2019 Sewing Review and plans for 2020

At the end of December I made myself a list of everything I’d made in 2019 – I had made 40 garments.  I couldn’t believe it, if you’d asked me to guess how many things I’d made I never would have guessed that many.  This was a great little exercise to do though because it made me realise how far I’d come with my sewing, how many new techniques I’ve tried and conquered (even if through trial and error) and I’ve learned to be braver and better at sewing with a variety of different fabrics.

Most of all I’m so pleased that I’m no longer scared of jersey!  I can’t believe it took me so long to get over this fear because jersey is what I mainly reach for to wear in my day to day life so it really made sense that, if I was going to stick with this dressmaking thing, I learned to sew with the fabric I wore the most.  The first jersey item I made was the Molly Dress from Sew Over It in a Ponte Roma and it really wasn’t as scary as I’d imagined.  Since then I’ve made a few different versions of the Molly, and  have also made a Collette Patterns Moneta, a Tilly & the Buttons Coco dress and top, a Heather dress by Sew Over It and a few little sweatshirts and tops for my children.

My favourite makes of 2019

Yellow Floral Sew Over It Eve Dress

All that being said about jersey, when I came to think about what my favourite makes were of the year they were, funnily enough, not jersey!  I made a couple of versions of the Eve Dress by Sew Over It and my favourite has to be my yellow one in this beautiful floral viscose from Minerva, this dress will always hold special memories for me as I made it for a ‘special’ birthday in the summer – I won’t tell you which one 🙂

Denim Chambray Elephant Print Darling Ranges

Another big favourite of mine has to be the Darling Ranges Dress by Megan Neilsen Patterns – I have made many different versions of this now and my favourite one of these is probably this elephant print chambray version that was worn to death over the summer.  I have plans to make more of these this year, you really can’t beat a classic shirt dress can you! 

Pivoine Blouse Pattern by Delphine Morisette

I saw soooo many versions of this blouse on Instagram and for me it was love at first sight!  I really love French style and French fashion and I knew I would wear something like this loads.  The problem was that the pattern designer did not offer any of her patterns in English.  So with the help of my Mum who can speak some French, Google translate, the blog photos on the designer’s website and my own knowledge of garment construction I managed to cobble together this blouse and I’m so pleased with it.  I love it in this Atelier Brunette fabric – this was probably also one of my most liked and commented on photos on Instagram last year so I guess I’m not the only one who likes this pattern!

Plans for 2020

Thinking ahead for this new year I really want to be more mindful of how I sew, filling gaps in my wardrobe and making things I know I will actually wear rather than something that I just like the pattern for but know won’t really fit my lifestyle.  At the moment I’m loving the smock dress trend so I’m hoping to try out the Mira Dress pattern by Fibre Mood, perhaps the Wilder Gown by Friday Pattern Company and of course another Tilly and the Buttons Indigo Smock as I love my first two. 

I also want to make myself some basic jersey tops, I received the Agnes Top by Tilly and the Buttons for Christmas and I’m looking forward to giving that one a go too.

Deep breath… and I’d also love to have a go at a coat!  Eeeek, this is something I thought I would never do, too hard, too expensive and too much room for error but I really want to improve my skills and there is a definite gap in my wardrobe for a smart coat so I’m going to bite the bullet and have a go. I have my eye on The Coat by The Avid Seamstress as I really like this style but I’m not sure if that will happen anytime soon though, I might leave it until the Autumn time we will see.

What is your proudest make of 2019 and what are your plans for 2020?? I’d love to know, comment below or come over and message me on Instagram, I’m always around for sewing chat!!

Thanks so much for reading!

Lots of love

Sally xx