A Year in Thread: 2018

I'm Alive, friends! I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted. Craziness! This past month literally tried to kill me, but I have made it to the other side of Christmas and I am so ready for things to slow down a bit again. I couldn't let the end of the year pass without doing my usual round ups, so if this bores you I suggest you come back next year sometime :) Cause I have several round ups coming this next week. I decided to start off with the one that will have the most to show: my year in thread. This is everything I sewed this year along with a little blurb about how it worked for me. Enjoy!

1. Yellow Stripe Boat Neck - my first make of the year and I still wear this quite often. I did learn that you don't pull the neckband on a boat neck like you would a scoop neck or else the neckline will always be wavy, which does annoy me on this make. Now I know for next time.
2. Faux Field Bag - I seriously love everything about this bag. I used it constantly throughout the year, but I have a few improvements I would like to make to the next version (which is always on the edge of being made). I've had a lot of requests for instructions on how to make this, so maybe that is something I will manage to make happen next year. We'll see.
3. Khaki Melissa Skirt - This is a somewhat successful make even if I have issues with some of the on the fly fudges I made. Don't cut your twill cross grain! You will see it! Also I hate that I gathered the back of this so much and wished I had taken my time to really ease it all in. I do still wear this fairly often though since my shirts cover the waistband.
4. Sassy Stork Blouse - This is one of my most popular makes of the year in real life - I still get compliments every time I wear it. I love this fabric and the style. I don't wear it super often because it needs a forward shoulder adjustment (and now that I know why it sits back on my neck, I find that uncomfortable). I have a stack of other fabrics I wanted to use for this pattern, so hopefully I can make one of those in the near future.

5. Green Banksia - This was a sad experiment that I seriously have only worn out once. The fit on the shirt itself is just not right on my body in many ways. I do still love the collar and placket though, so I still plan to use those on a knit shirt sometime.
6. Disney Sorrel - This year's Disney-going shirt. I wore this a few times and always got compliments from the employees at the parks - they see so many prints that they can tell which ones are unusual, so I take that as a compliment :) Still love this pattern, lol.
7. Otari Hoodie - Possibly my most used item of the year. I was lucky to be a pattern tester on this pattern and I learned a lot in the process of making it. I love my lightweight, "Florida" hoodie. The fabrics are super cute and it's light enough to be useful here year round, so it's often in my bag or in my car.
8. Blue Linen Skirt Redux - I finally hit it right with this remake of a remake - isn't it funny that something as simple as changing the buttons and adding tiny pockets would take this from never worn to worn often? I wear this at least every couple of weeks.

9. Blue Laurel Mimi Blouse - This was technically a muslin, but it had several fit issues combined with a color combo that just makes me feel dowdy. I have never worn this out.
10. White Mimi Blouse - My first part of the Dress Like Your Grandma Challenge. I really thought I would wear this all the time, but in the end the fact that you see the facing from the front really does bug me :/ So I never wear this.
11. Red Hollyburn Skirt - Just like all my other Hollyburns, this turned into a frequently worn item. In fact I just wore it yesterday! This was the bottom half of the DLYG Challenge.
12. Pacifier Clips - These were used a ton when these babies were little, so I'm pretty happy with the whopping 30 minutes they took to make.

13. Yaletown - I really wanted to like this dress, and I was bound and determined to have something wearable, but it just has way to make fit issues. I have worn this a few times to church, but I almost exposed myself each time, so until I figure something stronger out to hold the wrap closed, it will not be worn.
14. Navy Agnes - So sad that this fabric was so terrible because I love it in theory. I did manage to wear the shirt with my Pippi Pinafore, but that's the only way it gets outside the closet, lol.
15. Flamingo Agnes - This shirt was worn All. The. Time. This whole outfit, in fact. I should really give this shirt a shave cause it's getting a bit pilly.
16. Minty Floral Skirt - Another great piece - I should just make 10 of this pattern and wear them all the time. If I had more shirts to wear with this, it would get worn even more.

17. Lotta Jansdotter Sailor Top - This gets a surprising amount of wear for being a quilting cotton shirt. It didn't work with the skirt I wanted it for, but it goes with a lot of other skirts just fine and it's very comfy.
18. Quill Peggy Skirt - I seriously love this fabric and I was so proud of my pattern matching on this skirt, but because I had such a hard time with matching a shirt with it, it has been worn very few times. So sad.
19. Pippi Pinafore - This was a fun and different make for me that paid off nicely. I really like the pinafore look on me since this is more fitted, and this helped me wear a few tops that never get worn otherwise.
20. Serger Thread Catcher - Such a useful little thing and it was so easy to make. I hope people were able to use the tutorial and make their own :)

21. Acid Agnes Refashion - This was quite the remake project, lol. I'm still proud I made this from what it was, but after washing it once I had some holes pop up in the friction areas :/ I sewed them closed by hand, but it still doesn't bode well for it holding up. Consequently I haven't worn it much.
22. Rifle Sun Girls Apron - This was a big hit for my sister's birthday this year and now all the other family members want one of their own.
23. Sparkle Peony Agnes - I was so bummed about this shirt - I knew better at the time but I didn't pull the neckband enough and the neckband sags which was just personally embarassing. I finally started to take it apart a few months ago and then never got around to fixing it. So while this did get a little wear, it's out of commission now. Hopefully I get the time to fix it soon cause it was a cute shirt.
24. Burgundy Melissa Skirt - A big win here - this is a comfy skirt that doesn't wrinkle much and goes with a surprising amount of things in my closet. I don't know what this fabric is, but it pills like made in the wash - I had to do a complete shave down just to make it wearable again. It was worth it though. I'm wearing this as I type.

25. Botany Voile Sailor Top - Another big win. Man, I love this fabric. Pretty, light, and breathable in a loose design that goes with a lot. I wore this with the burgundy skirt at my baby shower so I think of that every time I wear the top.
26. Sorrel Dress - Another pattern test for me. I was excited when I signed up for this, and it did get me out of a few style preconceptions I had. I like the dress but really haven't been able to wear it much due to some mistakes I made making it. Cute pattern though.
27. Rifle Sun Girls Oven Mitts - Can you believe I only made ONE Christmas item this year? And then I FORGOT TO TAKE PICTURES OF IT. Ugh. I made my sister some oven mitts to match her apron so she can look super put together in her kitchen. She loves them :) She says she will send me pictures, so I will post about these soon, lol.

And that's it. 27 items sewn, almost all of which were from before I moved in July. I have to say that my output was kind of disappointing, but then I know the behind the scenes reason and it's all ok. I've just had to come to terms with the fact that I will not be able to make much over the next year or so, and that's fine. The items I already had made have kept my wardrobe going strong in this time that I can't make new stuff. Sure, I had some duds, but I also managed to make several items that have turned into staple items that get worn all the time. Many of these are items that I planned forever ago and I finally set out to make (Banksia, Sassy Librarian Blouse, Mimi Blouse), and I did make sure to complete all the items I stated making this year no matter how much work it took to finish (Yaletown, I'm looking at you). All in all, not a bad year of stuff to show :)

How did you do in 2018?