progress on wardrobe capsule…

10/04/2021 12:04 pm \ 2 Comments \

I’ve made some more things to add to my little make12/capsule wardrobe….

I think I got this rather smallish scrap of  very nice damask upholstery fabric from my friend N when she cleared out her stash… I fell in love with the pretty ocean-blue colour immediately and the scrolling curls in the damask reminded me of seam foam…  I thought there might be enough for a little skirt. And there was… JUST!!  as in, I literally had the smallest quarter handful of scraps leftover after I’d finished with it!

I started out by cutting my skirt block as well I could.  This left me with a micro-mini that would barely cover my knickers in wearing, so I put my university level mathematics to good use, calucating the exact width I could cut the side pieces into in order that they could fit around the entire hemline of the mini evenly and making maximum use of the very limited area.  And I think I did it!  I found that I could have a little bit of extra width on the last pieces to be cut, and I used these at the centre back, where I think it’s nice to have a little bit of extra length anyway.  So there is a very subtle high-low hemline going on at the back too, as well as a slight curving out of the centre-back seam which give the skirt a little “kick” at the back.

With a basically finished skirt, I realised I had a small rectangle leftover that I thought would be big enough for a pocket facing, so I slipped a little pocket in the horizontal skirt seam.

It has the aqua damask at the back of the pocket, for a nice uniform look when you peek into the pocket on the outside, and the remainder of the pocket is made of the cream coloured gingham I used for my recent little top, which I’ve just now realised I haven’t blogged yet  Whoops!  I will get to it!  it’s a prototype for Cassie’s and my newest pattern which we are working really hard on getting out very soon, I hope.  Anyway, the pocket lining is from the scraps from that.

Due to lack of fabric, I finished the hemline and the waistline of the skirt using a bias bound finish… this was cut from an old shirt of Craig’s.  So really, the only thing I had to buy new for this project was the zip!  I hand stitched the bias bound hemline but the waistband I topstitched on my machine.  The pocket is handstitched on the inside to the skirt.  I love both my labels; this green one is Japanese, organised for me by my friend Yoshimi.

pocket in action… and boy do I miss my white wall in the old house!!  I had to borrow this one from Cassie  😀

Next up!

I’ve had this too-big-to-throw away scrap of yellow cotton jersey leftover from when I made last year’s mini-skirt and I thought I’d be able to get a little T-shirt out of it.  However I was too optimistic! and no matter how creatively I arranged it, even a little top was not going to happen. Well, maybe it could, but not without horizontal seams like I did in the skirt and in my opinion, in a jersey this is just not a good look.

Anyway, obviously I turned to my favourite old standby for smallish cuts of jersey fabric and made a set of underwear… I used my old favourite the Watson pattern by cloth habit, and managed to get two pairs of undies for one bra, which is my preferred ratio.

 I did my usual adjustments to the pattern, like fully lining the bra as outlined in more detail in this post here.  Also, I always cut the front of the briefs to be one piece to incorporate the outer crotch, so as to avoid that awkward horizontal seam at the front.  All elastics and bits and pieces were already in my stash, and the little white bows were recycled from an old, also me-made, set from the past.  I always recycle the bits that I can!

These are the second and third things in my make 12/capsule wardrobe that I proposed for myself, using all fabrics/notions from my stash.  I kind still kinda wish I’d had enough of the golden-yellow fabric to make a top, because I really like the idea of a yellow top in this particular capsule, but I suppose I can still make a top at some stage in the future.  Obviously I’m going to wear the underwear a lot, so it’s all good really.  I’m super happy with the little skirt too, it’s exactly the kind of thing I will wear both winter and summer.  I’m pretty happy it has a pocket too!

Details:

Top; from Burda 4/2014/115, details here
Skirt; my own design, old leftover damask from a friend
Shoes; made by me, details here

Underwear; the Watson pattern by cloth habit, leftover yellow jersey

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , , , , ,

of dots and bats…

13/03/2021 5:55 pm \ 13 Comments \

I made a swishy new skirt…

this beautiful rayon challis fabric was generously given to me by Minerva in the UK in return for a blog post for their site, which can be read here.. however because of course I am in the habit of documenting my makes here on my own personal blog too, then here we are!

