If you’ve been wondering what ever happened to this or that thing I made this past year, like did I really wear it or did I come to my senses, well, here are all the answers. In the form of photo collages, arranged by month, with a brief discussion of where each garment is now. Thrift shop? Thrown out the window? Currently on my body? Read on.
No links included, but each of these garments has a post of its own. If you like, you can search them out by month by going to the end of any post and clicking on the month listed there in the archive.
Shirt: I love it, I wear it a lot, I’ve noticed, though, after wearing it many times, it is a little narrow in the shoulders.
Hat: lost it
Kid’s Coat: I love it, he wears it all the time. The sleeves looked a little long in January, but I figured I’ve never had a kid before, what do I know, maybe he will grow into them. This November when he started wearing it again I could see that the sleeves are just plain too long and it’s not a matter of growing in, so I removed the cuffs.
The 70’s Carefree Swirler Skirt: made that for a friend, she has it now, I try not to be a Needy Seamstress so I haven’t bothered her about it since.
(It’s totally cool with me if things I make turn out to be not quite a person’s style, or fun but too crazy for real life, and I try to make receiving a garment from me a low pressure, no strings attached experience, and make it clear that the receiver can thrift or give away anything I make and I won’t be upset. I even feel bad writing this here, like it’s too much pressure.)
Pants: kid wears them all the time, they are beautifully faded now, and he doesn’t need to roll the cuffs anymore.
Dog costume: It was too big! Maybe the dog wears it anyway, but again, I aim to not be That Needy Seamstress so I don’t know.
Striped skirt: not my favorite. The stiff fabric and large shape makes me feel a little like a sailboat when I wear this thing. I’m kind of keeping it around to see if I will like it more later.
Three shirts: the one I’m wearing in the picture is in constant rotation, to my surprise. I wasn’t that crazy about it when I made it. The brown cashmere one in the center got washed on hot and shrank. That made it an ok fit for my kid, until I shrank it again, and then I sent it to a friend with a younger kid, but I think it was too small even for her. The long sleeve striped one went to the thrift after a couple wears.
Yellow slip: wore this a lot in the summer and fall, with a T shirt over top.
Giraffe shirt: this one is slowly edging its way toward the give-away pile. The color does something to my face. I can’t tell if it’s good or bad, so I assume it’s bad.
Knit hat: a friend made this for me. I haven’t worn it much because I need my hats to have a brim to keep the sun out of my eyes. I should have realized that before I had her make this, but I was just so curious about how the pattern would turn out. *edit* lately I’ve been going out in the cold, after dark, much more often than usual, and therefore have been wearing this hat a ton.
Tie front blouse: that’s my sister wearing that, I made it for her and she says she sometimes wakes up and calculates how recently she wore it and whether she can wear it again yet. Probably the biggest success of the year.
I heart NYC shirt: I wore this thing so much it fell apart and I cut it into cleaning rags.
Green top with birds: this one I also made for my sister, it gets less wear than the tie front, but it’s cool, it’s kind of a weird one.
KISS shirt: the boy wears it, it gets compliments. This is one of seven T-shirts made from larger adult size T-shirts. One of them got stained with ice cream and one of them got accidentally cut during a craft project, but I patched it so it’s still in rotation.
Green and white shift dress: a big fave.
Blue double layer gauze halter: I wear this as a layering thing over T-shirts, it’s pretty good but I have to remind myself to wear it.
Blue gauze shirt: I wear this constantly and love it. I had been worried that it would fall apart since it’s a single layer of cotton gauze, but it is hanging right in there without any of the special laundering treatment I thought it would need.
Green hat: straight to the thrift shop donation bag
Black hat: same as above.
Blue gingham dress: made that for my sister, I bet it’s one of those things that makes her happy to see hanging in the closet, but is a little to crazy looking for constant use.
Black short pants: I thought I was going to hate these, but actually wear them a lot. The canvas has softened up so that it is now downright comfortable. I’ve been wearing these with tall socks this winter.
Shorts: the boy wears these shorts all the time. I actually have to tell him not to sometimes.
Pink dress: mailed that off to a friend.
Red and purple dress: this is one of those dresses that makes me happy to see hanging in my closet, but that I never wear. I’ve worn it once since July.
Bathing suit: the halter hurts the back of my neck! I may need to make a new suit in 2017 to replace this one.
Green skirt: good, fine, not terribly exciting. I wear it, I’m still not sure if I look good in it, but it is cool in hot weather.
Pants: love these.
White undies: love these.
Other undies: officially the worst thing I made this year. Straight to the donations bag.
Blue dot pants: love these, but definitely can’t wear them when I want to be invisible.
Pink dress: so comfy and great. Too bad I didn’t have just a tiny bit more yardage to make this though, it is borderline too short.
Sushi costume: the kid wears these pants regularly now, and he had a pretty major time on Halloween. The sushi pillow is on the couch now.
Sleep bras: are super.
Pajama pants: also super.
