0 Top 5 time!

It's getting to be that time of year where everyone looks back and reflects on the year that's been.
And being the bandwagon-jumper that I am, of course I'm getting in on Gillian's top 5! I did it last year as well, though I think I have more projects to choose from this year (yay!).

So let's start with the top 5 misses (get the bad taste out of the way first, right?)


Fail number 1: Knowing what suits me

 http://making-itwell.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/a-failure-of-style.html

From the start of the year, this one was a case of choosing a style I liked on paper but not in real life. I am a sucker for a cutesy woodland aesthetic but I didn't think it suited me when I finished it, and I still don't. Oh well, I gave it to a friend who it looks great on! So this fail is now a win, haha.


Fail number 2: Case of the crazies

http://making-itwell.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/completed-sewaholic-hollyburn-and-bonus.html

This one was a total body-image fail, because I stewed my brain obsessing about sizing of the waistband. I find sewing forces me to confront my body measurements and it's not pleasant. I've put on weight since I got well, and it's not always easy to feel good about. I know it's stupid to obsess about sizing and it's something I hope to have less fails on in the future.
Another fail about this garment was the million mistakes and how frustrated I was while making it. The result was wearable, so at least that's a relief. Here's to better sewing mental health in 2014...

Fail number 3: Overcooked

http://making-itwell.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/completed-new-look-6808-teal-mod-thingy.html

This was sort of a personal challenge. I dipped my toes into drafting and adding my own design elements with this project, and also worked with this particular fabric as a matchy challenge. I don't really like the end result though. It's not my favourite colour, and I can't see it as anything but an overcooked mess! Heh.

Fail number 4: Big fat waste of time

http://making-itwell.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/completed-anna-dress.html

My Anna dress wasn't a fail, but the dress I originally intended to make with the purple linen was a terrible muslining decision and a total waste of my time.
The vintage pattern came in just one size, one size bigger than me. I thought it would just require a few tweaks, but it was huge! Damn that excess ease! A smart move would have been to measure the pattern instead of ploughing in blindly.
Ugh, I hate thinking of all the time I've spent on terrible muslins. Next year, please tell me I will master fitting and stop spending so much time on boring muslins!

My fifth fail is on the same note.
Fail number 5: Muslinitis
I have spent SO much time this year making muslins, and since I have no idea what I'm doing, I often can't even resolve my fitting issues, which is insanely frustrating and I feel really stupid for it.
I end up making multiple muslins sometimes and feel like I'm totally in the dark on the smart way to proceed.
I have several garments this year that have never made it past muslin stage because I don't know how to fix them.
I have to stop looking back on all my muslins and beating myself up for my perceived failures I guess. But I'll never give up the muslin because a bad fit is far more intolerable to me...
So what's the solution to this fail? I'm not sure yet but I'll keep trying. I never give up!

Most of my fails here are for different reasons, but on a similar theme, in that I tend to drive myself crazy. My husband has questioned me a few times saying, "You don't seem to enjoy your hobby". Well, I do enjoy it, but admittedly it holds plenty of frustration sometimes... I think I said it last year, but I hope to get in my own way a lot less in the next year. I've improved, but there's still a long way to go!

Okay, enough fails and introspection. Here are my hits.
Hit number 1:

http://making-itwell.blogspot.co.nz/2013/09/completed-new-look-6799.html

You can see me pointing out in the photo why this is a win. Well, it's a fail/win hybrid really. I cut a tiny hole in the waistband while trimming seam allowances (the fail bit). But the win is that I minimised my freak-out and fixed it by making belt loops to hide it. I'm still looking for the perfect skinny belt for it!

Hit number 2:

http://making-itwell.blogspot.co.nz/2013/11/completed-mccalls-5974-perfect-knit.html

This is just a win for taking a commercial pattern, and derailing its built-in failure. If I'd made it to the pattern directions, it would have been WAY too big. Its construction methods were stupid too. I'm happy to say I've learned enough to ignore some of the dumb stuff pattern companies tell us to do. Oh yeah, and also knit dresses are a win for being super comfy and easy to fit. Yay!

Hit number 3:

http://making-itwell.blogspot.co.nz/2013/09/completed-knitting-project-corazon.html

This was a fun knitting project, because me and Lauren from Lladybird decided to continue our tradition of being knitting twins and both knit something in green! (You can see her awesome knit here.)
I really liked the colour which isn't a staple of my palette but perhaps should be! This was my most expensive knitting project this year, so hopefully I wear it for years, heh.




Hit number 4:

http://making-itwell.blogspot.co.nz/2013/08/completed-extreme-renfrew-mod.html

This one was on the many mods I made to the Sewaholic Renfrew pattern this year. I had a bit of fun playing with pattern modification, and this was my most extreme!
The list I put together of all the mods myself and other people have made to this pattern can be found here- it just keeps growing!:
 http://making-itwell.blogspot.co.nz/2013/09/the-big-list-of-renfrew-mods.html

Hit number 5:

http://making-itwell.blogspot.co.nz/2013/06/completed-agatha-cardigan.html

Another knit. This year I've enjoyed knitting more than sewing, as I struggle with it less. I still keep pushing through with my sewing though... I love the colour of this yarn, and the rib and lace patterning on this design is so beautiful!

I chose these 5 wins hoping to have some diverse reasons, but then I realised 3 of them are cropped designs, and 2 of them are dresses. Two things I'm an absolute sucker for. Well, I likes what I likes. Haha!

So those are my top wins and fails of the year... looking back, it's been a year of crafty ups and downs. Here's hoping next year comes with more even more wins (and let's face it, there will definitely be fails, but that's life eh?).