I wish you a wonderful year! My grand mother would say (and would be right in saying so) that I’m a bit late, but I’d rather be late than miss this opportunity to wish for happiness. I hope 2012 ended well, that 2013 is starting nicely and wish you a lot of good things for the rest of the (still new) year.

As for me, with the new year I’d like to find my way back to this creative home of mine. So here I am! And I thought it would be nice to start with a little summary of the past year. It will be a fun way to catch up on what happened the last months. And I hope to share more pictures later. ^^

What happened around here in 2012:

• first, this blog became self-hosted with a better handling of the different languages, which is nice.
• I organized my first giveaway, by taking part in Sew Mama Sew!’s Giveaway Day. ^^ It was fun, I’d like to do more in the future.
• I made my first real pdf tutorial, with detailed step by step pictures and everything, to make an adjustable fabric book cover.
• I went for the first time to the Saint Ouen flea market and had a lot of fun browsing through the vintage stuff.
• I started to compile a pattern brands list, that I’m using as a reference guide and which I hope is useful for others (a big thank you to the commenters who suggest new brands! ^^ )

And now the hidden face of 2012, or what happened in other parts of my life that connect more or less to what I’m talking about here:

• Big project n°1: I got married !!!! That was the reason I disappeared at the end of 2011 and for the beginning of 2012. It was a wonderful and magical moment. I hope to tell more later about the things we made ourselves for the occasion.
• We went back to Japan for a 3 weeks honeymoon at the end of the year. This isn’t closely related to the subject of this blog, except for the sewing-related treasures I brought back with me. I might share some pictures of that. I left with the intention to enjoy their fabric shops, and believe me I did! After being away for three years I had a good idea of what I can’t find here and what I miss. I came back with lots of fabric, some lace (mainly doll sized), a few tools and a few books (not too much because books are heavy and they can be found pretty easily on the Internet).

• Big project n°2: I got a dealer booth at Le Jour B 2012! It is a one day event centered around the Blythe doll, with lots of makers selling their clothes/accessories/custom dolls/etc. So for the first time since I took part in the Dollshow in 2009, I got a booth where I sold my little dolly clothes! I will probably share a few more info later (and pics !).
• Lastly, I started to take sewing lessons. It was something I wanted to do when I came back to France in 2009. I missed my chances several time, but this year I finally decided to do it for real and subscribed at the right moment. I was hesitant because I’m not a real beginner and I was afraid I wouldn’t learn much. But I thought it would at least force me to sew for 3 hours every week. I’m much slower that I hopped, but our teacher is a professional costume-maker and it’s really interesting to be able to ask her questions. Plus it’s nice to share some time with other sewing-enthusiasts. The lessons are organized by Paris Ateliers, hence the logo above.

And my (completed) sewing projects for 2012:

• I designed (that started in 2011) my wedding outfit and made half of it (skirt + top + corset embroidery). The other half (corset + over-skirt) was made by a professional corset maker. This was one of the biggest sewing projects of the year, I spent many hours on it. But it was really worth it, the result was quite nice, my husband and I loved it and I got many compliments. I really intend to share more info about this project. In the meantime you get a little fabric teaser in the picture above.
• a pleated skirt from the 50′s with a matching belt. I have to share it also.
• three book covers (all of which were gifts) made after my tutorial, with different embellishments.
• a dolly dress I made as a gift for a friend.
• for the second half of the year I mainly worked on doll clothes for Blythe to prepare for Le Jour B. Many trials and samples (some of which I still need to work on), some outfits I’m pleased with. I had never worked much for that type of doll so there was a lot to do.

I wish that last list was a little bit longer (even though there are some pretty big projects in there), I hope to do better this year. I was counting on the sewing lessons to help with that, but I got stuck with a project-that-wouldn’t-end (in French we call that a “projet boulet”, once sense of “boulet” being a ball and chain). Now that it’s finally done (pictures soon) my motivation and hope is back! I want to keep on being inspired and creative, and share my projects here as they’re completed. And I have two “big” projects in mind for 2013, we’ll see how it goes…