Gillian at Crafting a Rainbow is posting her Top 5 hits/misses/reflections/inspirations/goals for 2012. Great idea.
I think it’s always great to sit back and reflect on hits & misses – celebrate your moments of joy and absorb what you have learnt from the ‘minor’ hiccups.
So here are mine. Can you guess Number 1? Sorry no prizes for guessing the obvious…
SEWAHOLIC CAMBIE – I’ve got THE CAMBIE POX
Well you are hardly surprised are you? I adore these dresses. Beautiful finish, fit and the two skirts produce two completely different dresses. I adore my floral the most, with polka dots a very close second and then the lovely black number (it’s very sensible which makes outrageous adoration a little pathetic).
Sewaholic Cambie, View B. The perfect sundress, pretty, ladylike but not ‘old & fussy’.
SEWAHOLIC ALMA – not squee or twee
The perfect woven top. No buttons, no buttonholes, no fuss, versatile, comfortable. Perfect. If I had to teach the world to sew in perfect harmony… we would all be making Almas. There is enough variation in that pattern to keep anyone happy.I would be hard pressed (no pun intended) to choose a favourite between these tops.
Sewaholic Alma – view A
Sewaholic Alma – not squee or twee… just me
VOGUE 1247 Skirt & top – the tardis skirt and top
Love, love, love this skirt. Amazing. Best casual skirt ever. I wear it all year round thanks to boots and leggings. We are BFFs.
Top is gorgeous. It could look big and boxy but in the right fabric it drapes beautifully. I wear the skirts and top… a lot.
This picture doesn’t do the pattern justice. However if you don’t have this pattern you really must buy it.
What I really wore all day… Vogue 1247 top and skirt…
VOGUE 1236 – not a sack of potatoes a frolicking frock!
This was one of my early makes. It’s not super flash but it’s so comfortable, nicely finished and I wear it quite a lot. A lovely simple pattern.
Vogue 1236 – Definitely not a Sack of Potatoes
SEWAHOLIC LONSDALE
I made this last week and worn it twice already. Great casual summer dress, flattering, simple to make and comfortable. Yes, yes! Pictures coming very soon.
Sewaholic Lonsdale fabric choice
MARIADENMARK
I haven’t had a chance to take photos for the blog for my Yasmin Yoke skirts. Or make my final pair of Winnie Wide Leg Trousers. I suspect they will be on my 2013 Top 5 list!
Life intervened in a spectacular way late this year… work, family, you name it, was all going pear shaped. Casual clothes I find easy to photograph as I spend lots of time on the beach. Work clothes I am always racing out the door and the evenings are long and late and the light is bad. Great simple design, easy to wear and make. Although I did sneak in this picture when I had to pick one of my girls up (sent home from school sick – so I enlisted her to take a blog photo. Come on! She just had ‘itchy eyes’ which turned out to be an allergy and was better within an hour of medication and home!)
Sewaholic Alma – as a work blouse. I’ve paired this with Maria Denmark a-line Yasmin Yoke skirt!
I have only muslined the Winnie wide leg trousers, I suspect these are my perfect trousers. They fit perfectly, I adore the wide legs and they are really easy to cut out and put together. There are not a million and one pieces. Just a simple clean design. Love them. There will be a ‘real’ pair of these in 2013.
MariaDenmark Winnie Trousers: muslin back
Love the simple t-shirt and look forward to making more – I also printed out the Kimino tshirt pattern this week. I’ve also just purchased her brand new Day to Night top which I’ve just got to get some elastic for! It’s just $5.50 on Craftsy at the moment – special introductory price!!
MariaDenmark Birgitte Basic T-shirt – short sleeved t-shirt
SELFLESS SEWING
I adored making the Fishing Vest, it was trimmed with all manner of frivolousness, she admires it, I adored making it.
A Fishing Vest – this project was a blast, I loved every minute.
Confirmation dress. Not my most stellar make but again Miss 7 adores it and that’s the most important thing of all! I think it’s in her Top 5!
Giselle’s confirmation – she is doing well not to shiver. It was freezing and they made us wait outside in a cold wind for 20 minutes! Lovely!
APRONS
This might seem a weird choice but I loved making these – thank you Karen for a light-hearted sewalong that really got me to make something completely different! I loved photographing them – particularly when the tourists started taking pictures of me too! They are just fun. I’ve even made an amazing one as a Christmas gift. Yes, yes! You can see it soon!
Butterick B5474, view E: Strawberry Fields Forever. Oh and that? In the background? That’s coathanger – also known as Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Sew Busy Lizzy 
Selfless sewing- hmm, got to try that! You definitely know what works for your frame and lifestyle- how are you going to come up with 5 bombs? You rarely miss!
Hmmmm I think I’ll manage with not so much ‘fails’ but less worn. I’ve made some things I love and ate well made… but I just don’t wear them. I think the process is an obsession as much as the result. I also can’t sew unless I have a ‘vision’. It’s my visionless sewing which often results in the things I can’t fall in love with. Watch this space!
