Tag Archives: Project 333

Project Streamline – Shorts

2 Comments

I know it is almost winter (and the temperatures definitely reflect that fact) but today I am going to review my selection of shorts.  Perhaps it is easier to be rational about clothes in the opposite season?

SHORTS

Once again, I will catalogue everything that are shorts regardless of the state of them.

2012-05-28 01Good casual shorts – 3 pairs – black, white and khaki in the same style.
PROS – colour, fit
CONS –none
DECISION – they all stay – basis of my summer casual wardrobe

2012-05-28 02Rugby knit shorts x 2 – grey and red
PROS – comfortable, worn at home
CONS – 11 years old, paint-spattered
DECISION – keep wearing until they wear out

2012-05-28 03Refashioned shorts from some hiking pants
PROS – super comfortable and lightweight
CONS – generally worn at home or locally
DECISION – keep wearing them

2012-05-28 04Board shorts
PROS – hardly worn
CONS – not sure how much I will wear these
DECISION – reassess my swimwear/board shorts when it gets closer to summer

Today I heard of someone planning an overseas trip who thought 1 pair travel pants, 3 pairs jeans, 3 pairs cargo pants and a skirt was a reasonable number of ‘bottoms’ to pack.  I don’t even own 3 pairs of jeans!!  When I hear stories like that I know that I do not really have a lot of clothes.

Project Streamline – Dress

2 Comments

Did you notice the singular – dress?  That is correct, I own 1 dress.  I have had this dress for 3 years and during the summer it is worn at least once per week.  It works well at the cusp of the season with a cardigan, too.  This is a perfect example of everything an item of clothing should be.

Relatively classic style
Versatile
Good quality
Comfortable

It is also fully lined, 100% cotton and made in Australia.

When I first tried it on I realised that it would require some alterations as it was too long in the waist and too deep in the armholes for me.  I was able to do this by removing the collar and lifting the shoulder seams before replacing the collar.  Even if I had to pay for this to be professionally done, it would have been worth the expense.

So, no decluttering in this category.  The dress stays and has pride of place in my wardrobe.

Black dress with white spotsI want to make a couple more dresses like this one so that I can wear a dress and sandals to work each day during the summer.  The existing dress is still way too good to consider deconstructing it so I may have to use a combination of a commercial pattern and the measurements from the dress.

There are no other categories  in my wardrobe which contain only a single item, so next week I will be back to justifying my various collections.

Meanwhile, I am creating a list of things I would like to buy when we are overseas.  The first things on the list are 2 pairs of trousers that are suitable for wearing to work  and an outfit for a wedding at the end of March in Canberra.  I have no idea of what I want for the wedding outfit so it will be a matter of looking to see what I like.  The other criteria will be that it is versatile enough to be able to be worn for other occasions.

Project Streamline – Trousers

2 Comments

It is now the middle of May and halfway through the 3 month period of my participation in Project 333.

I flouted the ‘rules’ on Saturday and wore a plain red knit top, white ¾ trousers and red/white striped overshirt.  None of these were on my original list.  The weather was unseasonably warm and all of these items are on my ‘big picture’ list.

Let me explain.  Ever since I started the challenge of wearing only 33 items for a period of 3 months, I have been mentally working on creating a master list.  This means I will not look at my wardrobe in terms of the next 3 months but rather the whole year encompassing all 4 seasons.  I am identifying what works and what doesn’t and rather than have a major cull it will be a matter of removing things as they wear out and replacing only if required.

The first part of the journey is to catalogue what I really have instead of simply saying that I don’t have many clothes.  Each week I will photograph and discuss one type of article of clothing.  Today is trousers so you can judge for yourself.

TROUSERS

This category includes everything from trousers to wear to work to trackpants that I do not wear outside the boundaries of our property.

2012-05-14 01Charcoal grey work trousers
PROS – colour, weight, style
CONS – too big in the waist, slightly too long, only one pair, about 7 years old
DECISION – wear for the rest of the winter  then send to op shop.  Replace with 2 pairs of well-fitting trousers.

