Year in Review, 2015

Holy cow! Where has this last year gone? Is it me or does it seem like time goes by waaaaay to fast? Before the year is completely gone, I thought it would be good to take a few moments and reflect on the year.

Last January, I posted about my New Years' resolutions for blogging, sewing, and life. (You can read the post here.) So how did I do? Well, to be honest I think I'd give myself a B+ (but I get an A for effort! ;) ) Did I resist the "need" to buy more fabric? Psst!! No, of course not. That would have been crazy! However, I found that when I did buy fabric I was more selective and thoughtful about my purchases. Most of what I bought will go towards Made by Me items for my Etsy shop (I found some really nice vintage and reproduction cotton prints) or very specific projects that I know I will get a lot of use out of. And to be fair, I did use a lot of stuff from my stash this year and sewed some practical vintage mix and match items. My favorite projects from 2015 - my Dorr Mill Hoodie, 40s Yellow Crepe Suit, and this outfit - were made entirely from stash supplies. My 1920s plaid cotton dress and three turban/dusting caps were also all made from stash fabric. Go me!

Confession, I did splurge on silk fabric for my 1920s White Lightening Dress, (which completed resolution #3 of sewing something amazing) and because etsy sales were good this fall I bought some AH-MAZ-ING silk for two 18th century gowns. Fear not, there will be blog posts a-plenty on those projects!

Here is a quick run down on things I sewed for myself this year. Not all of my projects have been blogged about but I do hope to share them in the New Year!

2015 sewing projects

Historical Sewing

• New 18th century "Spring" cap, I also have a "Phyllis Wheatley" about 75% complete
• Crewel embroidered stomacher that I had been working on for ages

Vintage Sewing

• 1920s Dress for Lawn Party - McCall 5632
• 1920s White Lighting Dress - Vogue 9010

• Be My Valentine Blouse - mail order # 2588
• Dorr Mill Hoddie - Simplicity 2823
• Spring for Cotton blouse - Simplicity 1782
• 4 cotton blouses using Du Barry 5172 - here you can see my red/white striped version
• Blue linen skirt using Du Barry 5296. Seen here.
• Du Barry 5371 -  the Yellow Crepe Suit
• Bombay Monkey dress - Hollywood 1413
• Red corduroy jerkin  - Du Barry 5172 (still needs a post)
• 1940s Red/white stripe pinafore - McCall 5014
• 3 vintage style Dusting Caps/Turbans (You can see my orange cotton one in this post)
• 2 circle skirts for Christmas 

Vogue 9010

Be My Valentine Blouse

Dorr Mill Hoddie

Pheww! And those are just the projects I finished for myself!! I'm still working on a 30s blouse using McCall 7371, and a wool cape with Du Barry 6002. I participated in Spring for Cotton as well as Sew Retro Rose's Decades of Style 1930s Cape sew a-long but didn't finish my cape because I didn't like how it was turning out. And all most all of my projects count for the Vintage Pattern Sewing Pledge!

I had the opportunity to participate in some awesome Greater Boston Vintage Society events this year, including the White Lighting Ball, 1920s Beach and Lawn Parties, and the 1950s Winter Formal.

Three great WWII event this year were of course the air show at the Mid Atlantic Air Museum, the D-Day event at Cunneaut, Ohio, and the Battle for the Air Field, at the Collins Foundation. I do have pictures from the last two events but have not posted about them. We also managed to squeeze in a couple 18th century events included this one at Crown Point.

 Highlights

There are many fun and excited highlights of 2015 as well! In June I was selected as a Runner Up for the Vintage Life Miss June contest. That same month I had, hands down the most fun EVER with this photo shoot with my friend Neal. I am working on contacting some other pilots for a similar shoot at Reading this coming year. During the summer I received this darling hostess dress from a dear reader. I organized TWO vintage photo contests this year and was interviewed by Jessica of Chronically Vintage! You can read the whole interview here.

Some highlights from 2015

So! What can you look forward to seeing on my blog in the New Year? Lots of things!! I am always looking for new blogging ideas so if you have any please let me know! Here are just a few things I will be working on.

• New Behind the Seams posts, including some more 1920s dresses and a gown from the 1890s.
• Tutorials, book and pattern reviews.
• Vintage around my house
• New items on Etsy, including a small selection of Made by Me items. 
• Interviews! 
• A new vintage photo contest (Most likely summer attire and/or formal wear!)
• A special Christmas Sew A-long with Gina of Beauty from the Ashes. We still need to work out all the details but it's going to be awesome! :)

That's all for now. As always, please feel free to leave a comment or drop me a message through email or Facebook! I love hearing from my readers. :) What projects will you be working on next year?

Two more gorgeous 1920s dresses I will be documenting in up coming Behind the Seams posts next year.

A look at some of the items I have been working on for my Etsy shop. These WILL be ready to list in the New Year! I promise!! :)