Nothing better than a snowstorm to put you back in the mood of writing new year’s resolutions even if we are on the 16th of January!
Quite a few big changes are happening. First of all, we are leaving our little flat in Paris and moving to Italy! More precisely to Monza, close to Milan. And yes you will get a complete review of the best material shops in Milan at some point! In the meantime, I am rushing around with all the administrative and logistic stuff that a move with four guitars, a piano a sewing machine and an estimate of 15 boxes of books, entails…
So with this new year, I have thought a bit of where this blog is going.
First of all, on the crafty side, there will be a lot to do in the new house with curtains, cushions, pouffes, you name it… The house is totally empty and we may also try out a bit of woodworking/ up-cycling of furniture if we are still locked-down.
On the sewing side, first of all, please meet Betty!
My wonderful boyfriend gave her to me for Christmas.
She can be adjusted to my size and looks really sleek. It also means I will stop getting cold all the time when I try things on mid-project or end up sewing in my knickers since I can’t be bothered to get dressed again.
As for my new years’ sewing resolutions, after having completed the 7 projects in 7 weeks Du fil à retordre sewing challenge, I have decided to try and make all my clothes myself.
Yup, that’s the aim. I am giving myself a few exceptions, namely:
– underwear & swimwear, not there yet technically, especially the bra part.
– basic jeans, okay this I could give a try, but I just may hop to Gap and get a new pair sometime.
– basic tees, not cost-efficient to make myself, I prefer concentrating on more fun stuff!
So what WILL I be making?
All the rest, in theory. Here are some pictures of some of the drawings I made to get inspired.
I am leaving Paris with a rather hefty stock (and probably will get a few extra…just in case, you know…) and most of the patterns come from either Tilly and the Buttons books or Vestiaire Scandinave, with a few exceptions.
I will keep you posted on my 2021 collection!
For the stories aspect, I may change tactic, as much as I enjoyed the ‘A story a month’ project I’m getting a bit bored with short stories and want to try something longer.
The good thing of churning out a story a month was that fact that it forced me to actually commit and at some point consider the piece finished. So I am thinking of writing a longer story in instalments and probably posting a chapter a month (I may be biting off more than I can chew with that, but lets at least give it a try!).
In that way, I will be constrained by the previous post and will not be able to go back on my decisions so much. And hopefully, that will help me get past page 20 that for now is the point at which I always get stuck and decide I either:
A. don’t like the main character
B. I have spent way too much time inventing the politics and geography of the world I’m writing about, and forgot the plot.
C. Scrap the first pages and try and insert Chekhov’s guns everywhere to make the plot go forward.
It would be interesting as an experiment to decide on a random word for each chapter, to sort of help me get the wheels turning and point that story in one direction or another.
More on that soon!
In the meantime, Happy New Year!
Crafty Poulette 