2013 was a huge year for me. Around this time last year I found out I was pregnant and that ended up shaping the whole year for me. Sewing and blogging slowed down as my energy waned and priorities shifted. I watched my baby sister get married. I got to go to Spring Quilt Market and LA Fabric Shopping Weekend/Girls Night Out and hang out with some of the most awesome sewists and bloggers around and now I get to call them my friends. I got married. Then I gave birth to a beautiful and amazing little girl and I’ve been enjoying her snuggles and smiles for the last 3 months (3 months already!?? How did that happen?). And I’ve watched my little toddler turn into a little girl – more talkative and spunky than ever, and oh-so-sweet in her new role as a big sister. I feel so very lucky.
So, like I said, the blog took a bit of a back seat in 2013 and though I’ve missed it, I’ve obviously had good reasons. Last year I did a recap of my favorite projects from 2012 with the intention of doing it again this year. Well it wasn’t quite as easy with a limited number of posts, but I did want to look back at some favorites from the past year. First up are the 6 posts from 2013 with the most views.
1. Reversible Spring Coat Tutorial
2. Announcing the Japanese Sewing Book Series
3. Maternity Geo Dress {tutorial}
4. Colour Pop Top Knock Off {tutorial}
5. Pretty Pink Pinafore {tutorial}
6. Fanfare Baby Blanket
Seems pretty clear that you guys like tutorials! 🙂
And these are my personal favorites from the past year . . .
1. My Wedding Dress
2. Fanfare Baby Blanket
3. Sweetheart Bubble Dress
4. All My Friends Are Dead T-shirt
5. Japanese Sewing Book Series
6. K’s Outfit for Handmade Kids Clothing Swap
As we dive into a new year, I’m hoping to get back into sewing and blogging regularly. There are just so many things that I want to sew! It’s hard to know for sure what this year will look like, but I’m setting some goals for myself that will hopefully help me shape it into a productive and fun year. I stopped at 10, though I probably could have kept going – but here they are, in no particular order . . .
1. Sew more for me. Last year I started sewing a lot more for me and I’d really like to continue. It’s a bit tricky with my constantly changing body, but I guess that just means I have a lot of sewing to do to keep up, right? 🙂
2.
Another series. I had such a great time with the
Japanese Sewing Book Series last year and I’d love to do another series of some sort. Either a continuation of the Japanese Sewing Book Series? Something completely different? You have any ideas?
3.
More tutorials! Clearly you guys love tutorials and I love making them, even though they are a ton of work. So I’m hoping to continue rolling those out once in awhile and finally update my super outdated
tutorial page while I’m at it. Eek! Any tutorials you’d like to see here? Let me know!
5. Sew my stash/sew my patterns. My fabric stash is growing faster than I can sew and so is my pattern collection. I’m going to make an effort to sew from what I’ve got before buying new stuff. Though the constant flow of new and amazing fabrics and patterns makes it very VERY difficult to resist!
6. Sew smarter. I often find myself sewing things that are impractical. I sew dresses for Yuki even though she lives in t-shirts and yoga pants 99% of the time. I make myself a dress or skirt that I’ll only wear once. Sometimes that’s ok, but I need to be smarter and more creative about sewing things that’ll actually get worn.
7. Balance my time better. This one is quite huge and hard to measure, but I’m pretty bad a time management, so I’d love to find ways to be more efficient. With blogging, it’s not just sewing and writing, but there’s planning and shopping and sewing and photographing and uploading/editing photos, and writing and reading other blogs and comments and emails and pinterest and on and on. I love doing it all, but it’s a lot and I’d like to find a way to keep my time organized and balanced. Tips are welcome.
8. Reorganize my sewing area. I’m a naturally messy person and my work space has gotten out of control. Plus my fabric stash and sewing paraphernalia have grown out of my current space, so it needs some fixing up. It’ll be an ongoing project, but I’ll be sure to share it here along the way or when I’m done. I love seeing other people’s work spaces, don’t you?!
9. Finish projects on my to do list. Not a particularly exciting one, but I have a a ton of things that I’ve been meaning to get to forever. Super late gifts I’ve been meaning to make, pants I’ve been needing to hem, clothes I need to mend, etc. Not glamorous stuff, but things I need to get done!
10. Revamp the blog. This one will be tough. I don’t know how to build a blog or design logos or anything like that, but I feel like this space needs a new and fresh look. Won’t happen soon or quickly, but hopefully I can make at least some small changes to update this space over the next year.
Think I can do this? We’ll check in on these again in a year and see! What about you? Any sewing, crafting, blogging related goals? I’d love to hear them!
you and mie 
Hi, I’ve been following your blog for a while and think you sew gorgeous things beautifully. I’m not nearly as neat as you and like the bit figuring it out more than the end result – with only ideas and no patterns it is a lot more hodge podge – I want to start posting my silly creations this year too. Still figuring out how this blogging world works and hoping to find more time for it, I wanted to wish you and your family all the best for 2014.
