The Fabric Alchemist

My top 5 misses of 2015 are the projects that I wanted to make, bought the pattern, started buying fabric and supplies, but did not finish (of even start).

1. Dahlia

Colette debuted their Dahlia Dress pattern during my Wardrobe Architect adventure. The sillouette matched what I was looking for and the suggested fabrics (crepes and lightweight wools) would be something new for me. I bought a blue-black patterned wool crepe and black rayong for the dress and lining back in March. But the fabric just sat all spring and summer while I worked on all my costumes.

I hope to finish this dress before winter ends. I think the blue is bright enough that I could wear it in Spring and Summer, but I always picture Dahlia as a cooler weather dress.

 2. Ginger

Another one of my intended early 2016 projects was a pair of Ginger Jeans. Pants scare me, so I wanted to confront that fear. The fabric on the left side of picture shows the gray denim and black twill for Ginger Jeans. I started taping the PDF pattern together and then Mulan and Korra took over.

One of my best friends from college is hoping to get back into sewing this year and she bought a Ginger Jeans pattern so we are going to have our own little sew-a-long and help each other through the project.

3. Wren

One of my favorite makes is a self-drafted knit dress. I wear it so much that it is starting to pill. I need more knit dresses – ones that are work-professional and comfortable. When Wren debuted, I instantly wanted the pencil skirt version and I took advantage of their debute discount. I thought I might be able to knock out a knit dress over a weekend, but I never even got around to buying ponte knit fabric. This will not be a priority project, but hopefully before summer. (I never thought I would be into dresses as much as I am these days.)

4. Burda dress

You may remember this project. I only started working on it a month ago. I was certain that two weeks was enough time to finish it, but I did not anticipate how quickly our time would fill up after Thanksgiving. 

I got a muslin made and I have cut out the front pieces of the lining and main fabric. The back pieces are too large for my sewing table, so I’ll have to clean the floor before I cut out those sections. I think it will come together somewhat quickly. (I hope to finish it in time to wear to a Murder Mystery Dinner.)

I love that Maya is helping me fit the muslin.

5. I am going to list the fact that I couldn’t list 5 misses as a miss. Sort of.

I only started 4 non-costume projects and there are so many more projects (many from the Seamwork Magazine) that I wanted to make for myself and as gifts for friends and family.

In my non-sewing life we bought a house (and spent many weekends in the winter looking at houses and then unpacking and getting the new house set up), I prepared for and sat on 3 panels at GeekGirlCon, I made a dozen more cosplay friends through Dragon Age and Assassin’s Creed meet-ups, I was interviewed by Seattle Met Magazine about sewing, cosplay, and being a woman geek, and through work I’ve been able to participate in a workshop on advancing racial equity in arts and culture organizations (this workshop has really affected how I look at my work in museums).

2015 was a busy year and I did not sew as much as I had hoped to. I don’t see this as a “failure” on my part as a sewist. I just regret that I wasn’t able to make enough time to persue a hobby that brings me joy and fullfillment. I’ll unpack this a bit more in tomorrow’s post, but I’ve made my peace with 2015 (because it was pretty great!) and I’m looking ahead to 2016.

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This post is part of the series started by Gillian, look for more posts (by her and other sewcialists) at her blog, or on Instagram and Twitter with the hashtag #sewingtop5 .