2012-05-14 02Black ¾ trousers
PROS – good fit, nice fabric, suit work and casual wear
CONS – nil
DECISION – keep wearing until they wear out, consider something similar as a replacement

2012-05-14 03Jeans No 1
PROS – perfect fit, op shop jean which I bought and altered to fit
CONS – nil
DECISION – keep wearing them

2012-05-14 04Jeans No 2
PROS – good fit, well-worn
CONS – getting threadbare in places
DECISION – keep wearing till the end of winter, send to op shop, look for another pair to replace them

2012-05-14 05Black Cotton casual 3/4 trousers
PROS – good fit, basic colour
CONS – a few years old, won’t last forever
DECISION – keep them continue to wear

I also have an identical white pair (the ones I wore on Saturday).  Same as above.

2012-05-14 06Striped 3/4 cotton trousers
PROS – there are 7 nice matching buttons that I can salvage
CONS – 6 years old, a bit faded, the top I always wore with them has gone to the op shop, not really my colour, a bit tight
DECISION – remove buttons, send to the op shop

2012-05-14 07Navy 3/4 trousers
PROS – go with most tops I have
CONS – starting to fade a bit, am a bit over navy
DECISION – they get a reprieve at least until next summer.  Op shop if I find that I am not wearing them

2012-05-14 08Navy trackpants x 2
PROS – comfortable
CONS – unflattering
DECISION – keep wearing them at home

2012-05-14 09Grey drawstring pants
PROS – comfortable
CONS – unflattering
DECISION – keep wearing them at home

2012-05-14 10Cotton 3/4 pants x 3
PROS – comfortable, suitable for home and local activities
CONS – not my colours, starting to wear out
DECISION – keep wearing them at home

2012-05-14 11Sage green lightweight jeans
PROS – good condition, bought from op shop
CONS – not my colour, don’t wear them them much
DECISION – back to the op shop

2012-05-14 12Charcoal travel pants
PROS – comfortable, zip-off legs, love them
CONS – nil
DECISION – keep wearing them and buy another identical pair before we go overseas later in the year.

2012-05-14 13Beige travel pants
PROS – zip-off legs
CONS – not super comfortable, dry more quickly than the other style
DECISION – keep until we go overseas then decide their fate

This has been a cathartic exercise and if you are trying to minimise your wardrobe I would strongly suggest trying to convince someone else either verbally or in writing why you should keep certain items.  It has also been useful to do all of one type of garment together and then you can see just how many you really have and the range of occasions that they cover.

Watch out for more posts on the same theme each Monday for several weeks.  Categories will include skirts, dresses (that will be short as I only own 1 dress), shorts, cardigans and so on.

Now that I have laid bare the inner secrets of the best and worst of my trousers please feel free to comment – the number, quality etc as well as my thoughts and decisions.

Sunday Sewing

4 Comments

Today I took a break from the patchwork and did some other sewing.

First though, I did the ironing.  While I was doing it I discovered a tear in the ironing board cover.  I had noticed recently that it was getting close to wearing out.

001So it was time for a new one.  I decided that it could not be that difficult to make one so set about deconstructing the old cover.

002Here is what I salvaged: padding which I reused and also used as a pattern, bundle of polyester binding from the edge, elastic and clip from the edge, 2 velcro straps from underneath, edge strip which I used as a pattern.

003The fabric I used for the new cover is part of an op shop quilt cover that I bought last year.  I used the front to make a tablecloth for a work event and I had the backing left over.  I don’t think the quilt had been used and the fabric is 100% cotton.

004This the almost finished cover.  I just had to do some adjustments to the velcro straps which go underneath the board.  They were not long enough to go across my board so I had not used them previously.  I replaced the short end with some cotton tape so that I could use them.

005Just like new.

007This is the view under the board and you can see the modified velcro strap.

008I re-used most of the original cover when I made the new one.  The pile on the left is the cotton fabric which has gone into the compost.  On the right is the rubbish pile – remnants of foam which has almost disintegrated in places, the polyester thread from the unpicking (not visible) and the 2 short lengths of velcro that I replaced with cotton tape.

And a preview of things to come – starting from tomorrow and continuing each Monday for several weeks, I will begin a series  titled ‘Project Streamline’.  It is a natural progression (for me) from my participation in Project 333.  Please drop in and feel free to offer your thoughts/advice or you may like to join in.

See you tomorrow.

