Top 5 Favourite Makes of 2019

This year I think I've managed to sew some things that I really want to wear. I'm so pleased with so many of this year's makes and it's always so difficult to choose definite favourites, but these are my final five.

These aren't in any particular order but I had to place my prom dress first! I mentioned in this post just how proud I am of it and seeing the photos always make me smile. I really enjoy more in depth makes and like to have at least one bigger project every year.

This linden is such a simple make but it's rapidly become one that is worn again and again. The rib fabric is so soft and such a lovely shade of grey. All round it's a great staple to have.

These trousers might be my absolute favourite make of 2019! I just love them so much. The fabric is exactly what I was looking for, the pattern is comfy and smart and they remind me of my trip to Tomato in Tokyo where I bought the fabric.

I classed this pink fluffy jacket as my most unexpected make this year and I love it because I would never have imagined that I would make something like this! My only regret is that I haven't been brave enough to wear it more often and I'd really like to make another in a less bold colour. Having said that, I do love this jacket!

This is kind of cheating as there are two makes in one here! My flint culottes were a really successful make earlier in the year but my favourite here is the jersey shirt. I have worn this top so much and made another in white that I also love.

I'm really pleased with my 2019 makes and can't wait for more sewing in 2020! The only thing I haven't made this year is jeans and I'm really hoping to make a few pairs next year as I've grown out of my previous handmade pairs. I'm in the process of making a pair of Lander Pants and have the Dawn Jeans in mind too.

2019 Sew Down

Rounding up my makes for the year is one of my favourite things to do. It's really nice to have an excuse to be able to go back through the things I've made that year and see how my sewing has improved, especially being able to compare this round up with 2018 and 2017.

Proudest make: No surprise here! My proudest make of the year is, of course, my prom dress. I spent hours designing and sewing this dress to make it perfect and it all paid off, I absolutely love it and loved wearing it to prom.

Most worn make: This top feels like such a boring choice but I have worn it so much this year. It's always hard doing this round up in the winter as I can't imagine wearing it now but my white twist top was one of my most worn tops throughout the summer.

Least worn make: The fabric completely put me off ever wearing this jumper and I have since given it to a charity shop. The colour never grew on me and it's also too synthetic for my liking. One of the dangers of ordering fabric online!

Most unexpected make: This has to be my pink fluffy jacket! I find it amazing that as fashion changes things begin to feel much less out there than before. I am still building up the courage to wear this more often but I do love it so much!

Last year's favourite: There were a few things that I could have chosen for this as I try to keep wearing old makes but my grey Anima Pants have been worn continuously this year. They're so comfy to put on at the end of the day and I just love the pattern.

Favourite make for others: The majority of clothes that I make for others are for my mum but from time to time I make something for a friend my own age and these are often some of my favourite presents to give. I made this top for my friend's birthday back in February and she wore it throughout summer. I've also loved making things for my mum this year, particularly this skirt and this top.

Most used pattern: I sew with fewer and fewer patterns now as I try and draft or hack them to get exactly what I want. Sometimes I'm fortunate to find the perfect pattern without needing to design my own and the Papercut Patterns Anima pants are exactly that. These checked ones are my absolute favourites but I've also made two other pairs this year, a blue pair and some pyjamas.

Favourite fabric shop: This year I had an incredible trip to Japan and to Tokyo's fabric shops! Tomato was the best fabric shop I've ever visited and it will probably remain that way for a long time.

Favourite fabric: The checked fabric that I used for my Anima pants was a design that I spent so long looking for and I love it. It has a slight bit of stretch to it and the wrong side is so soft making it even more perfect! It is, of course, from Tomato.

Most exciting event: This was way back in March so feels like a lifetime ago, but the Knitting & Stitching Dressmaking Competion which I entered and won was a real highlight for me. It even included a catwalk at Olympia!