For sometime I’ve been wanting to make a maxi skirt, and just thought what the heck, no time like the present!  It’s very nearly zero waste, which I am quite proud of.  This is the very simple design:

I measured my waist and hips, and gave myself a bit of extra in the hips, and divided by six to get a rough dimensions for a six-gore skirt design, and the width at the bottom hem decided by subtracting my waist measurement from the total fabric width and then dividing by two, and the length of the skirt was determined by the length of fabric I had, divided by two obviously.  So first step was to draw up the one skirt piece.  Yes, I used the same pattern piece for all six gores!…  I planned to fit three of the gores onto each half of the fabric length I had, laid alternately up and down to make the most of the area.  This was possible because the print is non directional.  Actually, side note, but print-matching as a concept is actually the biggest fabric waster OF THEM ALL, I know, pretty controversial thing to say, huh?  Or not, it’s actually quite obvious of course, although no one wants to admit it!  🙂

Initially I thought I’d try to be clever and cut a waistband and pockets from that bit of scrap off the sides, but I quickly realised that pockets and/or a waistband were going to be, respectively; ugly and/or unnecessary.  So this skirt has neither in the end.

some progress shots…

when making a skirt of a delicate fabric and bias side seams, I’ve found it a good idea to hang the pieces up for a day or so to let some of that bias drop out before seaming.  Otherwise I’ve sometimes noticed that over time, the fabric can grow a slightly “gathered” look either side of that stable side seam stitching.

After under stitching the waist seam I didn’t feel like it was sitting very smooth and neat, so I topstitched around the top edge.  Hangs much nicer now I think!

I used a black invisible zip because that’s what I had!

  

Hemline before and after trimming…

  

I hemmed using the triple stitched skinny hem, as described here…

I gave it a half lining, because swishy skirts have a tendency to be clingy skirts if they do not have a lining, to disastrous effect. Fortunately I had some yellow lining fabric leftover from when I made my yellow Mundaring raincoat.  A lining doesn’t need to be super long to be effective for a main skirt, but now it’s done and I’ve worn it I’ve retrospectively decided I would prefer a big swishy lining too.  I may or may not add a doughnut shape to the bottom some time, to get one.

Anyway, it’s still gorgeously swishy!  I’m wearing it here with my little hand stitched Alabama Chanin tank top, which is my favourite tank top.  I really should make myself another, because I could literally wear this two hundred times a year, easily!  I mean, I don’t, but I could, I love it that much… Hmmm  *wanders off to the fabric room in search of white cotton jersey…*

this is how I wore it to bookclub…

In non sewing news; we are nicely settled into our house at last.  I still have a lot of cleaning out and sorting out to do to get our “family of five”possessions whittled down to be better suited to “empty nesters” state of things *sob* but you know… Work in progress, always!

Oh, one other, this time sewing related thing… Cassie needed a feeding cushion for baby Theo, so I made one using some batman themed cotton drill from spotlight and a European pillow insert.  It has a big border so as to use up the entire width of fabric #wastenotwantnot and I put snaps along the bottom to take the insert out for cleaning.  Look how cute he is on his cushion!  Yes, I made the “Tshirt” here which is actually a onesie, and the pants were a gift from another doting relative that happened to match perfectly  🙂

Until next time!

pinterestmail
Posted in: sewing \ Tagged: , , ,

embroidered white top

05/03/2021 10:33 pm \ 10 Comments \

hello!

so, short side note; but I didn’t post any yearly resolutions/intentions here previously.  I did on instagram though.  Whoops!  Anyway, I did actually make a little resolution, and here’s the lowdown…

at the beginning of the year I was thinking about how I really enjoyed doing my “make 12” last year so I decided to do it again but this time with a little more flexibility ; I chose the above 12 textiles from my stash with the idea I’d make a sort of unplanned mini capsule wardrobe of 12 things.  Early on I optimistically thought I’d be able to do one thing per month but of course moving house, well, moving two houses as it turned out! and our new pattern were all pretty major and stressful events that ended up taking every ounce I had… and before I even knew it it’s March already!

spot the paw… ^

Anywhoo!  For patterns/designs I’m just gonna decide as I go …!  My 12 fabrics are a hopefully interesting and eclectic mix, including wool, corduroy, damask, drill, jersey, heavily embroidered something, and even some precious fish leather that I bought during our trip to Iceland years ago…

And I made my first thing!

also… paw

This particular fabric is a piece given to me by Mum years ago when she cleaned out her stash, a heavily embroidered and appliquéd cotton that is absolutely beautiful and absolutely my cup of tea!  As it turned out, it was not one piece of fabric, but several already cut out into shirt pieces.  Mum had obviously planned to make a shirt and already cut out a back and two fronts, but I decided to switch them around, and have the one back piece at the front; and the two front pieces at the back!

