My Year in Sewing!

Looking back over the year in my Flickr stream was pretty fun. I've been sewing for almost 4 years now, but a couple of things happened in 2011 that really pushed my skills and gave me great opportunities. The first was when I won a new Brother sewing machine in the Prudent Baby potholder contest back in March. Obviously, getting a better machine was great for me and I love my Brother. (and still love my old Singer too!) But winning an online contest that I entered with no expectations gave me a lot of sewing confidence and pushed me to join in more in the online sewing community. This blogging thing became a lot more fun and I realized that I could "meet" some really cool friends here. 

(Thank you little potholder!!!)

Then in the beginning of June I began working at Sewn Studio, a beautiful fabric shop and sewing lounge that had recently opened right in my neighborhood. I was forced to grow more in the technical side of things that I hadn't been able to learn on my own. I have became more comfortable sewing with patterns and different types of fabrics. Of course, I still have a ton to learn and am so thankful that learning is built right into my super-fun job. But the biggest new adventure working at Sewn brought was quilting! I took a class there early in the summer from the talented Heather Jones and was instantly hooked. I still make lots of other things, but even those tend to look more "quilty" now. I have a long list of quilts I want to make in 2012 and I can't wait to start!

These are my finished quilts since that summer class. (More on that last one later this week!)

1. Hendrix's quilt 1, 2. Mini Quilt 1, 3. solids 2, 4. Fall mini, 5. loulouthi back, 6. loulouthi front, 7. Flurry Quilt 1, 8. Bro Quilt




These are my Little Things to Sew-Along projects so far. Hosting the sew-along has been so much fun, and I can't wait to get it started again this year. I just love Oliver and S projects!

1. no hand stitching!, 2. Penguin backpack, 3. Bias-Trimmed Apron, 4. Bias trimmed aprons, 5. LTTS Puppet Theater, 6. Cozy Winter Hood




This year I also joined a quilting bee, do. Good Stitches.  This has been a fantastic experience! I've gotten to know new quilting friends and tried some things I otherwise wouldn't have got to. Really looking forward to seeing what our circle makes this year.

1. August block 1, 2. August block 2, 3. greek cross 2, 4. greek cross 1, 5. Do Good Stitches September #1, 6. Do Good Stitches September #2, 7. DGS November block 1, 8. november DGS blocks, 9. December DGS block 2, 10. December DGS block 1




I made a good amount of clothes for my kids. I will always love doing this and I hope they tolerate wearing my creations for a very long time.

1. dragon 1, 2. grandpa cardigan, 3. Amelia top, 4. Ice Cream Dress, 5. Girl's LBB Hoodie 2, 6. Boy's LBB Hoodie front, 7. fall dress, 8. Itty Bitty Baby Dress, 9. Airplane shirt 1, 10. Easter outfit 2, 11. Chevron shirt, 12. warhol dress 1, 13. helicopter shorts14. Not available15. Not available16. Not available




Lots of other diverse projects this year too...

1. Bunnies, 2. Baby Swaddler open, 3. Baskets after, 4. Crib Sheet, 5. chevron wristlet 2, 6. Mae, 7. Pirate bag, 8. patriotic-pillows 3, 9. swaddlers, 10. Sewing machine cover, 11. Convertible Clutch, 12. blocks 1-6, 13. full tree skirt , 14. Stocking stuffers, 15. stocking detail, 16. 4 patchwork bibs

The very best thing I made this year was little Elsie. (I know, groan. I couldn't resist.) We love this little girl like crazy, wild crazy!

So for 2012? I'd love to make a real article of clothing for ME using a real pattern. I've always said in the past that I'm perfectly happy just making for the kids, but I also know that if I want to stretch and learn, I need to try this once or twice. Maybe I'll actually like it.

As far as quilting, there is SO much I want to try. I want to work a lot more with solids and unique color stories. I'm also really inspired by all the curviness I'm seeing everywhere lately. I want to do a lot more improv, but I also want to try designing a quilt actually using math and getting it all worked out BEFORE starting. That's not how I normally operate, but I feel like it probably has some perks :)

I'd also like to actually figure out my serger. Yes, I have a serger that someone gave me, and it just sits on my shelf because I don't take the time to actually learn how to use it. Kind of embarrassing, but I know once I do it I will be sooooo happy I did.


