Last night was one of those evenings where I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about sewing.

More precisely, what I want to sew next.

Autumn/Winter sewing plans were steam rolling through my mind.

(I hope you don’t mind the fact that I  completely lump Autumn and Winter together. To me, they are simply the 9 months of the year in Northern Europe when it becomes grossly inhospitable!)

In the end, I couldn’t fall asleep until I’d written down a list and organised them into a sewing queue.

Am I alone here?

But, as thoughts of Autumn/Winter started to invade, in addition to looking forward, it’s sometimes useful to look backwards.

Voilà, this post was born.

A little look back over my summer sewing of 2018.

Partly because reflection is a good thing. And partly since I thought it might be fortuitous timing for everyone in the Southern hemisphere who are just getting ready for “le  beau temps“. At least the advantage of being ‘behind’ in the seasons (I’ve never understand why the Northern seasons are considered ahead, where exactly is the seasonal starting point supposed to be!) is that you can learn from other’s mistakes as to what works and what doesn’t!

My favourite summer makes

This category is all about gut instinct. When I think back over what I’ve sewn for the warmer weather, what are the garments that stand out the most?

I’m also trying very hard to ignore this Megan Nielsen Flint + Vogue Atelier Brunette jumpsuit that I just posted.

Because, you know, we all think that our latest make is the best thing ever.

Until the next one

OK, so for me, the two most memorable patterns that jump into my mind are my Persephone Pants (by Anna Allen Clothing) and my Deer and Doe Myosotis dress.

Let’s reminisce, shall we:

Ok, three pairs. I guess that means I’m a fan..

And, as for Myosotis, I did only manage one. But, I wore it to death, I promise. And I do have a Nani Iro double gauze in my stash for a second one. Which I guess will now have to wait a while…

I lovd both of these patterns in every possible way. A pleasure to sew. And to wear. Which I did – ALL the time!

Summer sewing achievement

The make that I am probably most proud of having successfully put together this summer is my Sophie Swimsuit.

This is an entire underwire bra!!! With boning!!

I would, genuinely, have never imagined that this would be within my sewing capabilities. It has definitely opened up a new world of sewing I want to explore. My lingerie drawer is looking pretty ratty at the moment (OK, too much information, sorry), so expect lace and more underwire in this blog’s future.

I promise!

See, now I will hold myself accountable!

The other garment I am especially proud of is my Seamwork Audrey denim jacket.

Geez, she looks pretty happy, right?

There’s a lot of denim buttons to be installed on this one guys! And I was really close to just buying a RTW one, so I’m so happy I went the “I made it myself” route! I got a whole heap of wear out of this jacket this summer – it’s a great summer basic!

Summer discoveries

The main things that I surprised myself with in my sewing this summer is the realisation that jumpsuits are frickin’ awesome. Seriously I had NEVER worn a single jumpsuit in my life prior to this Spring.

I guess I was just like, nah, that’s not for me. But now look at me go, there’s no stopping me…

I think jumpsuits are the new dresses!

You can find those posts (from left to right) here, here, here and here! (link party time!!!)

And, oh, I also discovered that I am totally willing to wear overalls if Heather Lou tells me to! Here are my Jenny Overalls in mint green Cone Mills denim.

Another thing of which I have become painfully aware this summer is that I want to wear linen. Only linen. All the linen. All the time.

And maybe a little bit of double gauze too.

From left to right, those are: linen Winslow culottes by Helen’s Closet with a linen Kabuki tee by Paper Theory Patterns; a linen blend Lois Dress by Tessuti Patterns; linen Megan Nielsen Flint Pants; a double gauze By Hand London Anna Dress and Vogue 1501 in double gauze!

Summer fails..

OK, so here’s the fun part.

What sucked?

Me and my Jessica Dress just weren’t the best of friends at any stage of the process. Nor did the relationship improve by the end!

I’ll probably get rid of it.

I recently saw this amazing blue crinkle linen online at Tessuti Fabrics and I’m thinking that I’d like to rediscover the idea of bringing my oversized check fantasy to life in a garment I’ll actually love. The lesson for this one, amongst many, is that it’s just not worth settling for a fabric that doesn’t sing to me …

The other thing that was kind of a miss is that I sewed myself loads of woven t-shirts this summer. Featured below are the Kabuki tee, the Inari tee and the Hemlock tee…

And even though I love these garments (no rubbish heap for these makes – ever!), I thought I would wear them more often than I actually did.

I blame the unusually hot weather. You see, I was expecting a typical Dutch summer. Which generally involves wearing pants, plus maybe a t-shirt if you’re lucky. I can usually count the number of days I can wear a summer dress each year on my hands! This year we had about two months worth of dress weather! As a result of which I just couldn’t bring myself to wear a t-shirt and pants when, you know, linen dresses were available!!

So what’s next?

My sewing plans tend to change like the wind. Despite my late night list-writing habits.

So I don’t want to make too many promises.

But I see lots of separates in my upcoming sewing plans. Next to the cutting table are probably the Deer and Doe Azara Skirt and the Victory Patterns Ulysses Trench. And, for the record, whoever says you can’t wear linen in Autumn and Winter is an idiot. There will be more linen. I promise…

Other garments high on my radar are the  Suki Kimono by Helen’s Closet and I want to make my first ever bra…

Aghhhh, there’s just too much.

If only I could just sit in a room for three months and sew all the things I would ever need to have the perfect wardrobe. That would totally work, right…?

Oh and, finally, a little P.S! If you like to get your blog hits through Bloglovin’, feel free to follow me over there: you can find me here. And you can find me on Instagram here.