These are what I chose when a personal styling course asked me to pick my 5 favourite items. Worn with slim pants, which for me are a ‘background’ garment
I spend my time wearing over-sized pullover tops with slim pants, but I know few people share my love of this size or this style.
So I don’t expect many to agree with my personal basic capsule choices. But perhaps the decisions I went through will provide food for thought.
I do think many people could find it helpful to do the same thing as I have, to collect a small group of patterns that are best for you. If nothing else, it will clarify your style for you.
Even if you’re not a ‘uniform’ wearer as I am.
Perhaps choose one or less than a handful of patterns for each basic garment type that you wear.
Either make only these patterns, or use these patterns as a secure foundation for your wardrobe.
Although it’s not specifically relevant for many people, I give my own pattern group here as an example. Perhaps because my style is so far from ‘normcore’, it has taken me many years to winnow down to this group of patterns which warm my heart in styles I love to wear, and it has taken much searching when unknown small pattern lines are mentioned. I can still remember how I relaxed when I came across Alexandra Genetti’s Blanchette top, as the first pattern I had seen that feels truly ‘me’. She only has 4 clothing patterns, and I don’t choose the others 😀 The other patterns in the oversized top section below had a similar effect more recently. This was true of some of the other patterns too, while a few are mentioned here because I keep coming back to them.
Of course many people don’t want to choose a small group of patterns – if you’re one of them you can stop reading this now ! I know some people like to make a different pattern every time they sew, a strategy that would not work for me at all 😀
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What garment types do you wear ?
First identify the basic garment types that you wear. If you lead a very varied life (perhaps boardroom, gym, opera, or office work plus tending small children and climbing mountains) you may find you need to choose a different group of styles for each situation.
I am now retired with no very active hobbies so my life style is fairly constant.
I find I always wear a frill edged shirt with slim pants and an oversized pullover top, plus a puffy vest in winter : my ‘uniform’.
When I was working, my work ‘uniform’ was a summer top or winter polo-neck (US turtle neck) sweater plus classic pants and various thigh or duster length jackets. In summer I was known for wearing interesting blouses rather than shirts. In winter the variety was in the jackets, the sweater and pants were always the same.
For outerwear I wear a parka in the summer, and in winter a quilted jacket. I always have hooded outerwear, as rain here has to be expected and I find umbrellas are a hassle 😀
I never wear a tee-shirt, jeans or leggings, dresses or skirts.
I didn’t deliberately set out to be a ‘uniform’ person, that was what I found myself to be when I started learning about personal style. And I am not at all suited to the sort of work where you have to wear a real uniform 😀 In personal styling, the word ‘uniform’ is used with the general meaning of ‘always the same’, rather than the specific clothing meaning of everyone wearing exactly the same items with indicators of being members of a given group.
Once you know your most important garment types, then identify whether (for each) you could manage with only one pattern or want them all.
Shirt, pants and jackets are simple pattern choices for me. But I want a huge choice of oversized tops, they must now be my ‘focus of variety’ garment 😀
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My pattern choices
Shirt
Frill edged shirt, my ’signature’ item which I always wear.
Lands End is currently a source of ones I like.
Liesl & Co Recital is a possible pattern – add frills to the cuffs.
Spring 2025 – frilled shirts are said to be ‘on trend’, though make the neck frill wider, say 1-1/4″, 3cm.
Pants
Sew Over It Carrie pants
A beginner sewist could choose any basic elastic waist pants pattern.
I often wear Lands End starfish slim leg pants, basically yoga pants, but they have no pockets. . . I have not yet settled on a pattern for knit pants, it will be mostly self-drafted anyway as my body is nothing like an ‘average’ pant pattern.
Over-sized pullover top
This is my ‘signature’ in a different way – this garment type is where my clothing variety comes in. I would find it very difficult to have to restrict myself to one pattern !
The easiest such top to make is the Cris Wood Sews Start Here free big square armhole top,
I have a couple of posts on making this, here and here.
This is also a good shape for simple machine knitted sweaters. See Knit It Now – search Patterns > Prickly Pear.
I do like many other over-sized top patterns. These are some slightly less simple ones.
GreenStyle Brighton raglan sleeve pullover top.
Elizabeth Suzann Harper pullover top.
Alexandra Genetti Blanchette pullover top.
Top patterns from All Well Workshop and Tropical Research are also inspiring as they include instructions for many simple hacks.
There are many other big top patterns that I am attracted to.
Perhaps I could manage to restrict myself to only one pattern for oversize tops if it had the potential for a lifetime of hacks 😀
My single base might be the Tropical Research Lazy Top. I particularly like smock styles : a gathered skirt under a bodice/yoke seam which can be at many levels. Then there are plenty of possible front openings, neckline edges and collars, sleeves, pockets. . . There are multiple ways of making variations and repetitions.
Jacket
Those pullover top patterns can all easily be converted to light jackets by adding a front opening. I have several posts on doing that, this is the first in a group.
Or I like a simple robe style with a wide neckband, such as Helen’s Closet Moss (choose your own length).
For summer outerwear I have a favourite long discontinued parka pattern, Simplicity 2153. Easy to add a hood.
For winter there’s the :
Spaghetti Western Sewing Rue quilted jacket.
Spring 2025 – quilted jackets are said to be ‘on trend’. Goodness it’s years since I’ve thought of aspiring to be fashionable 😀 This is a university area and I am retired, so fashion is not a high priority.
Also in winter for warmth I add a puffa vest :
again I wear mainly from Lands End,
but this is a possible Burda pattern.
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Some more general comments
For style details, I do like the addition of a little ‘heirloom’ stitching or machine embroidery. There also seem to be gathers in many items 😀
My best and favourite colours are in a very limited range too : always in light warm neutrals – naturals, greys and tans, preferably textured, and with an occasional red.
My overall style and group of patterns do not fit well into any of the style categories used by stylists, perhaps it is a slightly ‘romantic’ version of ‘casual’ with a touch of ‘chic’. I like to be physically and mentally comfortable and, for me to be mentally comfortable, items need to be of good quality in both make and style lines. Possibly ’boutique chic’.
To make a mix-and-match capsule (if you like that approach to minimising the number of clothes you own/make, and to simplifying your choice of what to wear) you need to co-ordinate your pattern choices in shape (easy if you’re always starting from one pattern), and make the garments in compatible colours. See these posts on capsules and on simplifying your wardrobe.
When you have identified your key garment patterns, you can get them to fit well so they become TNTs (Tried ’N True). Or you can work the other way round if you already have TNTs. You could identify your favourite garment style from the TNT patterns you have already chosen to take enough trouble with, so you can make them many times.
Only one of my pattern choices is from the Big 4, I do find currently that Simplicity has the best instructions. Several of my choices are not even from well known indies.
And each pattern is from a different pattern line.
You may find the same, if your personal clothing style too is not close to mainstream or ‘normcore’.
How lucky you are if you can find one pattern line that provides the styles you like to wear, and with instructions of a type you like to follow 😀 How much that does simplify things !
I do aspire to make several of the oversized top patterns from The Sewing Workshop, the epitome of boutique chic.
I tried to suggest one pattern line I would be willing to work with exclusively, but I just couldn’t do it 😀 Might it be Tropical Research ? I do love some of his shapes (not his pants or dresses), as well as his hand illustrated instructions.
I will keep searching. . . well, only as an interesting and informative project. Of course, using only one pattern line is not at all necessary, but it does focus the mind on which style elements are essential for you.
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Good Luck with your personal version of this Quest
♥️ 👍 ♥️ 😀 ♥️
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Lands End
Sewingplums 