TOP 5 of 2014: The hits

For the past couple of years 2012 and 2013, I have participated in Gillians Top 5 series. I like doing it as it provides an opportunity to reflect on my year of sewing. I should probably reflect like this on other parts of my  life! I have finally written up the first two categories, the hits and the misses. The Hits in this post and the misses to follow shortly (for some reason they didn't like being in the same blog post! I don't blame them).

I had quite a few makes this year that I absolutely adore that just fit perfectly into my wardrobe. Not necessarily perfectly executed but are just right for me. It must have been a good year, because it was difficult to narrow it down, but here goes:

1. The endless procession of peplums

The Named Kanerva is one of my favourite patterns of all time and while the buttons on my jewel version aren't positioned exactly right, there is something about this style of top that I find flattering and my Atrium kanerva gets worn weekly.  I continued to experiment with the peplum during the year and ended up with two other tops I made that I adore: the wildflowers peplum and then my Rachel de Thames hoodie (which is seeing a lot of use at the moment).  Long live the peplum.

2. Dungarees

Pauline Alice produced some great patterns this year and I was lucky enough to be a tester for a few of them. The Turia Dungarees are my favourite. I tested this pattern with chambray and then made up a cute pinafore pair which surprisingly gets worn a lot!  I love my chambray pair but some bad stitching with the flat felled seams has meant that they are starting to fall apart. That doesn't stop them from being a hit though and I'll remake them next year.

3. Frocktails dress

The fabric for this dress was like a bolt of goodness at Spotlight. I just couldn't believe how fantastic it was. Fluro and textured, it was just calling out to be made up into a dress.  I was so happy with how this dress turned out. It is a simple style, based loosely on the Kanerva (of course) but I love it.

4. Culottes

It all started with #teamculottes captain Debbie, producing pair after pair of fabulous culottes, and then with the release of the Girl Friday culottes pattern by Liesl and Co there was no excuse. My first pair was made up in a difficult silk and my second in the pineapple fabric that is sweeping the nation. Both pairs are a bit big in the waist but I am sure will fit perfectly once I return from France! The movement at the waist definitely doesn't stop me from wearing them and the silk ones have already had a lot of work air time and the pineapple ones will continue to be on high rotation when I return.

5. Skippy dress
This was a surprise hit for me.  I was asked if I wanted to participate on a blog tour with this dress and on first looking at it was not sure at all what fabric I was going to use. Luckily I came across this thick stripey ponte at Spotlight which I think is the perfect fabric. This dress is 100% me, stripes, drop waist, a bit blousey in the top. The scoop neck and kangaroo pouch are two things that I wouldn't normally sew, but I just adore this dress and again gets worn a lot - both to work on casual Friday's and on weekends.

So there you have it. what I think are my hits for the year. Next up, the misses....;(