Goals for 2014

It's taken me a while to work out what my goals are and I think doing the other Top 5s first really helped me work things through in my head (which is probably the point - clever Gillian! )

1) The Happy Wardrobe Project - Getting a better idea of my personal style

I'm a bit of a schizophrenic dresser. There's no dress code at work so anything from jeans to dresses goes. I have a smallish child so unlikely to start wearing heels and smart clothes at the weekends. I love a vintage look (anywhere from 50s to 70s) but given my lack of interest in ironing I won't be wearing blouses everyday! But I want to look good and put together and to get back to a personal style. I used to have one before I had N and convenience/ low maintenance clothes become more important! 

So my plan is to snap a pic (probably a phone/mirror pic) each morning and consider how I felt and looked in the outfit. Was I happy to choose it or was it a desperation choice on an "I have no clothes" day?  I'm also going to note down if there's something I wanted to wear but had nothing to go with it - for example I know I have one navy tee and lots of bottoms I wear it with so if it's in the wash it stops me wearing other things.

I am planning to do this for a couple of months in colder weather (now) and again in the summer as I know I will find major differences.  I won't blog about it all the time, but will maybe do a monthly round up/ learnings.  I think it will really help plan my sewing which is another thing that worked well for me this year.

I really like my colour palettes so will continue to use those which will hopefully cut down the orphans. I am also intending to start some new pinboards with inspiration outfits - maybe I'll even make some copycat outfits!

As was writing this, I remembered a post that Tilly wrote about finding your personal style which I really liked and I guess some aspects of the plan above I have remembered and taken from this. If personal style is a consideration for you this year, you can read it here.

2) Find my TNTs

I love the speediness of sewing repeats - they really work for my time-strapped life!  I am hoping that the plan above will allow me to find what my happy clothes/ styles are and make more of them!  It will also allow me to evaluate new patterns and decide if they are right for me or destined to sit in the pattern box, and find fabrics that work for the sort of clothes I want to make and wear.  I made quite a few this year - loads of Cake (as documented on my hits post), 2 Kelly skirts (only 1 blogged so far!), and 2 Renfrews.

3) Learn new skills

Doesn't everyone have this on their list? I don't want to get stuck in a rut as an OK sewist who still makes loads of mistakes.  As I'm totally self/blog taught I'm sure I make loads of basic errors in sewing and fitting.   For example I can bind a seam but it just doesn't look as neat and pretty as it could (as you'll see if you look closely at the construction pics from my Blue Christmas dress!).  I really want to take an intermediate dressmaking class as I think it would really help me to improve. I'm going to look for a class and find the time to take it. If i can't I will take some Craftsy classes.

4) Use better fabrics

As a beginner sewist I was scared of spending money on fabric in case i messed it up, and as a result some earlier makes haven't stood the test of time - fabrics going bobbly, interfacing wrinkly, colours fading. I want to change this in 2014.

The Minerva Blogger Network allows me to try out fabrics that are perhaps more expensive than i would previously have chosen and I can really see the difference with these nicer fabrics (can't wait to show you my next few makes that I've just received my fabric picks for!). I'm never going to have an unlimited fabric budget but if I know a garment will be finished, will fit well and be worn, I can spend at least what a RTW garment would have cost.  So if a RTW high street dress costs £30-40 (not unreasonable) I could potentially spend £10-15 a metre on fabric plus notions (we all know factoring in a cost for our time spent making won't work!).  Also it's a hobby budget as well as a clothing budget.  Sounds like I can buy some more fabric then!

5) Make trousers

Source: Colette patterns, Butterick, Named

 If you have read my other top 5 posts this will come as no surprise at all. I planned to do it last year and am determined to conquer them this year! I'll be going back to my Juniper muslin and tracing out the bigger size probably in February.  I'd also like to make Named Jamie jeans and Gertie for Butterick capris.  Lena from the Sewing Space has been teasing us with sneak peeks of her new trouser pattern too and it looks great!  I'd really like to take the Seamless pledge but while there is still a big part of my wardrobe I don't make I don't see how it will work.