Thank you! I love that you are figuring things out on your own – that’s exactly how I started! At the beginning, I didn’t use patterns at all, I just made things up as I went along and learned things through experience. Really fun and rewarding, though rarely perfect 😛 Good luck starting your own blog! Wishing the best for you and yours as well!
Your family is absolutely gorgeous! You all look so happy. Here’s to a Happy New Year!
Thank you!! Happy New Year to you!
I also need to work through my stash and my patterns! I have a huge stack of patterns that I bought because I love but then never sewed.
Although after looking at your pictures, I really want to make a bubble dress for my daughter RIGHT THIS SECOND (this is what always happens… )
Happy 2014!
Haha – yes, I get very distracted/inspired by other people’s sewing projects. My to do list grows daily and I’m too embarrassed to count how many unsewn patterns I own! Well good luck to you – let’s try our best!!
Bless you and your family! BEAUTIFUL!
Thank you!!
I have a lot of similar goals for my blog and space … my fabric stash is out of control! I also have issues sewing things that I don’t wear frequently – though most of those are costumes, not all of the everyday wear items I make are ones that I wear more than once. Cheers and good luck in 2014!
Glad to know I’m not the only one 🙂 Cheers and happy new year to you!
Wow —and I think I have a lot of balls in the air! Ha….you and your growing (beautiful) family make my to-do list look easy. All I can say is I LOVE your tutorials. Sorry they are so time consuming, but they are SO appreciated! Here’s to a year of contentment and joy.
Haha! I’m glad that the tutorials are appreciated/useful. It helps to know that, because really, as long as other people are getting something out of them, then it’s totally worth it. Happy new year and I wish you the same!!
You had a HUGE year last year – so many great things! I’m so glad we got to spend real life time together, that you had a baby, that you got married…all good stuff. 😉 I do miss your beautiful sewing, but I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of it in 2014 once things settle down a bit.
Yes! A great year, indeed – thanks for being a part of it, Kristin!! I do plan to do a ton of sewing this year. And now it’s your big year! Woo hoo!!
It’s been so wonderful to watch your little family grow over the last year or so! I’m sure the blogging has slowed down simply because there’s so many precious moments you want to soak in. There’s really nothing quite like family time. All the best for the future, I can’t wait to see what happens on the blog in 2014!
Xx
Thank you, Emma! Yes, so many great things going on, it’s hard to find time to blog – definitely a good thing 🙂 Thanks for following along and best wishes to you!!
Please keep the collaborations coming! I love seeing bloggers and artists working together, it really opens my eyes to other creative avenues and resources.
Congrats on a wonderful year personally as well!
Thanks! I’m brainstorming one or two now, but if you have any ideas for something fun and new, let me know! I love collaborations too. So inspiring!
I just started following your blog after I stumbled across it while searching for clothing patterns for children. (I am a new grandma, to a little boy living on the other side of the country. 🙂 ) I read the other posts about your family and was touched. I hope you all have a wonderful New Year with more fun adventures and, of course, many new patterns!
Thank you!! Yes, more adventures and more sewing sounds like a great year. Best wishes for your 2014 as well!
Great list of resolutions! Especially on 5 & 6 I could join you… Looking forward to your results of these plans!
Thanks! Yes, I imagine those are on the list for many many seamstresses everywhere 🙂 The good thing about publishing these here is the accountability! We’ll see how I do!
WOW Gorgeous! *
🙂
thank you for your lovely blog, I’ve been following for a while and get enjoyment from seeing what you create and from seeing your beautiful family. Congratulations on a wonderful year!
Aww, thank you!! Wishing you a wonderful 2014!
Thank you for a great year. I have loved reading your blog and following your instagram. I hope you do another series, this time I plan on sewing along! I hope 2014 is full of fun and love for you and your family.
Thank you! Yes, I’m thinking I should do a Japanese Sewing Book Sew Along this year! Glad to know you’re interested 🙂 Wishing you the same for your year!!
What a year you had! I’m sure 2014 will bring great things as well — I look forward to following them!
Yes! I’m sure 2014 will be great too, for both of us! Happy sewing!
What a wonderful year! Thanks for all the wonderful inspiration and beautiful things you’ve shared!
Thank you for letting me share them with you! Happy New Year!
I created my blog because I wanted to sew along with your Japanese Series. So I say keep doing whatever you like and I’ll read it, sew along and join in the fun. Congratulations on an amazing, event filled year
That is so awesome – thank you for joining me! I’m thinking this year we’ll do a Japanese Sewing Book sew-along! I’m counting on you to participate! 🙂
Wow I think I could have written most of this post myself! Didn’t get married last year though. Hehe. Organizing the sewing area needs to happen here and I’m scared. Ahhhh!
Haha! What are you scared of? Is it intimidating?? I’m excited to do it, but it is pretty daunting. It’s a pretty crazy mess right now and I can’t really make any headway because I just want to keep sewing, so the mess gets worse. :[ But it’ll be so much better after, right? Let’s just go for it!!
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