Tag: Project 30 wears

Jackets & Jumpers vs 30 Wears

Published on by sewTreefog1 Comment

Given our climate, I only wear jackets and jumpers (sweaters) for about 4 months of the year. Most of my casual jackets get worn frequently, but the dressier types, such as suit jackets, are worn much less frequently.

* On-Track – since I expect to get around 10 years wear from my jackets, those newer items which are getting around 3 wears a year would be considered as on-track. Those worn less often appear in separate columns.

Jackets

So here is the stats and breakdown for the jackets. My casual jackets get well worn. The couple that aren’t worn as often is because one having really stiff fabric and the other is a colour which is difficult to pair it with. The majority are plain colours which are easy to combine with other garments.

The dressy jackets don’t get a lot of wear, largely to changes in job roles (no board meetings) and a largely casual lifestyle. They still need to be in the wardrobe for some occasions. Classic styles and good quality construction means they will be wearable for a long time. I just don’t need to make any more. I still have fabrics in stash for dressier jackets but they would be better used for a more casual style. Which is a bummer as I’d really love to make a couture French jacket.

Jackets vs 30 Wears – 65% on track. Dressy jackets don’t get worn often
FavE Jacket Patterns

These are favourite jacket patterns – a classic blazer, classic jean jacket and more elevated jean jacket that works well in linen and a parka. I’ve used Lekala and Knipmode patterns for these, as I’ve already done the hard yards fitting them. Most pattern companies have a version of these. The red knit jacket shown below is an example of how I’ve used a dressier pattern that has a lot more of a smart-casual look.

Jumpers

This was a surprising success with only three garments not making the grade, bit close to it.

Jumpers vs 30 Wears – 85% make the cut. A few that aren’t worn that often

Fave Jumper Patters

I have a few go-to patterns here. The main standouts are:

  • McCalls 6614 – Great as a light – medium weight jumper with a little bit of shaping
  • Kwik Sew 3818 – The North Face Denali look-alike
  • Ottobre 2017 #5 – Good basic. Change up the collar something different
  • Pattern Emporium Be You Tee – Love this for a sweater knit

Takeaways

  • Don’t need any more dressy jackets
  • French style jacket, if I make one, will need to be more casual in appearance
  • Stick to classic styles
  • Preferably solid colours. Prints need to be able to be worn with different colour pants, (or black and blue) to be useful

Sewing for 30 Wears – Me Made May 2025

Published on by sewTreefog3 Comments

This is the first time I’ve participated in Me Made May but I have always been looking at how to get better use from the garments that I make. Back in 2018, I started a project scorecard that would rate my makes. Among the criteria was if I would get 30 wears from the garment. Over the course of May, and as I switch my wardrobe from summer to winter, I’ll be making a tally of how many wears each garment has had and what I can learn about my sewing habits.

How do you think I will go??


What is Me Made May:


MMM is a wardrobe challenge create by Zoe from So,Zo What Do You Know blog. For more details, check out the Me Made May FAQs. How you interpret it is your choice but the goal is to improve your relationship with your handmade items.. For some people, this can be a challenge to wear lesser worn items, or wear things in different ways. The main aim is to take the opportunity to learn some useful lessons that could teach you what to make (and not make) in the future!

My Project Scoring System:

Back in 2018, I started a project scorecard is a way for me to evaluate the project in a consistent way. At the time, I was making a lot of closet squatters due to poor choices.   I wanted to reduce the number of failed garments (we all make them!) and improve the quality/usability of each finished item.

For more details on the scoring system, see this post. In short, the criteria that I settled on were as follows:

  • Appearance – How it looks
  • Construction – How well it is made
  • Outfits – How many things I can wear it with
  • 30 Wears – Will I wear it at least 30 times
  • Lifespan – How long it will last
  • Style – Will it still be in style over it’s lifetime

My ratings are brutally honest! I’m not the type of person that tries to make out that everything I make is ‘better than sliced bread’.  An overall score of 50% or above suggests a successful project.  To achieve the top rating in a category, there must truly be something special.

This is a sample of my project report card.

Sample report card
Sample parttern info

30 Wears:

The 30 wears campaign (from the movie The True Cost)  is a sustainability initiative that encourages wearing clothes more often, ideally at least 30 times, to reduce waste and the impact of fast fashion.

Over the years, I’ve relied on the “30 Wears, Outfits and Style” to guide my sewing projects and fabric purchases. Often when I have a really special bit of fabric, I want to make something flashy with it. But this doesn’t often result in the garment being worn as often. I have learnt that asking the question “Will I wear that 30 times?” and “How many ways can I wear it?” results in a more conservative pattern choice but a much more loved and worn garment

How well have I done:

Over the next 4 weeks, as I change my wardrobe from summer to winter, I’m going to take a keen interest in how often a garment is worn. For some items it may not have been in my closet long enough to have 30 wears. For example more recent makes or ones like a Goretex jacket that will last a couple of decades but be worn infrequently. To account for that I’m going to mark them as a “on-track to 30 wears”, rather than just the number of wears.

  • Wear Criteria:
    • > 30 Wears
    • 15-30 Wears
    • 5-15 Wears
    • <5 Wears
    • On-track to 30 wears
  • Garment Categories (each further divided into Dressy, Smart Casual, Casual, Sport, Mufty)
    • Woven jackets
    • Knit jackets and jumpers
    • Shirts and Blouses
    • Knit Tops
    • Pants
    • Shorts
    • Sport specific
    • Underwear

Be sure to check back, or follow me on instagram (@SewTreefrog) to see the results.

Happy New Year

Published on by sewTreefog5 Comments

Happy New Year! Hope it is a good one, with lots of great memories, good health and great sewing.

I surprised myself and managed to tick all but one of last years sewing resolutions ( or resewlutions). So here I go again, hoping this will keep me honest… Continue reading “Happy New Year” →