Wednesday, December 31, 2014

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?

2 comments:

  1. I'm glad I was able to give you some stuff to think about! I do overall prefer making from scratch too, but it's good to know I have the ability to rework something into something more useable fast. Especially right now. Also, the zombie quilt sounds intriguing! And good luck with the bras! That's something I'd like to attempt once my body isn't going crazy from baby stuff anymore.

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    1. Yeah, the refashioning will definitely come in handy for you! I guess I just didn't have great stuff to work with to start, and am too lazy to look for anything. I'm even more excited about the zombie quilt now - 10x more ideas than I had before. I just hope I can make my dream become a reality!

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