Saturday, January 3, 2015

Top 5 Finale: Reflecting on the Past & Dreaming of the Future


  • Top 5 Reflections: Looking back, what have you learned about sewing or yourself? (We often focus narrowly on each project, so this is a chance to step back and appreciate the whole picture.)
  • Top 5 Goals: What do you hope to achieve in 2015? (General or specific, what are you looking forward to trying?)
Ooh it's my last Top 5 post, you can see the rest here and here. I'm so excited about these! There are way more than five and some of these are going to be personal, just because I want a record of my thoughts.

Reflections: The Sewing
Living out of a suitcase this summer was very revelatory for me. Here's what I learned:

  • I need to stick to my Plain Bottoms-Printed Tops rule. The shorts and pants I reached for again and again were the plain ones and while I love my red floral shorts I never knew what shirt to wear them with.
  • After dabbling with Wardrobe Architect and Into Mind I've got a better handle on my likes and dislikes. I've got a core color palette; red, brown, turquoise, floral, polka dot with ivory and navy as my neutrals and gold as my metallic. I wear long and flowy or a classic 50s silhouette of fitted top/defined waist/poofy skirt. Above all it must be comfortable and something I can put on and not have to think of again.
  • I like my TNT patterns. Several of my favorite things were made from them. 
  • I like seeing what I have but I get overwhelmed and frozen when I have too many options.
  • I like making multiples of the same pattern at the same time but I don't like having too many different projects going at once. It stresses me out. 
  • I LOVE PRINTS! Especially watercolorish floral ones... 
Reflections: The Personal
  • I need quality time with people.
  • Sometimes I overstimulate myself with Pinterest and blogs... I spend too much time looking at all the things and never getting anything done.

So after all that navel gazing what are my goals or probably more accurately my dreams for 2015? 
Goals: Sewing
  • Make underpants! I've got some Christmas money earmarked for some of Measure Twice Cut Once goodies. Completed in January
  • Make some quilts! I've been so inspired by Red Pepper Quilts. I'd really like to make one or two quilts and start my Double Wedding Ring quilt. (I think I say this every year)
  • Make a capsule wardrobe I'm happy to pack and wear. Which means more trouser sewing..
  • Sew the patterns I have. I invested in one of the Pattern Parcels and have some killer vintage patterns I've found. I'm starting to be overwhelmed by all the choices I have and want to use my resources wisely. 
  • Set aside time to sew everyday even if it's just 30 minutes
Goals: Business 
  • Teach sewing classes and private lessons
  • Become a better jewelry maker
  • Try new product ideas
  • Find good ways to promote my business endeavors 
Goals: Personal
  • Review & study my Korean lessons
  • Learn more cool stuff
  • Have an AMAZING summer working at camp again

2015, The year of British and American Pants! 

4 comments:

Scruffybadgertime said...

Happy New year! It's going to be a year of lots of learning by the looks of it. some familiar things in your review and goals! So easy to fall into Bloglovin and Pinterest time warps!! Enjoy the year of the pant :-)

EmSewCrazy said...

Happy New Year to you, Winnie!
I think a lot of us have the same goals this year. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out!

Becky W said...

Looks like some great goals here! And the comment about "British/American pants" made me laugh.

EmSewCrazy said...

Thanks Becky! I'm excited about them. When I finished writing everything that's what stuck out to me, the pants discussion always amuses me. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought it was funny!