To kick off the DIY Capsule Challenge, I decided to make a satin camisole first. Honestly, I thought it would be super easy to make, so I figured, “Why not just get it out of the way?” Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

Design

So starting out with the camisole, I honed in on the mood of the wardrobe. Originally, I didn’t know where my personal style would take this challenge, but as I started to browse Pinterest, I began to treat this challenge like I would if I were designing any other type of collection. I chose a mood, pulled inspiration images and now I’m building upon a concept.

At first, I leaned towards an oversized baggy kind of feel with hanging straps - borderline Off White - but the deeper I went into my research, I moved towards a dark romance mood. A dark romance fit well into my color scheme of a primarily black group with some pops of red and it would let me subtly dabble in a print or two alongside some faux leather. Metals and straps might still make a play, but I haven’t fully decided yet.

As for the satin camisole, while I was sketching out ideas, the thought of a robe came to mind. Playing with the idea of lingerie and sleepwear turned to day wear, I was drawn to making the satin camisole a wrap camisole. The color and texture of the fabric would bring the edginess while the wrap function would make it playful. As for myself, I envisioned me wearing it open at times, layered over a t-shirt for a relaxed look.

Related: What is a Capsule Wardrobe

Pattern and Cut

So, I cheated. It was a small cheat that ended up being kind of a big deal. I knew I shouldn’t have done it but I did it anyway. I’m grown, who cares? I do what I want.

Anyways, coming back to the story, as I drafted the pattern for the wrap camisole, I used my knit spaghetti strap top as a reference. The thing is, is that knit and woven fabrics are two different things that happen to do completely different things. So what you do in one, won’t look the same if you do it in the other. And even though this is a big “No No,” I went against my designer smarts and made a pattern for a woven shirt based off of a knit shirt. And also yes, I made my patterns using grocery store sales paper because why not recycle and be resourceful.

Sew

This wrap camisole was the first project that I’ve completed in months. If you watch my IGTV videos, you may remember that I started a denim romper at the beginning of summer. You might also be wondering where it’s at; I couldn’t tell you my friend. (I actually could. It’s in a Mood bag underneath my work table in pieces.)

So what normally happens is the project loses it’s “new car smell” or I come up with something more interesting causing the old project to get pushed aside. This wasn’t allowed to happen this time; primarily because I publicly claimed the challenge and a good amount of people watched that video of me doing it. Accountability.

It ended up taking me about a week to finish making this wrap camisole. Given my skill and sewing knowledge, it definitely shouldn’t have taken me that long but it is what it is. My main focus was working on it every day. Whether it was for a short fifteen minutes or a whole 2 hours, the idea was to keep moving forward. Little by little. I didn’t put any pressure on myself to finish or think too much about how it would look at the end. What kept me motivated was showing up everyday and building the habit to work.

Critique

I hate it. No, just kidding. But I do hate that it doesn’t fit how it’s supposed to which is because of my patterning shortcut. The woven satin wrap cami doesn’t fall how my knit spaghetti strap does, so when the wrap camisole is relaxed, all my boob and nipple is out. That is if I were to where it on it’s own.

When I first put it on after finishing, I was super disappointed. All this work over this prolonged project and I can’t even wear it. If it hadn’t been for the next thought, I probably would stayed in my feelings all day. When actually thinking about the accomplishment that I had just done, even though it didn’t fit, I remembered, “Done is better than perfect.” And that was it. I finished something, which is a rare thing these days, so I had something to be proud and grateful for. That journey was the main win, not the actual camisole.