So how was it for you?
For me it was a blur, a blessing, a curse, a hopefully never to be repeated once in a lifetime event. If asked what I did in 2020 the answer would be work - any concept of balance disappeared entirely.
Why did I choose this title for my end of year post? It really has been the year for making plans that don't eventuate, not all of which can be blamed on that pesky little virus. Sewing for much of the year took a back seat (with a burst of productivity in July), as did blogging, but some things worth mentioning did happen. A month into the new year and I finally managed to capture the sewing and other things that created the memories of 2020.
A cup of tea and a biscuit may be required to get through this post - it turned out quite long.
Staying safe at home
Here in New Zealand COVID-19 was managed decisively but not without economic impact. On 23 March with only 102 confirmed cases the government announced widespread restrictions of movement to come into effect at midnight on 25 March. By 25 March we had recorded 205 cases and when restriction of movement started to be lifted on 27 April there were 1,469 cases. To date we have recorded 2,315 cases with only 25 deaths. In fact according to a recent article in The Lancet New Zealand's mortality rate was lower (by 11%) in 2020 than in each of the preceding four years.
The economic impact on our small island nation has mainly been in the service industry especially the tourism sector as the borders effectively closed on 20 March, with increased rates of unemployment amongst the low paid and women. In September 2020 quarter there were 37,000 more unemployed (5.3%) than in the June quarter (4.0%), the highest quarterly rise in unemployment since the current calculation method began in 1986. For perspective prior to this the highest quarterly increase was 18,000 in June 2009 during the global financial crisis. The Treasury did announce in December that we were doing better than forecast!
I appreciate the impact this virus has had on the rest of the world and worry about the health and well-being of friends and family overseas. I also know that we have had it really good here so far but how much longer can we manage with closed borders? Not all of the skills we need are available here, we manufacture very little and there is a high probability of significant issues with our supply chain within the next six months. Whilst the vaccine is here this virus is not finished with us yet, and I will continue to be grateful if the impact is only on my work life balance.
On the sewing front I was quite excited for the potential of our stay safe at home month but the pile of fabric which I photographed with such big ambitions was untouched when I went back in to the office two months later. The other idea I had was to take an outfit of the day picture every day as I was at home with the photographer. Maybe taking an OOD picture when you don't go anywhere is not a true representation of your style but I have been inspired by other bloggers who committed to a photo a day and the insight they gained from this about their wardrobe.
Not for me though, apart from the pictures taken of the knitted top I sewed, only two OOD pictures were taken. The first of me hugging a post is more about the empty landscape taken on one of our daily walks, the other was to record my love of the Untouched World Ammil sweater (worn with the first version of the Vogue 1410 dress), just perfect for working from home.
The sunset became my Zoom back drop, with an aerial view of the Canterbury plains to remind me of what the wider world looked like.
Working at home enabled me to take a photograph of a Fantail. These birds are notoriously difficult to photograph because they flit about catching insects. This one settled on the five finger plant outside the lounge window and I was able to quickly snap a couple of pictures. The cat on the other hand is a regular visitor and was keen to do a bit of working from home too. Sometimes I think I should leave the cat in charge he would do a fabulous job of running the show, as he certainly manages us.
On the plus side I spent more days at home with my beloved in 2020 than ever before and he is still my beloved.
The classes
Virtual of course, as both Design Outside the Lines and the International Quilt Festival in October were cancelled. No trip to the States for my friend and I this year. International Quilt Festival went virtual with many online classes. I was keen to do quite a few of them but didn't manage to get organised in time.
Being a subscribed member of Craftsy there are always a few classes I take throughout the year. I do enjoy Marcy Harriell watching her Remake series. Other than that the main focus was knitting trying to learn the Magic Loop techniques for circular knitting and changing my style to Continental knitting. The latter is almost impossible because my fingers automatically go back to English knitting. Even though my knitting has been pretty non-existent over the last twenty years, the muscle memory of how it should be done is extremely strong!
