2014 sewing projects: The worn and unworn

Hello readers and happy holidays!

It’s been a nice week off. We had a nice family time at Christmas. I made Christmas Eve dinner for our parents and kids, and on Christmas we ended the day with a two hour family hike up the mountain. It was nice to have all five kids in the same spot for the day. Our oldest took the week off and flew down from San Francisco; our next oldest is getting ready to go on a rock climbing and camping expedition in Patagonia for two months; and my third oldest leaves today to visit Sweden for her Christmas break. I’m proud they are adventurous and brave. They’ve been industrious and thrifty, working after college classes at jobs to save for their adventures. But of course, I worry and pray they are safe out there, half a world away.

Maybe I’ll sew something to rest my worries a little.

I haven’t finished my husband’s Christmas gift yet, a flannel Colette Negroni. Time flew this year!

Going through my sewing projects at the end of the year is a great exercise to figure out the kinds of things I’m making that work for my life, and the kinds of garments that don’t work for me. While I love making flashy clothes, it turns out I don’t really wear them since we live a pretty slow paced life now. Dinner and a movie is big night out for us nowadays!

So maybe this next year I will learn to be more practical in my sewing. I did make a few winners, things I wear often, and even though I really like the things I made that I didn’t end up wearing , for mostly lifestyle reasons they didn’t work, but I learned from each project. But yeah, I wasted money sewing things I didn’t wear. Which sort of stinks.

When you think about it, how often do people buy things at the store, and then never wear them because they don’t go with their lifestyle, don’t fit right, or whatever. It happens a lot. So I won’t be too hard on myself.

But going forth in 2015, I know I’ll be making more practical separates I can mix and match for fall and spring, and then, of course, dresses for summer, when I love wearing sundresses.

Projects worn a lot:

This little self drafted leopard twill skirt has gotten a lot of wear. I can dress it up or make it casual.

I’ve worn this silk jumpsuit often, ( Vogue pattern), and love it. It’s comfy but can get a little glammed up with heels, or I can wear it with flat sandals.

I love this hand painted anchor top. It’s really easy to throw on and cute. ( Blank Slate Shoreline T)

I also wear this t shirt a lot. ( Lekala pattern)

I wore my hand stamped maxidress to the beach, barbecues, our trip to Spain, and everywhere last summer. ( Made from tracing a tank top)

Lily wore her lace skirt all summer until it wore out.

I wear my workout pants to the gym. The fabric is nice and thick and the pants are higher waisted and suck it all in. I traced my store bought workout pants to make these. I don’t wear the top much. It’s kind of overkill with the pants. HEY GUYS !! Here I am in my matching hot pink and black color blocked top and bottoms! With purple shoes!

These are some things I made this year that I really like, but sadly never wore after the photos were taken:

This jacket was a huge time investmnet. I made a lot of mistakes. The leather was just too thick, and it’s really not comfortable at all. I never even added the lining, because I knew it was just not going to work out. I did get the leather from a blog sponsor but I invested about a hundred dollars on all the supplies needed to make it. The first zippers were all wrong, then I ordered more. And they were expensive! All the needles, the sStyle Arc pattern sent from Australia, and leather supplies really added up . It was huge learning experience, though.

I really like this pink leather skirt but I just haven’t has any occasion to wear it. If I still lived in LA I’m sure I would have worn it often. But my lifestyle is just not as glamorous to wear the things I’m sewing things for.

Ditto for this dress I designed and made in Suasan Khalje’s couture class. I didn’t go to any really fancy parties or social events this year. I must get out more often! And my stomach sticks out too much in it.

I really like this dress I designed and made with a beaded leather collar, but I didn’t really consider the bra I’d wear with it. I had to buy a special strapless bra and It’s so uncomfortable I just don’t bother wearing the dress. I’ll try and wear it this spring.

This little outfit for Gigi was outgrown like RIGHT AWAY.

And she only wore her hand tailored school blazer once. She says it’s itchy even though it’s lined completely in silk. Oh the joys of sewing for opinionated little rascals….

This top I liked, ( self designed) but I messed up on the sleeve design, and the sleeves were actually smaller then the armhole, giving a weird tugging look when I wore it. I took off the sleeves, thinking I’d add bias binding and make the top sleeveless, but haven’t 0gotten around to it.

These two dresses below have nothing to do with this post except I made them both last year, and love how they turned out!

A first communion dress I made for my friend’s seven year old daughter from her wedding gown. I sewed on all the beads by hand and made a little train.

This walking suit was one of many costumes I made for a play called the Seagull. I used some ticking from JoAnn fabrics. It’s so cheery looking! I wish I could wear this.