My Handmade Year 2017

Welcome 2018! I’ll start this year like many others on the Me Made Mittwoch Blog with a short review of my handmade year 2017. Let’s start with the hard facts: I sewed 11 dresses, 7 tops, 3 skirts, 3 pairs of pants, 2 jackets, 2 bras, 2 bags and 1 bathrobe. I knitted 5 cardigans, 2 of them from yarn that I spun myself, 1 dress from handspun, 2 wraps (1 from handspun) and 1 top from handspun linen yarn.I knitted some other smaller stuff too, that didn’t make it on the blog. If you’re interested have a look at my Ravelry project page. I also made 6 clothing items for Marvin. I also finished some stuff in 2017 but didn’t manage to write about it, so I will count those items for the review of 2018 ;) Some items won’t make it on the blog. I made some underpants, sweatpants, jeans, t shirts for Marvin and more stuff that I felt blogging about them would be repetition.

It feels like I have made fewer clothes this year than all the years before. I think the reason for that is, that at this point I don’t really need new clothes (which took me a while) and I can take more care into each individual piece. A made a lot of muslins, bought some really expensive and beautiful fabrics and I spun a lot of my yarns myself. The positive side of this is, that I decreased the number of items that went immediately to the trash. Either because I didn’t like them, or because my sewing was sloppy. And speaking of items for the trash: my fail of the year 2017 definitely was my silk Kim dress, that vanished while Marvin took pictures of it. I fixed all the seams, but I actually only wore it for the pictures.

Picking favorites is a lot harder. Gun to my head I would say my backpack. I love everything about it!

The backpack is my most loyal companion. I wear it to work and I took it with my on every single one of my travels in 2017. It still is in a great shape, considering how much I used it and the dirt distributes very evenly on it, haha :D I hope the day will never come, but when (if) I have to get rid of the backpack one day, I think I will have to make myself a new one, that is exactly the same. That’s how much I love it!

There are two more favorites in the category ‘got used a lot’. The first one is my softshell jacket that I made in the second half of the year and that I lived in during autumn. I was never too cold and never too hot and the jacket was great during flights and train rides. I think it goes equally great with pants and skirts/dresses and I really like the print!

The other favorite that got worn a lot is my alpaca wrap. It has so many colors that it goes with everything ;) It started felting and is a little itchy, but I like that. The felting made it resistible against necklaces that pull out single threads when they get stuck, which is great :)

I also wore the stained pair of Ginger jeans a lot, the fabric holds up great and I like how they look. I thought that it would be difficult to find matching tops for the jeans, but I made it work :) The coolest pair of pants I made however were the sailor jeans. Unfortunately they are neither comfortable nor practical, so I didn’t wear them that much.

I think categorizing my favorites is a good idea, or this post will never find an end! :D So now: favorite dresses:

That’s pretty hard to pick! I think my latest dress could turn out to be a favorite, but I only made it a month ago or so, and haven’t worn it that much. I wore my Mira Dress a lot, I love the colors and that it is so practical and comfortable, but still special.

The Anna Dress could also still turn out to be a favorite, the summer was fover here, when I sewed it, I only wore it maybe twice, and I really liked it. And I sewed so many other dresses from beautiful fabrics! Okay, one more: the Flora Dress! And my hiking dress!

Okay, next category: favorite knitted item:

My lace top! Especially combined with my favorite skirt, the flamingo Chardon skirt.

And the favorite item in the ‘made for Marvin’ category is his latest pair of 101-jeans. He wears them a lot and it was so much fun making them.

That was fun! Looking through all the things I have done and places I have been to last year, but also making all those items and blogging about them. Although I have been blogging for some years now and there have been times when I thought about quitting, it still gives me a lot. It is so nice to know that people are entertained and inspired by the things I write and that sometimes I can even help some of you. Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment and taking an interest in what I do! I wish all of you a happy and crafty 2018! :)

Teaser

Macht’s gut!

Katharina

 

 

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12 thoughts on “My Handmade Year 2017

  1. Kirsty

    ARE YOU WALKING AN ALPACA IN THAT LAST PHOTO?1 Great round up! I want to note down more facts about my sewing this year so I can do these kind of good round ups. I also want to start blogging again! I look forward to seeing what you make this year!

    Reply
    1. Katharina Post author

      Yes :) Say hi to Zapato Blanco :) Marvin and I often take walks with him and his family and friends :) Aaaand I am in possession of his fiber! :) It would be great if you started blogging again. I would love to read about how Finland is treating you :)

      Reply
  2. Sue

    What a fabulous round up post Katharina! I always look forward to reading what you have to say about your makes and seeing all the lovely locations you photograph them in. I hope you continue to spin, weave, sew and knit as prolifically in 2018!

    Reply
  3. Caroline

    A great review of the year. You have made so many lovely things for yourself and your loved ones. I look forward to seeing what you create in 2018!

    Reply
  4. Jo

    Hi Katharina, I love reading about your adventures in making. I am also tall so appreciate your comments on making adjustments – just this week I checked about your Belladone dress because I had big issues with the length of the bodice!
    Wishing you all the best for a wonderful 2018! Jo

    Reply
  5. Lisa

    You’ve had a fantastic year! Your blog posts are ever inspiring, always interesting and informative, so I hope you do continue blogging. Love seeing photographs of your travels…… and especially like the one above of the Appalachian Mountain view?! Look forward to seeing what you create in 2018!! :)

    Reply
    1. Katharina Post author

      Ha, good eye, that picture was taken in Asheville, so not far from you, actually :) Seeing this huge areas of wildly grown treed really was something special to me, soo beautiful. We don’t really have that here in Europe.

      Reply