A Fond Farewell to 2009 and Looking Toward 2010

Last year's resolution was pretty much just to keep on keeping on, which I've done. I actually had a bit of a resolution to sew less, as discussed in my stash resolution post, as crazy as that seems! I devote a lot of time, energy, and head space to sewing and it seemed possible that I was using it as an excuse to hide from the world a bit.

Although I didn't really end up sewing that much less I felt like I did slow down a bit--no fewer garments (actually a couple more than last year, based on my imprecise counts for both years), but I think overall the average of my projects was much less complicated so there was less time involved. And it totally worked out for me, whether setting my intention really did have an effect or it was just random. I know it has been a bad year for many, so I hope my happiness doesn't seem inappropriate but 2009 has been *my* year in my personal and professional life. One of the best years ever for me. I still love sewing and have missed it when I haven't had time to do it, but the tradeoffs I have made have been worth it. I am happy, and this is not something I've always been able to say.



The Stats

50 Pattern Reviews for the year (some of those were for garments made in 2008, which is why the numbers don't seem to add up).

photoed and reviewed: 42 garments (I'm calling the hat a garment since it took a fair amount of sewing)
5 knit tops
3 woven tops
5 skirts
15 knit dresses
12 woven dresses
1 coat
1 hat

Awaiting photography and review: 18 garments
3 knit tops
1 woven top
4 skirts
2 knit dresses
4 woven dresses
1 pair PJ pants
1 bathing suit

Totals: 60 garments
8 knit tops
4 woven tops
9 skirts
17 knit dresses
16 woven dresses
1 coat
1 hat
1 PJ pants
1 bathing suit
Plus
Misc. projects: 2 belts (braided ribbon and obi), 4 aprons, 1 refashioned sweater, several pairs of underwear

UFOs:
Suit Jacket. Ugh. I need to recommit to this project and either tackle welted pockets with flaps or just leave the damn pockets off already.

On the bright side, I think that's my only UFO from this year. I cut out a skirt of the same fabric at the same time but haven't started sewing it. I don't know if that's a UFO or not.

I had a UFO of a crappy attempt to alter a so-so pattern out of horrible fabric that I hated but I threw it away. It was very liberating.

Failures:
Two projects turned out awful. One was my fault, the other was a gross pattern. I haven't reviewed them yet. The Butterick 5079 Twist Dress was so so. Another unreviewed project needs some fixing, I guess; it's not wearable as intended at the moment, but is still not horrible. Everything else ranges from fine to awesome.

Favorites are very hard to choose this year! I had a ton of projects I loved. It's a lot easier to choose the duds.





Favorite special occasion dress: Birthday dress of silk jersey from Drape Drape Japanese pattern book. I've only worn this once, but I love it.













Favorite Knit Dress: BWOF 03-2009-102















Best day-to-night piece: BWOF 02-2009-124 Lace Dress










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So for 2010 I will continue to maintain my balance, in all senses of the phrase.

Stash balance, of course, is part of it. In the end I greatly exceeded my six yard monthly allotment--around 166 yards. *gulp* I had no idea it was so much. I thought I had bought way less than in years past and in fact began composing this blog post to that effect. But it turns out that when I actually tallied it all up it was almost half again as much (my average the past two years was about 110 yards). I guess not keeping track didn't work.

I found a place to give away my 2008 stash cull (DC Threads), and gave a few more pieces away this year. My shelves look emptier than at the end of last year, but maybe I just did better at distributing the fabric. However, with the huge exception of all the fabric I bought in NYC in June--I have sewn only four of the fourteen pieces I purchased--I have done better at buying fabrics that I am inspired to sew right now, and I love most everything that has been added to stash.

Knit and woven balance is also something to contemplate. I fall back on the easy knits quite often. I enjoy wearing them, but sometimes I'd like to be a little dressier. But sewing "too many" knits doesn't really bother me. They travel so well!

Dresses and separates are another imbalance in my sewing life. I love dresses. In Spring/Summer I wear them almost exclusively, which is what I want. In winter I am always wanting more separates. For some reason I am a little dressier in Fall/Winter, so those separates are more work than their summer counterparts, and then I get impatient and end up in knit dresses for Fall/Winter. So I'd like to add a few more separates to my closet.

But above all, I want to maintain my work/sewing/gym/life balance. I am prone to going overboard in one area of life so it is not an equilibrium that is reached and then easily maintained. Mindfulness is always useful to me!

Here's to a wonderful, healthy, happy 2010!