Hi Internet Friends :)
I had been hoping to get this post to you before the new year but such is the holiday season! I’m going to try and keep things short and sweet by just chatting a bit about some of my reflections of the past year of making and then some exciting projects for 2018.
My instagram #bestnine! I loved this way to look back on all my projects this year!
As most of you know from my Ginger Jeans post, last year started off a bit bumpy in the sewing department. I had lost my ‘sew-jo’ and just wasn’t feeling in the sewing mood despite the fact that I had a long list of ‘to-sew’ items I just lacked the motivation to sit down and sew. I was still knitting so I didn’t totally lose my crafty vibes, I just wasn’t sewing. That all changed after I made my first pair of ginger jeans! Those jeans really were the spark that brought my sew-jo back to life and my top sewing highlight of 2017. I loved that pattern so much that to date I’ve sewn a total of 5 pairs! 4 low rise and one mid rise version, with two more mid rise versions in the works for early 2018 :) why so many you ask? Well, firstly the ginger pattern is amazing, it first so well! Especially for a gal with curvy calves like me, it’s really easy to adjust the skinny leg pattern to accommodate my muscle while still keeping the skinny leg asthetic around the ankle (I guess technically you could do this with any skinny jeans pattern but it really does help that the pattern is drafted for real bodies ya know?) I’ve also fallen in love with the mid rise length after trying it out with one pair and I didn’t want to wear that pair out so I had to sew some more no? #SewingJustification
Ginger Jeans for the Win!
Along with getting my sew-jo back 2017 saw me tackle another major sewing hurdle, sewing a swim suit AND posting picture of it to the internet! I can’t decide which was harder, making the bikini or posting about it. It was my first experience sewing with Lycra fabric, as well as sewing cup foam and working with underwire. I was super appreciative of Heather’s online course that really helped to expand upon her already well written instructions! In terms of posting bikini pictures online.... the sewing and knitting community has always been a very supportive space where everyone comes together to share advice, provide suggestions when you’re stuck, and overal provide a positive place to come together over our shared love of making. That being said it was still super scary to post bikini pictures to a blog, so I was really proud of myself for pushing beyond that fear factor and sharing that post with you all :)
#Strong
I’ve had a big year of knitting as well! I think 2017 can probably go down as my PB in terms of finishing large projects, starting and finishing a total of 3 cardigans and one blanket scarf (Marylebon cardigan, Veronika cardigan, Galloway cardigan, and the starting point blanket scarf). These totals don’t include some of the other small and medium projects I’ve done like hats, cowls, and shawls for presents and things, meaning that my knitting productivity has really skyrocketed this year. While this increase can, of course, be attributed to increasing my knitting speed over the years, what I think contributed to the most this year was finding a group of knitters to knit with every Monday. I’ve only been going to ‘knit night’ since around September but I really feel like having a community to knit with in person has been really impacted my knitting in a massively positive way! :D
When your nails match your knitting! This is an in progress shot from my Veronika cardigan
As usual there are many things that i made in 2017 that I never got a change to blog about. While I’m not going to post pictures of all of these projects, I thought I would share some of my personal faves! Maybe one day I’ll get around to posting them, but for now here’s their chance to shine!
This Geodesic cropped top has been a workhorse this spring and fall! I’ve gotten so many complaints on it, my favorite being ‘is that lulu or is that you?’ (Aka did I buy it or make it)
While this Kalle popover tunic did get blogged my Scout Tee in the ever popular rifle paper co fabric did not but it’s one of my most worn items.
Last but not least are these two dresses that I made for the end of the summer and our Bali trip. Both got a ton of usuage but not so many useful photos on our trip lol! The banana print is an Alder Shitdress with the ruffled back (which I didn’t think I’d like but I LOVE this view) and the blue is a short Charlie Caftan! Both fabrics from the ever amazing BlackBird fabrics.
Finally, what’s next for me in 2018? Well I’m starting off with a few winter/spring projects, including the aforementioned mid rise Ginger jeans, a long sleeve Kalle tunic, long sleeve Matcha top, and two cropped sweaters (one knit and one sewn). I’ve also got a few pending projects for the #fluffyblondemonster which I really have to finish....including his Christmas sweater! (It’s not my fault that the only pattern he liked was in fingering weight!). In terms of really big projects I actually finished one at the end of December that I can’t wait to share with you guys! I also want to try my hand at sewing some bras since I really loved sewing those Sophie swimsuits last year. I’m trying to keep my ‘big ticket goals’ on the small side this year as we do have our wedding coming up towards the end of the year, with a whole host of DIY associated projects to go along with it! I’m really going to try and focus on keeping my knitting and sewing as my ‘mental escapes’ this year to help balance out some of that pre-wedding stress. Of course I say this after already committing to sew my bridesmaids’ dresses so we’ll see how well the ‘mental escape’ portion of of that resolution lasts hahaha!
s always it’s been great to go on this making journey with you guys! I can’t wait to see where 2018 takes this amazing community of ours!