Review of 2012

Everyone else is doing it, so I’m going to follow the cool crowd and do my own review of the year. I love seeing reviews of the blogs I follow and remembering all the inspiring images and projects I have read and followed through the year, so I hope you enjoy mine as much.

I tried to pick just 5 or 10 top makes over the year, but as I looked through all my pictures* I saw so many makes I forgot about (because they have seamlessly merged into my wardrobe, not because I never looked at them again!) so here, sorted into categories, is my round up of the year…

In the category of Most worn garment of 2012 the nominees are:

• black corduroy Ginger skirt (goes with everything, at home or at work)
• charcoal wool trousers (so warm, cosy and well-fitted)
• polka dot pyjama party pyjama bottoms (purple, polka dots, pjyamas = perfect)
• piped polka dot skirt (I still love this so much)
• self-drafted Jeanius jeans (they are jeans, of course they are well worn!)
• And the winner is… Pyjama Party Pyjamas! These are worn in rotation with one or two other pairs of pj bottoms, so have definitely been worn the most this year, in all seasons.

In the category of Best Fancy Dress of 2012 the nominees are:

• Self-drafted boiler suit (worn to Secret Cinema showing of Promethius)
• HRH The Queen cloak and sash (worn to a birthday party)
• And the winner is… HRH The Queen! I loved this night out, the cloak was great for waving while dancing, and it can probably be reused for future parties with different themes.

In the category of Most time-consuming make of 2012 the nominees are:

• Miette cardigan (it has been a decade since I last knitted an adult-sized garment)
• Peacock dress (hand-beaded, couture finish in expensive silk)
• Colette Sorbetto (lots of pattern adjustments to get the perfect fit)
• Jeanius Jeans (making a pattern from scratch and lots of muslins)
• Minoru jacket (again, lots of muslins and adjustments)
• And the winner is… The Peacock Dress! When people admired this dress and asked me to make them a dress, I added up costs of materials and my time (at least 15 hours of beading, 6 hours of fitting and tweaking, and many, many hours of construction including 4 hours hand-sewing the hem!) to give a quote of just a little under 4 digits. Surprisingly nobody made further requests…

In the category of Most unusual craft location of 2012 the nominees are:

• in a cable car over the Thames (going between Olympic venues)
• on a beach in the middle of Camden at 7am (after the start of the last leg of the Olympic Torch relay)
• outside Buckingham Palace while waiting for Olympic cyclists to arrive.
• And the winner is… The Beach in Camden at 7am. A beach in Camden is pretty unusual. Being there before breakfast is even more unusual. Sitting in baking sunshine by 8.30am in England is definitely the most unusual happening!

The final category is for projects that I would never have believed were possible a couple of years ago (well possible for other people, but not me!). In the category of Most life-changing make of 2012 the nominees are:

• the Peacock dress (sewing with silk, couture techniques, hand beading)
• Jeanius jeans (making a pair of jeans without a proper pattern)
• spotty Burda blouse (I’ve never even managed to buy well-fitted woven tops before)
• Miette cardigan (not just a knitted garment, but one that fits without gaping!)
• Minoru raincoat (It is a coat. I can wear it when it rains. I don’t get wet!)
• And the winner is… the spotty woven Burda blouse. The other nominees may be fancy or more technical, but as a curvy girl I have never worn or owned nice woven tops (without them looking unflattering) so this blouse makes anything seem possible. Plus, when I tried on the finished blouse I wanted to wear it immediately, which is always a good sign.

Looking through all my pictures there were so many that didn’t make the nominations, so here is the best of the rest.

Top row, left- right: Sorbetto top, giraffe crochet hat, Birthday Butterfly dress
Middle row, left-right: Summertime skirt, Embroidered Embroidery case, iPad case
Bottom row, left-right: Blogging meet up and shopping, Denim Traveller dress, United Stashes of Awesome skirt

A lot of great crafting and great memories this year, I hope you have enjoyed reading all about them on my little blog. Thank you to all my followers and for all the lovely comments. Happy New Year!

* I am aware that some pictures haven’t been blogged, or some makes haven’t been photographed. Sorry. Will try and do better this year!

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