2015 Review

2015 began with a spur-of-the-moment Eowyn costume that turned into a crisis of collar-design and a drawn-out quest for The Right Trim. I said in an earlier post that I had been to every sewing shop in the ACT, but I have since discovered this was a gross slander of Needlewitch which I hadn't heard of then and which did have something that would have worked.

For the Jane Austen Festival I wanted to make a couple of evening gowns but I found myself in need of a new pair of stays which dashed my plans to be ready early this year. I managed to get my Joker-inspired regency dress wearable for the ball and finished it afterwards. At JAFA I did an 1806 bonnet class where I made a Polish Casquette (using a Lynn McMasters Pattern). Later in the year I made a spencer which is now ready early for next year.

 I made a pair of pyjama pants (Kwik Sew 3882) as part of sewing lessons.

I played through the Bioshock series of video games this year which I loved. This inadvertently solved my “I can’t find any clothes I like in the shop” problem as I suddenly wanted to wear 1940s style dresses - and these proved surprisingly simple to make. I created a pattern with a number of variations and kept making new dresses. I was glad to have simple, quick projects as I spent the last half of the semester alternating between being sick and madly trying to catch up on uni and I needed something to relax with. Most of these dresses happened between 9pm and 3am at the point where if I didn't sew something I would go mad. Here are the individual blog posts: maroon, light blue, navy blue and teal.

Finally, here is the progress on my Bayeux tapestry dress. This year I finished the Church and these horses. Filling in the horses takes so much thread (and time).

In non-sewing news: I am finally finished with Uni! This year I completed a double degree in History and IT. (All together now: "That's an interesting combination!")

This is my tenth year of making costumes. And having come as far as I think I can under my own tutelage I started having lessons and they've been great. I now press and finish seams better; I use notches; I use a whole variety of new and different tools; I know how to treat my sewing machine better...

Speaking of sewing machines: I got a new one this year. My 1976 Husqvarna 2000, inherited from my Great Aunt, finally gave out after a long and full life. I now have a Brother NV610 which, so far, I am pleased with.

There were other changes to my sewing arrangements this year. We rearranged the house a bit so I now have a sewing-only sewing room far enough away from everyone else that I can sew late into the night whenever the insomnia takes me. We reorganised the pattern stash to be more accessible. My mum and I swapped sewing cabinets too. So basically my sewing setup now is all of the new. And I got a garment steamer. I love my garment steamer.

This was a year of plans that did not eventuate, starting with Eowyn taking two months longer than it was meant to. I was not planning to be sick all the time either. It wasn't anything serious but the time-out being sick followed by catching up on study really threw the last five months for me. There were several months this year which I pretty much slept through. When I finally had a chance to look seriously at the hardware for my Assassin's Creed costume I found that the method I was expecting to use wouldn't work. I had been planning to use draw slides for the hidden blades but the only ones I could find were nearly as big as my wrist and really heavy.  And finally, I posted a list of my future plans of which I have worked on exactly none. (Usually I don't publish 'goal lists' because I know how many dresses I think about and don't make.) Of course, I immediately went off and made four other dresses not on the list. All or none of my plans may be realised next year.