Mishmash of Thoughts on 2015 + Happy 2016!

 

happy2016

2015 is about to end, and I’m full of nostalgia already. This has been a year of so many magnificent firsts — I’ve mentioned them relentlessly at this point, so I will spare you the replay. Will 2016 top the surreal awesomeness that was this year? I can’t wait to find out.

The rose illustration you see up there is one of my favorites that I’ve done in the last 12 months. It’s a departure from my usual style, with more dimension and a botanical painting vibe. I want to do a whole lot more with the series that I created (there are about 10 flowers in total).

Ah, but that “want”. It’s one of the things I noticed as a recurring theme this year. I publicly announced so many things I hoped to accomplish, and don’t get me wrong, I got a lot done but I left far more than I was comfortable with undone. That was my biggest challenge — to find peace with incompletion, to not beat myself up. I hate hate hate not following through, and I feel like so many of my promises to myself and others fell to the wayside. Things like my grand aspirations to sew up jeans and a stylish grown-up wardrobe, to devote serious energy into an online shop (I’ve sold 2 items to date and have stalled on adding more items), completing the custom illustrations (it’s been over a year, for shame), providing monthly income reports, etc. etc. These are not mission critical tasks by any stretch of the imagination, but few things feel worse for me than letting myself and others down.

It’s made me a lot more cautious about what I declare as goals. And I’ve also learned that I have to be careful about talking about money issues here on the blog. Not everyone on the interwebs is kind as I was sad to discover first-hand, and I need to beef up my emotional armor a bit more should I choose to resume sharing financial information. I’ve been very open and in-depth with the Furoku members about the behind-the-scenes aspects, where it feels like a very safe arena. I think we all need spaces like that. Even though I’m always riddled with self-doubt, I believe that little membership is one of the best things I’ve come up with. It’s pushed me to become more honest, to try new illustration styles (the rose illustration at the top was created for one of the monthly offerings), to get out of my comfort zone and attempt new things. I feel like I’m a slightly better version of myself as a result.

I’m aware, however, that the blog is getting the short shrift since I’ve been pouring so much of myself into the membership and books. I keep hearing that blogs are dying — do you think so? I feel like I’ve asked this before, but at the time it still seemed like blogs were thriving. Because I didn’t want to become too influenced by anyone while I was working on my books, I stopped visiting other blogs for a good year. Now that I’m starting to pick up where I left off, I’ve noticed that many of my favorite bloggers have either stopped or dramatically reduced their content. Or they’ve become much more commercialized. Or just…different. I suppose the same could be said of mine, and really, change could be a good sign.

I very much wanted to give myself a lovely new handmade wardrobe and had pumped myself up that this would be what the blog would focus on for 2015. But I made a total of 7 items. 7! And I’m sort of cheating because I made one of the tops (Renfrew) in 2014 but had never blogged about it. Almost everything I made was blue, and I didn’t count the muslins for my jeans. I suspect there are some psychological reasons I’ve resisted sewing for myself, because I somehow managed to find time to sew for K even when it was sure to result in sleep deprivation. A sure sign of commitment. The good news is that almost every single thing I made for myself has been in heavy rotation — the Nani Iro stripey top in particular (4th from left) is starting to look threadbare from constant wear:

2015-memade

 

Linen Top

Renfrew Bamboo Knit Top

Nani Iro Top #1 and Nani Iro Top #2

Romper and Strappy Tank 

Knit Dress with Keyhole back

Anyhow, onto 2016! I don’t have any sweeping or specific goals for this shiny new year. I still love to blog, I still love to write and sew and paint and make stuff in general, and I hope I’ll be able to do all that and more for the foreseeable future. The intrinsic rewards trump any insecurities I may be experiencing and it’s my answer to the ubiquitous Mary Oliver quote I keep bumping into: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” I’m not much of a poetry gal, but I got her latest book, Felicity, and the last line in her poem “Leaves and Blossoms Along the Way” caught my attention recently: “The point is, you’re you, and that’s for keeps.”

So simple, yet so true. Brava, Ms. Oliver! I love how unpretentious and relatable her language is.

preciouslife

 

I’m wishing you all a 2016 in which you get to be spectacularly you!

 

P.S. Furoku members! The next edition is aimed to hit your in-boxes at 11:59pm tonight (or, you know, possibly on New Year’s Day).

2015 RECAP: Sewing for K

2015-recapfork

Good morning! I hope you all had a restful and celebratory Christmas, and perhaps you too are now looking back upon all the happenings of 2015. It’s been a big year for me: one book launched, another completed. I inadvertently started something that could be considered a side business. My little family of three had highs and lows, but the good times outweighed the bad. I hadn’t been quite prepared for the emotional turbulence that was part of this year, but in hindsight it stretched and pulled me like taffy, loosening me up, adding flexibility.

Given the many life-altering events that happened in the past 12 months, it’s no wonder that my personal sewing took a major hit. But I can’t really blame it all on book activities. The inevitable seems to be happening, and as K grows older, she’s less interested in wearing clothes that I’ve made. She wants to live in t-shirts/knits and leggings, preferably with characters and bright designs on them. “The non-stretchy stuff you make is uncomfortable, Mama,” she tells me.

