Ideally I suppose I would have written this before the end of the year, but I was busy doing stuff, so it appears now.
2013 started with me deciding not to buy any more yarn since my stash reached SABLE[1] proportions some time ago. Deciding and doing are not the same thing though and there were a few purchases between January and May (who am I kidding, there were quite a lot of purchases actually) – the result of going to Unravel (link is to this year’s event) a few destash purchases and special offers. However, from June until mid-December I cold-sheeped successfully (this is probably entirely due to my return to sewing and buying fabric instead of yarn…).
I also decided that I would concentrate on knitting cardigans for me and managed to knit four before the knitting took a back seat to the sewing – two Emelies, one Honeybee and one which I designed myself because I couldn’t find a pattern which matched the idea in my head. I also knitted a shawl and some fingerless mitts/armwarmers for me and a hat and cowl for my man. So not much at all really and that is because in July I Was Bitten By The Sewing Bug.
So, since July I have made 18 dresses. Three of these are test versions, two intentionally so (the two purple gingham ones which I’ve blogged about) but the third one didn’t start out that way. I bought some blue stretchy cotton from Fabricland and used Butterick 5813 to make a Joan Holloway inspired dress (pretty much like the picture of the model on the pattern website actually, although I bought this pattern in a shop and the photo doesn’t appear on the pattern envelope, so I thought my idea was brilliantly original). Unfortunately though, as I started sewing the pieces together, I noticed a few slightly greeny-looking patches on the fabric. I can only think this happened when I pre-washed it – I think the colour must have run from one of the other fabrics I put in the machine to pre-wash at the same time. It is also a bit too tight – the only time I cut a size 12 dress that would have been better cut as a 14. So… I have bought some more of this fabric (2.5m for £10, so I didn’t feel bad about having a fail with this version) and will make a better fitting version later on this year.
Of the 15 dresses I’ve finished I realise I have yet to blog about five of them, so will aim to do that by the end of January. I also have one more which just needs a zip inserted, the bodice lining sewing into place and a hem. And two more which are cut out ready to sew.
I’ve really enjoyed making them all, and the fact that it is substantially cheaper to make a cotton dress than to buy one (at least the ones I seem to like) is a very welcome bonus. Knitting with wool on the other hand has become increasingly expensive over the past five years…
I’ve loved discovering other people’s sewing blogs (really must get a list up on here) and being inspired by both patterns and fabrics that I’ve come across while noodling around. I’ve also found it really helpful to see dresses modelled on real people rather than stick thin willowy models. Maybe in 2014 there just might be some pictures of me in my dresses appearing here. I have a real mental block about this for two reasons – one, I am the most unphotogenic person I know, so to get one decent photo will probably take at least 50 attempts and life is just too short, and two, I have this silly feeling that it’s self-indulgent to put pictures of me up on the interwebz – in a ‘look at meeee’ kind of way. Silly really, because I don’t feel that way about other people doing just that – as I said, I’ve found it really helpful. Hmm… a dilemma.
If I had to pick a favourite dress of the year it would be Flamingolex – it’s a great fit, was an easy make (apart from the princess seams being a bit of a faff, but not enough to stop me from making more of them) and it makes me smile every time I look at it – which at the moment is every time I open the airing cupboard. It doesn’t get wardrobe space at this time of the year and I can’t bring myself to shut it in a suitcase and put it in the loft out of sight for months.
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