
It's that time of year again...time to round up all my makes from the past year so I can see them all in one place. I like doing this so I can see repetition or continuity, spot gaps or trends, and make goals for the future.
I made quite a few house dresses, as usual.

1950s sprinkle dress; 1950s floral dot dress
I made regular dresses as long as I could, but once my pregnancy was more advanced I experimented with adjustable dresses that would hopefully work both for maternity and non-maternity, with a variety of success.

rayon adjustable dress; maternity pinafore dress

pink gingham late '30s adjustable dress
My intention was to mostly try patterns that could potentially work for maternity and after, so I took some before and after pictures of some of the dresses to discuss how it worked.

2nd version of this pattern, without & with baby bump.

lavender adjustable dress, before and after
I also made a number of patterns twice, and since my creativity was limited, I tried my best to change them up as much as possible.

1940s adjustable dress in balloon print; in nautical denim.

summer housecoat replacement; again as an adjustable house dress
Because of my pregnancy limiting my pattern choices much of the year, I only accomplished one mix-and-match outfit this year.

I used a variety of fabric kinds and colors (including TWO orange makes *gasp!*), which I try to continue each year so that I don't fall into a rut. A variety of prints in different scales plus solids, using several weights of cotton, denim, rayon, wool, flannel, taffeta...

1940s rayon Sparrow Dress; 1950s flannel blouse
Though of course blue is always going to be a recurring theme. :-)

floral 1930s maternity dress; 1950s wool dress

giant-floral 1950s dress
I used faux fur for the first time for this self-drafted jacket addition; incorporated a variety of trims throughout the year, and made a couple hats.

fur capped 1930s jacket with matching beret; 1940s print blouse

blue halo hat
I made my first infant clothes for my new baby girl, including my first matching mother-daughter set for Christmas.

I learned some heirloom sewing techniques, which I practiced on this blouse. More pin tucking is definitely in my future! I have some ideas of how to add it to some other patterns now as accents - it really adds a higher level of quality finish to a piece.

I also branched out a bit to do a few other needlework techniques like ribbon embroidery, and picked up counted cross stitch again for the first time in years - even accomplishing the finish of a UFO that's been sitting in my box for so many years I've lost track!

...But the big surprise of the year was when I tried English Paper Piecing, which was the last final blow to push me over the edge. I suddenly gave up struggling against the urge, and jumped straight into learning and designing patchwork and quilting!

first finished quilt
Looking to the Future
This coming year I don't want to stress out myself with too many plans. With 2 little children I need to have the peace of flexibility in my own mind, and not set too many goals - because so easily goals can become the main thing - what needs to happen or you feel like you're failing - instead of family and household being the main thing, with some other smaller accomplishments along the way as you have time.

1940s confetti print house dress; 1950s semi-formal taffeta
BUT I do have a few general goals this year. My biggest one is that I want to become reasonably proficient with basic patchwork and free-motion quilting, and accomplish at least a few quilts start to finish. I also intend to learn how to use a long-arm machine, since I am lucky enough to have access to one locally. It's all a huge learning curve, since quilting is quite different than sewing garments.

A few general ideas for my sewing plans, however, are...
Since I'm not limited to maternity or adjustable patterns this year, I really want to work through some of my long-time queue that's been sitting there patiently waiting for me to finally bring to life - some of it for years. I also have some new favorite pieces of fabric that need paired with the right pattern. I'm sure I will self impose some deadlines along the way, since that always happens, but I'd like to do mostly just-for-the-fun-of-it-because-I-feel-like-it projects, shopping my own shelves and sewing queue to get excited again about projects I first thought of long ago.
Hopefully these will include more 2 piece or mix-and-match outfits this year, since I find those so versatile.

embroidered 1950s Easter dress; red gingham house dress version
When I first started sewing, I buzzed through the process as quickly as possible, to get to the finished product. Gradually I began to appreciate the process for its own sake, and while I doubt I'll ever get to the level of some of the seamstresses I admire - historical costumers who do intricate beaded dresses, or employ ancient embroidery or lacemaking techniques I've never heard of - I am more likely now to slow down, take longer, and learn new techniques instead of brushing off an idea because "I don't know how and will never learn."
Picking up quilting taught me to "never say never". My heirloom sewing classes taught me not only to actually enjoy the process of stretching and learning, but that it can be easy to learn new techniques, so my horizons are suddenly much broader. It's a bit overwhelming, because that opens up the scope for so many more ideas (like I needed more!), yet also inspires confidence.

I thoroughly enjoyed doing a few color block projects this year, especially this favorite 1940s dress.
I also have more refashion projects in mind, like this sweater coat. It's much faster than starting from scratch, and there are lots of ways to take a modern garment and make it vintage appropriate, if that's your thing.
Besides, refashioning is a good use of sewing skills. And with limited space, if you aren't going to wear something, getting rid of it or making it over into something you will wear seems like the best solution. So often those refashion and mending projects get pushed off since there's always something more exciting to make. But I'm starting out the year by clearing out my mending/alteration rack, and it feels good. Maybe that will give me the impetus to keep it up!

Conclusion
My final sewing count for 2019 is...7 1930s garments, 10 1940s, and 9 1950s. Some were new patterns - some were remakes of old favorite patterns in new colors, or with new styling. Lots of duplicates this year, too...hopefully I'll avoid some of that this next year. Some makes get lots of wear, some were retired to my maternity stash, while others don't fit quite as well or were a bit disappointing so they may be purged later on.

1940s color block Thanksgiving Day dress
I look forward to seeing what the new year holds! I expect it will bring plenty of new skills (i.e., quilting related - learning needle turn appliqué is just around the corner!) to expand my horizons, but I'm sure the tried and true of dressmaking will have a fair showing. We will have to see!
