2014 sewing review

I started the year with something for me, and didn't stop there...

And there is one T-shirt, a blouse and a pair of pants that haven't yet been photographed. The hits and misses?

Well the first dress, the one that looks and feels like a camel bred with a settee; definite miss. The Coco? Saved only by the fabric, it's still getting some wear. The Coco top didn't even make this picture collage. The Lisette denim jacket made me realise just how fussy I am about inside finishes. I won't make another jacket without lining it. Live and learn.

The jersey knit dresses have been the standout successes and are in very heavy rotation. The silver sparkly Weekend Getaway has come out for a couple more parties recently and is just the easiest thing to throw on but still look very dressed up. (just realised I still haven't worked out what to do with Grandma's vintage silk)

I remain quite clueless about fitting myself, but since I'm hooked on sewing and wearing knits, I'm mostly getting away with it.

The kids love their knits too....

If P were here to ask what his favourite of the year was, there's no doubt he'd say the Knight Hoodie. Man, he loves that sweater! All of the T-shirts have had heavy wear. He especially liked his Robert Morris Sculpture T, but we never did get around to visiting the art gallery while wearing it.

The duds? Well, sewing so many pairs of navy shorts and pants for school was always going to get boring. As much as he loved the Sandbox pants initially I think he found the drawstrings too fiddly, and since they're a heavy knit, I suspect they may have been falling down a bit.

The insane straw boater project ended up being a touch too small once the Petersham ribbon was added. Worn once, but worth the effort just to prove to myself I could do it.

Much harder to predict is what A will like, or wear, or not tolerate at all. After declaring her favourite colour was purple for most of the year, she surprised me by seeming to be most fond of the brown Hopscotch dress, and the brown Japanese leaf dress. Happy surprise, but a surprise nonetheless.

The things I really like that she simply won't wear are the Apple Picking dress in that sweet  Alannah Hill fabric that J Wo gave me, and the red wool peplum. Oh well, they'll be as good as new when they get passed on to someone else.

And what became of the insane beaded deer project? She declared it "too bobbly" for a long time and then finally decided to wear it one day. I snapped the picture above, and then we headed out for the day. We ended up at a country school fete which had a bouncy castle. No sweat, she's a pretty timid bouncer... Next thing I know she's graduated from the little bouncy castle to the giant inflatable slide next to it and she's going down head first! Needless to say, the larger beads didn't survive, there are bits of frayed beading thread everywhere and the sweater itself is filthy. Still, I had a lot of fun making it, and it was pretty hilarious watching her fly down the slide. Clothes are for wearing, right?

The only kid's clothes I bought this year were some school uniform shirts for P and socks and underwear for both kids. Otherwise I went 12 months without buying anything for either of them.

On to making things just for the fun of it: Here are all the gifts and accessories and Little Things To Sew projects I made this year. - Correction: I didn't make all of them. The kids did some sewing and made the butterflies (with help). The blue one on the card was made entirely by P and was a gift for his prep teacher. Thanks to Heidi for the inspiration and link to tutorial.

Admittedly a few of those gifts were projects from the Little Things To Sew book that I was making because of my challenge to sew the lot, the recipient just happened to be in the right place at the right time. But shhh, don't tell them that.

For Christmas, Flipper got a couple more pair of lycra booties and some little phone cases made out of old PUL nappy bags. It's on my list of things to do to share the cycle shoe cover pattern as I really don't think you'll find another like it on the web anywhere (You've been searching too, right?!)

The other gift that hasn't yet made the blog is the Newcastle Cardigan that I made for Roger. I took some photos of it on the hanger, but missed seeing Roger at Christmas, and I know you'll be hanging out for modelled shots. That's his New Year mission, and perhaps, a condition of receiving the gift! :)

I had a lot of fun with the blog this year. Hosting the Little Things To Sew challenge was so enjoyable, and only a lot of work because I suck at formatting Excel spreadsheets. Being a contributor to the Kid's Clothes Week was a blast and quite an honour. I landed a dream job with Oliver + S contributing to their blog on a regular basis. I think my job description is to do interesting things with their patterns and occasionally something a bit out of left field. I loved the Valentine's gift exchange and I'm hoping Sanae and Ute host it again, and I'm branching out into blogging advertorial and have a new Thread Theory pattern to show you very soon.... (I think you know I'm brutally honest about what I think about a pattern and that there won't be any cash for comment on this blog!)

Thanks to everyone who has visited the blog in 2014. I hope, by documenting what I make, the brilliant bits and the balls-ups, I can amuse or inspire you in the new year.

Have a Happy New Year!