Apart from the ad hoc classes I dip in and out of my main focus was Silhouette Pattern's fitting classes. I did all three (trousers, knit tops and blouses). I have done the trouser fitting class before (and an in person class with Peggy) but wanted to refresh my memory. All three were brilliant classes, although I understand Peggy isn't for everyone her methods work for me. This year I am signed up for the basic and advanced pattern making classes.
New for me in 2020 was The Sewing Workshop Sew Confident series. I haven't made any of the (four) patterns included in series nine but I thoroughly enjoyed the monthly magazines and the different ideas for each quarter's pattern. Linda Lee has started doing weekly Facebook live events which I watch on YouTube after the event. These often have useful tips and tricks, as well as ideas for altering Sewing Workshop patterns. Was such great fun that I signed up for Sew Confident series 10
The sewing
From a sewing perspective 2020 could be seen as the year of repetition. Most of the patterns sewn this year feature more than once. The clear winner is Vogue 8710 a Katherine Tilton knit top pattern made six times, closely followed by Megan Nielsen's Flint trousers made four times. The Style Arc Palermo jacket was a late starter with the pattern only purchased in October and I still managed to make it three times. At times of stress repetition is good for my soul. I can sew when the urge takes me and the chance of failure is much diminished.
Adventures with new patterns is risky and often why I procrastinate. With the fabric uncut the glory of the finished garment is only limited by your imagination, cut and the results can be less than anticipated with no hope of redemption. Unless you happen to have started the project quickly enough for the fabric to still be available or you can make a second version from the scraps of the first, both of which are unlikely.
Let's start with the dresses. The year started on a high with the Cowl Neck Renaissance dress. Still can't believe that I changed the neckline to a cowl and had a wearable dress. Whilst I really love the style of this dress it hasn't seen much wear. possibly because of the colour. I need to find a way of styling it that fits into a week at work capsule, so it gets more wear.
The Winter Red swing dress on the other hand was started in 2019 with the sewing of the French darts and never progressed past this point until February 2020 when I got daring and chopped off the uneven hem and finished it. This dress had an unpromising start but is worn a lot on hot days at home - great for Zoom calls when the short length doesn't matter.
The Twirling Firebird dress is probably not the best fabric pattern combination I have ever made. The fabric is a very loosely woven knit and you can actually unravel the fabric, so it was underlined both for opacity and to give more body to the fabric. The construction of this dress would have been worth a blog post but alas it didn't happen! The dress has been modified since this picture as I tried an asymmetric neckline that ended up looking more like bad sewing. Quite disappointed by the finished garment, although looking at the pictures it is better than I remembered, and it has only worn once.
The Dottie swing dress was sewn whilst we were away in May. It is version four of this pattern and the most successful, effortless to wear and I love it. A ray of sunshine on a grey day or cooling on a hot day.
Not a lot left to say about Vogue 8710 - the first four are blogged about here and the other two mentioned as part of wardrobe plans. I love all of the versions of this simple top and it is proving difficult to make any other knit top. After seeing how many versions of this top there are I browsed through the Tilton sisters patterns to find an alternative - the two contenders are also by Katherine Tilton Butterick 6136 and 6564. Let's see if they wean me off Vogue 8710.
That said, I am starting 2021 with another three versions of this pattern (two made and one cut-out), with some style modifications. The pattern is such a favourite that I would rather make style changes to it than find a new pattern.
Other top patterns did feature in 2020, four to be precise.
The two Style Arc Rosie tops along with the paisley cotton lace Sew Different Sheer top were made during my mammoth Endless Combination sew in July along with six other garments. The two Style Arc Rosie tops and two Sew Different Sheer tops are fabulous but not worn often. With the challenges of my uneven temperature any top with long sleeves is off the high rotation list even when like the Sheer tops they are full of holes! Cardigans are much more useful as they are easier to take on and off (in quick succession). My adaptations of the Style Arc Rosie top (not sure anyone would actually recognise it as that now) have evolved significantly and I really should write a blog post to document the changes.
