New Years Sewing Resolutions 2020
Happy New year gang – we hope you had a fantastic break over Christmas and feeling ready to take on the new decade. If you’re feeling a little unsure what to start sewing or what your plans are for this year – fear not we’re here to help! We’ve asked some toy favourite designer/makers what their resolutions are doe 2020 and I have to saw a lot of them rung true with us! We’ve been doing this every year for the last few year and hope you enjoy reading it as much as we do…
Marilla – Marilla Walker Patterns
For me, this years sewing resolution has got to be to make use of my scraps, as and when I produce them to stop them taking over my space! This year I made the free ‘Closet Case patterns’ Pouf to fill with scraps and I plan to make back-ups to fill as I go and give to friends. It can get out of hand very quickly around here!
Christine – Christine Haynes Patterns
In 2019 I made a lot of changes, far more than I had anticipated a year ago, both professionally and personally! I left my day job, moved into a new apartment, relaunched my business, and more! For 2020, I am looking to have an active year for my business, but hopefully a much quieter year on all other fronts. For Christine Haynes Patterns, you can expect more patterns (new and re-launches of old ones), both on-line classes and in-person classes, and an in-person sewing experience to be announced in the new year that you are going to want to hear about! In non-work crafting, I’d love to sew more for myself (as always), and I am really enjoying knitting and would like to take on a few more challenges, like colorwork and socks!
Heather Lou – Closet Case Patterns
In 2019 I had the great fortune to learn directly from couture sewing master Susan Khalje, and thinking about sewing with this more traditional focus has really expanded what I think is possible with our craft. In 2020, I am hoping to build on my couture sewing skills. Rather than sewing lots of fast projects, I’m planning on focusing each season on one or two really special garments, with more attention paid to fitting, material selection and exploration of fine couture techniques. This winter I am hoping to experiment with a custom drafted bustier (which would traditionally be used as structural support in a couture gown), in addition to a Madame Gres-style pleated maxi skirt using hand pleats and silk jersey. Losing myself in these types of “slow sewing” projects has become equally meditative and skill expanding; it’s less about making clothes I’ll wear everyday, and more about making clothes I’ll treasure the rest of my life.
Rachel – House of Pinheiro
The last 2 years I have been really quiet both at the sewing room and my Instagram/ blog. My goal is to try to be more engaged as I really miss it. I have exciting news ( my sewing book will be out end of January)which hopefully will lead me to re-connect with the community. Happy sewing!
Jen – Grainline Studio
2020 is a big year at Grainline! It marks a decade since I started a small blog alone one night in my apartment that grew into this company and I couldn’t be more thankful for everyone who’s supported us along the way. This year our goals at work are to try new things, continue to release more patterns, streamline our processes even more, and just to have fun with our tutorials and posts! Personally my sewing goal for 2020 is to take a bit of time to sew for myself each month. Last year I only sewed 2 things for myself that weren’t work related, and I’m ready to change that! Happy 2020 and I hope all your sewing goals come to life in the new year!
Kristiann – Victory Patterns
2019 was a fun year for creative projects as I got to make my wedding dress, along with all sorts of other projects for our super DIY wedding! It made me realize how important it is to have non-work related projects on the go. So my resolution for 2020 is to give space and time for my other passion, and get my painting mojo going! Also, I ended 2019 with a Marie Kondo style purge of my closet, and it’s made it easy to see what’s missing from my wardrobe. It’s high time I create a thoughtful, well-curated wardrobe that feels like me and gives me joy!
Jenny Rushmore
For Cashmerette, my new years resolution is to finally work on the blazer pattern we’ve been getting requests for for years! It’s a tricky thing to get right for curves, but we’re determined to crack it. Personally, I’m hoping to get back to sewing for myself after a very busy 2019 in the business and having a baby. Hopefully I can find some time when she naps!
Emily – Self Assembly Required
Last year I aimed to keep my new sewing space tidy (I didn’t) and tried to keep my fabric buying to a minimum (that was just crazy talk). Needless to say, I’m not particularly good at keeping to New Years resolutions but I always try!
