This serves a few purposes – one to get a good grasp on the clothes I have, figure out what I wear often and what I never wear, questions why some clothes don’t get worn, and discover gaps in my wardrobe and fill them with handmade clothes!

This may not be compelling blogging to everyone but I highly recommend doing your own catalogue! You’ll learn so much about your own style, why you’re hanging on to old clothes you don’t wear, and if you sew, what you need to make to have a satisfying closet experience. 😉

So this is my catalogue. What I didn’t include were clothes I haven’t worn in over a year or more (which really, why am I keeping these anyway??), accessories (scarves, tights, jewelry, shoes), exercise wear, pajamas, lounging and work clothes that I’d never leave the house in anyway.

So that leaves normal clothes that I wear on a daily basis, season specific clothes and fancy stuff that I would wear given an opportunity but I wouldn’t wear it to the grocery store.

I organized everything by item type and then sub categorized them by attribute (black, white, print, stripe, plaid, long sleeve, sleeveless, etc), whether or not I need something to go with it (undershirt for a see-through top, leggings for a super miniskirt), and if it was handmade. Some items fit into many attribute categories (like a handmade, striped skirt that needs leggings, or a printed strapless dress that needs a sweater).

I made a simple spread sheet and marked an X in every applicable category. Here are the results:

• I have 16 dresses, of which 7 are handmade, only one has long sleeves, 4 are sleeveless or strapless, 3 need something to go with it (one dress I have needs both leggings ’cause it’s short and an undershirt because it has a deep v-neck), and 3 are for fancy occasions like a nice party or nighttime wedding. 3 solid color, 10 print, 1 stripe, 1 plaid.
• 17 blouses, of which 10 are handmade, only one has long sleeves, 3 are sleeveless, and 3 need undershirts. 1 solid color, 3 white, 9 print 4 plaid.
• 18 t-shirts or knit tops, or which 4 are handmade, only one has long sleeves, 2 are sleeveless, and 1 needs an undershirt. 6 solid color, 2 black, 3 white, 5 print, 2 stripe.
• 6 jackets/blazers and 3 are handmade. 2 solid color, 1 black, 1 print, 1 denim, 1 stripe.
• 5 sweaters and only one is handmade and only two have full long sleeves.  1 black, 1 navy, 1 gray with stripes, 1 brown, 1 white.
• 4 tank tops which are mostly used as undershirts. 1 black, 1 gray, 2 white.
• 3 pairs of pants, one pair are handmade and they are all jeans! The handmade pair are black and the other two are blue.
• 3 pairs of shorts, of which one are handmade, one are denim, 2 are solid color.
• 16 skirts, of which 11 are handmade. 4 solid color, 2 black, 1 white, 6 print, 3 stripe.
• 3 coats/jackets and one is handmade. 2 plaid, one solid color.
• 1 pair of gray leggings that are handmade.

Altogether I have 91 pieces of clothing that are at least somewhat regularly worn. 37 are handmade which makes about 40% of my total wardrobe. Just knowing how much of my wardrobe is handmade is pretty interesting in itself, I think.

***Tomorrow I’ll talk about what I learned from all this counting and how it will affect my sewing for this year! Be prepared – it’s going to be a pretty long list!