Long Sleeved Black Sparkly Top

I don't tend to keep fabric lying around for ages without making anything from it but this was one that I got for Christmas last year: too cold for January and February and then too dark for the summer months. It's quite nice to be able to whip out a piece of fabric at the start of a season though which was exactly what I did this autumn.

This fabric is truly gorgeous. It's a black knit fabric (but with very little stretch) with a really subtle silver sparkle in it. I spent an unnecessarily long time umming and ahhing over what to make with it but settled on a simple long sleeved t-shirt which was the perfect design. I added black ribbing for the cuffs and neckband left over from this top which is the perfect extra touch. I would love to add ribbing to the cuffs of all my jumpers but finding matching ribbing is so difficult! I was really pleased to find a few scraps of black rib left over.

This is such a simple top but I love how the sparkle elevates it. Because the colours are quite dark I've been enjoying wearing it with my grey Anima Pants, an outfit which is super comfy. I'm pleased that I waited and planned the right thing to make with the fabric rather than jumping in and making the first thing that sprung to mind.

Sewing for others: Grey Checks and Orange Zips

This top has been so long in the making, I can't belive it's taken me over two years to make another version of this blouse for my mum! Since making that top she has worn it constantly, and while it's still in heavy rotation in her wardrobe it was about time that I made her another. As is often the case we were delayed by the lack of being able to find the right fabric so when we found this gorgeous grey check fabric shopping in Tokyo we jumped upon it.

I love this fabric (bought in Tokyo!) so much that I was very tempted to keep it for myself but... seeing as this top was promised a long time ago and it was my mum who actually spotted the fabric in the first place and bought it for herself I reluctantly made something for her. This blouse is exactly the same as the last one although I think my pattern drafting has definitely improved since then so if I make another one I might re-trace the original top that my pattern was copied from. It's a very simple shape but the darts and facing make it really nice.

The best part of this top has to be the zip - it's amazing! Again, this was picked out by my mum with this top in mind and it is just perfect. I love the contrast of the grey and the orange and it's a lovely surprise to see the bright zip when she turns around. I really love circular zip pulls too but they're oddly hard to come across.

I'm so pleased with this top, although not as much as my mum who has already worn it lots since I've made it. The fabric is really soft (I think it might be a flannel) so it's good for this time of year too. I loved the fabric so much that I even managed to squeeze a top for myself out of the very few leftovers!

Fabric Shopping in Tokyo!

I had the most incredible holiday in Japan this summer and my top priority once I knew we were going to Tokyo was to go fabric shopping! I have heard so much about the amazing fabric shoppping experience there and it didn't disappoint. The infamous Tomato fabric shop is by far the best fabric shop I've ever visited! With five floors packed full of incredible fabrics which are all great quality and surprisingly cheap for Japan I spent the best few hours ever there. It's taken me a while to get around to doing a write up about the farbic shopping but here it is!

One of the reasons that Tokyo is so famous for its fabric shopping is that there is an entire fabric district. My mum and I took the metro to Nippori and were immediately greeted with signs directing us to the fabric shops (which I almost missed as I was so excited, despite how obvious they were!). We only had an afternoon, I would of course have much prefered an entire day but as usual the rest of my family don't rate fabric shopping quite as high up on their priority list as I do! Even so, a few hours gave us more than enough time to buy a large amount of fabric. There is a plethora of fabric shops in Nippori but as we were stretched for time we decided to stick to Tomato. Tomato actually has several different shops, we went into two but spent most of our time in the big one. The floors are divided by fabric type and I of course headed straight for the jerseys.

The first few fabrics that I chose are all plain ribs. Tomato had the most amazing selection of plain knit fabrics in pretty much every colour and shade imaginable. They were also very well priced at the equivalent of around £4 a metre and quite wide for a rib. I love the bright orange colour of the top one but my favourite of these is probably the light grey. It's a lovely colour and feels so, so soft. I've actually already made two of these up - and two Lindens too! Here is the grey one and here is the purple.