I feel like I achieved a lot sewing-wise in 2019 – I made a wedding dress (not mine), two bridesmaids dresses and lots of other beautiful things. I tried my hand at a few new crafts – basket making, bag making – and found my love for crafting goes far beyond just sewing.
For 2020, I want to keep pushing myself to learn more sewing techniques. One thing I want to make this year is a leather jacket and that’ll definitely involve a learning curve! I also want to perfect my jeans fitting and get better at finishing garments. But mostly, I just want to make beautiful well fitting garments that’ll stand the test of time – though I think that’s far easier said than done!
Helen – Helen’s Closet
2020 marks a new phase for me personally and for Helen’s Closet Patterns. After living in Vancouver, Canada for my whole life my partner and I have decided to move to a new city! This means 2020 will be filled with new experiences, new friendships, and new challenges. We can’t wait! This big change has also sparked a desire to downsize and re-assess my fabric and yarn stash. Packing can be VERY revealing! In light of all the supplies I have on hand, I have decided not to purchase any new fabrics in 2020. OMG, I SAID IT OUT LOUD! Wish me luck!
Tilly – Tilly and the Buttons
I have a few resewlutions for 2020 – the first is to keep up my sewjo (it’s on FIRE at the moment!) by fitting in small, regular chunks of sewing whenever I can. I’ve also been on a bit of a stash-busting roll recently and want to keep using fabric from my stash. I’m definitely not on a buying ban though – fabric shopping is just as much of a hobby as sewing is, haha! And finally, I’m going to continue making super cute things for my little boy while he’s too young to complain about being dressed as a cute animal or twinning with mummy in all the Breton tops 🙂
Charlotte Powell – English Girl at Home
I’ve experienced a real turning point in my sewing this year. A combination of no longer being interested in rushing through projects and cutting corners, and of having gained enough experience to make alterations when things go wrong. As a result, I’m creating garments that I’m much happier with – and which should last much longer. I’m even going back to old makes and correcting those aspects I was never 100% happy with, from ill-matched thread to fit issues.
I’m still less confident when fitting and sewing for others – and I expect that to be a focus during 2020. Starting with getting the fit right on a coat I started for my partner Phil for Christmas 2018.
My ambitious project for the year is to begin weaving fabric for use in my sewing projects. I attended a weaving course in the summer, treated myself to a loom, bought a selection of books, and now I just need to get started and commit to learning a new skill.
Emily – In The Folds
My New Years resolution is to sew more for myself. Last year I set up a sewing space at home (rather than in my studio where it was before) and that definitely helped me start sewing for leisure again. In 2020 I will continue this by always having a project cut. I don’t have a lot of free time to sew, but I find that if I’ve already got a project cut and my machines are threaded in the right colour, I’m much more likely to jump on the machine for a quick half an hour here and there when I can. I also want to think more about my personal style in the new year. I feel like I’ve lost my way a little bit over the last few years, so would like to try to have a bit more fun with my wardrobe again and see what works for me. I think a new decade is a great time to change things up a bit!
Fiona – Diary of a Chain Stitcher
A busy year at work and home meant that I was seriously lacking sewing time in 2019. I really missed carving out that little bit of time to be creative and also the peace that I find sitting at my sewing machine. I’d therefore like to find a way to fit a bit of sewing into every week in 2020, even if it is just 15 minutes here and there. My stash has been growing so I’m hoping to make a big dent in that too over the coming months.
Susan – Susan Young Sewing
I thought I’d better start by looking at what I said last year about my sewing plans and intentions for 2019 and it’s just as well I did because I went off track more or less straight away! I said I wanted to try my hand at bag or shoe making-didn’t happen, and I talked about developing a pattern-definitely didn’t happen! So both of those will be carried over to this year because I really would like them to happen. In June I had the chance to try out loom weaving at the Stitchroom Sewcial held at Loughborough University and it was fascinating and complex so I’d love to pursue that a bit more. In last year’s resewlutions I talked about the success of @SewOver50 up to that point, well since then it’s gone stratospheric with close to 17K followers now. It’s been so inspiring to see and hear from other makers all over the world, it’s a community for everyone-at a time when good news seems to be in short supply you can always feel involved with this account and I know many new friendships have developed as a result.
