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Showing posts from January, 2018

Buying no clothes FOR A WHOLE YEAR! And my first make of 2018

Holy guacamole.  What have I done??!! I have signed up for the 2018 Goodbye Valentino Ready to Wear Fast - which means I won't be buying any clothes (shoes, accessories and underwear are excepted) for The. Whole. Year. I know that for lots of people this would be easy, but I don't churn out the makes like some.  With two small kids and a demanding job...this could be crazy!  Or it might be the best thing I have ever done.  Let's go with that :) Meanwhile, the first make of 2018 is hot off the machine.  It's the StyleArc Billie Top (out of print but available still as a PDF). Unfortunately, I don't really like it. It's sort of a muslin anyway, but the fabric is all wrong and as a result, it just looks a bit messy and not that flattering.  Frankly, I have looked at this fabric ever since I bought it and wondered why I purchased it - totally not my style at all! I made this top because of Allison C's version(s) which she posted a bit over a y

Top 5 - Goals for 2018!

A final post in the Top 5 series, playing along with Gillian from Crafting a Rainbow .  The series is supposed to be 5 posts - hits, misses, highlights, reflections and goals.  I have skipped highlights and reflections - as this is mostly a sewing blog and they are likely to end up as very similar content to the hits and misses ( Highlights:   sewing things which were hits because I wore them. Reflections:   sew more hits and fewer misses...you see what I mean!). Goals, on the other hand, I can get on board with!  So here are my goals for 2018: 1.  Be more considered This means many things for me - one is to slow down a bit but to actually sew more.  I think this looks something like: Sticking to plans - I often get distracted by signing up for pattern testing (which I LOVE doing).  I need to be more disciplined and only sign up if the pattern will fit with my existing wardrobe, if I have fabric, if it fills a gap identified in my sewing plans already and so on. Searching

Top 5 - Misses of 2017 :(

Again, playing along with Gillian from Crafting a Rainbow to reflect on 2017. I am happy to report I stuggled to list five misses, and there are also a couple of "we'll see" items.  Plus the misses seem to be down to fabric choice, rather than a fit issue or not liking the pattern. So here we go: 1.  My photos The photos I took (or rather my husband took) in 2017 were rubbish.  We don't have a good area in our new house with a nice clean background and good light.  Inside is took dark, outside is too cluttered. A lot of the photos this year were super rushed or at stupid times like at night - getting pattern test feedback photos in but also working full time and having those deadlines just didn't work well for me. I don't know how to easily fix this, but am going to try! 2.  Anna Dress (By Hand London) Exhibit A for how crappy the photos have been this year... I made this one for the first ever Sydney frocktails.  I hesitated to list i

Top 5 - Hits of 2017!

Joining in with Gillian at Crafting a Rainbow to post a couple of reflective posts for 2017. 2017 was a funny sewing year for me - I pretty much didn't blog at all, and what I made was mostly pattern tests.  I think that reflects what felt like the busiest year yet and am trying not to beat myself up about all the stuff I didn't make that I wanted to! 2018 is hopefully going to be more considered making, especially as I have signed up for the Goodbye Valentino RTW Fas t!  No clothes shopping for me...argh! Without further ado - here are the garments I think were my five "hits" of 2017: 1.  Reece Shift Dress (Sinclair Patterns) I LOVE this dress.  I don't like wearing dresses but wear this to work all the time.  It makes me feel smart and professional (even though it needs a press in the second picture!) and is really well suited to the Sydney climate. As someone who recently swore off making dresses to try and find myself a true TNT, I might sn