Sewing top 5 of 2019 and plans

This year I have made 23 items. Quite a few have been reviews for Mineva crafts but there are some that I've made for others and many that I haven't blogged yet.

So here are my top 5 makes, the fails and my plans for 2020 (also includes a bit of crochet).

Top 5
1. Saraste shirt dress  - red floral cotton.
I had Breaking the Pattern from my mum last Christmas and the fabric was from my sister-in-law. Despite not being a floral sort of person I loved this print. I managed to squeeze a slightly shortened Saraste dress from the fabric and Imore have worn this one more than any other dress in my wardrobe.

2. Sugar Skull Saraste 
Same pattern, but this is the full-length version - no sleeves. The fabric is from Minerva. the buttons were from a local haberdashery.

3. Ginger Jeans - Closet Case Patterns
Again - fabric from Minerva, a lovely slub stretch denim. I wasn't too convinced when I first made these, but they have had more wear than any other trousers over the year.

4. Pink Lace Dress
This was a labour of love and time consuming to cut and make, despite being quite a simple design. I'd made this pattern years ago when I first started sewing - It was a free pattern on the old Burdastyle website and I'd adapted it to suit my style. The simple lines made it the perfect option for this heavy cotton lace. I was surprised how much I've worn this - I didn't expect to wear it as much as I have - but it looks fab and is easy to throw on - doesn't really look creased either!

5. Burdastyle Men's shirt
Over 2019 my hubby had lost some weight, which meant that for the first time I could use a standard pattern. I chose one from the Burdastyle Magazine - can't remember which one and initially I made him a short sleeve shirt from some light cotton lawn, but it was very light. So on his request, I made him a long sleeve version from cotton from The Sewing Machine Guy in Ashington. This shirt has had a lot of wear and I now need to make him some more.

5 Fails
Most of these aren't truly fails but don't get quite as much wear as they should. I don't like waste and will not throw stuff out unless it's a disaster - some things need alterations, some just need to be worn more.

1. Skull Top
I quite like this, but it has some issues. It's the Sade Blouse from Breaking the pattern. It's an easy top to make in regular fabric, but in the chiffon, it was challenging. The issues with this are - wrist ties - difficult to do up and get in the way - I need to replace them with elastic; the sleeve gapes - needs a catch stitch to fix and it's a bit short!

2. Faux stretch leather pinafore.
This was all kinds of wrong. the fabric was very light and very stretchy. Not suitable for the pattern at all. It was supposed to be dungarees but it just didn't work. One of the buttonholes went wrong and was too big for the button. My daughter still wears it, but I'm not impressed. Choose the right fabric for the pattern next time!

3. Assembly Line Hoodie Dress - summer version
I love this pattern. My cord version of this gets plenty of wear, but my summer version - not so much. I omitted the hood and the elastic hem. cut the sleeves short. The style is fine, the fabric is fine, but in this light chambray, it just feels a bit too much like a set of scrubs! It still gets worn though.

4. Tencel Shirtdress.
Nothing wrong with this that a bit of length wouldn't fix. The pattern is a hacked Burdastyle magazine pattern.

5. Sequin top.
I thought I would love this and get loads of wear over the holiday period. Nothing wrong with the top, apart from it being too short. I just felt uncomfortable. I haven't worn the skirt or trousers much either. The top was given away.

So What's next? I don't really do Make 9, but I do have a list of things I would like to make. Coming up are...

1. Burnside Bibs - almost done.

2. SOI pussy-bow blouse - cut out in some dragonfly fabric before I try it in my silk bamboo from Raystitch.

3. Burda 6856 Trousers. I was planning on making the pegged version but after a muslin, I realised that they were a bit too poofy for the fabric I had, so the wide-legged version it is. I might try the other version later.

4. Wedding Dress for Fliss - almost done - no pics yet.

5. The Assembly Line - Hoodie Coat
I had the pattern for Christmas, but might make a slightly shorter version and line it too.

6. A royal blue shirt dress - Hobbs style - something like this, but with a mandarin collar:-

7. Wool coat/ Jacket/ poncho - Fabric I had last year, still not decided on a pattern.

8. Upcycling - using up my scraps - probably some bag making and some reroll fashion in the style of ZWD.

9. Mending my Pink seamed dress - I managed to tear it at the CF hem, I also want to alter the neckline shape which I have bought some bias binding for as I don't have any fabric the correct colour in the stash.