It’s spring! My favorite sporty classic brands, LL Bean and Lands End are showcasing casual classic sporty capsule wardrobes. I’ll share my favorite patterns and the must-sew things to match these looks.
These classic or preppy brands have been around for decades with good reason – they offer generally higher quality and reasonable pricing on garments you can wear for decades.
You’ll still want to hop onto their websites or catalogs (!) for things like cotton sweaters or cashmere sweaters, but the majority of their offerings you can sew yourself. And if you are into sustainable fashion, their brands are among the more popular and lasting on all the reseller apps.
Spring and summer for me are my preppiest of seasons. I gravitate in the fall and winter to more streetwear styles and what I like to call “hockeyrinkcore” – puffy layers of soft to keep me warm when the ambient temp indoors is colder than outdoors and the outdoors is 30 degrees! Making my way to these sporty preppy looks feels easy, and I can pull out all the things I’ve made over the years too.
I’m in my mid 50s so I’ve seen trends come and go and come again (and go again!) I know that I don’t need to abide by whatever hem width of jeans we’re wearing (just wear what you want) but at the same time, I enjoy mixing in a few trends (barrel pants are a fun new thing that I don’t ever remember wearing before.)
And with all this, I recognize that these are the things I can wear every day – when every day is a work from home business. My husband has changed his wardrobe little in the last three decades. He did go away from the polo shirt (which is now trending with my teen son) but the same buttondown shirts he’s worn for decades he still wears, often under a quarter zip with joggers, as he works from home when he’s not traveling.
I picked out five things for spring and summer 2026 that I think you’ll love to sew:
- Swimsuit – a bandeau or tank style suit is always a classic and you’ll wear it forever
- Wide leg drawstring pants in linen
- classic stripe tee – 3/4 sleeve or short sleeve
- Sporty jacket
- Sporty pants / shorts for hiking/casual wear
You’ll also want to add in a sweater and possibly a rain jacket (if you’re going hiking). I once did a hiking trip in CA in August and we all brought a rain jacket because if you’re going to hike, you should, not realizing that it never rains in California, least of all in August! But unless you’re going to Cali, have a rain jacket.
Here are the looks you’ll be copying:
Wide leg pants: Any pair of wide leg elastic waist pants patterns you have in stash will do here. There are free ones out there too, try these from Mood Fabrics. https://blog.moodfabrics.com/the-thelma-halter-top-and-the-louise-wide-leg-pants-free-sewing-patterns/ Also a nod to Thelma and Louse (the tunic is awesome too).
Casual hiking pants – I veered a bit from this LL Bean pair shown in olive above) to give you a pair of sporty fun ones in a barrel shape. I like the Emile from Ready to Sew with it’s panels, side pockets and back pockets, for a great pair of casual/hiking pants. Mix prints & stripes in this. Matchy Matchy Sewing Club also makes the Recess Play Pants which you can do the same – and add lots of pockets for hiking and adventuring. They are also wider and looser, for more ease while climbing up those boulders and scrambling over creeks. Waterproof hiking boots are a must.
My all time favorite boat neck tee with a classic Mariner tee neckline is the Mr. & Mrs. HP Breton Tee.. It has a great neckline finishing technique, the perfect easy shape and 3/4 sleeves, just like the Breton tee. Don’t just limit yourself to stripes, this works equally as well in solids, in French Terry and even a heavier knit like double knit. Bonus in this has a great men’s tee for the guy in your life. And no worries about “boyfriend sweater” issues (where if you make him a sweater, he leaves you?), it’s fast and easy to sew. But maybe wait til he’s put a ring on it.
Bandeau swimsuit pattern: Ellie and Mac has the Ashley Hourglass Swimsuit pattern – I haven’t sewn this but it looks fantastic and I’m actually going to buy it myself! There’s a great tankinki version from Kwik Sew (available on Ebay), 3608 which I have made a bunch of times.
A basic tank suit sewing pattern (if you do not have one already) is the Cottlesoe by Megan Nielsen Patterns. Jalie also has great swim, and the Diane is an excellent basic tank suit with some extra details you can add.
Casual sporty jacket: The utility jacket abounds from almost every pattern designer. Classic “barn”style shown here is available all over the place. Add the contrast collar and cargo pocket for the true “barn” style and line it in flannel for a true spring/fall barn jacket. Try the Ilford Jacket, or the Painter Jacket. I’m going to do a denim one from Tauko magazine (a modern version of the classic barn jacket.) This is called the Carmy.
Both LL Bean and Landsend carry good cotton sweaters for spring and summer, get your favorite colors either from them or try secondhand marketplaces like Poshmark, Thredup or Depop.
Spring sporty capsule works for cool almost wintry spring (40s) through to May’s almost summery days. Layer sweaters, your rain jacket or barn jacket, pants, a Breton tee and when it gets warmer, shed the coat, the sweater and the heavier pants for lighter weight versions. A swimsuit is perfect for travel (see my road trip spring break capsule here or another one here) if you’re going somewhere for Spring Break. Better get sewing though, spring break starts in a week!