I also bought a couple of really cool zips. I've been looking for zips with circle pulls for ages but they're surprisingly hard to come across. I bought two for myself (but wish I'd bought more!) with the intention of using one of them to make a zip neck top out of the orange rib.

The next two fabrics are my favourites. I have been looking for the equivalent of the bottom navy check for literally years and I couldn't believe it when I found it! It is just one of the most gorgeous fabrics I've ever sewn with. I made a pair of Anima Pants with it and they're one of my favourite makes ever. The top fabric is for my mum, but once again I love it and I'm quite jealous that it's for her! It feels a bit like flannel and it was bought with the intention to make another one of these tops.

The final few fabrics I haven't made anything from yet as they're quite summery but that's not to say I don't love them. The colours are just so lovely. The light blue feels like Airtex - the texture isn't really visible in the photo but it's got small indents in it. I bought it to make a polo shirt out of and I can't wait to make it! The pale pink fabric is just gorgeous, such a beautiful colour and the softest jersey. I haven't quite decided what to make out of it but it will probably end up as one of these tops. The final fabric was bought on a bit of a whim, you can probably tell that I don't usually sew with floral fabrics! There was something about it that I really liked though and I think it will look really nice as a t-shirt.

So there it is! My Tokyo fabric haul. All these fabrics were from the same shop and apart from the two checks they were all bought in the same main Tomato building. I really made the most of the experience as it's not somewhere I can go back to and I love everything I bought.

Miffy Pyjamas

This is a make which turned out better than expected and that I like more and more every time I look at it - Miffy pyjamas! This isn't typcially a fabric that I would sew with which is why it's so nice to have the opportunity to experiment with different fabrics from time to time. I tend to stick to plain fabrics or more geometrical prints but Craft Cotton Co asked me if I could make them a sample out of their lovely new Miffy Jersey fabric and to me it was just perfect for a pair of pyjamas. It's a really good weight too and of course the print is really cute, so perfect for something comfy. 

There are two parts to the set that I made, a top and trousers. One of the great things about it is that they can be worn interchangably, I really like that added versatility. For the trousers I of course used my beloved Anima Pants sewing pattern - my fourth pair! This is the first time I've used it for pyjamas, previous versions (here, here and -my latest favourite pair- here) are all jogging trousers.

Because the jersey isn't too lightweight it was perfect for jogging trousers. As usual, the waistband was midly horrific to sew but I am getting used to the amount of arm strength needed! I finished these off with a drawstring made from the same fabric which is knotted at the end. I think it's perfect for pyjamas as opposed to cord which makes them more for day wear.

For the top I went for a Linden - of course! This is the second view which I have made twice previously (here and here) and although those were my first few Lindens I hadn't made that view since. It's perfect for a simply pyjama top though and fits really well.

After a very exciting trip to a trade show in Houston the pyjamas were kindly sent back to me and I can't wait to wear them! I'm so happy to have had an excuse to make them, I really pleased with how they turned out.

Checked Anima Pants

These trousers are my latest favourite make and possibly even my favourite make ever! Everything about them is exactly what I envisioned. My love of the Anima Pants sewing pattern by Papercut Patterns is by no means about to end soon. After a traditional pair of jogging trousers and a blue jersey pair I really wanted to make the pattern out of a non-knit fabric. I really like the current trend of jogging trousers made from non-traditional fabrics such as denim (or in my case some kind of wool blend) and I love the feeling of a make turning out just the way I hoped it would!

I think it's the combination of the fabric and pattern that has made these trousers so successful. I already knew the pattern to be a winner and I have wanted a pair of large-checked trousers for such a long time but the fabric proved impossible to find. I was so delighted to find this one! It was avaliable in black too which was intitially the colour I was looking for but decided that I actually liked the navy  more. As I mentioned this fabric is almost wool-like, although much thinner than an actual wool. It has a very slight stretch to it and the wrong side is really lovely and soft. I've just about mastered the waistband by now but it is still very time consuming and requires a surprising amount of strength to sew!

