2018 in Review

Well, it's time for another review post! Writing this post last year was an involved process, but I've been happy multiple times this year that I put in the effort. That post (and the monthly round-ups I did this year) have been very helpful references for me.

My sewing was broken up by our move in 2018, and it's taking me some time to figure out how to fit my hobby into life here.  But I feel as though I was definitely more purposeful in both my sewing and fabric purchasing in 2018 than I have ever been before.

First, let's talk about the sewing.

In 2018, I sewed 73 items.  (If that sounds like a lot, consider that I really do mean "items" - so whether I spent four weeks working on a dress, or hemmed a square of fabric to make a bandana, either way that counts as one item.)  Of those 73 pieces, 47 percent (34 items) were for myself, and 53 percent (39 items) were for others.  Here's the visual breakdown of what I sewed for myself this year.

November 2018

Just a wee bit of sewing happened in November this year.

PROJECTS

I sewed a black velvet shrug using this Lekala pattern (my first, thanks to a gift voucher from lovely generous Nicole). I needed the shrug to wear with my Marine Ball gown. I was nervous submitting my measurements, thinking, what if it is too small, but it fit quite well. I would have liked a little more coverage on the sides and upper chest, but based on the line drawings, I think this fits as it is intended to.  It used about 3/4 of a yard of some stretch velvet that I purchased locally for this purpose.

July and October 2018

Oooh, this move has really kicked me in the behind a little bit. I have found it difficult to find time for sewing, much less time for blogging. I really miss both, but just haven't been able to figure out how to get the time in.

In any case, I've determined to finish up what I started with my monthly roundups and yearlong tally of fabric in and out, so there will be a few posts forthcoming even though I haven't sewed much of anything lately. There was no sewing or fabric-buying activity at all in August and September, but here are the stats for July and October.

JULY PROJECTS COMPLETED:

A Blackwood cardigan using 2 yards of cotton windowpane knit I bought from Cali Fabrics in June. Due to fabric shortage the windowpanes on the neckband don't line up with the ones on the body, and the neckband pulls the body a little too tightly.  I haven't worked out how to salvage it yet, but I do wear it around the house because it's cozy.

JULY FABRIC PURCHASES: 

4 yards of olive green cotton/lycra bottom weight for a pair of Ginger Jeans and maybe another pinafore.

OCTOBER PROJECTS COMPLETED:

2.5 yards of the olive green bottomweight I bought in July for another pair of jeans.  Blogged here.

Army green Gingers #5

I made another pair of Ginger jeans.  I've had army green jeans in my head since last winter, but I only found the fabric (cotton/lycra bottom weight from FabricMart) back in July.  It went on sale after I'd packed up my sewing room, so I ordered it and then threw it into the shipment.

I'm still here, with a pinafore dress

If anyone is still reading, hi, it's been a minute! Since I last blogged, we had a great summer with family before moving south to Bogota, Colombia two months ago.  This fall we've been acclimating to our new home and waiting for our stuff to arrive.

June 2018

I'm late with June's update, primarily because I'm in a packing frenzy.  The movers come in a week and a half and I'm just a wee bit stressed out.  I'm closing up the sewing shop today so there won't be any more sewing for at least a couple months - that hasn't stopped me from buying a bit of fabric in July though.  

Without further ado, here's what I got up to last month:

PROJECTS COMPLETED

Cropped Blackwood Jacket

This is one of those instances where the garment told me what it wanted to be as I was going along.