Project 333 – Planning For Summer

Leave a comment

I haven’t moved to the northern hemisphere.  It is late autumn here and heading into our coolest months.  Nevertheless, I am planning ahead and thinking about what I might like to have in my wardrobe by the time summer rolls around again.

I am making 2 tops in a style I have made before.  Here is one that just needs the bottom hemming and armhole binding done to complete it.

2012-05-09 01This is the back as it buttons up the back.  The fabric was in my stash so no outlay at the moment apart from the buttons.  It will be perfect with either black or white summer trousers or shorts.

The other top which is also partly made is simply plain black in a lightweight crinkle cotton.

I have given quite a bit of thought recently to how to simplify my wardrobe.  I will definitely be sticking to a couple of basic colours but more importantly I am feeling more confident about what styles of clothes I will wear and how to streamline my clothes to more accurately fit my lifestyle.

More on that another day.

Project 333 – More Than Just Clothes

Leave a comment

Project 333 is a minimalist fashion challenge, started by Courtney Carver of Be More With Less.  I am happily managing on 33 items of clothing, including 1 handbag.  Although I excluded jewellery, I am committed to wearing the same pair of earrings for 3 months.  Earrings are the only jewellery I generally wear apart from my wristwatch, wedding and engagement rings.

So what has this achieved?  I do all of the ironing each week as I need the items to wear the following week.  This means I do not end up with a huge pile of ironing.  I know what I am going to wear the next day as there are enough choices but not too many.

Realising that I can function quite adequately with a relatively small number of clothes made me consider the rest of my wardrobe and I have sent a few more things to the op shop.

I can also see exactly what I need to buy or make for the coming seasons so I am working on that.  I have 2 summer tops partly made and they are in colours that will work with my existing pieces.  I have a list of things to look for when we are overseas.

Although it is still well over 3 months before we go on holidays I have planned almost my entire travel wardrobe and bought a fleece jacket that I needed for the trip.

All of these things have flowed from the fact that having a basic selection of clothes has given me the space and time to really consider my wardrobe and hopefully continue to make wise choices.

By having the minimum of clothes to care for and maintain I have more time to do other things.  I also find myself applying the concept of ‘enough’ to many other facets of my life and possessions.

This evening I was knitting a dishcloth and it occurred to me that I have a box full of knitting needles despite the fact that I do not do a lot of knitting these days.  I will sort through the needles and take out any that I have more than one set of the same size.  I can only use 1 pair of needles at a time so any excess will be given away (Freecycle or op shop) so that someone else can have the benefit of using them.  It will not take up any less space as I will still have the box and I will have enough so that is all I need.

What things could you apply the concept of ‘enough’ to?  Love to hear your stories.

Where Did the Weekend Go?

Leave a comment

Here it is Monday night and I am still trying to work out where my weekends go.  I start with great intentions of achieving so much and by Sunday afternoon/evening I am left wishing that I had another day or two and then I would get everything done that I had planned.

No, of course I would not.  I would simply have a longer list.  When I was considering all of this last night I realised that although I do not seem to get everything done that I hope to, I do usually manage to make some forward progress.

By forward progress, I mean achieve something that will not need to be done again next week.  So this does not include regular jobs like cooking, washing clothes, ironing or even mending because I know they will all be back to be done again another day.

This weekend I helped The Duke re-hang the freshly painted doors on our new storage cupboard.  That is an achievement – we now have a completed cupboard in the downstairs entry.  I do not have to think about that again.

We have also been working on planning our trip.  We have finished the itinerary and have booked about 3/4 of our accommodation.  My goal is to have that completed well within the next 3 weeks.  That will mean I have 3 months clear before the trip to focus on reading guidebooks, planning sightseeing and things to do.  In short, making sure we make the absolute most of this ‘trip of a lifetime’.

I have not posted for a while about Project 333.  This is all ticking along smoothly with the minimum of fuss which is good as that is the essence of the challenge.  Tomorrow I will tell you a bit more about some of the things I am learning along the way.

Decluttering Day

4 Comments

This afternoon The Duke and I decluttered our wardrobes.  I did not have a lot to go as I had gone through my clothes when I decided to join in Project 333.  However, there were a couple of things which had survived the previous cull.

The Duke sorted through shirts which had seen better days as well as a few other things.

Here is the bag to go to the op shop.

