Happy New Year!!  I hope that you have all had a wonderful holiday season and a great start to 2015!  I usually get wrapped up in all sorts of holiday festivities and preparations around the month of December, which is why the blog went pretty quiet there for awhile.  But I’ve enjoyed a lot of time with family – celebrating, playing and relaxing – and I hope you have been able to do the same!

I love looking back at the previous year (check out my recaps from 2012 and 2013). When I started reflecting back on 2014, I actually thought for a second, “I didn’t make much this year, did I?” And then I went through my posts to make a little Flipagram slideshow and suddenly I’m realizing that I really did make quite a few things!

That’s most of what I made, but there are a few things that I never blogged or photographed!  So a pretty productive year after all!

So here are 10 of my favorite makes from 2014 (in chronological order).  Is your favorite on the list?

1. Panda Raglan Tee Tutorial
Just a fun little tee that I made for my girls.  I actually used this tutorial a couple other times this year, for the Jiji Sweatshirt and Kaya’s Unikitty Halloween Costume.  The possibilities for this tee are pretty endless!

2. Stylo Magazine Issue II
I was absolutely honored to be asked to be a part of Stylo Magazine‘s second issue.  I meant to write a separate post about the outfits I made my girls for the magazine, but I never got around to it!  But you should check out the entire issue, which includes my spread (starting on page 95) and a ton of others from really amazing and inspiring makers and seamstresses.  I started with plain white cotton (knit and woven) and hand painted them to create one-of-a-kind fabrics before making them into outfits for my daughters.

3. Color Blocked Soleil Dress
This was my first version of the Soleil Dress and it was not without it’s challenges, but it is, by far, one of the most worn articles of clothing that I’ve made for Yuki, ever.  I didn’t quite understand one part of the pattern (which I later realized that I had done wrong), but I pushed through and I love the finished dress, and so does Yuki. Then I went on to make two more versions, the summery Elsa dress and Yuki’s hand stamped Watermelon Dress which both get tons of wear.

4. Fluttering Field Sundress Tutorial
This dress started out as a vision in my mind and then came together into a real dress just the way I had imagined.  And that was just one of the most awesome feelings ever!  This was also one of Yuki’s favorites dresses and then I later used the tutorial to make another dress on this list . . .

5. Happy Homemade Sew-along
So not really a singular post, but an event, I co-hosted my first sew-along with the amazing Meg of elsie marley.  We picked a unisex hoodie from the book, Happy Homemade: Sew Chic Kids, which is both in Japanese and English.  Meg and I covered everything from where to buy the book, what fabrics are recommended, some ideas for variations on the pattern, as well as each step of the instructions broken down further with photos and helpful hints.  It was a ton of work, but it was exciting to check out the over 40 hoodies were made and submitted into our little hoodie pool, so I’d call that a success!  And though the sew-along is over, all of the info is still up for anyone who’d like to give it a try!

6. Watercolor Dress (and tips for painting fabric)
Ahhh, this is probably one of my favorite makes from this year.  This was inspired by the “Kid Art” theme from the Summer 2014 Kids Clothes Week and it was a collaboration with my daughter, which is probably why it means so much to me.  She painted the fabric and I sewed it into a dress using my own Fluttering Fields Dress tutorial.  I know that she’s incredibly proud that she painted the fabric herself and it’s a pretty unique thing for preschooler to be able to say (at least in a way that both the kid AND parent is proud of)!  She still wears this dress every chance she gets, which we’ve reserved mostly for more special occasions (not school) to make the dress last longer.  I think it may have faded a little with all the washings, but overall, it’s held up wonderfully.  Check out the post for tips on painting fabric, especially if you’re involving your little one.

7. Cosi Swimsuits for Two
I made swimsuits!  I don’t know about you, but to me, that felt like an accomplishment in itself.  And I discovered that it was really not as scary as I thought it was going to be.  I splurged on some awesome fabric from Britex which I think really makes these swimsuits stand out.  Yuki loved hers, but grew out of it so quickly.  I guess it’s time to make more!

8. Alder Shirtdress for All the Seasons
I did quite a bit of sewing for myself this year, but this is definitely my favorite.  I love the fabric and the easy fit and how clean looking it came out.  And of course, how easy it is to style for every season.  This is one of those things that people can’t believe that I made.  I love it and maybe I’ll make myself another this year, now that I have all the pattern pieces cut out and ready to go.

9. Totoro Costume Tutorial
I feel like this post has been in the works for years.  Ever since I posted about my original Totoro costume, I’ve been getting so much feedback about selling the costume or making a pattern for it, which I considered for awhile.  But I never learned how to make a pattern to sell, and I have no interest in making this costume over and over again for others, so I decided to just put out a free tutorial.  And hopefully people will be able to use it to make a costume for themselves!  And I always love seeing people’s creations from tutorials I’ve posted, so if you make one, please share it with me by loading it in the flickr pool, emailing me or through the Facebook page!

10. Nightmare Moon Costume
Another Halloween costume – I just love making these!  This one was so gratifying because it was a real challenge, taking a cartoon character and turning it into a costume for my daughter, but I love the way it came out.  Yuki rocks this villian’s look, no?  I also liked dabbling with stuff I don’t normally work with like craft foam and glitter spray and tulle.

And that’s it!  And readers favorites?  Here are the top 5 most viewed posts from 2014:

5. Frozen’s Elsa Inspired Dress

4. Adding Ruffle Sleeves Tutorial

3. Totoro Costume Tutorial

2. Fluttering Fields Sundress Tutorial

And the number 1 post from 2014 is . . .

1. Folding Floor Cushion Tutorial

Woohoo!  Thanks for visiting my blog and making 2014 such a fun one for you & mie!

Last year I made some goals for 2014 and honestly, I think I may have only accomplished about half.  But I’ve come to a realization recently about me and my blog that makes me feel ok about what I have and haven’t done this past year.  I’m going to be writing a separate post about my thoughts for 2015 though, so until then, let’s bid farewell to a great year and welcome an even more awesome new one!

What do you think 2015 has in store for you?