A set of black and white basics (+bonus socks)

When looking at my Make Nine 2021, the most obvious thing is the Dreaded Basket… ever since I wrote down I will try to empty it this year, it has become an even bigger eyesore. But I also have a lot of new plans I would like to realise, so I decided that I will start designing outfits that consist of one item from the basket, combined with a brand new project! This way, I can make sets of items that go well with each other, but also with already existing pieces in my wardrobe. I hope this will help me expand my wardrobe a bit more consciously, and tie the whole thing together. I like to practice making costume sketches, so this is what I came up with:

The first piece I want to start with, is a Colette Aster blouse I started somewhere in 2017. I bought this super cute fabric with a print of gray rubber ducks on a white cotton, and thought it would make a nice, work-appropriate blouse. From a distance, the ducks look like dots, whereas closeby you see that they are actually tiny duckies. Anyhow, for some reason I decided back then that cutting this blouse in a size 10 was a good idea, because my upper body was 6 at the chest and waist, but 10 at the hips. Little did I know that pattern grading was a thing, and so I ended up with a way too big partly sewn blouse. A little frustrated, it ended up in the Basket, only to resurface recently. I just couldn’t scrap it, so I would like to finish it, but this time in the right size. Since I lost a bit of weight since then, taking the blouse apart and recutting the pieces should be perfectly possible.

I would like to pair this blouse with a staple piece I am missing at the moment, which is a simple black skirt. This will go with virtually every top in my wardrobe, so it is very high on my priority list. I’ve been eyeballing the Seamwork Everly skirt already for a bit, and I think with it’s simple shape but with the added fun of the two layers it is the perfect piece to put together very fast.

Finally, I would like to add something I just like to do, and never have enough of: knitted socks. I bought this beautiful skein of sock yarn back in 2015 in Aachen on a craft market, and only recently started to turn them into a pair of socks. This seems like the perfect opportunity to finish them already!

Over the coming weeks I will discuss the pieces I made for this outfit, including a pattern review of sorts. Stay tuned!