2020 Review

2020 was a very productive year for me. This year I embraced my passion for sewing, bought a serger, started working with knit fabric and became more confident working with flimsy viscose and gorgette fabrics. I made a lot of items, more than 100 if we count all the lingerie and hand-made jewelry. Some were failures from the start, some proved to be uncomfortable or unflattering, but most were more or less successful and have enriched our wardrobes. 

I've chosen just 5 sewn items I am quite proud of:

Although most of my creative energy this year went into sewing, I did continue to knit and made a couple of hats, a big shawl, a few pairs of socks and these five sweaters, all of which are loved and worn: 

Even though the year was marked by quarantines and lock downs, we had our share of traveling and hiking. Probably the most memorable - our extremely lucky visit to beautiful Malta just before all the madness began:

In August we made a five day traveling journey through Northern Bulgaria, visiting my extended family. We enjoyed it so much that we hope to repeat it this year, as there are so many other beautiful places in our own country that we would like to visit (again):

My greatest joy - hiking in the mountains. This year the weather, especially in the transitional seasons, was surprisingly mild and pleasant and we traveled a lot to the nearby mountains and climbed a lot of peaks, some of them repeatedly. The most memorable hikes:

To the Seven Rila lakes in late June. I adore this place and hope to return to it every year.

To peak Malyovitza - one of the more difficult peaks of Rila, this time we climbed it in the fog.

Ruen on my birthday - it was a great hike and I was very happy to celebrate my day on the peak and in the Osogovo hut later in the evening.

Our Christmas hike to Cherni vruh - that was an adventure to remember :)

Although the year was difficult and stressful, we and all of our extended family and friends were lucky to escape the virus and to stay healthy and comparatively sheltered. I hope 2021 will be a good year, we will all stay healthy and be able to enjoy life fully and freely.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, DEAR FRIENDS!

Burda 01 / 2020 Blouse #112

My sewing mojo is back and I've made three more clothing items since I finished the plaid tunic in December! At the beginning of January I bought the new Burda and I was truly smitten with it - I've made two of the patterns there and there are at least two more patterns I want to try. The first make was the hooded shirt #107, which I made for Gaby. She loved it and wore it last Sunday, but I still don't have modelled pictures of it, so today I'm showing my second make - blouse # 112, which is one of the sewing lessons in the magazine.

It is a fairly easy blouse with round neck with an opening at the back, grown sleeves and an interesting sleeve placket, which is the detail that makes the blouse. I cut the smallest 34 (xs) size and made some adjustments for smaller height - reduced a total of 5 cm from the length. The fabric is one of the pieces I was gifted by a friend, who works in the sewing industry. It is fairly stiff cotton and was not the right choice for this pattern, which calls for something fluid, like viscose, but I wanted very much to try the pattern and to use some of my stashed fabric.

I like a lot the detail on the sleeves and I would really like to try it again. However I did not like the entire design - the blouse was too voluminous, even on me, and I'm a 36, and probably because of my stiff fabric, it sat very shapeless on me. I tried to correct it, undoing the french seams on the sides and taking it in quite a lot - probably with a total of 15 cm. Maybe I should have gone for darts, but I thought they would ruin the stripes of the blouse.

Anyway, I consider the blouse a failure and I don't like the fit, nor the color. But it was a pure pleasure to cut and sew it, so I don't regret the time I spent on it at all - after all my friend gifted me these fabrics to exercise my sewing skills and this was just what I did.

And I learned a few new things from the sewing tutorial, so it was not a total waste. Because of the sleeves, which I really love, I am even tempted to try the pattern in viscose and with darts, to see if the right fabric will make a difference.