A handmade year.

~ If you can't have gratuitous photos of your ducklings at New Years, well when can you? ~

As this year draws to a close, like many other sewing bloggers I am taking time to reflect on the sewing year that was 2012. Before looking back over this blog, I thought what I had made most this year was sewn items. I knew I hadn't sewn as much as I did the year prior, and I was feeling a bit down about it to be honest. This year has been difficult personally and my sewing energy has felt pretty zapped at times. But now I have actually clicked through, I can see that this year really wasn't such a handmade right off as I thought (what is a "handmade right off" anyway?).

So, the details:
Sewn items: 18 (1 Cordova jacket, 5 Sorbetto's, 2 1920's chemise, 2 pairs of knickers, 2 pairs pyjama shorts, 2 Sorbetto dress's, 1 Cambie dress, 3 aprons)
Hand spun yarn: 8 skeins (4 white, 3 pink, 1 mustard)
Knitted items: 4 (2 baby cardigans, 1 tam, 1 scarf)
Quilts: 2 (1 baby quilt, 1 for my mum)

That's 32 items hand made. An item made more than once per fortnight! I am wrapped with this result, considering spinning wool takes me hours, as does knitting, and I won't even say how long that quilt has taken me!

Here are my favourites for 2012...

My fifth Sorbetto in the gorgeous Liberty of London "Lodden". This was my first Sorbetto with self made bias binding and I love the result.

 ~ Click Here ~

I drafted a simple "Alys Fowler" style gardening dress, using the Sorbetto pattern as my starting block. This dress is incredibly comfortable, and perfect for our Australian summers.

~ Click Here ~

A tulip styled apron made from an authentic 1952 pattern. Made from a medium weight quilting cotton, with a kitsch retro print, paired with musk pink bias binding.

 ~ Click Here ~

The next on my list would have to be the sweet lingerie set I made for my dear friend in Switzerland. I used Casey's 1920's chemise tutorial, and think it turned out beautifully...

 ~ Click Here ~

Pattern testing for Tasia certainly was THE sewing highlight for 2012. I first tested the Cambie dress pattern back in the middle of the year, being delayed with the final picture post due to heart surgery. I made the dress from a white cotton I been saving until the perfect dress pattern came along.

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I was lucky enough to be selected as a pattern tester again three months later, which led me to make the Cordova jacket in a beautiful Italian wool crepe...

 ~ Click Here ~

This year I learnt to spin...

 ~ Click Here ~

I also learnt to knit. Like real knitting. With seams and buttons and decreasing...

 ~ Click Here ~

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I really enjoyed giving you all some serger/overlocker tips back in March. I enjoyed the comments and emails I received about the series, it was nice to know the tips were helpful!

~ Click Here ~

2012 also brought with it some awesome finds and some epic fails.

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Phew! Buckingham Road has been busy this year hasn't it?!?

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My words from last year ring just as true today... "As someone who does not have many sewers in their life, I find our online community invaluable. I learn so much from reading other peoples blogs (I need to comment more and share the love), learning from my own mistakes and the successes and challenges of other bloggers. All the knowledge, projects, and ideas that are shared online are inspiring and encourage me to continue to sew. 

As I am sure sewing is for a lot of you, sewing for me is a form of relaxation, a way to escape from the stresses of my everyday life, to focus my energy and thoughts on something other than the demands of my job, relationships, and life worries. The thrill of creating something from a pile of fabric and some thread, for me, cannot be matched. "

Happy New Year everyone,

Sam xox