Gold skirt: love this, but haven’t worn it yet. We all got sick and missed a big chunk of the holiday parties. Which is fine, there are eleven other months just crying out for gold circle skirts.
Orange pants: best pants of the year. These required the least fitting from the pattern (a Vogue pattern from 2000), and are really comfortable. I wear them constantly. I’ve even napped in them. Somehow the blog post about them got scrambled around and now appears in December, but they are really from November.
Brown shirt: love it, wear it all the time. And not just because I don’t seem to have any other long sleeve knit tops right now. It washes up really well, I’m pleased about that. You never know with these mystery knits.
Plaid skirt: this is fun, and warm. I had to add extra swing tacks at the side fronts to keep the lining from riding up. That’s a real problem when you’ve got a lace window.
Wrap around top: this looks like lazy time wear, and it is. And as such, I’ve been wearing it a bunch.
Tent dress: haven’t worn this yet, probably going to remain unworn until warmer days.
Pink bias skirt: made that for my sister and just gave it to her the other day.
That’s 2016. I might make a few more things this year? Or might not. I’ve reached that point in the holiday season where I’m totally over myself though, so maybe some things for other people!
Off to go check out other people’s year round up posts now, really enjoying those.
Later, friends!
Fun! I may have to steal this version of an annual roundup when I do my end of year post…I don’t feel like I’ve done a lot of sewing since the SWAP ended in April, but I probably have. A round up will help me see if anything needs to get out of my wardrobe and be worn, or leave home. Thanks!
PS You need to wear that pink/purple beauty. TODAY.
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Please, steal away, I’d love to see your round up. And thanks for the directive to wear the pink/purple. You’re right, I need to just wear it. Maybe even today, there’s a vague plan to walk down to the bar for champagne and French fries…
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Now that bar plan sounds ace! And the dress is just the thing for swanning around feeling glam in heels. Or stomping around in Docs giving mixed messages lol
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Interesting post, I really enjoy hearing about what actually happens with things after they are made.
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Me too! I like watching the Me Made May instagram challenge for that reason too, to see people combine and wear the things they’ve made in a real life setting, and to see how things I might remember a post about have held up. I’ve never participated in MMM because the phrase Me Made puts me off, but maybe this is the year that I’ll relax and get over that.
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I did Me Made May this but didn’t put it on social media – I just took a photo of what I wore each day for the month and looked at them all at the end. For me it was a good way of looking at what I actually chose to wear each day, what I really like and I what I don’t.
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so many gorgeous makes….. I always liked that red purple dress, hope it gets to go out soon! and still adore the gold skirt and not surprised the tablecloth dress is a fave, you really made a great mix of stuff. pity the fabric in the strip skirt with big pin is stiff, funny how somethings can look so right but then when they are not comfortable to wear…thats the other story………….
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True, gotta be comfortable. With in reason. I mean, no sweat pants please. Hahaha.
Glad you like the mix of stuff, I’m intruiged to see that when viewed all together, most of this doesn’t even look vintage. I’d say the blue gingham and the table cloth dress are visibly vintage shapes, but the rest of the stuff could pass as modern, I think.
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Agree with others above me that you have *got* to wear that red and purple dress, because it is so beautiful. Too beautiful to be limited to Closet Art, IMO. =)
I really like the way you did this post! I think it’s a really effective way to do a post-mortem on what you’ve made in a year and how it all works in practice; it seems to suit your level of productivity well, too!
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Thanks!
It was fun to break down by month and see if any kind of theme arose. Some months seem to be playing within a similar color scheme, which may have been just the mood I was in or may have just been me not wanting to change the overlock machine.
Also interesting to see the months where I made like two things, versus the months where I made a bunch, and try to remember what was going on then. I do feel like it was a productive year, now that I’ve made these collages and can see it all.
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Thank you for taking the time to do a roundup! I love hearing if you love/wear the things you make. Such a gamble in sewing sometimes! :)
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It really is. And happily, sometimes things surprise.
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Are. You. Mad? That striped skirt paired with a white silk blouse is screaming take me to dinner!! I also have a kilt pin fetish – I was a midwife so perhaps it was caused by a nappy pin! Yes, this is an excellent roundup – my fave end of year thingy so far.
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Your fave, well yay! I made a whole stack of those silver safety pin appliqués one day to use up some vinyl scraps. So hopefully one or two will appear on a more satisfying to me garment in the future.
So neat that you were a midwife, midwives are great, I adored mine.
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Nawwww, some midwives are awesome, some are not! Xx
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Amazing post which I loved reading, thank you. It’s so good to know what’s happens after and that it’s not just me that makes them and decides that they are jus not right. Thank you and happy Christmas
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Definitely not just you! Happy Christmas to you too.
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You’ve had a very successful year! But oh that purple red wrap dress – it must be worn! Have a great Christmas! Look forward to your projects in 2017!
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I wore it! Layered over a black turtleneck and leggings for warmth, which gave it a whole new, slightly super hero vibe. Thanks for the encouragement!
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