I do have a 6th thing (yes, I know it's supposed to be 5, but it's my blog, my rules, right?) and it's probably the most important thing of all. To be kind to myself.  I have a busy life, small child, full time job, long commute and a big hobby.  If I blog less often as a result, or take time off from sewing to do other things, I am not going to beat myself up about it.  As long as everyone is fed, wearing clean clothes and happy, the world won't end if I don't have anything to blog about for a week or two.  Or if I don't clean the kitchen floor (#sewdontclean).

Here's to 2014 and a great sewing, blogging and generally being healthy and having fun year for everyone, whether we fulfil all our goals or not!

My top 5 inspirations from 2013

And we're in the home stretch of Top 5s!  Just this and 2014 goals to go!

Inspirations is a toughie!  When I first bought a cheap sewing machine, my plan was to do machine embroidery and maybe make a few bits and pieces for N.  I had no plans to start sewing garments for myself.  However stumbling on the world of sewing blogs changed that!  I realised that you didn't have to have been sewing since you were a child to be able to make beautiful, great fitting clothes.

I've picked a few areas where I feel really inspired, by bloggers and others.

1) Pattern designers

By that I don't mean established pattern companies like Colette or Sewaholic.  But some of my favourite bloggers have released their own patterns this year, both free and paid for.  I can't get my head around the process of doing this and how complicated it must be, but how cool to see people making, wearing and loving something you have designed!

Source: House of Pinheiro

 Rachel's Brasilia dress

Melissa's workout/ running gear

Erin's Presidio handbag

The lovely Katie from What Katie Sews also mentioned recently she was working on releasing a pattern she had designed - can't wait to see!

2) Refashioning

Source: Charity Shop Chic

When I arrived at the epic blogger meet up back in April, I almost squealed to see a dress I recognised and loved that I had just been reading about - Sally's fabulous Mad Men shirt dress!  And no post about refashioning would be complete without a mention for this talented lady.  She totally inspires me to have a go at refashioning.  I just need to find some time for scouring charity shops - I'm sure I don't have her vision of what the most unpromising items could become!

3) Sewcial media

 Some bloggers have such a skill for bringing people together.  From the top 5 posts you are reading now, started by Gillian from Crafting a Rainbow, to the blogger meet ups and swaps organised by Rachel, Claire, Marie & Kat and many many more, and the Spoolettes spearheaded by Clare, sewing people love to get together and chat together!  Especially if there is fabric shopping involved.  Or drinking.  Or both!

Whether it is online or in real life, a lot of people spend a lot of time and effort coming up with great ideas to spread the sewing love and that is pretty inspiring.  A few mentions (I couldn't possibly cover everyone so please don't be offended if I have missed you off!):

the aforementioned Gillian from Crafting a Rainbow

Rachel from House of Pinheiro

Claire from Sew Incidentally

Marie from A Stitching Odyssey

Kat from A Krafty Kat

Kerry from Kestrel Makes

Joost from Make my Pattern and creator of the Sewcialist logo and Firehose

Leila from Three Dresses Project

Lady Katza from Peanut Butter Macrame

Heather from Handmade by Heather B

Katie from KatieKadiddlehopper

StephC from 3 Hours past and Cake Patterns

Clare from Sew Dixie Lou

Tilly from Tilly and the Buttons

4) Beautiful photography

I've seen some recent blog posts talking about sewing blogs turning into fashion blogs and being all about photography and less about sewing. These are not the blogs I read. I want to read about sewing but I don't see why you can't have clear pics and great interesting photography. OK, so all we really need is daylight and non blurry photos but it's hopefully more interesting when I manage to get pics somewhere other than my back garden being photobombed by a 5 year old and a grumpy cat! 

I know I appreciate it when bloggers work hard with pics (as long as i can see the clothes obviously!).

Some honourable mentions:

Rachel from House of Pinheiro (is there anything this girl can't do?)

