A new Year

I might just be the last person to make a post like this. Happy New Year everyone! It's been quite busy around here, with little time for sewing activities. Thankfully I spent my Christmas money on a truckload of fabric, and found a few spare moments to make some plans!

I never really make New Year's resolutions, but I did spend some time thinking about what I want to sew and how. Lately I realised I was hurrying to finish projects as soon as possible, producing as many garments as I could in the limited time I had. When I noticed I started skipping things to be quicker, an alarm bell went off. What was the point in spending time sewing my own clothes if I wasn't going to do it properly? So that is my first and main resolution for this upcoming year (and the ones after this one as well): sew slow!

I have mentioned before how I wanted to make a proper winter coat, and the red wool I'm going to use arrived this week. The pattern will start from a basic double-breasted coat pattern I bought last year, but I will add some things such as wider lapels, pleats in the front and of course the back detailing (which I've completely ripped from a vintage coat I saw on Etsy). It will involve a lot of muslins and a lot of tailoring, but hopefully I'll end up with a gorgeous and warm coat! (By the way, the wool I bought is nowhere near as pink as the colour in the sketch, it's just really hard to photograph! The colour was called 'cardinal' and it's a lovely red, slightly deeper than your average bright red.)

The second coat I have planned for this year will be a trenchcoat in blue. I have made a trench before (pre-blog) and loved the idea, but the pattern wasn't quite right. I found a Burda coat I love, and will probably add a few details and make a couple of changes.

I will definitely continue my love affair with prints this year. The birds have already arrived, and the woodland fabric is on its way. I realise this might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I really really love simple dresses as a canvas for an amazing print.

Here's another one of those prints, and another resolution: I do need a few more basic items as well. I have this chambray lying around and think it would make a lovely dress, to be worn just as is in summer and spring and with a cardigan and tights in fall and winter. I'm also planning to learn sewing with knits: at the moment I still rely on H&M and such for t-shirts, but being able to make my own would be a huge step forward. A t-shirt doesn't take a lot of fabric and the end result wouldn't even be all that more expensive than the cheapies I buy (and ruin) on the high street.

So these are some new year's thoughts, and an idea of what to expect on this blog the following months!