2013 hits and misses

Wow, 2013 went by so quickly!

It's certainly been an interesting year, my 6 weeks in New York (which I loved!), my first long term-full time vet job and most relevant to this all.. I started my blog! I had been thinking about it for a while, but after meeting all the wonderful seamstresses at Lladybirds meet-up I knew I had to start blogging too! 

Some of my favorite posts to read are the Top 5 posts, so I'm going to join Gillian and post my Top 5 lists before this year is over.. I've been sick for the last 4 days (really nasty flu bug, thanks dad!) and I've been making lists in my head of hits and misses.. I've already noticed that the lists seem to change from day to day depending on my mood.. Hmm.. Fickle me..

Let's start with the misses.. Or actually they are the lesser-worn-items. (pfeeww that sounds much better!) I only have three of those from this year, which I think is quite a good achievement! 

(oh and one coat that never got finished, because at first it was just looking to goth instead of chic and then I chopped of the bottom part and then it became way too short. Now that I remember, I already made the most gorgeous silk lining for it, maybe I should dig it up and see if I can save it somehow, to be continued!)

1. Victory Patterns Simone top

 I think my face says it all.. When I look at the pictures I feel a slight pang of disappointment because I really like the fabrics together. I've only worn it once however, apart from taking the pictures. I think it's  two things adding up, one was the fact that I had so many issues while making this top. Which resulted in using my seam ripper a crazy amount of times for one simple top. The second is my interfacing/fabric weight choices. It just doesn't work. Shame..

2. Sew Bossy Bleuet

This is the dress I made for the Sew Bossy challenge. And I actually love the dress and the fabric, but it is just too tight across my bust and arms :( For the pictures I tried to choose the ones that don't really show the gaping, but trust me, it's there. I'm really sad that this didn't work out the way I planned, but I'm hoping to make a slightly bigger version next summer!

3. Drape Drape dress

Argh I hate that this dress didn't work out. It was a lot of work to get all the pleats right etc, but it is just way to big :(

 I wore this to a wedding recently and at first I thought I was very smart and that this dress could be saved with some boob-sticking-tape. Just like you think they do in Hollywood. Well.. Let me tell you, that does NOT work. When we arrived at the wedding I looked down and noticed that the tape had come loose from the dress and was just sticking to my chest out in the open. Looking really weird and wrinkly.. After a quick trip to the bathroom to remove the tape I ended up with red stripes on my chest and had to be super careful the rest of the evening to avoid any nipple-gate scenes.. 

Allright! Now the fun stuff, the hits!

1. Waterproof Minoru

I practically live in this coat. I even took it with me to Italy, despite the fact that isn't really warm enough for snowy weather. Can't wait for my next woolen-spring-Minoru!

2. Deer and Doe Belladone

This dress is the perfect combination of cute fabric and an awesome pattern! It fits like a glove (due to the slight stretch of the fabric, that is missing in my bleuet dress) and it even has pockets! Yay!

3. Sewaholic's silk Saltspring maxi

Made out of my favourite type of silk (crepe) and in a solid colour, this is one of my favorite makes so far! Can't wait to make more versions this summer (and then I will eliminate the back zipper opening :))

4. My second wiggle dress

The two things that make me really look forward to winter are: 

1. being able to wear my Watson jacket

2. wearing my wool wiggle dress again :)

5. Victory Patterns Roxanne

I love this fabric so much! I still wear this top a lot during winter, but now under my favourite oversized wool sweater :) 

Well, that was hard! Choosing just 5 favorites, but I guess thats what makes it an awesome sewing year :) 

I've got three other projects which I really really like, so I'm going to post them too, hah!

The portside travel set

These bags are just awesome! They've been to Singapore, Indonesia, Germany and Italy so far and every time I pack them I've been really happy. Even if I pack my duffel for an overnight shift at the clinic, I'm just happy :) 

Ohhh Lulu bikini

I made my own bikini! And it stays on even while diving, enough said I think :)

The knitted Pterodactylus

This little dinosaur is the reason I picked up my knitting needles again. I had been making scarves before this, but nothing with increases/decreases etc. Now I've almost finished my 3rd sweater (but the first one with shaping etc) and knitting is quickly becoming my second favorite hobby! Sometimes to the dislike of my bf, who jokingly pulled at one of my needles recently, only to discover that he made me drop 8 stitches on my first cabling project, which made me feel really nauseous! Luckily I was able to recover the stitches and my bf was really perplexed about it, he promised not to joke like that anymore :)

I also took an Itajime class while I was in New York this year and that was also one of my creative highlights of this year, can't wait to dye more silk this year!

I absolutely love this shirt.. 

Well, all in all it's been an amazing year and I can't wait to see what 2014 will bring! Hope all of you guys have a great new years eve and a very happy new year!

Three more bags, the Portside travel set!

Whoohoo, it's almost time for another trip! Tonight I'm flying to Bali, with a stopover of two nights in Singapore :) I had already seen a sneak peak of the new Portside travel set from Grainline Studio, so when it was released last week I knew I had to try and make them before I went away! I think my Weekender bag is perfect for roadtrips, but I didn't really want to bring it with me to Bali, just in case it ripped or something.. 

Super happy! As is my crocodile, which I got last time in Bali

This was the first time I went to the copyshop to get my pattern printed. And I was super happy with the result! No more wonky cutting/pasting lines and all the pieces are nice and firm. It cost me 3.90 euro and I think it is money well spend.

Look at how great this is!

 I had this canvas fabric in my stash, they're leftovers from other projects. The white/beige was just enough for the contrast fabric, lucky me! And I had enough fabric left over from my Minoru lining for this lining.

At first I wanted to use silver hardware, but the D-rings they had at the market were way too big. After looking at it again, I decided that bronze coloured hardware looked way better, so I changed it. That meant removing the straps for the second time, because the first time I'd sewn them on completely wonky. One tip: measure everything! I didn't at first and it doesn't look good when the straps are leaning towards the left..

Silver and bronze, I prefer the bronze!

Nice and straight

 I also added an interior pocket, because it makes finding small/important things in my bag so much easier.

Interior pocket

 One thing that I was super happy to be able to do differently then the pattern instructions say is the lining.. The instructions suggest handstitching the lining in to the zipper, but I did this with my Weekender bag and wasn't super happy with it. I just don't like handstitching things to zippers I guess. But with my duffel, I was able to use my machine! YAY! I used the cream coloured thread on top, black thread on the bobbin and all worked out perfectly :)

 I did break two needles in the process, but that is completely my own fault, for not paying attention where the zipper ends.

 The pattern also includes two smaller bags, the dopp kit and a smaller travel pouch. Which are both super cute! The travel pouch comes together really quickly and is super versatile and its size is perfect!

The dopp kit is also super useful, as I could squeeze in all my toiletries. Which means a lot, cause I always bring a lot of stuff with me. The only mistake I made is that I didn't add the contrasting piece on the backside, instead I just cut it out of one piece. I didn't do this on purpose, but I don't really mind now. The only thing is that I didn't interface this piece, so it's a little bit softer than it's supposed to be.

Ooops..

Jenn also added a small zipper pull which you can make out of leather, super cute!

Overall I'm super happy with this pattern and my new bags! I've packed everything and am ready to go travelling tonight! I also packed some new and unblogged makes (one of them is a bikini!), which I will photograph in Bali, so that will come soon :)