Dibulous: Happy New Year!

So, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday period, and you didn't have too much of a headache this morning. What did I do for New Year? I made a fondue and then went out into town for midnight - there was a big funfair at Plainpalais and soundstages and bars set up in the street. It was pretty fun and rather un-Swiss! Fireworks at midnight were provided by crazy Genevois. In the street.

Anyway, here's my obligatory sewing review of the year. Nothing as deep here as you might find on other blogs, but it's helpful for me to see all this in one place.

What I've made this year

Yellow crepe wrap skirt
Leopard-print Sorbetto
Kitchen apron (not blogged, but seen here)
Green and gold drape front cardie
Green twill flat-front shorts (semi-wadder)
Lace dartless dress
Flowery pyjama shorts
Black doubleknit tube skirt (not blogged)
First try at mock-wrap knock-off dress
Snake-print mock-wrap knock-off dress
Leopard-print batwing top (not blogged, but seen here)
Beige rayon knit batwing top (not blogged)
Green crinkle gauze maxi skirt (not properly blogged, but seen here and here)
Turquoise draped maxi skirt (semi-wadder, not blogged, but seen here
Grey denim shorts (not blogged)
Green pocket shorts (not blogged)
Colette Patterns Jasmine blouse (muslined only, semi-wadder, not blogged)
Burda narrow trousers (wadder, not blogged)
Top for hiking (semi-wadder, not blogged)
Blue rayon T-shirt remake (not blogged)
V&A Liberty print Sorbetto
Burda "smart" sweatshirt top, version 1 (semi-wadder, not blogged)
Burda "smart" sweatshirt top, version 2 (wadder, not blogged)
Silk Sorbetto (to be blogged shortly!)
Cowl neck batwing top (not blogged)
Angora lightweight circle scarf (not blogged)
Matching aprons for my sister and nephew
Cable-knit scarf for my sister
Circular scarf for my dad
Peplum top
Yellow jersey tube skirt

What I've learned this year

If I'm having "sewist's block" I need to just push through and do something, otherwise I can go months at at time faffing about what I want/need/can do.
It is not a waste of time making myself nice clothes, even if I'm not the weight/shape I want to be.
Keeping my sewing room tidy is very important.
I need a forward shoulder adjustment.
Silk basting thread is my new friend.
I need to review my New Year sewing "resolutions" more frequently, so I don't forget about them!

How I've done with my plans for this year

Tidy and organise my sewing room. I've actually done quite well with this. Nearly all my fabric has been sorted and folded neatly, my notions and other materials are sorted and stored and I have sorted out and catalogued all my patterns. There's a few things left to find a place for or to complete, and I have bought new ceiling lights but these are yet to put up - but overall the room is much more pleasant and easy to work in.
Sew more coordinated garments (in a wardrobe sense). Again, I've done pretty well with this. Many of the items I've made are separates and have slotted into my regular wardrobe very well.
Blog once a week. Hmm, this one wasn't so great. I managed reasonably well up until July, but then it was unfortunately rather sparse for several months, partly due to a horrible bout of sinusitis, right in the middle of the summer.
Sew one item a fortnight. Well, although I've had big gaps in my productivity, there are 32 items in my list above, so this has technically been achieved!
Sew at least one item from each new issue of BWOF. Not done so well with this one - I've actually only sewn five Burda items, and two of those were from a pre-2012 magazine. Oh, and four of the items were wadders. Hmm.
Finish up each item before starting the next! Not too bad with this again. There were a few UFOs, but all of these were wadders (or on the path to be wadders), so it would have been unproductive to complete them. Generally though, I've been pretty good about finishing up each project and tidying away all the bits and pieces before starting the next one.
Do some non-garment sewing. Nope.
Sew a garment for someone else. Do aprons and scarves count?! I'm going to say yes so I can tick this one off. (Although I had been intending this to mean a dress for a friend and a shirt for my husband. Shh.)

What I plan to do in 2013

Several of these are continuations from last year.

Blog once a week. This is mainly to keep me motivated to keep making things!
Make an item once a fortnight. Fairly self-explanatory.
Finish each item before starting something else. I was pretty good with doing this in 2012, so I will keep this up. It definitely contributes to more efficient and satisfying sewing.
Take pictures of each garment as soon as it's done, and take more pictures of me wearing my clothes. Looking at my list, I realise how many of the things I made haven't been properly blogged, and this is nearly always because I haven't taken pictures of them yet. I will take more pictures of the things I make, including in progress and me wearing them - not least because this helps with my learning process and evaluation of what I'm doing.
Continue sewing mostly wardrobe-builders. Really thinking about how the things I'm sewing will fit into my wardrobe has meant I get much more wear out of the things I make.
Make at least one pattern from BurdaStyle magazine each month. Although I made a few garments in 2012, I'm still not making the most of my subscription. There are plenty of patterns I love in Burda, and now I'm getting better at fitting and adjusting patterns, I have no excuse to not make more.
Declare a moratorium on pattern buying. With the exception of my Burda subscription, I plan to not buy any more patterns for at least six months (preferably the whole year). When I sorted out my patterns, I realised just how many I have (hint: way too many), so there is unlikely to be a reason to buy new ones for a very long time!
Declare a moratorium on fabric buying too. I have a feeling this one will be much harder to stick to, as although I nearly always buy fabric with a planned garment in mind, I am very good at coming up with a planned garment for most fabrics... I have a pretty good variety of most fabrics in my stash, so unless there is something that is absolutely vital to a make, I will attempt to talk myself down from fabric purchases.
Get back into swimming regularly. Whilst this isn't obviously sewing related, I want to get back into some semblance of "shape", partly for my own health, and (more relevant here) partly so that I can make even nicer clothes even more flattering for me.
Non-garment sewing. There are too many things on this list that have been on the back burner for months, if not years. 2013 will be when I tick some of them off.
Sew for others. I would like to make my husband a shirt, and would also like to try my hand at sewing a dress on commission for someone else (someone patient).
Complete the finishing touches in the sewing room. There's just a few niggling things that need to be done, after which the room will be pretty much complete: move a filing cabinet and replace it with more drawers, put pictures and a hanging bar on the wall, replace the lights and sort out a couple of remaining boxes that I moved in with (yeah, that was 2 1/2 years ago). I aim to get this done asap (at least by the end of January).
Check back on these plans throughout the year. Because I have a terrible memory.