2013 Goals

I want to make some goals for myself for 2013 but not the insane list I had for 2012. It was way to much.

1. Continue to work within the palettes I have designed for myself for different seasons. I want this goal to also include working within the very defined 1950's style that I love. This especially helps me when I am in the fabric store staring at an adorable fabric that does not go with anything else I own. I collected little paint chip cards with all my colors and I take it with me to the store to match things. Works great!
2. Work on my knitting and crocheting. This is mainly an offshoot of goal #1. I want to make some adorable little 50's sweaters and cardigans to go with my home sewn clothes. I feel that last year I only concentrated on sewing and I got a bit tired of it at times. This year, I want to focus on other crafts as well so I don't get burned out.
3. I want to continue to work on achieving the proper fit with each project I make. I really focused on fit in 2012. It was tons of work and sometimes I got a bit obsessive but the results were great.
4. I want to continue Stash Busting. I need to use what I have. 
5. Continue taking the Seamless Pledge. I failed a few times last year and bought some new clothes. However, it was far fewer than ever before. They were also quality pieces that I will wear a very long time. All in all I am making progress.

I think that these goals are attainable in the next year. I mainly want to continue the good crafting habits that I focused on in 2012. 

Happy New Year!

A bit of reflection on the last year...

I made a list of 13 goals to complete by 2013. I did manage to complete a few, but 13 was way to many.  Here is a recap:

1. Learn to work with knits. I have exactly zero experience with sewing knit fabric.
1. I did make 3 knit shirts that I never hat time to blog about. One came out great, the other 2 were meh... I think I will continue to work with knit fabric, but I will not necessarily make it a priority.
2. Sew the Crepe wrap dress from Colette Patterns. Everyone raves about this line of patterns and I have never used them. I suppose this is a general goal to sew items using patterns from companies other than the big 4.
1. The Frubbish Sorbetto
2. I made muslins for Peony and Hazel and they were just so different from my body type that I gave up. Maybe I will try something from a different small pattern company.
3. Sew a pair of shorts, pants or a pencil skirt. Anything that will force me to work on fitting on my lower half.
1. Floral Denim Shorts
2. Yellow High Waist Shorts
3. I made a few others that I did not get time to blog about.
4. Sew a dress or blouse with sleeves. (I always sew dresses with straps because I have really large arms and wide/broad shoulders and I am afraid to do the alterations on a sleeved dress.)
1. I made one dress with sleeves but it does not fit quite right. I didn't get to blog about it.
5. Learn to use new sewing machine feet. Brian got me 2 fancy sets of sewing machine feet as my "baby bauble" and I have only used the concealed zipper foot. Normal women ask for jewelry =)
1. Not much progress here. I have used the overcasting foot a bit but that is all.
6. Craft for a charitable organization.
1. Sigh...
7. Learn to grade patterns to different sizes.
1. Also no progress here. However, I didn't have a particular pattern that I wanted to use that I didn't have in the appropriate size. If I find something that I really like that is not in my size, I will probably still do this event
8. Increase my knowledge of finishing techniques. I hate to have unfinished edges so I need to learn new ways of cleaning up the insides of my projects. At present, I usually just line everything and use flat felled seams.
1. Floral Denim Shorts
2. Lots of french seams popping up in all me projects.
3. I also made some bias bound hems/seams.
9. Acquire and learn to use a serger.
1. I just wanted to get a serger to sew knits. After making a few projects on my regular machine I realized that I don't need a serger. Maybe one day, but not a priority.
10. Buy less fabric, notions, etc. I have a bias tape maker so I can make all my bias tape. I have 100's of yards of fabric stashed around the house. Tons of thread. Totally stocked. Use up the stash.
1. I got a bit better at this toward the end of the year and I made 4 projects from my stash. I still bought some fabrics and such, but I think I did a bit better than last year.
11. Finish up at least one crafty UFO a month. Now to just dig them out...
1. I cheated a bit on this one and just shifted them from the UFO to the trash piles. I might try to salvage some of the fabric for something else. 
12. Actually use my Craftsy classes in which I enrolled. I want to do The Couture Dress and then the Sew Retro Perfect Bombshell Dress. I must add the Sassy Librarian Blouse.
1. I have actually managed to go through and watch almost all of my Craftsy classes. I haven't actually done any of the projects, but I have used many of the techniques that were taught in other projects I worked on.
13. Learn to make a pattern from a piece of clothing that fits me really well without dismantling it.
1. Got some books on the subject but never got around to making anything. Still want to do this sometime. I have the perfect dress that I want to copy.

Overall, I am happy with the amount of progress I made this year, even though I was not able to complete all my goals. I am going to set fewer for next year and hopefully I will be able to accomplish all of them.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Winter Palette

Jewel Tones

Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Pearl and Fluorite...

I am going to have to make a lot of solid color items because these don't coordinate very well. I really wanted to incorporate colors that I haven't used in my palettes from the other seasons.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Victorian Dress Complete!

No, the hat is not actually part of the costume...

I have finally finished my dress for Rose's Victorian birthday party. This is the most labor intensive project I have ever done but I definitely enjoyed every minute of it! I unintentionally picked a project that forced me to use many new techniques. I have never added trim to anything so that was an adventure, especially in the quantity that this dress required. I also had never made the bunched type overskirt and it to a bit of fiddling to get the folds to look nice. All in all I am pleased with the result.

For this dress I used a heavily modified Vogue 8615 bodice. I used McCall's 4090, View C for the skirt. I just made up the pattern for the bustle/apron thing (I am not really sure what to call the maroon part.) Sorry I don't have a better shot of the details and the apron in the back. I used the pink fabric with the floral print from my stash, so this one counts towards stash busting!

Sunday Strategy # 6

This week:

• The Thanksgiving dress. 

• I am using Vogue 8664 from my stash. 
• Both my main and lining fabrics are from my stash also! 
• Hooray for Stash Busting. 
• Also counts toward 52 Dresses Project. I am not sure what number it is, but I know I am not close to finished.

Last Week Recap:

1. Finish my dress for Rose's birthday party. 
• Blogged here.

       

Sunday Strategy # 5

This week:

1. Finish my dress for Rose's birthday party.

Last Week Recap:

1. Work on my victorian dress for Rose's birthday soiree.
• I made a lot of progress on the dress. Blogged here.
2. Finalize the list of all the gifts I need to make for Christmas.
1. Done and I have made up some of the patterns for the various items I want to craft. I don't want to blog about these projects until after the holidays because a few of the recipients follow my blog.

All in all this was quite a productive week!