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A blue waffle pullover

I actually made this jumper back in January, just after I sewed The Kiss dress! Despite wearing it several times each week through the colder weather, I just could not muster the enthusiasm to do a photoshoot. Rather than not post about it at all, I’ve taken photos on my dressform Susan instead.

I made this because I really needed more long sleeve jumpers that fit, and I wear my grey LB Pullover a lot over teeshirts through the colder months. That one was size 16, and since it still fits nicely, I’ve just done the same here rather than bother to print it off again.

A waterproof camo Carly (Rae) Jacket

I actually sewed this jacket before the broderie anglaise dress, but I’m already wearing it a lot in the cooler summer evenings. It felt at the time like I’d been sewing this jacket for forever, but it surprised me to see that it had actually only been a month (7 April – 9 May). With Long Covid I really have zero concept of time anymore…

And this jacket was single handedly responsible for the return of my sewing mojo! I saw it promoted as part of a recent FibreMood magazine and I just had to buy it as a standalone pdf right away because I LOVED it!

The Kiss dress

I’m pretty sure I cut this out back in December (oh god, no – my notes say October?!), but to be honest, I was so sick from opportunistic infections in November and December it’s all a bit of a blur. I sewed this up over a few weeks in January, but then it took another few weeks to take some photos (lacklustre as they are) and then I lost all enthusiasm whatsoever to spend my precious “sitting upright” time to write this blog post. Tbh, sewing has lost all appeal right now – I never really leave home, I never see anyone, clothes bring me zero joy, and I hate how this sick body feels and looks so I try to avoid looking into mirrors or looking at photos of myself, which isn’t really helpful for sewing or fitting.

But having this post hanging around was nagging at the back of my brain and I want to document it before I move on. Thankfully I’d written notes in my phone as I went along, otherwise it’d be a very sparse blog post indeed!

Happy 2025! (Year in Review)

I’m not only putting out the Welcome Mat for 2025, I’ve got my little hostess apron on and I’m inviting it inside for a nice cup of tea and a sit down – thats how thankful I am that 2024 IS OVER.

Without a doubt, 2024 has been the worst year of my entire life, and that’s including 2009 (where I was literally days away from death, had chemo, meningitis, spent 8 weeks in hospital, lost my hair, got countless infections, etc) and 2020 (where I spent 9 months shielding in a ~20 sq m cabin and couldn’t leave home for a total of 14 months). Both of these pale in comparison to the endless horror of being trapped in a body that doesn’t work, while watching it distort into some grotesque puddle in slow motion.

I do these Year in Review posts every year to try and celebrate the wins and find some joy and perspective in things that happened over the previous 12 months, and some years it’s harder than others. There were joys here, but every single one of them was hard-won, and only happened because I fought my own body to make it happen. Life is never easy (no matter what it appears on social media), but some years are particularly harder than what seems fair.

So with that in mind, let’s have a look back to see what joys we can uncover, eh?

Barrel-legged jeans

Multiple apologies for taking so long to post about these (both!). 11 months in and I’m still struggling massively with Long Covid, not just sewing in small bursts, but also less keen to take photos, or have the energy to sit up to write blog posts, etc… Anyway, I startred these jeans back in June, had them mostly finished before we went to Brittany in early July, and then they’ve been just waiting for a photoshoot for like a month. And yeah, I know these photos are weirdly dark and foggy but forgive me for not caring enough to retake them. I hate looking in the mirror or looking at photos while I’m sick, so I really don’t want to make this blog post wait any longer!

I haven’t been able to fit into any of my jeans since I got covid last September, so it was high time I filled that hole in my wardrobe, anticipating the cooler weather around the corner.

Midnight blue Moji trousers

Sometimes my sewing starts with a fabric. Other times it starts with a specific pattern. But this time it started with a wardrobe need – after 6 months of Long Covid spent almost entirely in bed, I have very few trousers that still fit me and I desperately needed more.

Since the Seamwork Moji trousers I made back in 2020 are one of the few that do still fit, I pulled that out again to make another pair rather than have to print, adjust, and tweak a whole new size or pattern.

When I I originally made this pattern I made heavy modifications to this pattern, so definitely read that post if you like this style because there’s easier shortcuts available now!

The only thing I don’t like about the previous pair is that the CB rise is still far to low and they give me “plumber butt” that I’m constantly hoiking up. So before I cut these out I added 7cm to the CB to stop the “plumber butt”, and also added 3cm length to the hem.

A gold ribbed polo neck sweater

Sometimes my garments start with a pattern, and I buy the fabric afterwards for it. Other times, I think up an item I want to sew and find the pattern and fabric to match it. And sometimes I start with a fabric, and think about how I’d most like to wear it and find a pattern from there. This top is one of the latter.

I bought the “Old Gold” ribbed jersey from Like Sew Amazing (£19.50/m) and I originally thought I’d make a sleeveless tank with a high collar, but when it arrived it was SO SOFT and I knew it should instead be a polo neck (turtleneck) sweater instead.

An asymmetric swimsuit

It’s been a while since I’ve had to write a negative pattern review but hoo boy, this one’s a doozy. The thing is, I ended up with a finished swimsuit that I really like and feel great in, but that’s in spite of this pattern, not because of it. I significantly redrafted all the pieces and relied heavily on another blogger’s instructions in order to get to the finished result.

I’m not even sure how the Edgewater Avenue “Marley One Piece” pattern came on my radar, tbh. I’ve never heard of the brand before, but they seem to specialise in swimwear sewing patterns and this particular one was on sale for $5 for a limited time, so I bought it.

A crazy cat swimsuit

We’ve got a holiday coming up in September, and despite the destination being decidedly un-beachy (Berlin! By train!), we’ll actually be spending four days entirely in swimsuits while we celebrate four wedding anniversaries at Tropical Islands.

I’ve still got two me-made swimsuits I’m really happy with – this Aztec-print Seamwork one from 2015(!) and the pastel bikini set I made last summer for lounging in our hot tub. But it’s always fun to make something new for a holiday, and since I’ll literally be walking around in my suit for the entire day, I didn’t feel like it was too extravagant to sew some more.

Black Pietra shorts and a doubly soft Versatili-Tee

I’ve been doing a lot of sewing recently, but haven’t been very good at either documenting all my post-Triumph Suit makes or taking photos of them, so I’m going to start with some of the first!

Ever since I made my first pair of Pietra Shorts using the ramie from Textile Express, I knew I’d need more, specifically in black. So when their black ramie came back into stock, I pounced on it, buying enough to make Pietra trousers and shorts. This stuff is so great for bottoms – it’s similar to linen but wears a thousand times harder, doesn’t crease, and just goes with everything. So making this pair of shorts out of the remaining black ramie was very high on my “need this in my wardrobe right now!” list as soon as I could. But then our summer turned into 5+ weeks of cold and rain so it hasn’t been a big deal they’ve been stuck languishing on my To Photoshoot pile…