Top 5 Hits and Misses and 2015 Summary

Now that I’ve covered the non-sewing highlights, it’s all about sewing from now on!

Top 5 Misses

Let’s start with the fails first and then end on a positive note. 😉

1.

The Seamwork Florence Bra was the most horrible miss of the year. I never modeled it, because it was a hot mess. I even tried making it in a better fabric than all stretch lace, but it just didn’t work. It’s definitely not made for people with larger chests. The only way I could wear it is over another bra.

2.

My Bronte top in white was a bit of a miss. I still wear it all the time, but the neckline was way too big for me. In the picture of me wearing it, it looks all stretched out, but it really is just too wide across the top. Even hanging on the hanger above the neckline drops down pretty far because of all the fabric across the top. My other three versions of the top are okay and my first version I had larger seam allowances than in the other ones so it worked out fine. But I do wear it occasionally and still like the style. This is the top, though, that made me realize how very narrow my shoulders are in comparison to my bust and that causes fit issues in stretchy shirts. I have been doing some cheater FBAs in other knit tops by grading to a smaller size at the shoulders, but sometimes it doesn’t always work…

3.

Which brings me to my Simplicity 1812 top… I tried to grade down at the shoulders, but still sewed it twice to fix the issues with that yoke…

I wear the top, but I am more prone to wear it with a scarf to mitigate any yoke-revealing disasters.

4.

This isn’t really a fail, because I ADORE THIS DRESS… but it is a fail, because I haven’t worn it at all. It’s my Muse Patterns Melissa dress and, in spite of the diner waitress look, I love the dress a ton. The problem is that the sleeves are too tight. I have been meaning to take them out, recut wider sleeves, and then put them back in… But shiny! I haven’t done it yet. I should make it a goal before the end of the year and then I can wear it a ton in the Spring again. This was the tester version and I know she did some sleeve alterations for the pattern version. I have some mint floral fabric that is dying to become a Melisssa dress in the Spring.

Gosh, I love this dress.

5.

My Hello Kitty hoodie is a win from the perspective of my alterations of it, but a miss from the pattern’s perspective. M6614 has a few issues. Other than being enormous, the envelope says to buy a far shorter zipper than you should for the bigger sizes. I had to alter the neckline because I had a perfect zipper for it and then I had to make some massive cuts to the sides to make it fit right. I love it now and wear it when I am sitting around at home or this Spring I wore it for walks. Shame to the pattern, but win for me! And I adore my little embroidered Hello Kitty:

Top 5 Hits

1.

My wedding dress is my number 1 hit of 2015. You can read about it in these entries. There are definitely some things about it that are not perfect, but I love it and think it worked well for me.

2.

My Sailor Mercury bra is by far my favourite bra I’ve made. It fits really well and hits my geeky side. I should have made more bras this year with the Bra-a-Week Challenge, but never quite got enough done. I hope Erin continues the challenge in some form for 2016, because I hope to rock it with all my bra plans.

The one thing I will say about the bras I have made this year is that the band elastic really irritates my skin and has a tendency to fold. I have some new stuff bought that will hopefully help. It’s actually strap elastic, but in my RTW bras, they use the thicker strap elastic. I think that will work better than the band elastic I have used previously. I’m hoping to report on the soon with my long overdue Desert Sunset bra that I cut out in August right after the Sailor Mercury bra. Ooooopsie….

3.

I’ve made Simplicity 1459 twice now and I just love it with or without the collar and with or without the massive skirt. I have a polkadot version planned eventually!

4.

 

I made two versions of the M7100 bomber jacket and just really love it. My floral denim version wasn’t worn as much as the houndstooth version, but they were both heavily in rotation this year from Spring to Fall…and into some of our very mild Winter so far. I really want to make a colder weather version using Cation Design’s idea of lining it in fleece (we had the same fabric for our versions! Isn’t that awesome!). She also had a great idea of going back and adding it to the houndstooth version, but I really want to make another. 😉

5.

I haven’t even blogged about these yet! But my Style Arc Misty Jeans are a WIN! They got me a sewalong win! The day before my Gryffindor cardi won the Muse love Merino knits category! (I’m sew lucky!)

These are my my first pair of pants sewn (that weren’t pjs or leggings). They fit pretty well without any alterations, but there will be some for my next versions. I will be making tons of these. They are so comfortable and wonderful. I can’t even. I am wearing them right now. I no longer fear making pants which is the real win of the sewalong. Thanks so much to Alicia for hosting the sewalong and her great instructions for the pants. It’s also made me a Style Arc fan, because damn they fit pretty well without alterations! I have a bunch of Style Arc patterns planned for the future, including some shorts for the Summer next year! Shorts!

2015 Summary

My summary from last year was such a useful task that I wanted to do the same for this year. Even though I have some end of the year plans for tons of selfish sewing, I have decided to do my summary now since the blogging part will not happen until 2016.

My year has had lots of ups and downs in sewing. Some months I was working on one project (wedding dress or cloning a bra) or just wasn’t up for it due to post-wedding exhaustion or Trinity passing. I’ve made a total of 54 things this year though! 21 more than last year. That’s a huge thing. I’ve also bought very little RTW this year. Mostly just leggings, underwear, and socks.

I decided to include unselfish sewing in this chart unlike last year. Last year, knit dresses won this category, but I’ve been going away from knit dresses lately. They are great for casual wear, but I spend most of my time at work and really gravitate more toward separates than dresses this year. This year has definitely taught me some things about my personal style. I’ve made more in the “presents” category than any other this year, but in terms of selfish sewing skirts win with 7 made! I’ve seen my style evolve into a skirt/top look rather than wearing dresses. This theme is definitely continuing for 2016, but with pants as well!

These patterns are only for selfish sewing. Last year, Colette patterns won this category, but I’ve not been a fan girl this year. I do have an unblogged Myrtle dress, but the only other thing I made from them was the Florence bra failure. Self-drafted in my chart this year is just a label, but not really accurate. The category includes dirndl skirts (which are just gathered rectangles and a waistband) and my cloned bras. No real “drafting” happening there, but it was a way to say differently patterned garments, which sounds odd. I went with self-drafted instead. Outside of that, McCall’s patterns are definitely my top with Simplicity coming in second and Muse Patterns third. I think next year we will see a lot more Style Arc, Burda, and continue my love affair with Muse Patterns. McCall’s and Simplicity will still be there in the top, though. I have so many of those patterns that I haven’t made up yet and lots of plans for them. There’s also another pattern company, Cashmerette, that will likely emerge as a top pick next year.

 

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