Lizzy from Sew Busy Lizzy

Sally from Charity Shop Chic

Carolyn from Handmade by Carolyn

Janene from Ooobop

Clare from Sew Dixie Lou

Rochelle from Lucky Lucille

I still have work to do on my blog pics - the winter is hard when you can't incorporate an outdoor photo shoot into a family weekend! I'll never be able to take hundreds of pics to choose from (the 5 year old wouldn't stand for it!) but the ladies above and others inspire me to get better!

5) Dyeing fabric

I used to do a lot of fabric dying, tie dye etc as a student and thought those days were past! But I've become inspired to pick it up again for a few reasons.

Source: Jigidi.com

On holiday in the summer we visited a beautiful shop where the owner created lovely batik scarves and sarongs. I wanted to buy fabric but at upwards of £40 a metre it wasn't going to happen. I really want to try making my own. Imagine the great border prints you could make?  I'd also like to try shibori and other natural dyes like Sally and screen printing like Carolyn.  Sadly these are summer projects unless i want dripping fabric everywhere so I'll need to wait a bit.  

So that's it - my inspirations! 

Only goals to go - just need to work out what they are!

Reflections on 2013

Happy New Year to you all!

I am really enjoying all of these top 5 posts but you guys are blogging too much!  My reader is overflowing!  I think I am all caught up now though, and seeing some great top 5s that have really made me think (and actually possibly re-evaluate a few items on my lists).

1) A pat on the back

Gratuitous pugs!

I think I did really well this year.  My sewing came on leaps and bounds.  I can now put on a Me Made garment most days with little effort, and I buy very little RTW any more (except for jeans - more to come on that!).  I worked hard on fitting and it really paid off - with a little help from my friends - which leads me on nicely to:

2) Sewing people really are the nicest people you could meet/ chat to

2013 was a tough year for me personally.  I lost a close family member and another was diagnosed with a serious illness (which is likely to make 2014 another difficult one).  But I really think sewing, sewcial media, bloggers and sewing friends helped me through it (without wishing to take away any credit from family and non-sewing friends of course!).  Sometimes it's just great to have an escape from reality and chat to other people who are as excited about the latest indie pattern release or fabric sale as me!

I joined Twitter (@jolittletime if you tweet too!) after resisting for a long time and found a fantastic sewing community on there.

I went to the epic blogger meet up and met some fabulous people and starting following lots of new blogs.

I started meeting the Spoolettes as regularly as I can (given family commitments that's not as often as I would like!).  What a great group of ladies that are excellent fun to spend time with, whether drinking, dancing, bowling or fabric shopping!

3) I sewed (mainly) for the life I have

Particpating in Me Made May showed me that my wardrobe needed plain separates and knits and I focused on sewing those.  I know a lot of people don't like to sew basics, but there's only so many party dresses and summer frocks my lifestyle calls for, especially in a country when the sun shines for about a month of the year.  I love (and wear) dresses quite a lot, but I'm likely to grab a comfy knit one to throw on for work and I have sewn a lot of those this year!  But we all need a bit of frosting from time to time - however I want to make what I wear most often.  I also sewed much more with plains (and I'm including spots and stripes in plains - they are practically neutrals) which I have enjoyed more than I expected.  It's good to be able to see nice design lines and focus on the fit rather than hiding behind a print as I did when I started (all those lovely printed cottons...)

4) I really need to conquer trousers

I wear jeans and trousers a lot, especially in winter and it's a huge gap in my me-made wardrobe.  As mentioned in my Hits & Misses post I traced Colette patterns Juniper in my usual size following Sunni's trouser sewalong, added extra seam allowances, thread traced every seam, and threw the muslin in the sewing box to think about what it had done when it didn't remotely fit. It hasn't come back out yet but it will this year! I also want some me made jeans.

5) Sewing with a plan works well for me

I'm quite a planner by nature, but I do have a tendency to get distracted by newer shinier things (squirrel!) like new pattern releases, sewalongs, sewing challenges, competitions etc.  I have made a conscious effort only to take part in these if I would have done it anyway!  If I have bought a new Cake pattern and there's a sewalong, then I will plan to join.  If the Sewcialists are doing Red October, I will join in as I love red.  Green December not so much.  I didn't love the Laurel pattern and realistically I don't think the shape will work for my shape, so I was proud of resisting the competition.

