I kept much better records of my sewing adventures this year, so I thought I’d take a good look through them to see what truths lay beneath! There are a few projects that were never blogged for many reasons, some that got scrapped and never even got to the WIP stage, and some I’ve sort of counted twice.. Those are the self drafted ones, the pattern and toile counted as one project, the actual garment (if it got made) was seperate.
I also thought it would be interesting to see just how much stash I got through, it certainly felt like I’d used quite a bit, until I look in the cupboard. I also made a fair few fabric purchases, but after going through everything, I only have 6 pieces left that I bought and haven’t yet turned into fully functioning garments. And that’s purely due to time! So I’m calling success on the the “not growing the stash” goal this year!
So how did I really do? Well, there were a total of 82 projects. Two were scrapped, one because the fabric and pattern turned out to be incompatible & the other because the recipient told me too late that she didn’t like what I was making, fabric or pattern. Hmpf. Oh well, onwards and upwards! A large majority of the projects were for yours truly, the other lucky recipients are my girls and my mum, with 10 projects going to “others”!
Pattern usage has been heavily biased to the Burdastyle magazine patterns, not really a huge surprise! The next most used brand is Named, purely because of the Talvikki Sweater. The Toaster Sweater from Sew House 7 was also much used and I can see that continuing.
Obviously the Burda patterns featured heavily, so they are amongst my most used, the cropped trousers from May are one, as are the culottes from the February issue. Those Talvikki and Toaster Sweaters were very popular with the girls.
As you know, I love my trousers, don’t wear dresses and this year for the first time in ages, made myself a skirt! So to see just how many of what I was making, I made a new graph!
The dresses that show up didn’t even stay in-house, all four projects were for friends! The PJ coloumn took off after I’d made all those pjs for Christmas, and Christmas had a hand in growing that sweater coloumn too. All in all, I think it’s been a rather successful and productive year for me, sewing wise. And look at what I did with my stash…
Even though I bought a decent amount of fabric this year, nearly all of it has been sewn up! I only have 6 pieces of fabric bought this year that I’ve not had time to use up, coating for Mr W’s winter coat, 3m of grey cashmere for a coat for myself, ponte for a sweater for daughter no2 and one for me, 3m of oilskin to make a Tosti for myself and 2m of wool for another pair of trousers – also for me! I’m really chuffed that none of it has ended up in the stash proper. It hasn’t gone anywhere near the cupboard!
So, plans for next year. THIS YEAR!! Well, I really want to get Mr W’s coat done, and one for me too. I have a piece of camel cashmere in the stash that I thought would make a good Bamboo coat. Shouldn’t take too long and will give me time to decide on what pattern to use for my grey cashmere. Those projects I’d like to get on with pretty quickly, and also get those trousers and sweater made so there’s almost nothing left from last year’s purchases to put in the stash.
Here’s to another year of creating and sharing, and may my the stash be smaller at the end of it all! Happy New Year, may 2018 be good to you!
THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS 
Anne, am de-LI-ghted you made things for yourself, and have more planned!
But what astounds me if your organisation. W.O.W. ! ! ! ! !
Would it be fair to say that many of your repeats, and perhaps some of the speed, was due to your having all fit problems handled, and were T&T (tried & true)?
(I feel guilty going back to a T&T [or should it be TnT?] pattern, and sometimes that’s enough to cause delays.)
Your monthly lists must have been great, too, for helping you keep track.
Perhaps I oughta think about that…
LOTS to consider as I get organised for this new year.
THANK YOU for all your inspired sewing & blogging !!! 💝 💐
Wow. What a productive year you’ve had. Here’s to an equally stylish 2018!
Thanks! I’m planning a bigger dent in the stash, but it looks increasingly likely that I’ll need to do a bit of shopping…
Thanks Del! I definitely think having TNTs works, I have no shame in whipping up another pattern that I may already have made for than a few times before, I know how it fits, how it makes up and I won’t need to refer to instructions at all, just sew! Those monthly lists have been great, as a whole, I don’t really plan, but writing down the ideas of things I’d like to make keeps me focussed, and I can just move from one project to the next. And when those are done, I can add to the list! I never get sressed about carrying projects over either, it took a few months before I made the Morgan Jeans up, they were on the list for a while!
Thanks, Anne!
ope you’re feeling MUCH better, and a belated Happy Birthday!
Hi Anne , I’ve been looking for a place to buy some cashmere for a coat or sweater or poncho and I can’t find any place could you please share with me where to buy some cashmere. Thanks so much “desperately seeking cashmere” in Seattle. Cheri
Hi Cheri, I’ve bought from Truro Fabrics in the past, https://www.trurofabrics.com/wool-fabrics/cashmere-fabrics.html
I love how you were able to keep track of your projects and graph them! That was so cool! I would love to try that at the end of this year! I am new to blogging and really enjoy reading what others have been doing! Awesome job! 🙂