2020 in review (and 8 year blog anniversary)

Well! That was a strange year. I'm just here to talk about what I sewed, but oh my goodness what an odd time. 

I moved out of my parents house last November, so my first full year of Being a Proper Grownup did not go how I expected at all. But I think I am a braver and more capable grownup now.

I hope you're all safe and well! I'm lucky to live in a place with a low population density that nobody wants to travel to, so our numbers are relatively low and I'm doing ok. 

Ok, here's all the stuff I made in 2020.

A pair of green wool 1730's breeches. At last, my 1730's suit is complete! 

I got some photos of it a while ago but haven't posted them here on the blog yet because I also filmed a getting dressed video, which I'm not done editing, and I want to put the photos in the same post as that video.

I think the breeches turned out quite nice, though I really wish I'd been able to find a wool closer in weight to the coat fabric.

A brown & gold brocade waistcoat. I think it turned out very nice, and I love the fabric! Still a bit annoyed by the wrinkled shoulder.

A plain black waistcoat with a patchwork lining. I like it and am glad to have a plain black waistcoat, but am still a bit annoyed by the wrinkling. 

This was the project that finally made me notice that my shoulders aren't quite symmetrical, so on my next collared waistcoat I will pad the smaller shoulder with a bit of batting, which should hopefully even things out and stop the wrinkles.

A pair of very bright orange late 18th century breeches.

I did not expect to like these very much, but it turns out I love them! I was just looking to do something that would hold my attention when I was feeling crappy and unmotivated this spring, and a hand sewn pair of breeches in this really nice quality bright orange silk I had seemed interesting enough, which they were. 

I finished them pretty quickly and found that they go very well with my black & white coat. A good October suit.

A navy blue & light grey striped shirt. Awful :( So itchy. 

Nothing wrong with the cut or construction of this one, but I used the fabric against my better judgement and hoped it would soften up with washing. It did not, and I have stopped wearing it. Not sure what I should do with the shirt, perhaps pick it apart and use the fabric for something else?

It looks very nice, such a shame it's so uncomfortable.

A semi-sheer seaweed printed shirt. Pretty good for hot weather. I do find there to be a bit of a rough sythetic-y feel to the fabric, especially when it gets sweaty, but all in all it's decently comfortable and I'm happy with it.

A black cotton shirt with silver print. Also decently comfortable, and I wear it often, but it's not as nice as my linen ones. I find that the 18th century style of shirt cuff just doesn't work as well with cotton, at least not ones like this that are fairly stiff and have no stretch.

I think the lesson here is that I should stick to linen for shirts, and also that it's ok to make overlapping cuffs that button normally on everyday shirts that aren't trying to be historically accurate.

Black suede gloves, which I had started and then set aside for almost a year. Better than my first pair! A tad stiffer than glove leather ought to be, perhaps, but I think they turned out very nice and I wear them regularly.

Blue & black breeches. Had a bit of trouble with the knees, but they turned out good in the end and I like them.

I haven't blogged these last few things, oops. I'll update this post with links as I do.

I made a blue flannel nightgown from a pattern I drafted based on one of the probably Edwardian ones I examined in my last post. I haven't posted this one yet because I cut out 3 nightgowns from the same fabric, and want to put all 3 in one blog post once they're all sewn up.

Edit: done!

I altered a secondhand pair of shoes to be tolerably 1730's appropriate. 

I made a linen toile dressing gown with velvet cuffs & collar, as practice for the patchwork 1830's one I'm working on, and I'm glad I did! I learned some stuff about construction and what to do differently next time, and also need to tweak the pattern a bit.

I've been wearing it fairly often, and it's nice to have it as a less insulating option, because the patchwork one will be very warm.

I also made a matching cap from the linen scraps.

The last thing I made in 2020 was this pair of everyday trousers in brownish cotton.

It's not a huge amount of sewing for an entire year, but I'm trying not to feel bad about it. Overall I'm quite pleased with the things I made, with the exception of the itchy shirt.

I've been a bit behind on blogging, but will try and catch up soon. I'm still annoyed at blogger for changing their interface! It's more tedious to do things now.

In July I was invited to a weekly zoom sewing circle and it was definitely the best thing to come out of 2020 for me. It's so nice to sit around working on historical hand sewing with a few friends.

Another big thing for me this year was that I finally started making youtube videos! I am very slow and only have 3 so far, but have a 1730's getting dressed video that I'll post when I'm done editing it, and there are a lot of other projects I'd like to film.

At the end of my year in review posts I write a list of goals for the coming year, and see how I did on the previous list of goals. My list for 2020 was pretty long and ambitious, and I couldn't have predicted how the year would go. I spent a large portion of the spring and summer feeling pretty crappy and unmotivated, and didn't get a huge amount done this year even though I've had a lot of spare time. But I must be kind to myself and try not to feel bad about it.

