Year in review

As the year 2013 comes to a close it's a good time to reflect on what I did for the year and to contemplate what I would like to do in 2014. The past year has been most challenging for me in almost every aspect of my life. At this year end I have given up one of my dance teaching jobs and I have taken a break from sewing for others. It may not seem like much but it has stemmed from a difficult year with a couple frustrations from my PhD program, my spiritual life and generally being a grown up. I'm the type of person that will say yes to everything and I look at all challenges with an attitude that I can overcome them all. I've learnt my lesson this year that pushing myself to the limit will only wear me out and turn me into a dull girl. Mind you it does remind me of what I am capable of, and that's to be excellent at whatever I put my hands to!

This year I made bridesmaids dresses for 3 weddings; 13 dresses in total. What a task. I never anticipated that making similar styles for different sizes could be so daunting. Sometimes when a pattern has to be altered  it's like making an entirely new pattern/ dress.

Post here

I painted 51 overalls for a gospel choir (with help from my talented sister and cousin).For my large non sewing tasks I like to get a bit of help from my family members. All the designs for these were drawn by me with love as the inspiration.

I made abut 6 items for different family members and a few other dresses, tops, skirts for lovely client friends......actually double digits, by no means a few. I was able to practice, lean and fine tune many skills. I also started to use patterns a lot more this year to make garments.

I even had time to make some dresses and other things for myself. In my opinion my wardrobe is still lacking! I really need to work on a few key items next year.

Additionally I made about 20 gore/ fish tailed skirts and 9 short sleeved jackets for a choir very close to my heart, dance uniforms galore- different groups, different styles, a couple swimsuits and a few handmade delights. Peew, I survived it all!

Favorites:-

• Green bow back dress
• White with black polka dot vintage style dress
• A linen dress for a friend (I have no pictures)
• Maid of honour pink bridesmaids dress (poor picture quality)

Look out 2014:-

• Clothes items for me- Black jacket, a pair of denim jeans, twill shorts, dresses dresses dresses
• A pair or two trousers for my husband
• I want to try my hand at facinators and sashes a bit more
• Ariation labels- If anyone knows a good online label company please let me know
• Better photography and capturing everything I make (camera needed)
• Clear my stash so I can start buying fabric again
• New blog design, maybe

I'm so honoured to have you readers and I do hope that 2013 fades out well and 2014 brings new joys, hopes and successes. Thanks for being here, 

God bless!