So it makes sense that I tended to default to stitching up knit clothing, just because that upped the chances of them getting worn. Even so, she’d rather wear the store-bought hand-me-downs from our neighbor — I can understand that.

I’d assumed I made about a dozen things for K this year, but as I looked through my archives, the grand total came out to 27 (if counting each component of her Halloween costume separately). Not too bad! An average of 2+ a month is far more than I thought I could manage.

So here they are by month (surprisingly, the only month I completely skipped was May):

JANUARY

raglan-navy-floral5

 

Raglan Navy + Floral

frogtastic10

Frogtastic Tee

 

perripullovers5 perripullovers6

Perri Pullovers

FEBRUARY

plaid-wool-dress1

Front Placket Dress (Wool Plaid)

geometric-placketdress1

Front Placket Dress (Geometric)

coral-giraffe-print1

Coral Giraffe Print Top + Leggings

MARCH

bow-dress5

Bow Dress

robe-jacket7

“Robe Jacket”

dotted-sailor-dress3

Sailor Dress

APRIL

bunny-tee-dress6

Easter Bunny T-Dress

JUNE

maritime-y-dress4

Maritime-y Dress

non-recital-dress7

Recital Dress That Wasn’t

whitefloral-naniiroshorts3

White Tee + Nani Iro Knit Shorts

JULY

bralette1

Bralette

henrydress-gradientgrey8

Henry Dress in Gradients of Grey

AUGUST

bedfordinblackandfloral1

Bedford in Black and Floral

 

rockstar-pants14

Rockstar Pants

SEPTEMBER

ottobre-marja3

Ottobre Marja Top

 

animal-knit-dress4

Second Day of School Dress

OCTOBER

superherok6

Superhero K

NOVEMBER

fauxfur-vest8

Faux Fur Vest

DECEMBER

gold-recital-dress3

Gilded Recital Dress

27 items! There were a few pairs of leggings I didn’t post, so it’s probably closer to 30. I’m not sure how to approach 2016 and sewing for K… I’m in the midst of making her a puffy jacket — it probably won’t be done until this Saturday — and I will continue to make her necessary clothes, I’m sure. But it’s different from when I first started this blog and I could make whatever I wanted for her and she happily donned the outfits. She’s no longer my dress-up doll, and we are entering a whole new phase of tweenhood and strong opinions and self-consciousness.

I’ll figure something out, though. Maybe 2016 will be about teaching K how to make her own clothes. Now, wouldn’t that be something?

Happy Holidays!

2015-joypeace

Filled with loved ones, I hope it is.

Brimming with inside jokes and outside ones too.

A magical time.

A time for reflection.

Perhaps some wistfulness as well.

Deck those halls, or leave them bare

But most of all, I’m wishing you all

Peace + Joy, Joy + Peace, whatever combination thereof

 

P.S. If you need any last-minute gift tags, you can download them here and here. [UPDATE: I just sent out extra holiday goodies to Furoku members, so check your Promotions/inboxes :-)]

P.P.S. I’ll see you back here in about seven days!

 

Happy Friday + Randomness

pikeplacepigs

It’s that time of year when I go through all of my photos to assemble a calendar for my extended family (I’m using Artifact Uprising again since I loved their wooden clipboard calendars last year – they delivered within three days even though I chose the 7-10 day option, which was a nice surprise). Wading through my picture archive is no small feat since I take thousands and thousands of photos a year, and because I’m so sentimental, I get caught up in nostalgia. I may have even shed a tear or two from particularly intense memories. I came across the image above from Pike Place Market that I took last December and remember thinking, “I’m so glad I looked up — I never knew there were pigs up there!” I tend to get focused on whatever’s in front of me, so it’s refreshing to notice other perspectives.

It’s getting down to the wire…how are you all doing with holiday preparations? K is out of school for the next couple of weeks, so postings may get spotty as we plan on fully immersing ourselves in the holiday spirit.

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends — I’m off to gather baking supplies for some serious cookie concoctions!

Only a week left
for gift wrapping, sweets-making
‘Tis a good season

Pinafore + Bloomers Pattern on etsy!

pinafore-top-bloomers1

Due to (sort of) popular demand, I’ve listed the digital pinafore and bloomers pattern on my (sort of) new etsy shop. The backstory of the shop: a few years ago, someone was interested in purchasing a print from me, so I quickly created a shop on etsy for that single sale, and then pretty much let it languish, unloved. I get requests for these patterns via email from time to time and have been doing this labor intensive PayPal workaround, and it finally hit me that I might want to make life easier for myself. I am not, as you can tell, very business savvy. [Update: since I’ve received several comments and emails regarding the sizing, it’s listed as 6 months to 18 months, which is a pretty big range, but the top especially is generously proportioned and I’ve had friends whose petite 2-year old could still wear it.]

For the last couple of months, I’ve been researching different online commerce options like Shopify and Squarespace and Woo Commerce, but you know, I figure I (sort of) already have the whole etsy thing set up, so why not roll with it?

Thank you to all the people who have been emailing me about the pinafore and bloomers! I hope you’ll stop on by my little shop — I’ll be adding other digital downloads and prints in the coming weeks!