Happy New Year!

Since I don't drink alcohol, don't care at all about college football (sorry Sis), and eat black-eyed peas about once a week anyway, New Year's is ALL about the resolutions for me. And this blog (and my related sewing habit) will not escape unscathed from the resolution juggernaut, oh, no no no.

First of all, if you scroll allllll the way down and look at the right-hand column, you'll see that I started this blog in May of 2005. 2005, people! That's like two decades in blog years. This current blog layout is the internet equivalent of a 1998 Toyota Tercel. Sure, it'll get you where you need to go, but very slowly, and you can't plug your iPod into the radio. So I'm hoping to do a refresh of this blog's "look" before the fifth anniversary. (I'd also like to be better about responding to blog comments/email, even if I only manage to do so once a week ...)

Sewing-wise, I have two resolutions: to set aside a specific time every week to sew (right now, early Sunday morning is looking good) and to sew three things from my fabric/pattern stash for every item that requires new fabric or a new pattern. (See that pic up above? That's about 80% of my current fabric hoard.)

I've resolved, too, to be a better sewing planner -- no more using up precious sewing time running out to JoAnn's because I don't have the right zipper. I'm going to make regular online orders of zippers and thread and other necessary notions, and if I don't have the right color of whatever, well, that project will just have to wait until I do.

I want to be more diligent about adding my project pictures to the Vintage Pattern Wiki and writing things up on Pattern Review -- I hope that's a resolution you all share, too!

It would be great if I could say that I'm going to turn overnight into a more careful sewist -- that all my patterns are going to match at the seams, that I'm never again going to press something into submission instead of unpicking it and doing it over, and that I'll always take my time and make a muslin first. But if I did, I'd be setting myself up for failure ... that's just not gonna happen in 2010.

What are your sewing resolutions? And more to the point, how are you going to keep yourself on track with them? (I need hints!) Leave them in the comments.

Comments

[Anonymous]

Looks like theres some nice stuff in that stash there. My only advice is to sew for now!

[Joni]

NO more new fabric until at least June. None. My stash isnt as big as yours, but... its getting there. No new patterns, either, unless they are the 99 cent ones at Hobby Lobby.Matching dresses for my daughters and me in the spring (hopefully around Easter).Sew some custom doll clothes and sell them in my Etsy shop.Weed out 90% of my vintage pattern stash (most of them are the wrong size, or the wrong style, or both) and sell those on Etsy, too.Im with you on the PatternReview thing, too. I used to be really good about writing up my projects, but I havent done any reviews in at least 2 years. (And I actually know what Im *doing* now.)

[Joni]

P.S. New blog layouts are good... but please dont do the thing where all the previous posts are in little boxes at the bottom, so that you cant scroll through them sequentially. That is the Hot New Thing in blogging and it drives me bonkers.

[Lisette]

Good luck on the layout! Layouts drive me bonkers so I just go as simple as possible. My resolution is to sew 10 patterns from my stash. I seem to never sew from my fabric stash so I generally dont buy fabric without a project (a real one, not a future, imagined one!) And also to actually use my blog :p

[Nora]

Sadly, I dont have any good tips, but Ill love to see what other people say (and look forward to seeing the new blog layout - at first I was afraid that you were going to announce you were stopping Dress A Day!) Im resolved to do more sewing and to not buy any more patterns...at least not till Ive sewn more of the ones I have! Im about to move from a cramped apartment to a house *with a designated craft room* so Im really excited to set that up in a way that makes sense. I think I need to spend some time trawling flickr for good craftroom setups.

[smiffy]

I LOVE your resolutions. Im going to adopt them for me, especially the one about sewing three things from the stash for every one that needs new pattern/fabric.

[JustGail]

mine are - 1. get in the sewing room every day, even if only to spend a few minutes picking up or thinking.2. upgrade my interfacing supply and keep track of which one is which.3. stop beating myself up when things arent going right4. document the projects on the blog which I recently started.as far as stash - yours isnt so big. My view is - if youre comfortable with it and can find what you are looking for - its the right size for you. For some people, this means having only the fabric for the next project, for others, having enough to open a fabric store. Im not going to make a no new fabric statement, because a lot of what I have still makes me happy, and what doesnt make me happy is going to be used for muslins.Good luck on the new layout, Im still trying to figure out how to add the blogs I visit to mine!

[Lydia]

The 80% of your stash pictured there is about 20% the size of mine. Yet Im still considering buying some more wool because it is so blasted cold here (negative eight as I walked to work today--thats not including wind chill).As for zippers and notions buying, Ive had great luck purchasing lots of de-stash on etsy. Im not a huge stickler for my zippers exactly matching my fabrics, so I can almost always find something thats close enough to use. I like the idea of setting aside specific sewing time. I might try that!

[Packrat]

First, I have to say that you do not have enough fabric in your stash. Im not kidding. :) You need a few basic fabrics like black crepe (or whatever you would use for dress attire), lining fabrics, white blouse fabric, etc. to go along with the zippers, thread, bias tape (ever made your own?).Hint - when you buy fabric, buy enough to cover a wide range of uses. Also, buy the notions that you might need to go with the fabric. Store those in a zip lock bag with the fabric. (Read this in a book. Thank you to whoever came up with this idea.) It does cost a little more to buy the extra items, but having these things on hand saves so much time when you need to make something in a hurry.My goals are: to rewash (or dry clean) all the fabric in my stash and set up my sewing room. I have several sewing machines, so I would like them out where I can use them.Good luck with the new layout, but please not much clutter. Im in the dark ages so this blog suits me just fine.

