2014

As the end of the year quickly approaches- less than 12 hours until 2015, is it obligatory to look back on 2014?  Well, let's do it anyway, because it's fun to see what happened.  I started this blog halfway through the year- my first post was June 1, 2014 and this will be my 62nd post!  Amazing that I had that much to say and I made that many things to show off.  I don't know exactly how many articles of clothing I made this year because I didn't keep track earlier in the year.  But, it is true that I made a ton of clothing this year.  Three suit jackets, three coats, an unknown number of tops, skirts, dresses, three (maybe four) pairs of pants, and twelve aprons.  Most of them were hits- but there were some misses. Shall we begin with the misses- it's good to get the bad out of the way first, right?

1. Colette Patterns Dahlia dress.  This is still my most annoying failure.  I wanted to love the dress and the pattern, but that neckline still isn't doing it. I think I'm going to chop off the top and add a leather waistband to the skirt. At least it will be wearable then.  Then I can make something else with the two meters I went and re-bought to fix it.

 

2.  This Jennifer Lauren Bronte top.  This is a miss solely due to the fabric color.  It looks like a gym top.  The patterns is awesome. 

 

3.  My franken Dahlia/Francoise dress.  This is because the fabric shredded after the first wear.  Boo!  As I was looking at it, I realized that I could have fixed the problem pre-sewing with interfacing the edges.  But I didn't think about it until the damage was done.  I might try and go back to interface the shredding part so that I might be able to salvage it? 

 That's it for failures.  I have a couple of in progress outfits that I stopped working on because I didn't like where it was going, but I might go back and finish them this year.  They're not failures yet!  Now, for the rest- I couldn't decide on a top five, so we're just going go with my favorites in general.

1.  Vogue 1419.  It's my most recent finish, but I think it might be my favorite think I have ever made.  I love the fabric, the silhouette, the finishing.  I have worn it every day since I've made it.  (Except for today- it's all of 15F (-10C) so too damn cold.)

2. It is too hard to put things in order for me.  I have made so many things that I love this year. So here are a smattering of my favorite makes in no particular order.  I made Waffle Patterns Luffa jacket twice, so I must love it. The first one was inspired by Don Cherry, hockey present extraordinaire.  It also won the Everyday Casual category of the Sew Indie Month competition.  The second I added a bow to the collar (I can't have a simple plain jacket can I?)

3.  Butterick 6094.  A dress that I made twice as well, but ending up with two completely different looks.  The first one was made out a bright blue ponte jersey from Smuggler's daughter.  It is one of my most comfortable dresses to wear.  The second version, however, gets the most compliments.  I used a floral printed cotton, closed up the back, and made it full length.  It's definitely a showstopper.

4. Fabric painting.  I decided to make my Marine Ball gown for the second year in a row, and decided on giant poppies.  I couldn't find any, so I brought fabric paint instead and messed around with it on a skirt and then the belt for my gown.  I also hand painted the aprons I made for charity.  I have bought more fabric paint, so I hope to make some more creations in the new year.

5. Vogue 1353.  Another multiple make.  Usually that's a good sign that I like a pattern.  I made one iteration out of gray wool pinstripe- inspired by a dress another fashion icon of mine wore (Angelina Jolie).  The other one was made out of likely coated cotton, a completely inappropriate dress material, but still works.  

6.  Here are some other things that were made this year that I love- enjoy!

Things that I have learned this year- I love a. bright colors, b. floral prints, and c. statement pieces.  Based on my plans for the new year, I don't think that this will change. I have also learned that I make some funny faces when taking pictures.

Other notable things about 2014 for me- we moved from Sao Paulo, Brazil to Kyiv, Ukraine.  I think that I'm still dealing with having winter again.  I traveled to Argentina, Turkey, Russia, Colombia, and England.  In the new year, we have Canada and Italy already planned :).  I was in Russia during the Winter Olympics and in Brazil during the World Cup.  I spent a lot of time this year watching sporting events!  I didn't finish any of my new years resolutions this year- they were being able to bench press 100 lbs and read War and Peace in the original.  I gave up on both about the same time- March 2014 (the bench pressing was because I got sick with toxoplasmosis and was too worn out to work out and War and Peace was because of the French). I'm still working on my resolutions for this year.  Likely they will be sewing related.  Anyway- that was my year- Happy New Year!  And happy sewing!