My Fall/Winter Sewing Plan 2025
Ideas, fabrics, and strategies to plan your own seasonal wardrobe
Last year I used the “Design Your Wardrobe” process from Seamwork to put together a sewing plan for fall/winter but I ended up spending most of the season traveling which meant little time for sewing. I still like what I planned, and already have the fabrics on hand, so this year I’m completing that plan along with a few additions. If you’re planning your own fall/winter sewing projects, I hope this post gives you ideas for fabrics, patterns and ways to organize your queue for the season.
Planning my projects helps me develop filters to sift through all the potential ideas and fabrics and keeps me from getting distracted by all the shiny new things.
As part of my planning process, I use the ‘Three-Word Method’, a concept popularized by stylist Allison Bornstein to help her clients develop their personal style. I loosely apply her method by choosing three adjectives to define my style. Currently my words are minimal, classic and polished.
When I evaluate a project, I ask myself whether it aligns with those adjectives. This means I can easily dismiss something like a ruffled blouse (even though they look really fun to sew) because it doesn’t fit my overall aesthetic.
It also helps to define a color palette. This narrows fabric choices and ensures everything works well together. My color palette follows colors that complement my own coloring. No matter how amazing the fabric is, if it’s the wrong color, I need to step away.
Finally, I am trying something new this season, which is estimating how long it will take to sew each garment. I tend to want to sew all the things so understanding the time commitment helps me set realistic goals and avoid overloading my queue. These estimates reflect how long it will take me to finish a project while fitting it into my everyday life, not how many full sewing days are required.
I also give myself a seasonal cutoff. I stop sewing cold weather projects by the end of March at the latest (I live in New England where the weather is cold through April).
While the projects are listed in the order in which I plan to sew them, I often shuffle my queue as the season unfolds.
Teak worker jacket
I wanted to be able to wear this while the weather was still mild so it was the first project of the season. I wrapped it up in early October after about 10 days of sewing. You can read more about this project here.
Burgundy sweatshirt
Another finished project! This was a fast, fun sew that took less than a day thanks to my overlock machine.
Cream oxford cloth button up shirt
I’ve made classic white shirts before only to leave them unworn. White is just not my color. This time I’m trying a warm toned cream instead. I like the substantial hand of oxford cloth for fall/winter so I decided to use this material for my current bespoke shirt making class. I am following along with the weekly class and expect to finish by the conclusion of the final class on December 12.
Camel hair coat
I meant to make this last year but ended up making a different coat instead. Because I’m using camel hair, I expect this project to take longer than my last coat, likely around three, perhaps even four weeks. My goal is to have it ready for a Christmas trip, and since I don’t want to rush, I started it this week, just in time to join in Martha Moore Porter’s coat sew along.
Caramel leather skirt
I intended to make this for spring but didn’t get to it. I made a denim version of this skirt in September and once fitted it only took a day to complete.
Finish bespoke trousers
I don’t like unfinished projects, but this one has lingered. The purpose of the bespoke trouser class (you can read more about that here) was to learn technique, not necessarily to produce a finished garment. That said, I love the pattern I drafted and I want to complete it. I’m at the waistband stage, but there’s still a fair amount of finishing work ahead, likely a week’s worth. Luckily I found some styling inspiration to motivate me.
Dark denim Canadian tuxedo
I am craving a classic jeans and matching jean jacket combo. A deep indigo denim will work well through winter and into April so this is a great investment of time and effort. I’m still deciding on the exact patterns but I expect both pieces together will take just under two weeks.
Chanel style jacket
I meant to make this for spring 2024 but this fabric and style work beautifully year round. I’ve made two similar jackets before using the same pattern and I estimate this will take about 2 ½ to 3 weeks.
Dark denim shirt
I have a couple of ready-to-wear denim shirts in lighter washes and want to add a darker version to the mix. I’ll use my bespoke shirt pattern for this one, which will likely take 3 to 4 days.
Alterations
A few alterations projects also fit neatly into my fall and winter wardrobe: redoing the neckline on my blue t-shirt (Fibre Mood Erica), downsizing my teak color pants (Daughter Judy Brier Pant) and shortening the sleeves on a plaid button up shirt I liberated from my husband’s closet. Altogether, these will probably take 3 to 4 days to complete (the pants resizing is time consuming), and I’ll fit them in between larger projects.
The overall plan may look ambitious, but the total time estimate, about 75 days, fits comfortably within my seasonal sewing plan, even with travel factored in. If I finish ahead of schedule I’ll celebrate by adding new projects!
What about you, what do you have planned for fall/winter sewing?
Happy sewing!
Norma
You are the first sewist online that has documented how long it may take to sew a garment. I look at patterns and I immediately know how much time it will take for me to complete and decide whether I want to invest that much time out of my week. So I now invest in the best fabric I can afford and use patterns that are classic and easy which allows the fabric to shine.
I love these pieces! And I particularly love how you take a piece that you’ve seen somewhere and try to find a pattern etc that could work to “copy it”. I do this all the time and the challenge is to find a pattern that is a good base. Thank you for all your hard work into making your posts so lovely AND practical.