sewing goals and my first project

Well hello folks! Hope everyone had a fantastic new years eve/day that was either as exciting or as relaxing as you wanted! We opted for a mellow, stay-in lasagna dinner (which seems to have become a tradition for us since having kids). I feel like this last little stretch of the holidays has paid a bit of a toll on me and my kids' minds/moods (basically, they've become super whiny and demanding which then makes me super grumpy..). Disrupted sleep patterns, too much party food, the anticipation of Santa is over, the new toys already seem 'old'.. And of course, D heads back to work and C to school so a bit of anxiety there too. I'm guessing this is pretty normal for most families with small kids.

As bummed as I am about D heading back to work (it's been nice having not only back-up, but lots of little breaks of 'mama alone time'), I gotta say I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine with the kids. Preschool and other classes. And, I'm looking forward to getting back to sewing more regularly again. I didn't end up sewing much over the break. Just a couple pairs of flannel pj pants for the kids (didn't feel like sewing up the matching tops..) and a few scrappy tissue cases for a handmade exchange. But, I have been thinking a lot about what I want to do this coming year.

And here are some of my goals:

- Focus on techniques, as in learn and re-learn basic and more advanced garment sewing techniques. I'm essentially self-taught when it comes to sewing. I took basic sewing in the early years of highschool, and my mom is an amazing seamstress, but since I only really started sewing again a few years ago, I did most of it on my own, reading sewing books, following patterns, reading blog tutorials, watching You-Tube video how-tos (and of course the occasional tip from my mom).. This year, I want to really get back to basics and set a solid foundation for all my future sewing endeavors.

-Make muslins for any new pattern before cutting into the 'good' fabric. I tend to get a little impatient when starting a sewing project. It's bad enough I really dislike pre-washing fabric, tracing patterns and all the other things that have to be done before actually starting a sewing project. I never had the patience to do up a muslin to make sure the pattern and/or size worked for me. Sometimes I've been lucky with the fit, but there have definitely been times that I've cut something too small, or way too big and then banished the poor garment to the 'scrap pile'. This year, I'm going to slow down and and try to do things properly.

-Make more clothes for myself. I love clothes and I love shopping. But lately I've been unsatisfied with what's generally available in the malls. I find I like clothes that are classic yet still on trend, and unique enough that I won't end up running into someone else wearing the same thing. Which is essentially why I love handmade clothes. Etsy and internet shopping are fantastic and I've probably purchased at least 1/3 to a half of my current wardrobe through Etsy, but it can get pricey with shipping etc and it's hard not to be able to try stuff on before buying. Same with local independent designers. I try to support them as much as possible, but it does get expensive. So, even though fabric and sewing patterns aren't necessarily cheap, I hope to use my sewing skills to make the type/style of clothing I want with a proper fit.

I hope you don't mind me using this blog as a means to keep myself accountable to these goals. I find that if I 'put it out there', I have to actually do it or at least suffer a bit of shame for not. So, I hope to do more posts about the sewing projects I want to do and their inspiration, the process and progress, and of course, hopefully have a beautiful new garment to show off at the end. And I apologize for these long rambly posts. This blog is very much a personal sewing journal for me too so I sometimes get carried away with my thoughts.

So, to kick-start my 2012 sewing, I'm going to start with this

I'll get into more details about this in my next post. How about you? What are your sewing/crafting goals for the new year? What will you make first?