Reminiscing...

It's funny how time goes by so much faster as you get older.  I can't hardly believe that a whole year has flown by.  The year started for me on a sad note- my Mother passed away on January 4, 2014. She was a huge part of my life, and is missed everyday.  She is the person who taught me how to sew, as well as most of the other valuable lessons that I've learned about life.   Doing well in school is one thing, but life demands more than what you can learn in school, and that I learned from my parents.

So, in regards to sewing, and this blog, my year started off slowly.  I had actually still been sewing, and dedicated an entire group of items to my Mom, but wasn't up to reviewing them for the most part.  Here is what they looked like altogether:

It's actually a beautiful group of garments, with turquoise as the glue that holds them all together. 

Turquoise was her favorite color, as it is mine, so I will always think of her when I wear these things.

My next sewing inspiration didn't happen until my family went on a vacation to Italy in June.  I became obsessed with two goals:  1. Making a travel wardrobe for 2-1/2 weeks abroad that would fit inside a backpack.  2.   Making things that would be extremely lightweight so that backpack wouldn't be too heavy to lug around Italy.    I created several featherweight travel dresses, a secure money/credit card holder, and started to get my sewing mojo back.

Then, after Italy, I found myself a few pounds thinner than I had been!  Big surprise, considering that I had eaten myself silly while on vacation.  But having a little slimmer silhouette, motivated me to enter the Patternreview.com Mini-Wardrobe contest and make myself some new clothes.

 And, I won!  I was really surprised, and quite honored to be recognized by my peers.



Then, when I saw that Fabricmart was having a sewing challenge in the Fall, I decided to throw my hat in the ring.  I learned so much from doing these challenges.

I made a t-shirt out of recycled silk saris; I made a well fitting dress; I copied a RTW top exactly; I sewed with velvet on the bias for a red dress; and I dyed my own fabric for the first time.  It really propelled my sewing to the next level, making me think outside the box. 

Although I didn't win the challenge, I did become a Fabricmart Fabricista, and was challenged to come up with a new project to blog about using their fabrics each month.  I'm definitely getting mileage from my Orange Crush and Pajama Party favorites.

In November, I created a mini-wardrobe for my daughter who needed some professional looking clothes for her engineering job.  This was a lot of fun for me, and she is enjoying wearing as well.

There are a few sewing activities that are extremely important to me, but that I don't blog about. I lead an after school club for 5th graders at a local grade school, and another sewing 4-H club for the county extension service.  I am extremely proud of the children in my club who have shown such enthusiasm for sewing, and am excited to see them grow.

I also have taught a small number of adults this year, who I have really enjoyed getting to know, and sharing my love of sewing with them.  I think that of all the sewing related things that I do, these would be the things that would make my Mom the happiest to know about. 


What a year!  Each year brings new experiences and challenges, and 2014 was packed for me.  I'm looking forward to 2015, and wishing you all a very happy 2015!


-Ann