The only issue with checks is that they are a nightmare to pattern match! I wasn't too worried about perfect pattern matching but I was careful when cutting out the front pieces, especially the pockets. I thought the crotch would really annoy me as the angle of the folded fly meant it was impossible to pattern match, but I've realised that I don't actually notice it when I wear them and even when I do notice it I'm not really too bothered about it. Having said that I am really pleased with the pockets!

These trousers are hands down my new favourites. They're smarter than jersey joggers but super comfy thanks to the elastic waist and have been perfect for wearing to sixth form. For the tie, I chose a white cord and I'm really pleased with how that looks. I really wasn't happy with the tape I used on my other joggers and have since replaced the tape on my grey ones to the same cord as these. I tied a knot at the end and then left the ends in pva glue overnight which worked perfectly: they don't unravel at all and the glue is completely transparent when dry.

Purple Linden Sweatshirt

I mentioned in my post about my grey linden that I had another planned and here it is! I bought this purple rib at the same time as the light grey one and although the grey was always going to be a linden, this one wasn't. However, I loved the grey linden so much that I decided to make another! I find tops like this perfect during colder months as they mean I can wear a t-shirt underneath so I knew that I'd get a lot of wear out of both of them.  

This shade of purple isn't usually the kind of colour that I buy, but I thought it was nice for a change and it's quite an unusual colour. It's a fairly heavy weight rib so perfect for a jumper. The only thing I changed between this and my previous linden was the neck hole - on this one I decided to make the sleeves slightly narrower at the top to have a smaller neck hole as I've found that with a really stretchy fabric it's easy to overstretch the neckband by cutting it too small. It also really annoys me when the neck hole is too big and shows the t-shirt being worn underneath so this seemed like an ideal solution. It worked pretty well but I think that it maybe wasn't ideal with the heavier weight rib as there is a slight bunching towards the top of the sleeves. However, this has softened over time so it might just be that it's very noticable to me!

The only thing I didn't foresee is that this rib is actually quite a bit heavier than the grey. I couldn't really tell initially as there isn't a big difference between the two. It feels more obvious when the top is actually being worn as it doesn't hang as well. I still really like it but the grey one has defintiely been worn more, probably due to a combination of a better weight fabric and a colour that is more me.

Palm Tree Shirt

I made this shirt such a long time ago that it feels somewhat strange to be writing about it now, especially considering how cold the weather currently is. One of the reasons it's taken me so long to actually photograph this shirt is to do with how long it was almost finished for. I rarely have half finished sewing projects but for some reason this shirt took me a very long time to add the finishing touches to. I spent a long time anguishing over the right buttons and because of this it was left on my mannequin for quite a while, completely finished other than buttons. The shade and size of navy that I wanted proved surprisingly difficult to find and so the shirt stayed buttonless for several months.

As summer approached it seemed like too much of a shame to leave the shirt unfinished and therefore unworn so I decided to add white buttons just so that it could be worn on holiday, with the intention replacing them if I found the right blue ones. Now the white ones are on I'm perfectly happy with how they look and I wish I'd just sewn them on sooner so that I could have started wearing the shirt earlier! I'm not sure why I was so against them in the first place...

I bought this fabric at the Knitting and Stitching Show at the same stand as this one and knew it would become a boxy shirt. I'd been vaguely looking for a fabric with drape to make a shirt for a while and I love the palm tree pattern on this one. I'm not entirely sure what type of fabric it is but it worked perfectly for this project although it did fray a lot! 

I made a pretty classic cropped boxy shirt which is something I've been wanting to try and make for a while. I'm really pleased with how the pattern turned out, especially having to draft the collar. It doesn't have any darts as I wanted it to hang loosely, which it does. My favourite detail is definitely the back yoke. I used the burrito method (which I've used twice before, here and here) and I love the beautiful finish it gives inside the shirt.