[The Hillbilly Banjo Queen:]

Im going to avoid tripping up on my resolutions by just not making any at all that have a once-a-week, once-a-month feel to them. I am going to shoot for resolutions that dont have a specific ending date or that are more nebulous. For instance, I have resolved to sew more this year and I have even picked out how many things I would like to sew this year (8) but they will have an end goal of Jan 2011 instead of having a monthly deadline. I seem to sew like crazy in the summer and not as much in winter and this year I am going to try to be ok with that instead of worrying that I didnt sew anything last month at all. And who knows? Next year, I may avoid the hassle of resolutions altogether by not making any at all because it seems that I dont reap feelings of accomplishment, rather I seem to reap feelings of regret and guilt. Well see how this year goes.

[Renee]

I resolve to spend at least a bit of time each day sewing, planning, etc. And get some 40s 50s style dresses up in my etsy shop. Celebrate your stash!!The best thing about having a big stash is that I can often shop from there. Most of mine is in those lidded file boxes (which stack perfectly), and labeled as to the contents. No damage from light or dust, and when I pull the lid off there is always something that I forgot that I had. Estate sales are a great thing for picking up a bag of zippers and misc. notions, and sometimes vintage fabric, which I cant resist.

[Renee]

p.s. Also on my resolution list is to get involved in the Vintage Pattern Wiki and PR - thanks for the nudge!

[Jen]

My resolutions:The hardest (worst) is to make all those ALTERATIONS (which I notice that NONE of you have listed so far!)that are hanging on my to do rack.The easiest (most fun) is to GIVE AWAY a ton of stash -- no joke on the scale of this project!

[Erin]

Ooh, good point about doing estate sales/eBay for notions. I do love metal zippers ... And point noted about not improving the blog design to the point where its not readable. :-) I promise to keep it simple!

[lucitebox]

1) Get sewing machine fixed.2) plug in machine.3) learn to sew.

[Anonymous]

I resolve to:1) fix my sewing machine2) rebuild my fabric stash3) sew a dress a month Love your blog!!Amblin

[Sarah]

My sewing resolutions are:1. Make the June, June, and Junie wardrobes for myself and my daughter: http://www.rhinestonesandtelephones.com/2010/01/make-your-own-bias-tape.html2. Use stash fabrics first. After that, use vintage or thrifted ones.3. Set aside dedicated sewing time.4. Work this all in to my Thrifty365 Pledge: http://www.rhinestonesandtelephones.com/2009/12/thrifty-365.htmlLove your blog! :)

[When Ladies Dressed]

Erin, oh the irony of it... I have a skirt completely finished EXCEPT for the zipper, because I dont have the right one. But I degress... My sewing resolution for this year is to learn how to use my serger. Im shamefully admitting that Ive had a beautiful, Huskeylock 910 since JUNE (a b-day present) and have not yet taken the time to learn how to use it! Its sad, but true... also, Id like to encourage you to write up your reviews on PR! I love reading and writing reviews over there. What is your account name there? Happy sewing in 2010!

[beangirl]

uh....wha......eighty percent?...(wanders around in a daze muttering some more)eighty PERCENT??note to self: see therapist for out-of-control fabric hoarding issues.Oh, and Happy New Year!

[Jenny]

This year will be the Year of the Border Print Dresses for me, with a few experiments with stripes and directional prints as a pattern layout challenge bonus. I know this because I will be sewing from my stash all year. The only exception to my plan is a few attempts at sewing for children - a vintage coat and hat for Henry and some sugary sweet dresses for the baby girls in my life.Im currently hemming a Frank Lloyd Wright (Coonley Playhouse window design!) double border print dress that was a test dress for my Tetris Dress until I realized how supremely unattractive the dress is on me. Another pattern search, another muslin, and then the Tetris dress. Thats three border prints dresses on my list already!

[Erin]

beangirl, dont forget -- I moved back in August and got rid of more than half my fabric before then!

[Katharine in Brussels]

Packrat, nice monniker! I think that advice is from one of the P/P books. But I just bag up fabric and notions for projects in progress or about to start, or else Id duplicate my thread stash even more than I already do since I sew within a palette. Everything kinda works with everything else and I find doubles of threads just by accident anyway, as I always buy thread when buying fabric. One PR member put her thread stash on her PDA, smart lass!

[Cel Petro]

Happy New Year, Erin et al. Just so long as you keep blogging! NEED my dress a day fix My only hint for making sure to have all notions, etc. is to have a list or at least paper and pencil handy and write it down. Even if I dont have the list w/ me when I shop, having written it down I tend to remember...

[weezieduzzit]

I added over 200 patterns to my personal stash in 2009 with the criteria being that it was something I really would make and wear and that it be my size- no patterns no matter how wonderful that I would have to resize. I think Ill have to make stricter rules and go through them again listing the ones I destash in my Etsy store. I also need to finish several items that only need a hem or buttons, etc. All small things that I do have the notions for. So... Ill make a rule for myself that all of those projects need to be finished up before starting new ones. Since I really only buy vintage fabric other than solid color cottons as needed to go with something I already have, I never limit my fabric consumption, I wouldnt be able to. Id be really sad if I had to pass up great vintage fabric that I might not find again.

[Cookie]

That pic of Erins closet reminds me of a DOABLE resolution...I have to reorient my bedroom closet. The back of it is connected to a bookshelf in the livingroom, separated by plywood. (I think it was once an extra door, in 1921.) If I tear that out and make the shelves shallower and reassemble, I can get an extra pole in the bedroom closet and make that closet actually WORKABLE. Does anyone have an extra circular saw????