All in all, I’d say 2014 wasn’t a bad year in terms of projects completed, although I didn’t quite manage to make everything I wanted to (who does?). I’ve learned new skills and made plenty of mistakes along the way – sewing can be annoying as hell, but for some reason I just can’t stop.

These are a few of my favourite creations from this year – I aim to make clothes that I’ll enjoy wearing and want to keep for a long time to come, and all of these are still hanging in my wardrobe, so I must’ve done something right. Here’s to another year of lovely things made and errors learned from.

The Men’s Shirt Refashion

When my boyfriend was clearing out his collection of shirts, I swooped in a grabbed a few in the hope I might do something with them. I’d never tried refashioning anything before, so I kept it simple, and the resulting skirt has become one of my wardrobe staples.

The Occasion Dress

I was invited to a summer wedding, and wanted to make a dress that was girly, simple in design, and made in a fabric that would keep me cool. This Megan dress from Tilly’s Love at First Stitch, made in floral, linen-style material, ticked all the boxes. And, of course, there was no danger of anyone else wearing the same dress as me!

The Comfy Dress

I was drawn to the relaxed shape and simple construction of the April Rhodes peplum dress, and I found the ideal fabric for it in the form of this burgundy crepe suiting. It’s so comfy yet I feel good wearing it too, so I can definitely see me making a few of these…

The Party Dress

Which leads me nicely to my festive party dress. I didn’t have much time to whip up a dress for my work Christmas do, so I turned to my trusty April Rhodes pattern again. My criteria for the fabric? Shiny and cheap. Having seen a rather lovely (but rather expensive) gold frock on the high street, I was hoping to make something similar, and fell for this gold jersey in Fabricland as soon as I saw it, but was gutted to find there was only a metre left on the roll.

I spent what seemed like an eternity in the shop trying to find an alternative, before deciding to use the gold jersey to make the skirt, and to make the top half in black satin with a black lace overlay. I didn’t want the top half to be boring, though, so I hand-sewed a few gold beads on to jazz it up a bit. I wore it with my Mink & Stone necklace, a vintage clutch bag, a vintage beaded bracelet and other jewellery from Oasis (large ring), Primark (pearl bracelet) and Regal Rose (leaf ring).

Although I was sent these pretty heart lights by UK Christmas World, I definitely won’t just be saving them for the festive season – they’ve now taken pride of place around my fireplace, and there they shall stay. They’re even on sale now too!