…she’s been quite needy today; came and plonked herself up against me so hard and close, it was so very sweet!  This furry love was just so comforting and I needed it today too   🙂

Apart from that it’s all fairly standard, I left the selvedges at the bottom of each piece because I thought it looked so weird in a way that I really like… and I attached selvedges pieces to the ends of the sleeves too to get the same effect here.  I stitched the button plackets on the (old) fronts simply down onto each other, and cut a new neckline into the (old) back so I could wear it comfortably as a front.  The neckline is finished with a bias binding, that I cut from an old cream coloured business skirt of Craig’s.

love a good bias binding  🙂

You know how sometimes you make something and you just put it on straight away and don’t want to take it off?  Well, that is how I feel about this new top!  I absolutely love it!

Details:

Top; own design, from embroidered appliquéd cotton
Skirt; from my block, cotton double gauze, details here
Shoes; made by me also, details here

pinterestmail
Posted in: sewing \ Tagged: , , , , ,

Indian patchwork jacket

22/02/2021 2:11 pm \ 13 Comments \

So, I made a jacket! the beauty of which is all due to the magnificent fabric.  Which has been recycled, and recycled again.  To explain…

 

… so many years ago, like fairly early on in our marriage I think; we bought a patchwork wall hanging at one of those stores that sells all sorts of random imported things, I’m pretty sure it was in Margaret River actually.  Definitely somewhere down south anyway.  We had it hanging on the wall for years.  I’ve always loved the beauty in each of its amazing little patches, each one I imagined was once part of a much loved and cherished sari once upon a time.  Lots of the patches were very fragile and there were missing and broken beads and sequins, and worn frayed patches everywhere.  The patchwork pieces were united by a sort of “hank” of red thread that wound its way through the patches,  dividing and bordering them all.  The red hank was bound to the piece by a fairly roughly stitched length of black cord.  The wall hanging was backed with plain red cotton, and the same stuff bordered the piece as a whole, roughly and loosely stitched on in HUGE stitches.

Side note that adds nothing to the sewing story but says something about Australia; several times during its time on the wall I took it down for dusting, only to discover large spiders, and nests of spiders hiding behind it.  Such is life here!  I would brush it down outside into the garden – never kill a spider! spot clean any little eggs off, and hang it up again.

At some point I got a little tired of it, and took it down, folded it carefully and stuck it in the linen cupboard.  I thought I’d hang it up again someday, but never did.  Every time I sorted through the linen cupboard I’d think, hmmm maybe I’ll turn it into a little jacket one day, then would I re-fold it and stick it back in.

Anyway, obviously and anti-climactically; that day finally came!  I got a copy of the FibreMood Molly jacket pattern, a boxy little thing with patch pockets.  The instructions assume you’re making a double layered jacket with the potential to be reversible, with the edges bound with bias binding for a perfectly reversible finish.

It was actually touch and go as to whether the pattern was going to fit onto the patchwork piece! I printed out the pattern, and taped extra pages to the back centreline, and also traced out another front, sleeve and pocket piece each, so I could lay the pieces down onto the patchwork piece to be absolutely sure.  After I’d removed the red border from the outer edge, I just managed to squeeze the pattern pieces out, with literally nothing to spare between the pieces for the most part!  Honestly I couldn’t believe it… it was like it was meant to be!   I know I probably say that a lot, because a lot of the time I will not cut out a thing until I’ve found a piece of fabric for it where there are basically NO leftovers, but this was the tightest pattern layout I’ve had in a long time… almost like the patchwork piece was made specifically for this pattern!