2012-04-25 01All of our clothes are in one large wardrobe (half each) apart from 2 parkas each, The Duke’s suit and good jacket plus my winter coat.  They are hanging in the wardrobe in the guest bedroom.

I also sorted out the hangers.  We now have everything on the same type of hangers (plastic-coated) except for The Duke’s trousers which are on special trouser hangers that we bought from Howard’s Storage World some time ago and clip hangers for my skirts.  We have a lot of excess hangers (we must have had more clothes at some time) so this pile are going to the op shop.

2012-04-25 02I have kept about 16 plain wooden hangers which I intend to cover and give to Belle for the children’s clothes as they are fast outgrowing the child-sized hangers they currently use.

I have kept the spare plastic and trouser hangers that match the ones in use.

We have also made a list of the clothes we need to buy.  The Duke will need 4 more business shirts and 2 pairs of trousers.  I would like 1 or 2 pairs of trousers for work.  I also need to buy an outfit for a wedding we will be going to next year.  None of these are necessary right now as we have enough to get by so we will look until we find the right clothes at a good price.  We are considering waiting until we are in the US later in the year.

It was useful to regularly review exactly what clothes we have and consider what else we want to buy.

Project 333 Update & Plans

10 Comments

I have not posted what I have worn each day but suffice to say that I stayed within my guidelines, apart from the addition of my dress due to the warm weather.

Since it is still relatively warm I have decided to swap in 2 items.  They are the black dress with white spots and this pair of lightweight cotton trousers.

2012-04-20 01The two items I am swapping out are these – a polo-neck knit and my turquoise cardigan.

2012-04-20 02When winter finally arrives, I will swap them back to the original selection.

Thinking ahead to the next 3 months, I will be including these walking sandals in my 33 items.  They do not get worn often (as evidenced by the dust) but they are great for when we are travelling.

2012-04-20 03Speaking of travelling – that was the reason I did not post this last night.  I was busy working on our itinerary for our trip in August/September.  We have finalised the first 10 days and have accommodation booked.  The rest is still a work in progress and I am more than happy for any personal experience or local knowledge.

August 20 – Arrive Washington DC
August 21 – Washington
August 22 – Washington
August 23 – Washington
August 24 – Philadelphia
August 25 – Philadelphia
August 26 – New York City
August 27 – New York City
August 28 – New York City
August 29 – New York City
August 30 – Boston
August 31 – Boston

We plan to travel between these segments by train and walk/use public transport for getting around.

Then we intend to hire a car and tour for the next 12 days.  My plan is something like this:

Leave Boston, travel via Wilton and Bangor to Bar Harbor.  2 nights in Bar Harbor.  Travel to Portland and stay 2 nights.

Drive through Rhode Island and Connecticut, stay on Connecticut coast for 1 night, possibly Branford.

Travel to Woodstock, NY – stay 2 nights.

Drive to Saratoga Springs for 1 night.

Travel through Bennington, VT to Charlotte/Burlington for 1 night.  Dive to Gorham/Mt Washington for 2 nights – travelling via Stowe.

1 night in a town ?where that is not too far from Boston then drop car off in Boston and catch train to Washington DC.

Final night and half day in Washington DC before flying home.

Please feel free to comment on any aspect of this.  Bear in mind that we have never been to the US so this has all been planned from maps, the internet and a few ideas from friends.

I am keen to hear of any car hire suggestions.

Project 333 – The Ripple Effect

1 Comment

I have been contemplating what to write tonight when it occurred to me that reducing the clothes that I wear for the next 3 months to just 33 items is really the tip of the iceberg.

The concept of living with less stuff can be applied to many other areas of your life.

I find myself thinking critically about all of my stuff and wondering what we really need and how much is enough.  The concept of enough is an interesting one and it is very personal.  Each individual’s circumstances and experiences can lead to very different ideas of enough.  It is important to find what is right for you.  Books, backpacks, pens, CDs, glassware are all on my radar.  I may not actually get rid of anything but I am certainly giving thought to our needs.

In the meantime, back to Project 333.  Here are some other blog posts about the project.  If you find any others that interest you, please add them in the comments.

Crosswalk

Zero Waste Home

Chi Garden

Project 333

The Gardener’s Cottage