2014: A Year in Sewing

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

Men's Shirt Refashion Skirt

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. Continue reading “2014: A Year in Sewing”

My April Rhodes Peplum Dress

I love a winter walk – leaves crunch underfoot (or squelch, if it’s been raining, which it usually has), the air is crisp, and going home and getting warm with a nice cup of tea afterwards is basically the best feeling ever. A recent winter wander gave me a perfect opportunity to wear my autumnal-hued April Rhodes peplum dress. This dress was so, so easy to make – there were no fiddly fastenings, and the construction was very simple, utilising sewing skills I feel comfortable with. I just adore the floaty shape – this a rather wintery version in a crepe suiting, but I’ll definitely be making another in a lighter fabric for the summer. Continue reading “My April Rhodes Peplum Dress”

Top 3 Time-Management Tips for Sewing Bloggers

 

Individually, sewing and blogging are hobbies that can take over your life if you let them – do both, and you may find yourself having no time for anything else. A lot goes into creating a successful blog post – photography, photo-editing, writing, yet more editing, promotion on social media, the list goes on – and when you add the fact that you have to sew in order to have something to blog about, you could end up with blogger burnout.

I still have much to learn in this area, but there are a few rules that I try to live by in order to avoid getting overwhelmed – hobbies are supposed to be fun, after all. Here are my top three tips for sewing and blogging while still having time for work, rest and play. Continue reading “Top 3 Time-Management Tips for Sewing Bloggers”