Cutting out was quite a challenge too… lots of the sari pieces were SO fragile that they had been literally glued to a piece of cloth underneath, for stability I suppose.  Which made it unforgivingly stiff and inflexible in spots.  Also, I had to temporarily remove beads etc. from some of the more heavily beaded bits just so I could cut, and later seam, the jacket together.  I also removed all the beads from the seam allowances and saved them, to stitch on later and fill some of the barer gaps where beads had been lost over the years.

For the bias bound edging, I started by piecing as much of the red backing as I could for the edging, and managed to bind the top of the pockets with this.  Once I’d joined the jacket though and got to the stage of edging the sleeves and long edge of the jacket, I realised it was going to be absolutely impossible to get together enough red leftovers from the scraps to do these too… so I found a length of dark red poplin from my stash and used this instead.  I considered unpicking the red from the top of the pockets and using the dark red poplin to edge these too, but decided I liked it just the way it was!  Perfectly imperfect!

For closure… obviously buttonholes were a complete impossibility, so I settled upon snaps.  I kinda feel like these do look a little jarring and incongruous, but hey, they’re fine for the moment.  If I’m feeling enthusiastic one of these days I might just remove them and add some bias fabric loops and small unobtrusive buttons inside the bias bound edge, which would probably look nicer.

Once I’d finished the jacket, I hand stitched on all the beads and sequins that I’d managed to save.

I’m so glad I managed to make something with this piece after all, and something that I think shows off the unique beauty of these precious scraps once again!

   

Details:

Jacket, Fibre Mood Molly jacket
Dress; Named patterns Inari tee dress, white cotton, details here

pinterestmail
Posted in: sewing \ Tagged: , , ,

black stewart tartan coat

13/02/2021 2:30 pm \ 9 Comments \

Oh my gosh, I love this new coat so much!   I’ve been in the process of making this for quite a long time now.  It’s been a sort of long term, high quality sort of a project, squeezing little bursts of sewing in between making raincoat toiles… so many raincoat toiles… and finessing the grading of a raglan sleeve.  For a raincoat, natch.  Making this coat has been “fun” simply because just simply following a pattern already written for me feels like a holiday by comparison.

 

I got this fabric from Minerva, and it’s GORGEOUS.  So gorgeous in fact, that when it arrived I just kinda froze, creatively speaking.  You know when you’re so terrified of ruining the fabric you can hardly bare to even take the scissors to it?  I couldn’t settle upon a project for a while.  Finally, I decided a coat was really the only worthy choice. I frolicked amongst the coat options in Le Pattern Stash, and finally settled upon this one I’d used before, Vogue 1537.  My first version of this was for Tim and Kelly’s wedding! and I really really love that one too!

I even did the double welt buttonholes again too; they were just a tad more challenging in this thicker, felt-like fabric, but the challenge was actually quite enjoyable.

During the cutting out, I was initially going to go with the super strict, thou-absolutely-MUST pattern match or else thou shalt be cast out from the sewing community, never to darken that doorstep again, thing; which I personally have definitely been a part of, no judgement for that.  However, at some point I just decided I didn’t want to do that this time.  I wanted something more creative.  So I re-assessed and cut the side panels on the bias, and the pocket flaps and under-sleeves, and recut the pockets.

Fortunately I had enough leftover that I could do this! and I was able to cut some of the smaller pieces from some of the old, bigger pieces to make this happen.  In the final coat, nothing “matches” in the traditional sense, although everything IS symmetrical, at least!

I bought deep petrol blue lining from Fabulous Fabrics; which is not a colour that appears anywhere in the tartan but interestingly looks absolutely perfect with it, imo.

I also bought dark blue buttons from Fabulous Fabrics.  They were a nice blue, and had a lovely surface design on them too, but I eventually decided they were completely the wrong blue.  So I painted them with black enamel paint, which I’ve previously used to blacken shoe soles, etc.  Now I think they look amazing!

These photos – in fact, this coat! – are kinda funny/bittersweet for me to think back on now, because this coat is the last thing, and these are the last blog photos I took in our old house… the one we’ve lived in for the past 17 years.  A bit sad, but I love our new house so much and am really excited to make it our home!  I’ve been re-homing LOTS of stuff so we can fit into it… our old house was a five bedroom, three bathroom family house, and out new one is a three bedroom, two bathroom.  Quite a difference! and I’ve made the downsizing process much harder for myself, by filling up each of the children’s wardrobes with stuff as they’ve left home and vacated their rooms.  I kinda had the attitude, well I have the storage space, so I may as well use it!  Bad policy… because now I’ve had to be extremely ruthless in streamlining all our things.

