Sewing Recap 2011

Yesterday I was thinking about the things I sewed this year, and decided to collect all the pictures together in once place so I could see what my output was.  Wow!  I really didn't realize I had made so many things!  I've got 27 items altogether, and it's probably no surprise that the majority of those are Colette Patterns.

I decided to have a little fun and make them into collages using Picnik.  This is a new tool for me, and I'm really having fun with it.  I'm thinking I'll do one for my favorite manicures of 2011 too!

Let's kick things off with some of my favorites:  the kiss-lock clutches.  I love these, and use them, and will certainly be making more.  I'm trying to talk one of my friends into going halfsies on a metallic gold hide I saw!   Wouldn't a gold metallic clutch just be the coolest?

Next up are the Ginger Skirts.  This pattern is the first one I made any adjustments to, thanks to help from Sunni and her Ginger Sewalong.  I got a great fit in a style I love so much, I made it four times!  I also did my first piping insertion and learned how to install an invisible zipper!

Another Colette pattern I really love is the Sencha blouse.  I made this one twice, and I'm pretty sure I'll make another one at some point.  It has such a great retro feel.

Somewhat less successful were the Jasmine blouses.  The first one looked OK in the end, but I really had trouble with this pattern, mostly because of my choice of slippery fabrics.  Next time I make this one, I'll be doing it in cotton!  This pattern also pointed up my need to learn more about effectively sewing bias-cut garments, and my need to get an honest assessment of my measurements along with an understanding of proper ease for various garments, so that I can choose the right size to make.

Over the summer, I became obsessed with Colette's Sorbetto pattern, like a lot of other folks out there.  I had a blast making my own bias tape - a really good trick to have up one's sleeve! I made seven altogether, and wore them during the hot months.  I even made a matching skirt for one, to make a two-piece dress.  It's really hard to say which of these is my favorite!

Because I started reading more and more sewing blogs over the last six months, and following sewing groups on flickr, I became aware of Lisette patterns from Simplicity, and ended up buying all the adult patterns in one of JoAnn Fabrics' super-special deals.  I've so far made two Continental blouses, the Continental dress and the Portfolio dress.  A lot of the sewing I have in mind for this coming spring is based on Lisette patterns.

These last few didn't really have a cohesive theme, so I just called them "others."  They are the Parfait dress that I finally finished after two years (which ignited this round of the sewing bug), the Violet blouse that I should have made in a smaller size, and the tie I made for Hubby.

So there we have it.  Mostly successes, and a few failures; but I sure did learn some things!  I've been mulling over where I want to go from here - sewing goals for the coming year - and am hoping to put together a post on that as well, mostly so I have a way to remind myself!

One of the best things I learned this year is that there is a wonderful, supportive online sewing community out there.  Plenty of others have written about it more eloquently than I can, so suffice it to say that I've learned a lot from reading others' blogs as well as the forums on Coletterie, BurdaStyle and flickr.  And I've made some really great friends along the way too.  So thanks to all of you who continue to share your achievements, failures and love of creating here on this magnificent interweb!