The Traditional black Stardust top was started back in 2019 as a quick project to be worn to a hockey game supporting the NZ mens team (the Black Sticks). It was abandoned with only the shoulder seams sewn. One shoulder seam was sewn without incident but the other was sewn with the French seam on the outside. After a quick bit of unsewing and resewing I proceeded to sew the bias binding around the wrong side of the neck edge. I didn't want the binding as a feature on the right side so I tossed it into a corner and wore a different black top to the hockey match. Over a year later it was retrieved and after a bit of unsewing was finally finished. This is another blog post I should have written to highlight the style changes made to the original pattern - see a year of it not quite happening, maybe the next time I make one!
Lastly is the Alabama Don't Give Up Hope sweater which has been worn often, featuring in many Zoom calls on working from home days.
In total five pairs of trousers were made in 2020, mainly the Megan Nielsen Flint trousers which I have pretty well perfected now.
The Megan Nielsen Flint trousers on the left were made as part of the Pattern Review Endless Combinations contest and the ones on the right are part of the Pattern Review wardrobe contest that I didn't finish sewing. All four of these trousers are worn often, although the white/mustard check ones less so at the moment because the hem has come undone and needs re-doing.
The red metal linen Lana's jeans were started at Easter 2019 whilst we were away in Ahipara. When I came to pack some sewing to take away in May 2020 it was time for them to be finished. Unfortunately I am larger around the waist than I was when these were cut out so whilst they are finished they are unworn. I will keep them for 12-months in the hope that I lose the extra inches.
And the last of the multiple makes: the three Style Arc Palermo jackets - the Satin Cloud shrug was made in October; the red plaid in November and the navy boucle version on Christmas Eve. There is nothing further to say about these three jackets that hasn't been said before. I will reiterate how much I love this pattern and all three versions I have made. This is another pattern that I am struggling to walk away from although my next cardigan is likely to be a Sewing Workshop pattern.
Two other cardigans were made: the ochre merino Arden shawl (left) and the Firebird Fjord Cardi (right) neither of which received much love.
The Arden shawl was too small and definitely didn't resemble the inspiration version by The Row. I do however have another piece of the ochre merino and plan on making another version which I will blog about when finished successfully.
The Firebird Fjord cardi is too much when worn with the Twirling Firebird dress and isn't that easily worn with other things in my wardrobe. Despite years of wardrobe planning I finally managed to create a bit of an orphan garment. It was so meh that I didn't have a picture of it being worn and like a number of other things had to do a photo session just for this post.
Some ready to wear was remodelled - from the simple to the complicated.
This purchased WORLD W Friendship tee was a size medium but being unisex it was too long. The WORLD Cut Make Trim tee pattern was used to determine the length and shape the sides. A simple change that makes the tee shirt more wearable. If the t-shirt had been a bigger size I would have taken off the sleeves and removed the drop shoulder but there wasn't enough fabric to raise the armhole.
The WORLD Giraffe Friendship tee was bought in a size extra large because whilst I loved the embroidered giraffe patch I knew the unisex styling wasn't for me. By buying an extra large there was enough fabric once the t-shirt was completely unsewn to recut it as my very favourite Vogue 8710 Katherine Tilton tee. Love Love Love it now.
The WORLD WWW tee was such a great colour combination for my WORLD Saunter Stripe trousers that I bought it even though I knew any alterations would be complicated. I started off with an extra large to have enough fabric to re-model. Shortening this t-shirt had to be done from the top, as the W remains recognisable with length chopped from the top. The WORLD Cut Make Trim tee pattern was used once again to determine the length and shape. You can see from the middle photo how I reshaped the neckline, shoulder, armhole and side seam to get a much more wearable t-shirt and personally I find the W to be more balanced now.
