2014 - A Year of Sewing

Well, all things considered this has been a really good year for my sewing. In the grand scheme of things I know I really didn't make all that much, but when you compare it to my output in previous years it's an astronomical increase, lol. Something clicked with me at the end of the summer and I started to crank things out, all of it spurned on by having success with one dress. Heck, I even made enough wardrobe items to warrant giving them their own tab at the top of my blog :) You can click that tab for specifics about each of the things I made.

So here's the breakdown of what I made:

• 1 dress
• 7 tops
• 2 skirts
• 5 sweaters

I certainly spent a lot of time fitting my upper half this year! That's 15 finished items - not bad considering most of them were made September of later. These are the items that I finished - there were several others started that ran into snags that I just couldn't diagnose yet. One of these days I will re-address my WIPs since I really would like to have something to show for all that work, but life got in the way this year and I'm not going to beat myself up about it. Even though I feel like I make very little in comparison to many of the other blogs I read, I am very proud of the items I made this year :) Most of these I wear very often - some even once a week! My obvious trends from this year are knitting sweaters, refashioning/refitting thrifted items, and my biggest - knit t-shirts! I officially have three TNT patterns: the Plantain by Deer + Doe, Parisian Top by Go To Patterns, and the Renfrew by Sewaholic. I love each one of these that I make and they just get better each time as I learn more about how different knit fabrics behave. Plus they only take a few hours to make

So, what types of goals/hopes do I have for 2015?
Clearly, I need more things for my bottom half, lol. I focused on my upper body since I knew I prefer that area to be fitted. This was true with dresses as well - I tend to make my muslins of just the bodice since I favor full skirts and this has worked for the most part. In the coming year, I hope to have more successes to show for my work. It's kind of funny that I get so frustrated with sewing and toss things in the corner, but in knitting I'm fine with ripping something out completely and restarting multiple times. The only explanation I can think of is that I'm more confident in fitting knits - they stretch, hooray, lol!

I'm sure I will make more t-shirts this coming year, and I hope to get a few higher quality solids knits so that I can really make some basics that will get tons of wear. I know some people think making plain t-shirts is boring, but I'm thrilled to think that I can make some exactly how I want them and not just rely on what Target has available at the time, lol. I only have one main commitment that I want to treat as a hard set goal for 2015 - novelty print dresses! I love all the fun prints I see on Modcloth, and I know I can make them myself for a fraction of the cost. I came close to a TNT with Simplicity 2444, but I want something with straight darts so I could use it for striped prints too. I'm going to start with Simplicity 1873 and I'm confident it will be what I'm thinking of. I also WILL work out the fitting on the Colette Dahlia. I was so excited about it when it was released, but it has been an incredible headache resulting in wasted fabric and time. I LOVE the design though, so I will persevere - I may even seek outside help soon.

As far as my bottom half goes, I have plans for simple skirts (a corduroy Peggy by Blue Ginger Doll is traced and ready to start work on), and depending on how well things go I may try out some simple shorts. I never buy shorts because I don't like them, well, short. I'm not talking making jeans or anything yet since I'd like to get more successes under my belt before I delve that deep, but some cotton prints could be fun. We'll see.

My biggest goal is to just learn to appreciate and enjoy the process of sewing more. As much as I love the sewing blogosphere, it can be easy to feel like you stink when you see all these wonderful successes had by others. I keep having to tell myself that there was much more work put into those makes than the blog shows and most of those people have been sewing clothing much longer than me. I emphasize clothing because I've known how to sew for most of my life but a purse is a big difference from fitting something to your body. I'm pleased that I've stayed positive as much as I have, but I still need to improve my patience so I have more fun and enjoy the journey :)

Here's to kicking 2014 out and hoping for better things in 2015!

A Year In Books - 2014

In the same strain as last year's round-up, I wanted to report on the things I've read this year. I did pretty good as far as my reading schedule goes - I made a goal to read 24 books (2 books per month), and I ended up reading 31! It's nice to sign into Goodreads and see this off to the side:

129% suckahs!  Heck yes :) I not only read more, but I feel the quality of what I read was very good overall. I did succumb to a few YA and pop novels, but a few of the classics I read definitely make up for those (Les Mis, I'm lookin at you). Some of these I have yet to write reviews about, but I will update this list as I post about them. So, here is what I read in 2014:

1. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
2. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
4. The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
5. My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business by Dick Van Dyke
6. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
7. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (ugh)
8. Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris
9. Wild by Cheryl Strayed
10. Sanditon by Jane Austen
11. Bringing Up Bébé by Pamela Druckerman
12. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
13. Watership Down by Richard Adams
14. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
15. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
16. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Book Store by Robin Sloan
17. When You Are Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris
18. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
19. The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
20. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
21. After The Funeral by Agatha Christie
22. The Mermaid: A Love Tale by Lily Dougall
23. Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte
24. The Book of Mormon
25. Animal Farm by George Orwell
26. The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor
27. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
28. Mindfulness for Beginners by Jon Kabat-Zinn
29. Who Switched Off My Brain? by Caroline Leaf
30. An Education by Lynn Barber
31. Yes Please by Amy Poehler

This year seems to have brought out some new trends in what I like to read. According to my ratings, I am less and less satisfied with modern novels and I favor classics and non-fiction. I've grown to really detest YA fiction, lol, to the extent that if something is even in that category it will make me not want to read it. I crave the depth of characters provided in classic fiction. It's funny to think I'm a classic book lover now when I think of what a drudgery I found reading them back in high school. I guess it shows I've grown or something :) I also have discovered I love autobiographies of people I admire, and I do love books that have interesting or strange perspectives (ahem, Neil Gaiman). Toward the end of the year, I started looking into non-fiction, particularly about general attitude improvement and brain function. I'm becoming pretty involved in the search for why we think and feel the way we do and what we can do about it (hopefully that makes sense) - I know it will be a subject that I can learn about throughout my life as there's no way to every know or understand the human mind. I'm happy with what I have learned in my reading thus far though.

I've read so many great books this year that it is impossible to pick a definitive favorite. I will just let you know which books I gave 5 out of 5 stars:

• The Silver Linings Playbook
• Anna Karenina
• Les Misérables
• Fahrenheit 451
• Watership Down

See what I mean? There is only one modern book on that list. I have turned into a literary snob, but there is no denying the superior quality of these stories that have stood the test of time, some of them for hundreds of years. The characters are so much more developed and real in these older books, and none of them are afraid to give you enough back story to understand them on a deeper level. I honestly look forward to the many books I have yet to read in my life. I'm up to 239 thus far that I can count - only 761 left to go to reach my life goal!

A Year In Books - 2013

This last year I made the decision and effort to get back into reading for pleasure. I joined The Thousander Club and have used that as a motivator to read, read, read! I made a goal to read 25 books this year back in April. I didn't quite make it to my goal, but I came close and considering 3 months had already passed by the time I made the goal, I feel pretty good about what I did manage to read. So, here is a list of the 21 books I did read (with links to their reviews if I wrote one:

1. Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
2. Bossypants by Tina Fey
3. The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho
4. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
5. Little Bee by Chris Cleave
6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
7. World War Z by Max Brooks
8. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
9. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
10. Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
11. The Watsons by Jane Austen
12. Lady Susan by Jane Austen
13. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
14. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
15. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
16. Emma by Jane Austen
17. Persuasion by Jane Austen
18. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
19. My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud Homme
20. The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells
21. Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers

So, I say 21 out of 25 isn't bad :) I'm going to sick with my goal of 25 per year in my effort to read at least 1000 books in my lifetime. I'm up to 206 books that I can recall so far. I'm sure there are more that I just don't remember from high school and whatnot, but I'm only counting the ones I know of.

I was doing really well with the Jane Austen books this summer. I had planned on reading all of them, then writing one large review on the lot together. All went well all summer as I listened to each audio book in the order that they were written ... and then my house got struck by lightning, zapping my computer that held all my music and whatnot that I synched my phone on. So I have still read all of her books except the last one, Sanditon. It's a short one too, so I'm really bummed I couldn't finish them all before the year ended. It will be one of the first books I read in 2014 just so I can cross it off my list. I seriously recommend audio books for classic novels - I was able to knit, sew, clean, drive to work, etc and have the stories read to me. It was lovely and I am now a total addict. I planned on doing the same with Charles Dickens' collection, but alas those files were on the same computer. Hopefully I can salvage them soon!

I am so glad I have added regular reading back into my life this year :) I have to say that out of all the books I read, My Life In France or Eat Pray Love were my decided favorites. I enjoyed most all of the books, but those are the two that have stuck with me long term. I also really love that I've been able to keep track of all my reading on Goodreads - such a great site!

I can't wait to read more in 2014!