001. How to sew your own wardrobe

I wanted to write a first post about why I'm writing this blog. Maybe it'll be better served in the profile at a later date, but for now, that's what I want to talk about. I just want to get it down in writing what I want to do with this blog, and where I want it to go, so that I can come back to this post if I ever get off track.

Ever since I was in high school, I found that I wasn't satisfied with the clothes I bought at the mall. It wasn't enough to really show my uniqueness or creativity, in a time when I think all kids should (are?) discovering themselves and their individuality. Can't say I didn't buy into certain trends, but I think that's what fashion is about.

I liked alternative styles; I'm not ashamed to say I was a Hot Topic fanatic at 14. Hey, we're all a little stupid at 14. But I also wasn't impressed by the quality of clothing and accessories sold at Hot Topic, and I thought "Hey! I can do this with a little practice. I know I want a dress that looks like this, but I don't have the funds for all this overpriced crap that's not worth the money anyway, and I can figure it out."

So I started checking things out on the internet. What did we use back then? Yahoo search? AskJeeves? Whatever. I then discovered things like DIY sites, and the relation of DIY to punk culture, and the snowball kept rolling.

From weekly trips to the thrift store, I managed to cobble together several shirts, skirts, and dresses by hand-sewing, non-sewing, safety pinning, and gluing. (Yes, gluing. I didn't get a sewing machine of my own until I was 20). People at school began to notice my clothes. And when my grandma noticed, she started teaching me how to knit and sew with her machine.

Over time, my style choices changed, my skills improved, and I continued joining forums and online communities for crafty people like myself. I'm a huge fan of customization. I love going to any store, and buying a piece of clothing, then going home and cutting it up, adding things to it, and making it my own thing. I like standing out in a crowd by dressing a little differently (although I've toned it down a hell of a lot since high school!), and just having a bit more sparkle than the person who stands next to you crossing the street. It feels good.

In this blog, I'd like to talk about building your own customized wardrobe. None of that magazine fashion nonsense. Current trends are all good and well, but there's something to be said about being able to make it your own with your own hands. I'm not going to tell you what to wear, or how to wear it, but I will post tutorials for things I've made, and hopefully be able to sell a few interesting garments to other people who appreciate the same fashion sense as myself.

This is not about me dictating, or even advising you on fashion. I want to try to keep it open, while adding my opinion. I want the reader to make his/her own decisions and opinions based on personal preference, because style is all about personality. Fashion is beautiful, and always changing, but incredibly difficult to obtain. Style is all about being yourself, and showing people what kind of person you are by the way you can express yourself through your clothing.

Sew a Wardrobe is about learning some DIY tricks and, literally, sewing a wardrobe. Finding any manner of things to get creative with, and recycling things you already own so that you use every piece in your wardrobe. It's not just cool, it's economical. :) I'm going to try to post as many varied topics as I can, for clothes you can wear to school, to work, to the mall, or for lunch with a friend, to concerts, clubs, costume parties, and whatever else I can think of. And I hope that with this blog, I can inspire people to be more creative and expressive with their everyday look.