Top 5 hits of 2016

This is actually going to be a little more challenging than I thought. Mostly because I just realized that, counting one shirt that I haven’t posted yet, I’ve only made 13 things for myself this entire year! But the end of year roundup that Gillian hosts is always fun, so here I go anyway…

I’m mostly just sticking to things I made for myself, and am just going to do these more or less chronologically, since it’s easier to scroll through Flickr that way. And I’m all about keeping it simple these days with blogging!

Top 5 Hits:

1. My raglan Plantain hack. One of my recurring goals in sewing is to successfully alter my patterns for new looks, and this is one of the examples that actually worked out. Another recurring goal of mine is to make colder weather clothes that actually have color, since I find those much cheerier to wear on the dreary, grey days that are all too common during our Mid-Atlantic winters! This also counts as both stashbusting and refashioning, since the paisley was recycled from a shirt I’d cut out long ago but would never fit my post-baby body, and the teal was stash leftovers from my other Plantain. I’ve worn this one regularly, even into my second trimester, and have gotten several compliments on it from strangers. So that’s always a win.

 

 

2. My Deer & Doe Bruyere shirt was also a winner. Our fall was oddly hot well into November this year, so I didn’t have a huge window of opportunity to wear things that had longer sleeves, even rolled up with lightweight fabric. But it did get multiple wears, and actually fit through my first trimester. It’s another one where the cheery color makes me happy, and look, I’m already on trend for the Pantone color of next year! As long as I can find a good nursing camisole to wear underneath, I think this one will also get a good bit of wear once baby boy 2 makes his appearance, and I’ve got this pattern earmarked to make at least one more version, once I get fabric with sufficient yardage to do so.

3. My basic black Cashmerette Appleton dress. A musician can never go wrong with black, especially now that I’m in the community orchestra and playing concerts on a more regular basis again. This was my second version of the Appleton this year, with a few alterations to make it more wearable for me. I’m also very happy with how my sleeve hack turned out. This is another good nursing-friendly pattern, so once I get my smaller belly back, it’ll probably see a lot more use too!

 

 

 

 

4. This entire outfit. I’ll revisit this in a future post, but one of my goals for this year was to start making some more mini capsules for my wardrobe. Actually, this fabric combination was my specific photographic example, so it’s nice to see that I actually finished it within the year! Both of the two visible pieces are Seamwork patterns, and ones that will be likely revisitied in the future. I’m also wearing Cake Patterns Espresso leggings that I sewed this past year, and those have become a staple piece. (The tank top underneath the mint sweater wasn’t as successful, but that’s not the point of this post.) I’m not sure how much wear this outfit as a whole will get next year, but I still may be able to work in the skirt if I can come up with an easier nursing top. I am actually still able to wear this pair of leggings now, though!

5. This dress, at least once I turned it backwards. It’s comfortable, the print is fun, I pretty much nailed the stripe matching, and it’s basically everything that a summer maxidress should be. Again, sadly, I doubt I’ll get much use out of it during this upcoming year. But I wore it a lot during the warm weather, and I have no doubt that this will make it back into the rotation once baby feeding allows.

Bonus kid make: The top thing this year was definitely the BB-8 hoodie. Even if’s already nearly met its demise by grass stains (which I got out) and odd color bleeding (which I’m not entirely sure was from the orange itself, since it’s only on one side. I need to fix this with some white paint.)