Blogwise, I'm not really good at thinking far ahead and executing everything I want to do. (Those of you who have been waiting for this late link party are nodding mmmm-hmm.) All I know is that the sew-along will continue and the bias tape swap is coming soon!  I do love this blog and am thankful for all of you who read and encourage me. I couldn't help but notice that I got my 300th follower just today, a pretty cool way to start the year. I really wish I could raise a New Year's glass with all of you, but instead we get to have "parties" with links here that our friends would probably think really dorky. Little do they know how ultra cool we are :)

Happy New Sewing Year!
Jessica



(If you don't mind, put your first name and blog as the "name" of your link. For instance, Jessica@ALittleGray. That way we can all know who we are looking at. I hate it when I can't figure out someone's first name by looking around their blog!)

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A Look Back, a Look Forward- Join Me!

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I hope everyone had as perfect a Christmas as we did! So much great family time, and even more to come this week. Lots of last-minute sewing of course, and I have many great things to show you. But for now, something fresh and new that I'm pretty excited about!

I had thought of having a show-off-your-best-sewn-gift kind of blog event, but I figure everyone's going to be doing a lot of that in the next couple of weeks anyway. So I propose something a little different. It will take some thought and maybe a little online picture-collaging, but I think it will be lots of fun. 

The thought actually occurred to me recently in the shower that it would be great to write a post rounding up the best of what I've made in 2011. I've been sewing for nearly 4 years now, but this last year brought many changes and opportunities for growth sewing-wise, so I knew this would be an interesting blog post, at least for me to write if not for you to read. 

Then I saw Sophie's absolutely gorgeous post doing that very same thing, and I knew I had to write mine and not let it fall by the wayside of forgotten blog ideas. In fact, I probably should have called this thing "It was a very good year" just like her post, just to keep things positive. (But good grief, you know no matter how many times I have to figure out the code for one of those damn buttons it never gets any quicker. Set in stone. Html stone.)

So here's the deal. I'm going to post my "year in sewing" on January 1, and I'd love for you to join me! If you do a similar post, you will be able to link up to mine thru January 10. Then we'll have one big but concise chronicle of what we all accomplished this year. Sort of like a big pep rally. (Except I never really liked pep rallies, so pretend my metaphor is much cooler.)

Here are some things to think about (just suggestions) in a quick-list format so you can stop staring at these paragraphs:

• What new skills did you acquire in your sewing this year? It could be as simple as sewing a straight line or as complex as... I don't know many complex sewing techniques, I'm not that complex. But maybe you turned into a full-on dressmaker or obsessed quilter- like me!
• What did you have the most fun making? What sewn item makes you happy every time you see it?
• What gifts were you able to make? 
• What did you make for yourself? (gasp!)
• How did your tastes change?
• Did you find any new sewing community/ friendships, either local or online?

And I'd love for us to look ahead to 2012 sewing-wise as well. 

• What new skills would you like to learn this year?
• What big projects are on your list?
• How are you going to make time (be it a lot of time or a little) to accomplish your goals?

I'm not really great at making goals, but I'd like to be that kind of person. My goal is to make more goals... And also accomplish them I guess. But I have to take the time to think about it and put it out there, so this will help me.

What about the pictures you say? Oh yes, we want lots of pictures. You don't have to include every single thing you made this year, unless you want to. But a good way to boil things down is to make picture collages. You can do that for free on picnik.com or Mosaic Maker. I think this whole thing will be such a fun way to meet new bloggers because we will get an idea of your whole "sewing persona" rather than just a small taste. 

Really, it's up to you what you make this post. I know that I'm not often the most reflective person, but I think there is so much value in thinking about where we've been and where we are going. That's what I love about the New Year. So why wouldn't we do this with our most beloved past time of sewing? 

There are only 3 rules. Ok, maybe 4: 

1. Keep it positive! This is meant only for encouragement and community. Don't start looking at anyone else's sewing accomplishments and get down on yourself. Dude, if sewing blogs make you feel inadequate rather than encouraged and inspired, then close the laptop. We all have different things going on in life, but we are all making completely unique creations that only we can. Who cares if you only had time to make 2 things all year? You are awesome. Show us. 
2. Spread the word. Link up here when you post, you can use my button up there if you'd like. (I swear, I will punch a puppy if anyone emails me and says that code doesn't work. Just kidding, I love puppies. And constructive feedback.) I'm really excited about this, so it would also be great if you could mention it on your blog before the party starts. No one likes New Year's parties with like 3 people there right?
3. Keep it to sewing. I like other crafts, nothing against them. I'm honestly uber-impressed that you learned woodworking/ paper-mache/ knitting/ body painting/ glass-blowing/ cat-hair crafting/ basket weaving this year. We just have to focus somewhere. You understand.
4. Keep it super-duper positive. This may sound similar to #1. It is. After all, you've accomplished a lot.

Some of us are easily distracted, so thanks for reading this far into my crazy plans. Who's in??