I love reading other people’s year reviews and sewing plans. Given that I started this blog in September, a full 2015 review would be too much but I want to take the opportunity to reflect on my sewing progress.

Overall I had a very productive sewing year with a lot of firsts: jeans making, quilting, bra making (yet to be blogged) and men’s wear. The biggest lesson was that nothing is really scary and can be achieved with patience and good research.

I am also really happy to have joined the online sewing world with this blog and Instagram after years of only “consuming”. I started this blog on a whim, without a concrete vision or goal but it’s been great so far. I haven’t had the time to be very active online (with little free time sewing always wins over blogging/networking/commenting) but I am not really bothered about it. As long as I have my little corner to document my sewing projects I am happy. Surprisingly I am really enjoying the writing part of blogging and writing a blog post is always fun and never a chore. I really hope it stays that way.

For 2016 my main goal is to consciously set aside time for sewing. With my desk-based and often rather stressful job sewing is the best activity to help me unwind and recharge.

It’s the first time that I write down my sewing plans (normally I make random sketches and lists in my note book) and at first I thought that the list would be super short. But when I started to write the projects down I realised that my head is full of ideas for the next year. Here my sewing plans for 2016:

Dressy trousers: Now that I have the perfect jeans pattern (the Gingers) I want to work on a trousers pattern for my work wardrobe. This is really a gap in my wardrobe. I have made a pair of dressy trousers before but I am not really in love with it. I wear trousers most of the time and just can’t find any that fit in the shops (either they are too short or I am in between sizes). It will thus be worth spending some time on the fit to develop a perfect trousers pattern. As a starting point I will use these Burda Slim Fit Trousers.

Linen biker jacket: I have a lovely cream herringbone linen in my stash which would be perfect for a light summer jacket. I love cropped biker style jackets and after making one in black denim two years ago I want to make another one in a lighter colour. For the pattern I would like to try out the jacket on the cover of the May 2015 Patrones magazine (sadly I can’t find a technical drawing online). A friend brought me back the magazine from Spain and I was amazed by how many great patterns were in this one issue. I have never made anything from that magazine before and the instructions are very short (similar to the BurdaStyle patterns). I am not too worried though as I have made a similar jacket before and I am sure I will be able to put the pieces together in a logical order. For contrast I would love to add a colourful lining.

Fancy summer dress: This year I am attending at least two summer weddings and it’s time to sew a new dress. I don’t wear a lot of dresses in my daily life and am always happy when I have an occasion to sew one. Both weddings will probably be rather casual so I’m aiming for something pretty but laid back. My favourite idea so far is to pair the Named Inari Dress with some Nani Iro fabric. If this combination sounds familiar, I totally stole this idea from Ingrid, I loved her dress so much!

Sleeveless shirt: When I started working I was in desperate need of blouses and tops to wear for work. I have made several tops that I really like but one thing I realised was that tops with short sleeves just don’t work under blazers and cardigans. I hate that they bunch up at the neckline and that every time I go to the bathroom I have to make sure they sit properly. The solution? Sleeveless shirts. I bought a Liberty lawn at Shaukat (it doesn’t seem to be available online) when I was in London a couple of months ago without a specific project in mind. After contemplating for a while what to do with it I suddenly realised that the fabric and a sleeveless shirt would be a perfect match (at least in my head). For the pattern I have already traced a ready-to-wear shirt, quite similar to the Vogue 8772 pattern shown below.

Swim suit / bikini: For the first time in ages I have booked a beach vacation. I can’t wait for the two weeks in Southern France this summer! This also means that I finally have a good reason to sew swim wear (not a priority in the British summer), which I have never done before. I am contemplating to try the Cloth Habit Watson Bikini, the Lily Sage & Co Splash Swimsuit or the Reno Bikini Top from Seamwork Magazine.

Winter coat: I originally wanted to make a coat this winter but I didn’t find the time nor the right fabric. I would like to make a wool coat with a simple silhouette; something like the Sézane coat below (I don’t think it is available online anymore). I will keep my eyes open for the right fabric and I will probably use a BurdaEasy pattern. Hopefully I can start the project in fall to get excited about winter. For now I don’t mind moving the project to the end of my sewing queue.

That’s all of my concrete sewing plans for 2016. I am sure that I will do a lot of spontaneous sewing on top of that. It will be interesting to see how many of these projects I will actually sew up.

I hope you all have a creative year 2016!