Top 5 of 2014, part 2

I was originally going to do one quick post for the top 5 of 2014, but this year's topics really gave me a lot to think about, so I figured I'd spare you the brain dump (though this does make it harder to skip if you're not interested!)

Top 5 Reflections:

1. Unlike Becky at SewandSo (I think every point in her list gave me my own point to think/talk about), after the first quarter of the year, I mostly walked away from  refashioning and jumped headfirst into making things from scratch, and I much prefer it this way. There's something about starting with a whole length of virgin fabric that appeals to me much more than working around existing buttons and darts and seams and and and... Luckily, I did get to use a lot of the skirts I'd intended to refashion in my rainbow quilt, at least!

2. I like sewing easy fluff (or "frosting," as many of us call it). I don't have the patience to sit down and sew fiddly things like jeans, or boring (to me) things that require a lot of precision (like t-shirts). I like pretty skirts. I wear pretty skirts. I mostly have enough of the basics in my wardrobe that I can find things to pair these with (though I would like a more complete rainbow of cardigans). 

3. I'm not good at not buying things. I mostly stayed away from the scrapbooking stuff, but I also did very little scrapbooking in general this year. I bought quite a bit of Black Friday yarn, and TONS of fabric, but I've also been going through the latter at a good clip. I still need to slow down with my buying, though, because I'm not sure I could ever make it through what I have, but I've also realized that some of my stash just really needs to go. There are things that I know I'll never use, and I don't know what possessed me to buy them in the first place. I slowed down significantly on my pattern buying, thankfully, but I need to get better about trying out the patterns I *do* have. Most of them are still uncut!

 [This is less than half of my stash. :-/]

4. As always, I got into some new projects. Not really the stuff I was anticipating needing/wanting for my new house (yet), but fun projects nonetheless, including candles, embroidery, cross stitch, and quilting. Part of me thinks that I need to focus, but the rest of me just really enjoys making in any form that inspires me. 

5. I used to think that having a few projects going at once was a bad thing, but now I'm not so sure. I *do* have too many UFOs right now, but I've found that it's really nice to have a variety of things to work on when the mood strikes. Sometimes I feel like sewing, but sometimes I just want to sit on the couch and watch TV. I still like to keep my hands busy, so that's when a knitting or embroidery project comes in handy. I got *so* much embroidering done in the last 2 months because I couldn't be bothered to get off of the couch, but I still wanted to create. Hopefully I can keep the momentum going...

Top 5 Goals:

1. Learn to make bras. There are lots of great bloggers out there making cute stuff. This might be one "fiddly" thing that I have to try, we'll see. If Gertie ends up designing any bras, I'm sure I'd be all over that!

2. Finish more of my UFOs. I did wrap up a few that had been lingering, but I added a BUNCH more. They tend to weigh on me and really, who needs that?

3. As stated above, try different patterns, including my intended Anna hack/look-alike.

4. Work on my serger skills. They're rudimentary at best and I know I could be doing so much more.

5. Two words. Zombie. Quilt. I'm trying to keep the details hush-hush until it's done, but I am SO. EXCITED. for this. I hope it turns out as well as I'm anticipating.

6. Sewing meet-up. I would really like to participate in one, I'm getting too jealous watching everyone else have fun. Maybe I can try to organize my own, if no one else comes up with one? Would anybody in the Chicago area be up for it?