Also weird because I lavished such a lot of care and attention on this coat and it was such a HUGE project for me time wise, I’ve run out of things to say about it… hmmm, strange!  So I guess I should just stop rambling.  In short though, I really really love it!  I honestly think it could be the best coat I’ve ever made!

Details:

Coat; Vogue 1537, using this black stewart tartan wool coating
Dress; Vogue 1351, white crepe, details here
Sandals; akiel, from an op shop ages ago

pinterestmail
Posted in: sewing, Uncategorized \ Tagged: ,

Mundaring raincoat

30/01/2021 11:56 pm \ 5 Comments \

Hurrah!  Cassie and I have finally finished making our newest pattern!  please give a warm welcome to the Mundaring raincoat pattern, currently for sale in our shop, the linky dink to which is over to the right in my sidebar there… or you can just click on the this pattern picture just to the right here.

So, the Mundaring is a pattern for a loose-fitting, below hip length raincoat with raglan sleeves, large front zippered pockets with inbuilt weather flaps, a back weather flap covering a hidden vent panel, roomy hood that can be tightened with a hood cord.  Closure is by an open ended zip, hidden underneath a front band.  The pattern includes separate pattern pieces for an optional lining with additional inner breast pocket, and an appendix with tips for weatherproofing the seams of your raincoat.

I know it’s taken me a long time to finally finish getting this together, I first made this design for myself back in 2012 when I made my blue raincoat…

this is actually a great little raincoat and I love it and still wear it!  Then I made a pink and blue colour blocked version for Cassie, improving on the design a little more.

Then I fine-tuned the design to be just about exactly what I wanted, albeit in unlined form, when I made my mustard one…

this is when I got actually got serious about turning it into a proper pattern and studying the grading criteria.  btw the mustard one has been a really great raincoat too, and I still wear this one when the colour of it is what an outfit requires  😉

In testing the design I’ve made multiple Mundarings since that time, several in each of the five sizes each… plus another “proper” one for Cassie in this chic, pale grey pleather.  And finally, the cheerful yellow one for myself, and then a lovely blue one for my sister-in-law S.

Doesn’t she look gorgeous?  I’m so grateful she agreed to be my model again!

Both my latest are made using a fabric called Oxford Waterproof that I bought from Remnant Warehouse.  btw, NO, I am not getting free fabric or recognition or anything for promoting it, and these are not affiliate links even, I bought this fabric and am recommending it because I am genuinely a fan and think it is the perfect fabric for my design!

My raincoat is this colour, the Gold colour-way, and S’s is the Royal colour-way.   I fully lined both these raincoats using matching polyactate lining fabric from Fabulous Fabrics, and both of them have white zips and white cords and cord stops, which I think looks really nice  🙂

I sealed the seams on both raincoats using this stuff…

I selected it because it is an adhesive sealant with high flexibility, and bonus that while comes out of the canister kind of cloudy it then dries to be quite translucent.  In my  opinion it’s absolutely perfect for this purpose!  I’ll update this post with the exact product as soon as I can, and am truthfully kicking myself right now I did not take a picture of the canister before (doh!)

The pattern is for sale in pdf form here… we are working on getting a paper pattern up and running, and will update the shop with a paper pattern once we’ve got all our ducks in a row vis a vis that.  But in the meantime… here is is!!  I’m so happy to finally have it out in the world!

Here are some of the specs!

Pockets?  Why, of course!

Details:

All raincoats; Carolyn & Cassie Mundaring raincoat pattern, in Oxford Waterproof from remnant warehouse
White tank top; my hand stitched Alabama Chanin tank top.. it was the first one I laid hands on in the drawer!
Jeans: Closet Core patterns Morgan boyfriend jeans, blogged here
White shoes; handmade by me, blogged here

pinterestmail
Posted in: crafty stuff, sewing \ Tagged: , , , , ,

Theo

25/01/2021 11:00 am \ 15 Comments \

… so first post for the year! the most exciting news of all for us is the arrival of our darling little grandson Theo; Cassie and Daniel’s baby boy.  He’s very little right now so he is extremely busy eating and sleeping… in fact, more sleeping than usual since he was a tad on the early side.  I’m so proud of Cassie how she has coped in difficult circumstances… Mum and baby were sent home from hospital only a couple of hours after birth, and coming from a generation that was typically spoilt with about five days in hospital for your first baby, this is pretty shocking to me.  She’s doing amazingly well!!

