This year has been a pretty busy year for me, both in my academic and sewing 'careers'! In past years I have ended up with pretty large amounts of projects completed during the year, and although I have a smaller number this year I am incredibly proud of what I managed to accomplish and the quality of the items I made. I also have to remind myself that some of my past years I was in lockdown, working and taking classes from home, so I had a lot of time to work on projects while paying attention to online lectures and such.
To begin with, this year I finished my undergraduate degree in History and wrote a thesis, which was such an incredible and invaluable expriences. I also applied for and got into Master's programs, and ended up moving to the UK in September to begin my Master's of Holocaust Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London. Over the past year I have moved twice, once to a new country, and started 3 new jobs at various points.
When it comes to sewing, my big project was my sister's wedding dress. I began it last year, but all of the sewing with the fashion fabric happened this year, since last year I focused on the pattern drafting and fittings. All of the other projects that I made this year were completely for fun and totally unexpected.
#1 - Mouse Trap Corduroy Dress
I made this dress really early on during the year, finishing it in the beginning of January over the winter holidays. It was inspired by the movie 'See How They Run,' a movie set in 1950s London based on Agatha Christie's The Mouse Trap. I absolutely loved a corduroy dress that Saoirse Ronan's character wears, and although they are very different designs, I am very pleased with this dress. It is a perfect cold weather dress, and the material is so soft and comfortable.
#2 - 1940s Style Shirt Dress
This shirt dress, made out of the most luxurious silk-wool blend, is one that I had not originally planned for but ended up spending months working on while finishing my undergrad. The dress is entirely constructed with french seams and made using an early 1950s Vintage Vogue pattern that I have used 3 times now.
#3 - The Wedding Dress
This project took a few years, with about 100 hours of work put into it! I just recently posted more photos of it with a breakdown of the design and materials on my website, with much more detail about the process as well. This was a very different design and style than I normally sew, but it was a ton of fun to work on! Obviously this took up most of my focus for the first half of the year, so most of my other projects came after I finished it for the wedding in August.
#4 - The Moth Dress
This project was a fun, extremely quick one that I made as a palette cleanser after my sister's wedding dress. Working with quilting cotton after the lace, organza, and jersey of the wedding dress was such a treat, and I had admired this print for almost a year before I got it for this project. I am still so happy with how it turned out and I wear it often.
#5 - 1940s SOE Map Dress
This project was less effortless than the Moth Dress... I cut out the dress months before I started sewing it because I immediately panicked, thinking I had cut out the skirt and sleeves too short and that they wouldn't sit nice once I had sewn it together. I had a very limited amount of fabric, so there was no option of recutting anything out. It ended up being a completely unnecessary panic because the length of both the sleeves and the skirt is absolutely perfect and exactly what I had been thinking. Despite the ridiculous stress over this dress, I am very happy with it now, and the pockets are a very fun addition.
#6 - Asteroid City Inspired Dress
Like the Moth Dress, this was a really quick project! After seeing Wes Anderson's film, Asteroid City, I immediately wanted to make a bright turquoise, 1950s styled dress. I have admired this fabric print for ages, and I finally picked up a few meters as soon as I realized that it would be perfect for this project. The dress design is cobbled together from a few Vintage Vogue patterns and some self-drafted work. It has turned out to be a very comfortable, easy wearing dress that never fails to make me feel like Midge Campbell.
#7 - The Peacock Dress
The final dress that I officially finished this year is another dress that I cut out almost a year ago and panicked over. This incredible fabric is from Rifle Paper Company, one of my favourite brands for patterns. It is the softest quilting cotton and I wanted the project to be perfect. However, I quickly messed up when cutting out the pattern (a 1950s vintage pattern that reminds me so much of the costumes from the Marvelous Mrs Maisel) when I cut out two of the same side of the back skirt panels. I put the project away in disappointment and avoided it for months, while having regular stress dreams about it. Just like the Map Dress, all of the angst turned out to be dramatic and unecessary, since it was a really easy fix with no recutting needed! As soon as I figured out the solution, I put this project together over the course of just a few weeks in the summer. I love the back V neckline of this dress, and the fabric design is still my favourite fo Rifle Paper Companys!
Although these are all of the projects that I completed this year, I have started a few since then! You might notice that all of these projects were finished in the summer, before I moved abroad. Although I was unable to bring a sewing machine with me when I moved, I did bring all of my hand sewing supplies and a few projects that I have been steadily working on over the past few months. My pace is definitely slower since I am working entirely by hand, without any sewing machines, but I am really enjoying the process and I am excited to talk more about the projects I started soon!
I always enjoy writing this recap each year. It is a ton of fun to see what I have made over the year, but it is also fun to look back on past years to see how my style and skillset has changed and grown. It is also interesting to see how much of my wardrobe is made by me now, compared to just a few years ago. Every single one of the projects that I made for myself this year are now in my wardrobe in England and I wear them regularly!
I am excited to see what my recap will look like next year, and I can't wait to share more about my handsewing projects that I have been working on recently!
~Katherine