The sewalong that worked really well for me was the Fall Essentials sewalong.  I planned out the garments I wanted to make within a colour palette I love and so I could make sure I had all the notions, zips, thread, buttons etc that normally hold me up on finishing a project.  I mainly sew in the evenings so rushing to the shop for more thread isn't going to happen!  I made so many more projects in that 2 month period than I ever expected so a big thumbs up for planning sewing!

Inspirations and goals posts coming up soon!

Top 5 of 2013

The lovely Gillian of Crafting A Rainbow has asked us to post again about our top 5 things from 2013.

I loved reading all the participants of this last year so I'm getting in on it early this year! In this post I'm doing my hits and misses and I'll cover off reflections, inspirations and goals in a follow up post.

Top 5 hits

I've had a pretty productive sewing year! I made more items that I thought I could and my skills and confidence have improved so much! 

1)  My Mad Men dress

I sewed this for Julia Bobbin's Mad Men sewalong and first wore it to Rachel's epic blogger meet up. It was the first item where I really cracked the fit (with the help of the lovely twitter sewcialists) and also the first time I did major alterations to a pattern. Worked out really well and wasn't so scary! 

Cake Patterns

This is a bit of a cheat as it covers so many of the garments I have made this year! But I have come to love sewing with knits and steph's fitting process makes it so easy! Also they are really versatile and lend themselves to being remade several times. This year I made 2 Tiramisus, 2 Cabaritas, 2 Hummingbird top and skirt combos and a Hummingbird flounce skirt, 2 Pavlova top and skirt combos and 3 Red Velvets (some unblogged, and a lot of them pictured above!).  That's a lot of Cake!

Blue Christmas dress

A really recent make in the nicest fabric I have worked with and I tried really hard with the seam finishing etc to do the fabric justice. Even though it's not quite as I expected I still love it!

The Kite Flying Hawthorn

I loved this pattern when it came out but I was worried about my sewing ability in managing to make a shirt dress. But I needn't have worried with the great Colette instructions holding my hand. I always get compliments on this when I wear it!

The Beach Hut Victoria

I wasn't sure about this pattern until I started seeing it on lots of blogs.  The line drawings looked scary.  But it's such a versatile jacket and I can't wait til it's warm enough to wear without freezing to death!

Top 5 misses

I don't have loads of wadders.  Normally when I start a make I finish it and it is generally not too bad.  Maybe I am lucky (or accepting of low standards!).

Juniper Trousers

These were my biggest fail this year - I was determined to make a pair of trousers in 2013 and it really didn't happen.  I made a muslin which I carefully thread traced to find it wouldn't have fit in a million years.  So I threw it in the sewing box and it is still there.  2014 will be the Year of the Trousers (umm, I think I said that last year...)

A second Gertie Portrait blouse

After making the first one with no issues, I grabbed a cotton remnant to make a quick summer top.  I sewing too far up the side seams so that it is really tight under the arms and I need to figure out a way to fix that without unpicking the narrow sleeve hems I have already done.

The Brave Peony

This is currently languishing in the mending pile.  The zip broke and after 3 failed attempts to replace it (currently the waist seam is totally misaligned across the zip) I gave up and threw it on a chair.  I am terrible at fixing problems.

The Deco Cardigan

This isn't quite a miss, but I definitely don't wear it as much as I thought I would.  I think this is partly to do with the wool content.  I do find it slightly itchy.  However the main problem is the pink grosgrain ribbon I used.  I find that really restricts what it goes with.  I may remove this and replace with something more neutral (maybe navy?).

The Shift dress

This failed at toile stage where I realised that the Burda shift dress pattern I was planning fitted me really badly and I wasn't keen on the line of the shoulder.  So I have a beautiful piece of pink raw silk that I need to find a pattern for. 

Stay tuned for the follow up post with inspirations, reflections and goals for 2014!

Are you sharing your top 5 of 2013?  Let me know in the comments so I can check it out!