Top 5 of 2018: Reflections

Top 5 Reflections:  Looking back, what trends do you see in your sewing?  What have you learned about yourself or changed about your attitude?  

Well, I can't look back with out looking at the statistics first.  

I made a total of 38 items.  Sixteen items for myself.  Fifteen items for Mom.  And seven child clothing pieces that were gifted.  These consisted of:  

• 2 coats
• 4 skirts
• 4 sweaters
• 12 panties
• 9 dresses
• 3 pairs of pants
• 3 tops
• 1 jacket

And I managed to de-stash seventy-five metres of fabric, six zippers, five snaps, fourteen metres of elastic, nine and a half metres of Knit-N-Stable tape, forty-five buttons, eight metres of ribbon and interfacing and many spools of thread.  Oh and throw in there a few more than a few sewing machine needles.  

1.  I started 2018 with the realization that avoiding man-made fibres is a healthier alternative for both myself and the environment and I continued on that quest.  A majority of the items that I made (with this exception and the lining and underlining of my winter coat) were items made from natural fibres. 

Solid colour is 100% hemp, floral is 100% cotton.  

2.  It is tough to stick to a Ready-to-wear Fast when you work at an organization that supports charity causes via clothing.  

Yes, I failed at the 2018 RTW Fast.  It was for a cause that I support and even though RTW t-shirts are not my idea of comfortable attire, I will admit that I was quite impressed with the quality of this item.  It's made out of 100% cotton, and not that lightweight cotton we're accustomed to find in the RTW landscape.  This one is made in the Dominican Republic out of heavy cotton.

The second RTW item was a zipper front sweatshirt hoodie with my workplace logo.  It's made in Honduras and is a 50% cotton / 50% polyester garment.  I know, I'm supposed to be avoiding RTW items and man-made fibres so this one turned out to be a double fail on my part. Let's just say, I took one for the team.  

3.  I wasn't tempted by many sewing pattern designs that came out this year.  Everything that I made this year were out of patterns released prior to 2018 or rediscovered in a second hand shop.  

Second hand shop score, uncut and factory-folded.

4.   Sewing for others gave me more joy than sewing for myself.  

5.   I lost a lot of weight this year and I'm trying my best to keep it off.  In that, I've noticed that my me-made wardrobe doesn't fit as it once did.  This dress now needs a belt. My pants hang and the hem needs to be altered so they don't drag on the floor.  There might be a lot of alterations in my near future if I want to hold onto my me-made wardrobe.  Fit continues to be a challenge.  

Happy Sewing!