Thursday 17 January 2019

2018 Review

I have written this post almost two weeks ago but still did not get to posting it, so trying now before it is the end of 2019 ;o)

I am always very positive about the past years, but 2018 was an exceptional one. In backsight, nothing very exceptional happened for me but I was happy all the year and that is what counts. I wanted to change job this year and I did and in the end it was even easier than expected. I now have a longer commute but seem to cope with it quite ok. I also work longer hours, so of course, it eats into my weekday sewing time (so I sewed less at the end of the year), but I am pretty excited about the new job, and I use my commute time for more reading which is also a good thing.

In terms of sewing and stash busting, I was slightly less productive; I bought the same fabric amount as last year, but sewed less, so my end-of-the year totals are not so impressive. Last year numbers might also come from sewing the large patchwork which ate meters of fabric. I have however reduced my stash to 100m, so even though the year goal was 90, I am not complaining.
I was happy to sew some very old stash pieces (always a good thing), sometimes even rather surprising. Also, I managed to force myself to buy only fabric with a specific intent (lining fabric excluded) which helped to sew quickly new purchases.

What threw me off the wagon was learning to sew jerseys (and sewing the dancing stuff for my sister; yes, it is all her fault!), cause I had to buy all the fabrics for that, and more afterwards. However, I do not regret it at all, because I really expanded my sewing skills there. The good thing is that sewing the little jersey tops used up all the little fabric scraps. The same can be said for the baby clothes sewn for X-mas.

On the other side I sewed two jackets (yet to be blogged) and a coat - probably my biggest achievement this year! 

Let's talk numbers now:
In total I have sewed 52 items:
21 dresses
2 tops
3 skirts
1 pillow
1 coat
2 jackets
1 body
2 sweat-shirts
1 pair of shorts

In terms of selfless sewing, I created 
14 pieces for my sister, see how lucky she is!!!!
3 baby pieces
1 pyjama for my sister's boyfriend

In addition to that, I created 2 UFOs and muslined a pair of trousers and culottes which I did not like, so I let them for some other time.

As for pattern companies used, this is no surprise:
28 Burda patterns
2 Butterick
2 Knipmode/Fashion Style
3 Closet Case Patterns
2 New Look
2 Simplicity
I guess I should get Burda subscription at some point of time :o)

Note: the funny thing with Burda is that when looking at each new number, I rarely find something I REALLY REALLY like so as to justify buying the number. But then I read a few reviews and realize that there might be some jewels and reconsider. But then 2 month later I decide to sew something, find the pattern and realize it is from a Burda magazine I had decided not to buy :o)
I might think of subscribing and then joining the Burda challenge (sew one thing from each Burda), we'll see....

So in the end, it was a productive year. I managed to replace some more RTWs by me-mades (I just do not like my RTW coats anymore now I have my own; I still keep wearing the black one, since my violet coat is not a thick winter one, but I already have fabric for its replacement). Also, I found out that sewing jerseys is not so difficult, especially when using stable knits like ponte and wearing them is kind of fun and comfy. 


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