LOL _ I’ve been thinking for a while that we need to start some kind of Sewaholic fanclub, because I don’t know if Tasia really knows how much we adore her patterns! I’m so glad you liked the Lonsdale – You didn’t seem very sold on it while you were making it! What do you think of the new skirt pattern?
I do adore Sewaholic. I get jealous that I don’t make the patterns first 🙂
I like the new skirt pattern I’m just not sure about it on me… but I’ve been seduced by every Sewaholic pattern so far… although not so much the Thurlows. I prefer Maria’s simplicity in design for the pants.
What you said about the Alma is extra-beautiful given that alma means soul in Spanish, and the soundpost in the violin.
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dict_en_es/spanish/alma
Wow how interesting
Definite wins! I love all your Cambies and you’re converting me to the Alma (although there is sooo much on the ‘to sew’ list already!). I love all of your top 5 and the idea of ‘honorable mentions’ is genius. Sorry if this reads slighty odd, I’m a tad wired on coffee!
Thanks Vicikii – you know the Alma is a cinch to sew. You can make it up in no time at all is you make one of the collarless versions… 🙂
You’ve made so many beautiful things, how can you pick just five? 🙂 They are lovely and I can’t wait to see what you make next year!
Thanks Sarah. I think you would need a Top 50!
Ahh, it’s so fun to look back over your all-stars! I love all of these pieces!
It is fun – it will be more interesting to pick the misses!! Even the things I ‘miss’ on, I still enjoy making and learn something new every time.
i loved all these reviews coming up! I will surely have a reflective post sometime next year. It is great to see how ur building a wardrobe of items you love and make your family happy too! I remember the fishing vest and it wa such an awesome project to be nosy about. 🙂 i hope you blog lots more in 2013 and maybe we even get to compare notes face to face! 😀 great year of sewing!!!
I’ve been a little lax in blogging details lately. Things have been swamping me 🙂 hopefully things improve next year.
I love wearing my ‘made by me’ clothes – they make me feel ‘chirpy’ and I think I enjoy detailed projects rather than quick sews.
3 months & 23 days til my trip!
ooo i love that ur counting the days!! 😀 yeah they give me a pick me up too and i wear at least 1 self made thing! and once i make a couple of cardigans i will always wear at leas t1 self made item! 😀
I have a ‘countdown app’ on my phone! I’ve knitted the Whole Wheat cardigan back and left front now. I’m going to knit Idlewood next. It’s going to be a little boring to knit but I love the cowl and short sleeves and I think I would wear it a lot. It’s my long haul flight knitting plan in 3 months & 23 days. 🙂
awesome! that is a great idea! less travel sickness on a plane from knitting! I had to run to the loo twice but recovered without actually being sick. lol. the sacrfices for our crafts!! ooo will check the idlewood pattern out! cant wait to see the wheat cardigan completed! looks so pretty with the lace details!
Tasia knitted Idlewood & so has GingerMakes. Looks cosy. I don’t get travel sick but do suffer dreadfully from boredom!
What a great top 5, love the idea too. I hadn’t seen your polka dot Cambie – it’s to die for, I literally groaned out loud (in pleasure) when I saw it! Looks like some great patterns here that might suit my body shape too, thanks for the inspiration!
Thank you! Glad to provide some inspiration 🙂 I’ve decided the polka dot Cambie can be my Christmas dress, just picturing a pair of reindeer ears with it…
I love the floral cambie – it looks beautiful on you. And to see the completely different makes on the Alma… I am thinking I NEED that pattern. Great Top 5… I think I ONLY have 5 makes this year!
Alma is fabulous, a really great investment for your pattern stash
You’ve made some great garments this year and I can’t wait to see the finished Lonsdale dress and Winnie pants (which I think I might download tomorrow, they look great in your muslin pics). I think my favourites would be your cambie dress or the Tardis skirt (I love Doctor Who and your skirt!)
Oh I look forward to seeing your Winnie’s – after all you are the Pants Making Queen!
I completely agree with all you said about Alma, this pattern is fab! I like the look of your trousers too, good luck with them 🙂
I’m amazed at all you’ve accomplished while working, being a mom, wife…Koala watcher. LOL. If I lived there, I’d never get anything done. I’d be at the beach all the time. I really like the shirt with the Peter Pan collar. I actually just bought a very similar blouse…a few buttons up the back, cream with black french dots over all….it’s fantastic, very 40’s feel. I adore retro.
That blouse sounds lovely! Might inspire me to make another 🙂
I guess where I live is pretty spectacular. To me it’s ‘normal’ and I’ve found the blog has made me look at it through different eyes. I often make myself drive home the longer way (all of 3 minutes or so more) via the beaches road so I remember why I decided to live here and raise my family. It’s easy to get ‘too busy’ and stop appreciating things…
Oh yes, I have found that too. We forget how special things are around us and get blasé about it….I’m glad you take the scenic route sometimes…it’s rejuvenating to just enough the view.
Ohhh fabulous projects, you had a wonderful sewing year… Beautiful things to be very proud. Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas to you too – lets have a an even more productive 2013!
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