Hello all! The anniversary of my blog was at the end of February and I wanted to stand back a bit and have a look at what I have achieved in the last year, and how far I have come in the last four years. My first blog post was an apron made out of a tea towel, and four years later I struggle to think of a garment I haven't made. In the last year and a bit I have made over 50 pieces of clothing with a success rate of around 63% (which means that over half of those makes still get worn).
This year was all about the dinosaur fabric. I made pajamas for me and boxers, pants, t-shirts and a vest top for various other people.
A personal highlight in the year for me was writing, staging and performing in a musical and I loved making a massive new romantic style shirt for that. It was then that I learnt how much a piece of clothing can make you stand a little taller and your swagger a little more pronounced.
In terms of my most worn makes this year my scuba Noelle dress has been worn practically every single week since I made it. I love it for going out on a Friday night, but I also love layering long sleeved t-shirts under it for daywear.
My black top that I made to go with my elephant dress has been worn constantly since I made it a few weeks ago. I should have predicted this, because it goes with everything and it's super warm and cosy.
My last favourite of the year is my strappy back dress. Again, I can't wait until the weather warms up a bit so I can wear it again. The fabric, colour scheme and the fit of this dress just make me happy.
My most popular blog post of the year, and in fact ever is my Summer Ball Dress, which is incredibly ironic because I really wasn't happy with it at all. In fact, it got completely taken apart and is sitting on my dress form in a completely new guise.
My chambray jumpsuit was a firm favourite for warmer weather in the past year and I can't wait to put it back into rotation when the weather starts to warm up a bit. I was dreaming about a stripy version just the other day. This is one of the makes that I am most proud of this year. It looks like such a simple garment, and essentially it is, but I had problem after problem after problem in the making of this jumpsuit. I could easily have just given up and let it sit in the corner for eternity, but I didn't and now it's one of my favourite makes. Perseverance is key!
The other make that I'm the most proud of is my Kelly Anorak. The fabric was disgusting to work with, and there were some quite complicated techniques in there but I gave it a shot and I did it. Admittedly there was some swearing, but it got finished and I'm so proud of it.
I feel that the blog has really upped its game in terms of photos in the last year. I have worked with some fantastic photographers, including Lucy and my brother Edward and it makes me so happy to see my clothes done justice in photo form. I also want to say thank you to the less enthusiastic photographers who get kidnapped in the middle of their lunch break to take pictures of me posing in front of some kind of shrubbery. My favourite photoshoot is the one of my tutu for sure. Somehow, there's just so much atmosphere in it.
The photos of my Sophie swimsuit also deserve a mention, purely because of the amount of fun I had taking them, and the involvement of the inflatables. I also love my hair in this shoot.
I also love the stripy top and red skirt photos. Very idyllic and painting-like.
What have I learnt this year? I've learnt that there are ups and downs. Successes and failures. Some failures can be made into successes. In a way each failure can be called a success because of what has been learnt from it.
Thank you so much to all of you that read my blog. I really am much obliged, and I hope that you will stick around for another year.
Lauren xx