New Year Plans - what do I need vs what do I want?

Happy New Year and I hope you had a brilliant Christmas!

My Plans for 2022. 

I have not done this the last couple of years because I seemed not to stick to my plans but this year I decided I am going to do it all differently.

I actually planned ahead for this moment and made lots of luxurious (mainly velvet) loungewear over the last couple of months. This was bulk sewn so I make sure I have plenty of nice to wear warm stuff for the winter. Here in the UK we still have the worst weather yet to come in January and usually February is even colder. 

What usually happens now is all my great ideas come to a stop because I need to make warm clothing but THIS year I have already set all that up with my Winter Essentials Loungewear project so I really am ready to start the new year with a challenge and make some totally new things at last.

OK so in a nutshell I am aiming in 2022 to make more unusual one off bits and pieces - though in reality many are likely to have two versions so I do not waste my more expensive fabrics messing things up first time I make something so muslins are in. 

But wearable muslins cos often its cheaper to make a cheaper version in nice fabric than make an actual muslin - in muslin that is that I will not ever wear. 

And I want a ballet/ fairy theme. Now by fairy I do not necessarily mean glitter, zig zag hems or hippy clothing - not that I will totally exclude that but it must be wearable for real life. Thats my spring look for 2022.

So Mostly I do not know what patterns I want to use yet but I DO know what I need most for January is vests and exercise tops and maybe big knickers 😁. 

This is what I NEED!!!

I might try out the Ilana knickers and bra pattern from Mood that I noticed a few weeks ago. I probably should read the Mood emails more really but I simply don't have time to read them all but this pattern looks really nice. I definitely want to try that one. Also despite they are free I have repeatedly found Mood to produce very well designed patterns that fit me. I already made several of the Rebecca Page thong and Megan Neison knickers so I will make a few more of these too because they are both really comfy. And I would not mind a body or two for spring loungewear.

 I am also thinking I might just make more of the vest tops I made back in the summer - see here https://brackencrafts.blogspot.com/2021/06/vest-tops.html

and here https://brackencrafts.blogspot.com/2021/08/three-more-basic-vest-tops.html

along with a few new exercise tops - I have already put the Mood free Emilia sports bra pattern together months ago and so far not got round to sewing that one up. Its the zip front top. I own a few bought patterns for exercise tops too that I never yet got round to making, and now I have so many small pieces of stretch lycra velvet left over after the last couple of months binge on loungewear, thats just begging to be used. I am not so sure that stretch velvet makes the best sportswear but it does make nice weekend type of sporty loungewear.

I have also decided that what I really WANT ( as opposed to actually NEED!) is some nice slip dresses. I was given fabric for Christmas (thank you Ma!) consisting of a few 2m lengths of some really nice printed stretch velvets. I intend to use these to make at least one slip dress maybe using the same Burda Pattern as my old Green velvet dress? I have other slip dress patterns though so might do a different one. Not sure yet but at least one slip dress is a must for 2022. In fact this fabric is what caused the "fairy" theme. I have been reading Cassandra Clare's Dark Artifices trilogy and fairys are big right now for me. But not the pretty glitzy kind of fairys. No I am more leaning towards the scary gothic fairys. But in pastels.

Some of my Burda magazine back issues from 2014-2018 have some really lovely floaty dresses and nice stretchy tops which remind me of ballet clothing. I intend to trace some of these and make them up over the next few months. I am not yet sure which ones I want to make so there are no pictures to show you. 

Sorry for that! I know this is going to be a text heavy post.

However I do have plans to make these three dresses again: 

This is my second ever Burda dress and I have made 4 versions of this one so its a good one though quite boring when in this wearable black!

The link for this one is:

https://brackencrafts.blogspot.com/2018/10/black-asymetric-neck-dress-winter.html

Then maybe the Voodoo dolly dress which is a Knip Mode pattern but I am considering altering the hem slightly - maybe high low? And adding thumb cuffs and a hood. Heres the link for this one https://brackencrafts.blogspot.com/2020/10/voodoo-dolly-dress-knipmode.html

( or click the picture).

And I can see this hoody cowl dress with a different maybe diagonal hem as well and maybe with no hood lining? It makes it too bulky on both my previous versions and yes its nice to have a lining but do I really need one?

 

I do need to make all three dresses a bit smaller! 

This one is here https://brackencrafts.blogspot.com/2017/05/mmm17-day-4.html

or you should be able to just click the picture if I have done it right 😀

There are a few nice tops I have been dreaming of too.  I do want to make this Burda top and think probably this is my next make because the fabric I chose for this has now been washed and waiting ( and in the way) for 3 months while I made my warm winter loungewear. I need to do some tracing!

I really love the ballet stuff in the Burda mags from around 2014 to 2019 - they had several different mags with dancerish floaty stretch dresess as well as tops and leggings and wrap tops - you know the look I am thinking of -but add a few hoods and maybe some thumb cuffs because I do like mitts to that mix and make it more me. These are a couple of the dresses from 03/2019 though there are lots of similar ones in other issues- and I already have suitable fabric for this look. Its not something I usually lean towards but I am tempted................

I also want a wool dress made from probably this pattern or very similar because I have several different pieces of wool mix fabric that are very bulky in my stash and I ought to use them or at least some of that fabric.

This is a designer called JC de Castelbajac who was in the December 2015 issue of Burda Style. There is another similar Burda dress in the same issue. Both look quite simple so I feel I could tackle one or the other of these. They would be a great addition to my winter work wear I think. I can see them working with trousers and leggings too when its very cold as well as dresses with boots.

I also won some fabric in the October Minerva Stash competition with this dress

They gave me a £25 voucher ( thank you so much #Minerva Fabrics) and I used that to buy a piece of very expensive but lovely skull print cotton lycra jersey. I just have to make something from this. I am torn between the Sinclair Linea shirt with some extra stripes added for interest and a high low shirt which is RTW dress I have owned for years and that I would love to copy. Thats another definite make. One thing that must NOT happen to that piece of fabric is it ends up stuck in my stash for years. Its just too nice especially since I acually WON it!

So heres the possible list of 2022 aims

slip dress

exercise/ lounge tops

wool dress

Fairy inspired clothing made from some stretch patterned velvets - probably based on the three dresses I previously made above but with different hems and hoods or mitts or something...............

And something from my skull fabric.

AND at least one ankle length skirt - maybe from the 09/2014 Burda style magazine!

Its the first Burda mag I ever bought and I have wanted to make this impractical skirt ever since. I now have fabric for it and also some "muslin" which is actually some cheap burnt out velvet I bought just before Christmas for 90p a metre so its worthy of being used as muslin for this skirt. Something else I must trace soon then.

Thats not too huge a list and is actually do-able I think, though I will probably go off in several tangents and make completely different stuff but hopefully at least some of what I have planned will happen this year. 

As I already mentioned at the start of this post I have planned things a few years ago and most of it never came about so the last couple of years I have not bothered. 

I know most people do start the year with sewing plans and this year I have decided to see if I can be slightly less disorganised  because I am also going to be moving to the opposite end of the country at some point over the next few months so I really need to know what I need and importantly to use fabric I already own so I reduce the stash I will have to move house with and ideally not buy any new fabric now but just use what I already own.

Onward we sew................ and if you made it to the end of this rather long musing I wish you have a really wonderful and Happy Year in 2022 and may everything you aim for come about - and in style

Bracken