"Work on a bit of sewing before going on the computer, especially on my days off work." I check my messages in the morning, and like to listen to music or watch videos on the computer while I hand sew, so this one doesn't seem as sensible as it did when I wrote it.

"Try to have a better sleep schedule." I've actually been doing ok on this one for the past month or so! My sleep schedule was very bad for most of the year, but recently I've been mostly getting to bed at a reasonable hour, and haven't been oversleeping.

"Try metal embroidery, even if it's just a small sample." I didn't try metal embroidery, but I did do some metallic 18th century buttonhole samples. So perhaps this goal counts as half done?

I'm excited to do metallic buttonholes on an actual garment!

"Continue to use mostly stash stuff because I still have a lot to sew through. Buying a bit of fabric is ok, but I should do it only if I have plans for it." I did fairly ok. I got a bit of material I needed to finish already started projects (like some lining and collar canvas for my patchwork dressing gown) and a few pieces of fabric I didn't need but do have plans for. And a lot of heavily discounted obi silk, because Ichiroya closed in July and it was a very rare opportunity that would be foolish to pass up.

"Buy a pocket watch, because somehow I still don't have one." I did not buy a pocket watch because money has been tight this year (and still is, I'm getting barely any hours at work) and I decided a pocket watch wasn't a super high priority after all. But then! Ollie (the person who invited me to the aforementioned weekly sewing circle) sent me a pocket watch for Christmas, and made a delightful watch fob to match my monster waistcoat!!

It's beautiful and I love it

"Make a video about death's head buttons! And hopefully other sewing videos." I did make a death's head button video! And have made two other sewing videos so far.

"Do sketches of things before sewing them." I think I did that for a couple of things, but I'm still terribly neglecting my sketchbook. I find I can picture finished projects in my head well enough that I don't need to sketch, but it's still a good habit to have. Ah well.

"On that note, keep better records of projects on paper. I write the time and materials and everything here on my blog, but I should be putting it in a binder too, with swatches." Hm, didn't do that either.

"Keep track of exactly how much fabric I buy and how much it costs - also in a book with swatches." Also did not do that. I did keep all the receipts with the intention of doing it later, but then never did.

"Make an 18th century shirt tutorial." I did! It's not one sewn up in a historically accurate fabric, but it is my best and most thorough shirt construction post ever and people have told me it's helpful!

"Finish and publish those other posts that I have saved in drafts." I did not, alas.

"Do as many of the 2020 Historical Sew Monthly challenges as I can." I did half of them, which I am ok with. 

"Finish the 1830's patchwork dressing gown." I made good progress on that, but have not finished it. I did sew a practice dressing gown in linen though, and decided I need to change the bodice pattern a bit. I also decided I want to make a video on it! I've filmed a lot of patchwork clips and will film the construction too.

"Finish the forest floor embroidered waistcoat." Made some progress on that, but have not finished it either.

"An extravagant 1720's suit, hopefully?" Nope, but I have gotten some more materials for it and solidified my plans. I still need to get metallic threads for the buttons & buttonholes (which will be expensive), and learn how to make metallic thread buttons.

"Maybe if I don't say "more accessories" then I'll actually do them this time?" I did not. One pair of gloves, one shoe alteration, and an indoor cap that doesn't really count as an accessory.

"I think this list is long enough now but one last thing I should mention is make some nightgowns." I made one nightgown (based on one of the extant ones I posted recently) and am part way through sewing two others cut from the same pattern! I'll blog them when all 3 are finished.

I didn't do great, but who did this year?

Alrighty, goals for 2021! I'll keep this list shorter and less ambitious.

• More wardrobe basics. I am in dire need of more everyday shirts and pants, and also need to finish the aforementioned nightgowns. I've got 2 new shirts cut out and partially sewn up at the moment, and hope to make more. This should be a bit easier to actually get done this year, since I have zoom sewing friends to help keep me accountable.
• Not resist hand sewing something if I feel like it. I've noticed one of the reasons I don't make as much everyday stuff as I should is because I think to myself "I'll machine sew most of this, it'll be faster" but then it isn't faster because I put it off in favour of hand sewn projects, so this year I want to try to just get things sewn, and not worry about saving it for when I have the machine out.
• Continue to be restrained about fabric buying, and sew from my stash. And if I do buy fabric, try to focus on wools and linens.
• Make more youtube videos! Not with any particular schedule, just however many I get done.
• Do at least half of the Historical Sew Monthly 2021 challenges.

I think that's enough of a list for now! There are lots of other things I want to get done, like finishing the patchwork dressing gown and embroidered waistcoat, and hopefully starting the 1720's suit, but I won't make them specific goals on my list. I have so many projects to finish, so we'll see which ones get done.

This blog turns 8 years old today! How odd it is to think I've been posting my sewing here for that long.