#2018makenine

Crikey how are we already at the end of January?! This is my first year taking part in the #2018makenine challenge on Instagram.

Over 2017 I picked up some brilliant fabric online, all from independent businesses (go, team!) and all in their sales! There are so many brilliant online suppliers now; the customer service and little touches you get from these businesses are what make shopping small so much more worthwhile (everything wrapped in ribbon from Sewloco, or a cheeky Maoam from the Crafty Mastermind, anyone?!), plus I have it on good authority that every time you buy from an independent business they do a little happy dance.

So I have the fabric, and I also realised I’ve gradually built up a really good bank of patterns, so I’m hoping to do the whole year with no purchases!

From doing this I worked out that, if anything, the only fabric I need to get is some denim. I also have fabric that wasn’t assigned to any patterns that will work well for daytime tops.

As you can see, it’s very very optimistic to even aim to make all these this year; cue #2018makenine…

I whittled down my plans to these nine patterns:

The fabric is paired up for them, and in terms of timeline, I’m starting with the jersey tops while breastfeeding; there’s no point in making any of the gorgeous dresses if they wont fit in a few months! I think my arse has gone back down to pre-baby size so skirt making can commence, and I have a two-day wedding in May and plan to wear the Jenna jumpsuit and the Kew dress so they’ll be makes for April. Lastly, I’m going to hold off on the Penny dress until my figure is completely back to ‘normal’ because it’ll be a more challenging project and uses lots of fabric, so I want it to last!

January is almost up and I haven’t made a single one of my make nine, instead I made two Deer and Doe Zephyr dresses and a disastrous Tilly and the Buttons Delphine (more about that later), so we’ll see how the rest of the year pans out!

If you’re taking part in the challenge please comment with your Instragram name so I can follow your progress and join the fun!

Happy sewing x