Anyway, I made little onesie for Theo, just before he was born; in fact I gave it to her at his baby shower which was held just barely a scant week before he arrived actually.  Man, things went so fast… anyway, here it is!

O course there is a little story behind this… a few years ago, Cassie made a few workout tank tops for Tim and Sam for Christmas pressies.  She drew the screen prints and printed them herself, and then sewed up the tank tops too.  She gave one each to Tim and Sam, and I’m not sure what was the story with this particular one but it has sat unworn in the fabric stash every since.  She can’t remember now either!  Maybe it was always an extra?  Anyway, I always thought it was such a thoughtful idea of hers, and it’s a pretty cute and clever print too.  Couldn’t possibly just let it continue sitting there!  So, I dug it out, and in the tradition of babies in this family; I made a little onesie for Theo out of it.  The pattern is my own, I just had to make this one a bit bigger, because the writing on the back would not fit on the smaller size I’d made previously for newborns.

Pretty cute, huh?!

I’ve also made a much-needed, new maternity dress for Cassie, the same design as the white one I’d made previously.   I had a few … issues… with this one, suffice to say stripes are always a nightmare and even when you think you’ve accounted for all stripe contingencies that may arise, a new one IS probably going to crop up and surprise you.  Ok, guess I may as well go into it… somehow, despite careful measuring and checking, I STILL somehow managed to hem the dress with an extra stripe along one side seam than the other.  Honestly thought I’d cut them the same, but well, turns out I had not.  I had to cut off the old hem and make a new one.

The other disaster was that I somehow managed to stitch the separate tank front INTO THE WAIST SEAM! thus rendering it useless for its intended purpose as a maternity dress.  DOH!  This required unpicking the seam plus the overlocking, because OF COURSE I overlocked it before I’d noticed!  in what is actually quite a delicate fabric, and well, fixing up the whole shemozzle.  So, for a simple little make it ended up taking most of my day, which I can ill afford right now, to be honest, but at least it got done.

And she looks lovely in it, so it was all worth it actually.

I’ve finally finished another very long-term thing recently too… for me! and am hoping to get it posted in between packing boxes and organising some minor work done for our new house as well as this, our old, one.  Oh, and of course our new pattern, which is far more challenging to finish now that I’m on my own with it, since my helper has her precious new baby to attend to.  Aaahgh, my head is going to explode…

Onwards and upwards!

pinterestmail
Posted in: sewing, Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , , , , ,

2020; a retrospective

01/01/2021 11:53 pm \ 22 Comments \

Yes, I know I’m a day late; maybe even two days late by the time I get this published! but well… I’m a bit busy right now.  All will become clear in my next post  🙂

So it’s the end of the year, and I’m looking back on my year of sewing and blogging.  First up, I’m posting some of my favourite pictures for the year, one per month…

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

So.  It’s been a strange year; I dare say a BIG year for everyone.  One of the happier big things in my own year was of course Cassie’s wedding in March, the preparations for which brought us much happiness and excitement, although the last week was tinged with growing uncertainty as we didn’t know whether the gradually impending threat of covid would cause problems… it was such a weird time and no one knew what to expect!  With incredible good fortune, everything went ahead and only one week later lockdown restrictions were imposed that would have made the wedding impossible.  So, MAJOR stress at the time, but ultimately a very happy and extremely lucky outcome! I wrote more details addressing this subject and how we handled it at the time in this post here…

I want to say too that I was very pleased for our government’s swift action that has definitely saved us from the virus all this year, and was more than happy for Perth to have a strict lockdown just to make sure.  We were in lockdown for basically all of April and extended well into May, and I have to say my sewing output reflected the general level of anxiety that I had at the time.  In fact I think that like everyone, my anxiety kept me from being productive in just about every aspect of my life! but honestly I have no complaints.  I’m just grateful to be here, to live in a place that took the virus seriously and a government that had our safety and truly our best interests at heart, and acted accordingly.  I truly feel like I live in the absolute best place in the world right now.  I’m so very grateful.

