That was the year that was.....2018

It has taken me three weeks to write this blog post and I really wasn't feeling the love. Following Crafting a Rainbow's highly organised blog series for the year end retrospective (Top 5 Review of hits, misses, highlights, reflections and goals) is clearly not for me. I see other people's #sewingtop5 and think what a great format I just don't seem able to execute it myself. Maybe its the idea of five posts about a year where the detail is hazy at best.

I think the haze was created by the air disturbance as the year whizzed by.  Do you remember about the end of week one of the long summer school holidays saying to your mum I'm bored there's nothing to do. Oh to have that luxury of endless time (without any real effort to create it) now.

So what do I remember about 2018? what did I sew? what were the highlights/lowlights and bits in-between? and do I have any plans for 2019?

The Sewing

If 2017 was the year I rediscovered the dress then 2018 is the year I realised: (a) I could sew trousers; and (b) how useful it is to have patterns we love. My sewing was either prolific or non-existent, even deadlines didn't necessarily produce results. Yet I somehow managed to produce 33 finished items - 16 tops, 5 dresses, 3 pairs of trousers, 6 pairs of leggings, two jackets and one coat. From number of wears I would consider 6 of these to be misses.

Fabric continued to pour in with a bit converted to garments.  No new BMV patterns were purchased in 2018. I bought a few Indies both print and PDF but my real nemesis was second hand patterns (I bought 45). No wonder pattern storage is now a problem.

Tops remain my most sewn garment, helped by the fact that I sewed multiples of the same pattern. Not all of the tops sewn were a success.

Details of the various top versions can be found here

Five tops and one dress were made from the World Cut Make and Trim tee pattern. All of which are in regular rotation during the four seasons.  On most occasions they are worn without the sash.

The Watercolours Sweater on the left and the rayon knit stripe on the right

Sewing continues to present surprises. I thought the Alabama Sweater pattern would be better in a more fluid fabric (the rayon knit stripe) yet I actually prefer the shape of the beefy Watercolours merino knit and wear it more.

The Besharl tee pattern was only used because it worked for the Liberty Isle of Wight fabric remnants. Yet both of these scrap busting tops are more beloved than their original cousin.

Left and right Isle of Wight Pocho tee, centre stripe knit unblogged 

The style of the Madrid blouse really appeals but neither of these get worn much. The yellowy green one has only been worn once when the photos were taken, has never reached the blog and has now transitioned to the donate pile.

Right Madrid Isle of Wight top, left unblogged

Four of the five tops in the photo below remain unblogged and three of them are misses.  The two worn are Marie's Sweater and the Maris Ballet top. The Aysmmetrical Blouse W from the book Basic Black by Saito Watanabe is a great fabric pattern combination only it is just a smidgen too small. I like this top so much that it hasn't transitioned to the charity bag yet. The sleeves on the Named Saunio cardigan are tight and the sweater knit sheds. Not sure what is wrong with the River Tunic it just isn't worn, there were no pictures of it and I was reminded of its existence by the photos of its cousin the Besharl tee.

Left to right: Basic Black Asymmetrical Blouse W; Named Saunio Cardigan; Silhouette Patterns Marie's Sweater top; StyleArc Maris Ballet top; Diane Ericson River Tunic

The Dresses love affair continued yet I only sewed five of them which came as a surprise. They are all hits, worn many times and often garner compliments.

Left to Right: Brilliant Red Mouline Silk Dress with the Zephyr Ecopossum coat cardi a RTW remake; V1410 Winter Floral Dress; Peppermint Patty Dress; and Bloom Montage Swing Dress

Trousers were sewn this year for the first time since I resumed clothes sewing 10 or so years ago. (I am not counting the toile from last year because a finished pair of trousers never eventuated.) Three pairs of trousers were made, followed by six pairs of leggings after I discovered Moochi tunic tops. The Megan Nielsen Flint trousers were worn heaps last summer. The non-stretch woven jeans (Silhouette Patterns #3300 Lana's jeans) were an eye opener about how comfortable non-stretch trousers could be if they fit properly.

Left to right: Lydia Flint and Vesuvia Flint

A plethora of leggings

Jackets and coats are my absolute favourite thing to sew but can't be sewn too often as there are only so many you can wear. The two real hits are the Kantha jacket (two more pieces of kantha cloth are currently waiting patiently for their project) and the Victory Patterns Ulysses trench. Vogue 2056 has not seen much wear even though I loved the idea of the Issey Miyake jacket.

Left to right: V8430 MT Green/Pink Kantha jacket;  Lana's Caesar Jeans; and V2056 Miyake Poppy's Patchwork jacket

Friends and family feed my love for matchy matchy with gifts to wear with the Ulysses Rainbow Trench

2018 Highlights

My curated wardrobe continues to be a highlight. I rarely bemoan having nothing to wear and easily find an outfit or mini wardrobe collection for the events in my life.

Sewing highlights were really the time I carved out for myself to do what I love, including two sewing classes and the biannual trip to Houston. I reviewed my sewing experience with Gertie which was enjoyed more for the time with my friend and away from work than anything I learnt. The dress will be finished and worn one day having bought more of the Liberty fabric to re-cut the skirt back so it matches at centre back. The class didn't ignite my inner retro chic either so you won't be seeing a transformation any time soon.

The second sewing class with Peggy Sagers of Silhouette Patterns, in Portland, Oregon was a truly wonderful experience, from the people I met to the learning. The only downside - I was sick and in the interests of achieving something limited myself to only getting Ralph's Pant (pattern 3600) fitted. As a result my 2019 version of Lana's jeans is a great improvement on the 2018 pair.

The International Quilt Festival in Houston is always an absolute treat. Sometimes we don't quite get the class mix right but this time we did and were much more relaxed about the whole experience. The quilts are always absolutely stunning and each year more of them move away from "a quilt" to a piece of textile art with exquisite workmanship and attention to detail.

A lowlight was a missed opportunity. An amazing textile embroidery artist, Sophie Standing, toured NZ and I was supposed to do her four-day class in Wellington with another friend. However with the other trips planned, work commitments and knowing how tired I get when I don't have the weekend to re-charge I let the opportunity slip by. From the photos and my friend's finished quilt the class was spectacular and I regret not making the time.

Goals for 2019

I saw a great meme (is it still a meme if its true rather than ironic?) which pretty much sums up how I feel. My goal for 2019 is to accomplish the goals of 2018 which I should have done in 2017 because I promised them in 2015 and planned them in 2014.

I am continuing with my 2018 word of the year BALANCE. A word with multi-faceted meaning which I need to make more effort to achieve.

Sewing wise I really enjoyed working to a plan and I have three floating around in my head at the moment which would give me four months to achieve each plan. The Minnie Mouse wardrobe in progress for the first four months may be a bit ambitious given that realistically I am unlikely to sew more than a garment a week.  So far I am up to 20 garments and anything more than 16 is a bit of a dream. More cogitation is required to ensure the plan has balance! As you would expect the ones for later in the year are a bit more nebulous and highly susceptible to change but I have started gathering fabric and ideas for them.