At the end of last year, I decided to write a round-up of my sewing projects each month.
I am starting this year with quite a few new sewing projects, but also a resolution to finish the ones I started in 2019 and never completed: the works in progress...
I have quite a few of those lying around, so I got to work.
New sewing projects
There are quite a few at the start of this year.
First, I was lucky enough to test the new pattern from the young brand La Petite Frambise. I am truly honoured that Karolina selected my application to test her lovely blouse, called Vanille.
If you would like to read the full article about this pretty, romantic blouse, click here.
You know how much I love making sweatshirts, and as I had enough of that wonderful white jersey with blue flowers from Lulu la luciole left to make sleeves... and, wonder of wonders, I found a white jersey remnant in the sale at Stragier... enough to make a front and a back... Well, that was all I needed.
I eventually found blue ribbing at Veritas after a long, desperate search for a shade that matched the flowers... I visited quite a few shops... and here it is, finished.
It is the Lana design by La Maison Victor, which I adapted.
Then,
- since I was on a roll with jersey
- since, while looking for the sweatshirt's blue ribbing, I had fallen for a floral jersey
- and since a friend had asked me to make her a jersey dress with a wrap effect
I had to test it for myself first... perfectly normal, right?
So I made the Lucette dress from Coudre le Stretch by Marie Poisson. This book has become my bible for sewing stretch fabrics (jersey, Lycra...). It is exceptionally well put together: comprehensive, enjoyable to read and instructive... I can only recommend it.
I think I will write a full article about the book, because it is so good!
I also made the lovely Cosette blouse, with its strong fifties feel, by Lots of things. As I have written a full article about this free pattern, I invite you to read all the details here.
My fifth project, a quick make, was a set of napkins to match my festive placemats.
My holiday project had been to turn larger scraps into pretty placemats. As I still had a little fabric left, I made napkins too.
They measure about 40 cm by 40 cm and are all lined. Rather stylish, aren't they?
Napkins
Placemats
I also made a new-baby gift for a little girl who will soon be arriving. I cannot wait to meet her. I will not show you the photos just yet, so as not to spoil the surprise.
Finally, my last big project was my Burda style dress for the competition organised by Burda for the créativa show. Follow the link to the full article here.
Works in progress, now finished
In my article about my 2020 resolutions, you read that my second resolution was to finish projects, and discovered with horror that I had 17 projects to complete during 2020... an average of 1.5 projects to finish each month. I rolled up my sleeves and got ahead: in January, I finished not one, not two, but three waiting, long-suffering projects.
The Cédrat camisole by Maison Fauve
Cut out in blue in September 2019, it had remained in pieces on my worktop until now... until I embarked on the big tidying project and my 2020 resolutions.
I had loved sewing my copper-coloured version, and had written a full article about the design. Now the blue version is ready for summer!
I chose to make:
- one side in blue and Liberty print, to use up scraps (yes!)
- the other side in plain denim.
My husband's shirt
His white-and-burgundy striped shirt had been patiently waiting its turn. Well, it is now finished. The design comes from the book by Ryuichiro Shimazaki.
My reusable make-up remover pads
This was one of my projects waiting to be finished or made. In the end, I enjoyed sewing and using them so much that I made another 7, enough to last two weeks.
It may only be a small thing, but I am pleased to stop wasting disposable cotton pads. Besides, my reusable pads look much more stylish.
Another source of pride: I used scraps to make them, so that is two small scraps I no longer have to store and organise.
These were cut in December 2019 and sewn in January 2020
And because I could not stop there, these were made in January 2020
All that remained was to make them a little storage basket in February 😉 More on that soon!
