Looking back on 2013

2013 was a good, solid year for my family and my sewing. I fell a bit behind in blogging, but that's just the rhythm of things, I suppose.


I delved into bra sewing, which was more of a miss than hit, I suppose.  It was a confidence booster construction wise, but it was a bad idea to take it on while I was breastfeeding. Too many fluctuations in size & I've never really loved breastfeeding, so I'm a bit more self-conscious then anyway.

That aside, though, the things I did manage to make this year were more solidly built than things I've made in the past & I'm also getting a knack for sewing what I *need*.  I still carry my Necessary Clutch every time I leave the house and it ALWAYS gets compliments. I've been told more than once that I should make & sell them.

I actually had quite few wadders this year. I'm at an odd place technique-wise. I think I'm a solid advanced beginner, moving into Intermediate territory. But when I come across a technique that I'm unsure of, instead of proceeding with caution & being diligent in my actions I just plow through.That's precisely what happened when I attempted the Bombshell swimsuit. I have every confidence that I'll be able to conquer that this summer. A large reason that one blew up in my face is that I was determined to add a bra to the pattern. Which, in theory should have been straight forward. Because I make bras. Or I did. Then. So I think if there is ONE thing that will help me to advance my skills in the next year it will be to SLOW.DOWN. My Minoru jacket is an excellent example of what I'm capable of when I take my time.

Speaking of which, my pièce de résistance was my version of the Minoru jacket. I just love it. I've got my eye on the Robson coat for this spring. It's rated as Advanced....but maybe, just maybe I can pull it off.

It seems that my sewing projects of 2013 were either raging successes or dismal failures that didn't even make it to the blog. :)  Hopefully 2014 will be a little more consistent. And I plan to start blogging my failures a bit more just for my own personal record.