With that in mind, my first big sewing plan for 2020 is the first official SewOver50 meet-up which will be held in London on February 22nd, Judith Staley and I will be hosting together and I’m just collecting more offers of prizes for the charity raffle to be held on the day. I’ll make another announcement in early January but it’s going to be amazing to meet so many fellow-sewers in real life for the first time.
My second big sewing plan is the wedding dress for a young lady I’ve known all of her life. I’m at the toile stage at the moment but we’ve already been to Goldhawk Road and bought the fabrics, I’m going to enjoy this as I make very few wedding dresses any more (although I made a beautiful magenta silk taffeta one which the bride wore for her wedding in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace last September!) I must remember to document the process as we go along, it will be nice for Hatti to look back at too.
I’ve recently had the pleasure of being involved in a couple of very exciting projects which aren’t out just yet, it’s great to actually get paid for doing what I do well! Another resolution for this year will be to scale back on unpaid testing of patterns, I won’t be volunteering but I’ll consider any requests as I go along because I really do like to be able to help and offer advice. If you take testing seriously, as I do, it can take a lot of time and resources and I’m just not that into it any more if it seems like you’re not actually listened to at the end.
So that’s some of what I hope I can achieve in sewing terms in 2020, I’ll keep on with the blog, I know they may seem old-fashioned but I enjoy documenting my makes-and exhibition visits-and if others also enjoy them the so much the better! I hope to do more teaching as well in 2020, feel free to message me if you’d like to collaborate in some way with this, I don’t bring innovation particularly but I do bring a wealth of experience with me. Thank you Kate and Rachel for being so supportive of SewOver50 during 2019 and I look forward to seeing it continue to go from strength to strength in 2020! Happy New Year everyone and happy sewing!!
Colette – Tessuti Patterns
My new year sewing plans always include new Tessuti patterns. But in 2020 I’m really hoping to find extra sewing time to finally go through and make up some of the patterns in my stash, as well as trying a few more indie ones too.
Tara Viggo – Paper Theory
My sewing resolutions for 2020 mostly include trying to get around to finishing off all the little things that were on my list in 2018 and 2019. I have a sofa in desperate need for some new cushions, so that will be first.
My biggest goal is to try making my first patchwork quilt. I also have a huge scrap box I want to reduce before I allow any new fabric into my stash. I haven’t thrown a single scrap of fabric away for over three years now so as you can imagine it really needs some attention. Thankfully dealing with scraps and patchwork are two goals that support each other. I’d also like to film some more sewing and pattern cutting tutorials for my youtube channel – so stay tuned!
Marie – I AM PATTERNS
Thank you for all your support and your great makes in 2019! The more people sew their own clothes the better the world becomes. 🙂
My sewing resolution for this year is to plan and organise. I think that organising our sewing projects (and time) will help us make better choices. Whether it’s listing fabrics I want but don’t know which pattern to associate it with, what project to prioritise over another or just making a to-do to finish that shirt I started a long time ago I will start by putting all ideas down on paper. Thinking ahead will help slow down, understand my real needs, make better use of my time to carry on creating a sustainable, minimalist and ethical wardrobe.
I am looking forward to spending this new year together sewing and organised. 🙂
Nina – Nina Lee patterns
After all the crazy wedding sewing I did in 2019, I’m looking forward to being a little more relaxed about my creativity in 2020. Especially as I’m moving to California halfway through the year so will have quite a lot else on my plate… But the move gives me the opportunity to evolve my style for a different climate, environment and lifestyle. I’m looking forward to a bit of reinvention! I’ve also just been given the most gorgeous vintage sewing pattern – it’s the design my mum wanted to use for her wedding dress but never did and the design is actually really current, with dramatic sleeves and ruffles a-plenty – so I’m starting the year dreaming of how I can create a whole mini wardrobe of these dresses..
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