The other huge thing I’m grateful for is the arrival of our darling first grandchild, Arthur.  He is an absolute joy and delight. and we are all totally in love with this precious human being.  And Cassie is expecting!  I can hardy wait to meet her little bunny!

But ok, now on with my sewing!  I might have had a crisis of confidence and motivation, but I did manage to keep making things!  I kept up with my planned “make 12” and saw it through, even if once or twice that thing for the month was my only thing for the month!  My picture for May above was a kind of lockdown game in which you gathered all the things in your house you could find in your favourite colour.  It’s downright embarrassing how many red things I’ve accumulated!

What did I make??  well, I managed 91 things this year… 91!  I’m shocked because honestly could have sworn I made hardly anything apart from a wedding dress!  Anyway, the breakdown is: for me; 15 dresses, 2 coats, 6 skirts, 8 tops, 3 sets of lingerie, 1 pr of shoes, 7 sockettes, 1 knitted jumper, 2 hats, 1 pr trousers, 1 hoodie and 1 raincoat.  For Cassie; the aforementioned wedding dress! including 3 separate petticoats, 2 tops, 1 skirt, 1 pr shorts, 3 maternity dresses; for my nieces, 3 bridesmaids dress, and 1 dress for Mum.  For babies; 6 onesies, 6 blankies, 1 huge “texture” quilt, 1 knitted beanie and 1 baby swing.  For Craig’s Mum; 7  masks and 1 bag.  Oh and I also made 27 kangaroo pouches, that I’m not including in the total of 91 things.   Aaaad.. I also made another sewing pattern?!  It hasn’t been released yet but will be very very soon.  Maybe even… tomorrow?!  Ooh, did I just spill the beans in a big way!  I’ve wanted to make more patterns for ages but sewing wedding dresses took precedent in the last two years.

Favourite makes of the year?  hehe, obviously Cassie’s wedding dress! and I also really loved the girls’ bridesmaids’ dresses and my own mother of the bride dress too.

My most worn items for this year…?

I love most of these things pictured, but not all of them, strangely.  I think during lockdown and the subsequent many many days of not going out by my own choice, I took up the habit of wearing daggy things that weren’t my favourites, simply because I wasn’t going out and didn’t need to “dress up”.  I’ve decided this is very very silly and I’m going to only wear things I absolutely love from now on.  yolo!

In other stuff, I fulfilled a long-held fantasy and took up learning a language!  I chose Japanese because I love Japan, would love to visit again some day – although that might be a pipe dream! and I love the visual appearance of the language and kanji.  I also felt in the need of a mental challenge. And boy, has it been a challenge!  But I’m pretty thrilled I made it into the top 1% on the duo lingo app.  Who me, competitive?  Oooh, I never  #TOTALLYcompetitive  I also managed to top the platinum league, one crazy intensive week in which I did virtually nothing but study Japanese.  Hmmm, did I mention… competitive??  #dirtyword

It says I studied French but i actually only did a few days dabbling in that, and the one other language was Celtic, which I eventually decided was just too hard to extend my brain to that AND Japanese.  I’d still like to learn Celtic one day because it is my heritage after all, but I think that can wait until I’ve got a bit further in Japanese.

So what does 2021 bring for us all… much better times, I hope! and a world that can come together again and regain trust and health as soon as possible.  I know this takes time, and maybe the world will never go back to the way things were.  Every now and then I wonder if this is the start of a completely different world and what if something else unexpected is lurking just out of sight around the next corner?  But really, we can’t dwell on the uncertainty too much, just keep on keeping on, chin up and continue doing the best for the important people in our lives.  I just hope the worst is behind us.  And that good times are ahead.  And mostly that the vaccine WORKS!

Thank you so much to everyone who takes the time to read this silly blog, and even to leave a kind comment or two.  I really really appreciate everyone who does.  I hope the year brings you all much happiness and joy, good health, peaceful thoughts, appreciation of our home towns, and making many delightful memories with the important people in your life.  Cheers!!

 

pinterestmail
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged:
Switch to mobile version
↓