This is not the end, simply time to begin again ...

It seems a little silly to do a 2013 wrap-up when I was MIA for a big chunk of the year, but I was curious, so I did a quick tally:

Dresses:   2   Both from the same vintage pattern. (Really 1.9, since one of them ain't hemmed yet ... )  As I recall, I chose this pattern because it was a bit different from the other 1950s dresses I'd tried.  I also sewed the dresses in drape-y rayon fabrics, and while I love rayon for skirts and blouses, for some reason I don't seem to like it as much in a dress.  Not sure why ... something to ponder.

Looks like it was made from bed linens ... but isn't.

Blouses:  1  The pale pink Sewaholic Alma from the beginning of the year.  It's okay, but the first version was better.  Both are rayon challis, but the darker challis I used for my first Alma looks and feels nicer, even though both fabrics were the same (dirt cheap) price, and bought from Fabric Mart at the same time.   I also need something better to pair this blouse with -- I didn't really like it with the jeans I modeled it with.   (I also decided I hated the jeans and they are at Goodwill now ... may they go forth and share their misery with some other unsuspecting fool.)

Well at least the dog is cute.

Knit tops:  2   Really?  That's it??  I must do better this year.  The two I made are Renfrews, so obviously winners.  Since they're striped, double winners.

Stripes FTW.

Skirts: 11  Thaaats more like it.  Though the "miss" ratio was higher than it seems it should have been (and only about half have made it onto the blog).  I wear skirts to work quite a lot, so they're the most useful item I can sew for myself.  However, I also seem to be a bit picky about them, and perhaps unintentionally have embarked on a journey in search of my "perfect skirt".  I think I am getting close ... and on that note I have a new skirt I'll try to photograph and share tomorrow.

More real-world compliments than anything else I've sewn ever (total compliments:  2).

Pacific Moons:  5  (aka, skirts for schmeebot)  Only half as many as last year!  2014 will bring more, I am sure of it.

This is what sewing Zen looks like.

So, I made 21 items this year (as opposed to 34 last year).   Not so bad really.  I wouldn't say that I learned any new skills, but I did use my vintage sewing machines quite a lot!  

I also got back into drawing, a long-neglected hobby I'd been struggling to re-engage with for the past few years.   That's a big deal for me.   But my biggest accomplishments of the year were at work (and I worked darn hard for them too, hence the long hiatus).  

And 2014?  I have more dreams than I'll have time for.  (Some are on their way here par avion from Deer & Doe.)    So I guess my biggest wish for the new year is to make the most of my time, so I can do as much as I can.  The rest ... we can talk about it next year, I suppose!

The prodigal blogger returns

As you might have guessed (if you wondered at all) these past few months have been busy ones for me.  Life's been all about the day job, but productively so!  Sewing ground to a complete halt sometime in August, and what little "hobby time" I had thereafter went to ATCs, because they were easier to dip in and out of.  Looking back at my Flickr archive, I see that I did two ATC themed swaps in August, and one each in September, November, and December.

I did do some sewing before that, though, in July and early August, but none of that stuff got photographed.   I made a second version of vintage Butterick 6520 but was annoyed with it and to this day it hangs on my dress form, un-hemmed.   Layered over it is a rather crazy-looking Pavlova skirt, made from Ikea fabric that schmeebot sent me.  I like the skirt, but it's a bit much for the office, I think ...  

Neglected.

Two other skirts were made as well, one that didn't work due to fabric choice (more of the stiff Ikea sheeting), and one that gets worn regularly (made of my favorite, rayon challis).  I have photos of neither, of course.  (Should work on that.)

ATCs so far ... I have a strict daily production target.

December finds me with some time off, and I have been re-discovering this whole hobby thing.   ATCs take first priority (more on that later, in another post, another day)  but I have done some sewing too, making one skirt for schmeebot (which came out awesome if I do say so myself) and two skirts for me, both of which are a bit too loose in the waist, not because I have changed size but because I have forgotten all those little undocumented adjustments I apparently always made ... so I am out to capture, on paper, exactly how my ideal skirt waistband should fit.  If I can nail that, wide vistas of possibility open up before me ...

Schmeeskirt #?? ... it's corduroy!

Ladybugs from one of my early dress projects.

After such a long absence, I thought about dumping blogging altogether.  Who cares about faithful updates on my sewing progress?   Well, the answer is ... me!   Otherwise I'd really have no idea what I made this year, and which scrap fabrics I've already used for pocket and yoke facings for schmeebot's skirts. I'm also not going to worry so much about restricting myself to "only" sewing prattle.  Other stuff may appear here, if I find it useful .... cathartic .... whatever.    If you're still following along after a six-month absence presumably you'll tolerate anything I throw up here!