Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Top 5 of 2017: Goals

1) Stop spreading myself so thin - I have a tendency to want to do anything and everything that strikes me at a given time, be it fun things related to my hobbies or just things people ask me to do and me not wanting to disappoint. I really need to better gauge what I can reasonably accomplish in a given time and not make myself so crazy with lots of things all at once. This fall through Christmas felt like I was just running from thing to thing, making things for different events or holidays, making food for parties, making gifts, singing at various places. It all became too much, which makes me feel burnt out. I don't want to quit the things that bring me so much joy, but I do need to better decide what I can do and what I should say no to.

2) Make more "outfits" and mini capsules - This year I unintentionally made my first "mini capsule wardrobe", and I wore the heck out of all 4 of those pieces. Not only did they turn out great individually, they also worked wonderfully together so I could wear them with each other or with other items in my closet. Very useful. I will definitely wear an item more if I make it deliberately to go with something else I've made or will be making soon after.

3) Get back into running - I will be honest that I can't say I enjoyed running at the time, but I enjoyed the results of running (feeling healthier) as well as the general feeling of accomplishment it gave me. I even found myself wishing I could run just last week when things were super stressful - so weird to say, lol. I really want to hit my goal of being able to run a 5K this coming year. I know I can do it, it's just a matter of dedication.

4) Learn Hand Lettering - I signed up for the Show Me Your Drills Challenge with The Happy Ever Crafter back in September, and I did fairly well at practicing the drills every day ... until the hurricane, lol. I bought brush pens and vellum and I really do want to actually make this happen. How cool to be able to write your own fancy calligraphy for letters or even on things like cups and ornaments for cute gifts?! This whole process is really just about practicing everyday to teach yourself the muscle memory and control to consistently hand letter, so I know it is very do-able. I just need to buckle down and stick with it!

5) Learn to use a serger - This is something I've been putting off for years. I've sewn with a serger before, but always on someone else's machine that they thread and set up for me. I've had the Beginning Serging Craftsy class for a few years just waiting for me to feel like I have enough time to see it through - obviously that moment will never just come on its own. I actually own 4 sergers but none of them is up an running (wow, that's ridiculous, lol). All 4 machines are older, but certainly one or two of them (at the very least) have solid bones and are worth getting fixed up. I'm going to finally take them to my local machine repair man and ask which one I should have fixed. Then I will work my way through the "serger notebook" with the class where you go through all your tension settings and whatnot to learn the ins and outs of your machine and see what it can do :)

I also have some more soft goals with the #2018makenine challenge. I love looking through my patterns and picking out 9 that I want to sew up each year. I have yet to get to all of them, but this year I did manage to sew 3! That's a big improvement on last year's 0. I still want to sew everything on my previous lists as well as countless other patterns. So while I know I will not realistically make all of these, I would certainly like to keep them on my radar.
  • Everything In Its Place Organizer by Annie Unrein
  • Simplicity 8439
  • Simplicity 8050
  • Simplicity 8220
  • Sewaholic Yaletown
  • Simplicity 1253
  • Study Hall Skirt by Anna Maria Horner
  • Cookie Blousson by Waffle Patterns
  • Leggings
This is more Big 4 patterns than I've ever put on my lists before. I've become more and more drawn to the styles that the bigger companies release in the last few years - not that I don't still like indie patterns - I just now am more inclusive with Simplicity and the like. It also helps that I now have a Hobby Lobby within a reasonable distance so if there is a 99¢ sale I can just swing by and grab a few patterns I've had my eye on. The offerings seem to get better each time, lately, so I'd really like to sew more of them up. Thus the 5 patterns from the big companies on my list. The "leggings" listing is vague on purpose because I do want to make them, but I have lots of patterns and haven't chosen "the one" yet. The others are ones I've had for a while and would love to make, save for the organizer bag that I've already made twice as gifts - now I'd like one for myself after all that work! 

This exercise made me look at the rest of my sewing plans too. Why don't I sew up all my make nine list? The answer would most definitely be because I don't already have a fabric mentally set aside for many of the patterns listed. This seems to have been my major downfall each year, and it very well may be again. When I am only looking at patterns to make up (and honestly focusing on new to me patterns to keep things fresh and interesting), my plans are aspirational at best. I need to hit a more definite planning stage before something can actually be made. So I wanted to make a new make nine for myself where I list the pattern and show the fabric I plan to make it in in hopes that this will make them seem more do-able and actually get them made. This list is probably totally boring to anyone but me since there are no pictures, but it is my blog so...
  • Feather chiffon and yellow lining as Pleated Skirt
  • Disney jersey as Sorrel Top
  • Blue linen/cotton as Peggy Skirt
  • Butterfly print as Sailor Top
  • Chartreuse Floral as Sailor Top
  • Apple print as McCalls 6996
  • Mint floral twill as Sally Skirt or McCall's 7475 
  • Denim as Melissa Skirt
  • White Denim as Self Drafted Knitting Bag
  • Teal Print Rayon Jersey as Marianne Top
Some of these plans were made years ago and never came about (like McCall's 6996) and some of these are brand new (knitting bag), but all of these are currently floating around in my brain of possible things to sew next. I'm also about to go to The Sewing Studio for their big sale on New Year's Day, so I'm sure I will have some new projects jumping into that queue.

So those are my goals for the comping year :) I'm sure I will come up with more as time passes. Really I should have "Sell My House" as one, but I don't really have much control over that, lol. Here's hoping this coming year brings personal improvement and lots of fun. We can all hope for that, right?

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