The Untouched World Leaf dress had great texture and was knitted with my favourite possum and merino wool. Whilst I loved the "fabric" a knitted dress in such a thick wool just won't work for my lifestyle. As soon as the Leaf dress went on sale I bought it and a Bleep scarf in the same colour to make another Ecopossum coat cardi. The cut lines for the cardi can be seen in the middle photo, with the same changes and construction method used as for the Zephyr Ecopossum Coat Cardi. Now I have a Leaf Ecopossum Coat Cardi added to my collection.
The other creative endeavours
From top left: Yellow wooden hexagonal beads spaced with a large silver bead threaded on wax thread with a sliding knot; Pink wooden hexagonal beads spaced with a large silver bead and glass beads also strung on a wax thread with a sliding knot, worn with pink pearl beads threaded on a silver head pin for dangly earrings; ceramic beads in a rainbow of colour spaced with a glass bead in a colour corresponding with the ceramic bead and a silver bead, threaded on wax thread with a sliding knot; three lampwork beads combined with amber and other small glass beads with each set threaded on silver wire and linked together, with a silver clasp for closure.
The Inspiring Bernina Christmas Stars were my Christmas treat for 2020 gifted to 95 friends and family with a chocolate truffle inside. My UK friends and family missed out this year as the postal service was problematic so will have to make up for it in 2021 when hopefully the postal system is better able to cope with the new normal.
The travel
Sad but true - I had to refer to my photographs to see if we went anywhere at the beginning of the year. I know we went to Westport in May and Charleston in October and December but did we go anywhere else? Luckily the beginning of the year isn't completely lost from memory as our first holiday was May.
We were supposed to go back to the UK in April / May and it was the year for my biennial trip to the States in October. For obvious reason neither of these trips happened. Whilst we are allowed to leave New Zealand it is hard as there are so few international flights and so many closed borders but the biggest barrier is the $3,000 (each) cost of the two weeks compulsory quarantine on arrival back in New Zealand. Luckily New Zealand is a beautiful country and there are many fabulous places to visit in our own backyard.
The Exhibitions
Despite the virus I managed to visit four exhibitions in 2020 two of which have featured on the blog and the other two may feature on the blog someday but haven't quite yet.
The start of the year was the Marilyn Rae-Menzies exhibition in Oxford (New Zealand). I have admired Marilyn's weaving since I first came to New Zealand and it was a pleasure to see her Extinction is Forever exhibition. Amazing pieces of art with an important message.
Next came Wonderland at Te Papa and I finally got to pose as/with my alter ego the White Rabbit. Another wonderful exhibition of all things Alice in Wonderland from its first emergence as a story to the current day. 2020 certainly felt like the year you fell down a rabbit hole.
Moana Currents: Dressing Aotearoa Now is a celebration of our different cultures in contemporary dress. I first saw it briefly in March and was keen to spend more time looking at the exhibits. Then along came the nasty little virus, luckily they extended the season and I managed to re-visit this exhibition on its last weekend in Christchurch in September.
We had the Van Gogh exhibition on the waterfront by Te Papa in Wellington. Such an amazing event being able to see Van Gogh's paintings projected onto shipping containers. This exhibition was impacted by the resurgence of COVID with the numbers of attendees initially limited to comply with the rules about gatherings. It was a huge success but I managed to get a ticket for the final show in the late evening and I am so glad I persevered.
Goals for 2021
I need something to help me focus. My attention span has seriously deteriorated and I flit about from project to project like a butterfly. Hopefully the 100 Day Project and Stitcher's Guild SWAP can keep me on track, not that I'm officially signed up for either of them (sigh). There won't be a word of the year this year because Balance for all the years I have persevered with it has been a complete failure so I am going to try activities to achieve the outcome for the year I want rather than words.
My main aim is to enjoy this year, whatever its challenges. To make the most of what New Zealand has to offer and not hanker after what I can't have (like international travel). To make an effort to keep in touch with family and friends, which is something I am really bad at when life gets busy (or too much).
With eleven months of the year remaining I am hopeful and forward looking. Will let you know how that worked out in 2022!
