Alyssarhaye and Sierra

 

Limit your closet.
Not your creativity.

Alyssarhaye shows us eight ways to style our Sierra.

A simple closet can still go far. The incredibly talented fiber artist, Alyssarhaye, took a break from her busy schedule to show us eight ways she styles our Sierra, using only what she has on hand. The Sierra is easy to layer over or under, and adding just one extra piece can change the entire look and feel, reminding us that we might be able to get more from our current closets than we think.

We design simple, practical dresses from merino wool. The Sierra Tank Dress uses a thick, French terry fabric, has two patch pockets on the front, and comes in Cool Olive and Charcoal Heather (with more colors planned for late 2020). Add it to your closet and you’ll have the perfect, cozy, sleeveless dress to lounge in all through summer.

 
 

Alyssarhaye runs BlackSheepMade, a shop offering gorgeous, colorful, handmade knitted and crocheted goods. Visit her at blacksheepmade.com or follow her on Instagram: @blacksheepmade.

Curious what other pieces Alyssarhaye is wearing in each look? Get the details below.

Look 1:

  • Hat: Wool Beret (Pink) thrifted

  • Earrings: Arc Earrings (Speckled Nude) by whiskey + wine (a local PDX artist!)

  • Shoes: Sk8-Hi High Top Sneakers (Vanilla Custard) by Vans

Activities: HBO and knitting in bed for more hours than I care to admit followed with a three mile walk with my pup, Ember.

Sniff check: Smellin’ like a brand new car! I did however need to spot clean the dress as I was making some buttered tortillas in the early morning and inevitably dripped butter all over myself. I used water and Tom’s Prebiotic Hand Soap to clean up. The oily stain was gone two heavily buttered quesadillas later.

Look 2:

  • Top: Linen Button Up with a Collar Tie (White) from Dream Cloud Boho Market (a PDX fave!)

  • Glasses: Percey Frames (Violet Magnolia) by Warby Parker

  • Shoes: Faux Fur Chelsea Boot (Olive Burnished) by Dr. Martens

  • Video additions:

    • The Jean Jacket (Pinter Wash) by Madewell

    • Mask: Jen Hewett Cotton + Steel (Imagined Landscapes) sewn by me!

Activities: Spent the day working in my home studio: sewing, organizing, and shipping out orders. My studio is essentially a sunroom and can get pretty warm so I fully expected just a lil bit o’ funk by the end of the day.

Sniff check: I’m a fairly sweaty person when active but not too smelly (ever thought you’d be analyzing your sweat patterns? No? Me neither!) However, I am aware that I can smell myself a little more when I wear a shirt with sleeves. Both the dress and top from today’s look came out still smellin’ unworn.

Look 3:

  • Top: Cropped cotton t-shirt (Grey) thrifted but has an H&M Divided label

  • Earrings: Ceramic Hoops (Marbelized Peach) thrifted in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan

  • Sweater: Tofino Cardigan (Bronzed Olive) pattern by Good Night, Day but knit by me!

  • Shoes: Mayari Sandals (Stone) by Birkenstock

  • Pup: Ember (Red Merle) Mini Australian Shepherd

Activities: A quick morning bike ride around the neighborhood, a visit to the vet for my pup, Ember, and a three mile dog walk to end the day.

Sniff check: With all that activity, I for sure thought there’d be a little bit of smell at the very least but alas, still smellin’ fresh! wool& wasn’t jokin’ about this 17.5 micron wool, folks!

Look 4:

  • Top: Texture & Thread Jacquard Knot-Front Top (Heathered Coal) by Madewell

  • Earrings: Arc Earrings (Speckled Nude) by whiskey + wine 

  • Shoes: Sk8-Hi High Top Sneakers (Vanilla Custard) by Vans

Activities: As I live with my grandparents and it’s a little unsafe for them to be out and about in stores right now, I am the designated grocery shopper. I spent the day shopping for my Lola’s (Tagalog for ‘grandmother’) favorite vegetables and buying printer ink.

Sniff check: At this point, I am almost begging for the dress to smell. I’ve defaulted to styling it as a skirt, layering tops over it again and again and it still smells clean!

Look 5:

  • Skirt: Flared Stripes Maxi Skirt (Pink) by adidas

  • Earrings: Cross Hoops by Essie Day Jewelry (absolute favorite jewelry designer in PDX)

  • Necklace: Knot Necklace (Brass Sand) - Tender Loving Empire

  • Shoes: Barefoot! This dress is great for lounging at home.

Activities: There’s a reason I’m not wearing shoes here. I didn’t step outside—not once! I sat in my studio all day sewing face masks for my friends and family, hence the barefoot and wrinkly skirt. Let’s be honest, who irons to stay at home?? (My mom. My mom actually does iron everything, but that’s a different story.)

Sniff check: I decided to give the skirt look a break and utilize the dress as a top instead. It makes for a nice tank top! It’s a little too thick to tuck into a pair of jeans, something I did attempt, so I recommend a maxi skirt to achieve a similar look.

Look 6:

Activities: If you’re a knitter and spotted my Field Bag, you know I spent the whole day knitting! I tried to speed-knit a crop top to layer over the Sierra Tank Dress but as you also know—knitting will not be rushed. Hopefully, I can finish it for some post-journaling looks!

Sniff check: Perhaps because I’ve been home a lot, or maybe the easy breezy California weather is at play here, but the dress still has yet to smell any type of way by Day 6. I haven’t even had the urge to reach for the Febreze! I did however spill food on myself again, surprise surprise. The red salmon curry was just too tasty! Luckily, it hit my button-up top and not the dress. The peanut sauce however… That needed to be cleaned from the dress hem, but again I just used hand soap and water.

Look 7:

  • Top: Floral Button Up (Mustard) thrifted

  • Earrings: Ceramic Hoops (Marbelized Peach) thrifted in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan

  • Shoes: Checkerboard Slip-Ons (Brown/Tan) by Vans, but thrifted (can you tell I love a good flea market/garage sale/ thrift store run?)

Activities: As my dad lives alone and just a ten minute drive from my grandparents, I went to visit him for the day. We spent the afternoon making arroz con pollo and watching a variety of heist movies. Highlight: I didn’t spill food on the dress!!

Sniff Check: At the end of every day, I’ve developed the habit to really sniff the armpits of the sierra tank dress (think Mary Katherine Gallagher). And, every day, I am genuinely impressed that the dress carries no scent, from sweat to food to outdoor elements.

Look 8:

Activities: Typical Shelter-in-Place activities: a long dog walk, 4 meals, some audiobook and learned how to mend baseball hat straps on a sewing machine (easier than it sounds)!

Sniff check: Out of fear I have grown immune to my own funk, I asked my mom to take a whiff of the seemingly un-smelly dress. To her shock and my relief, the dress still smells clean y’all!!

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