New Year, New Goals

I’m not one for making New Year’s resolutions, they always feel too much like rules to me, something to beat yourself up about if you fail to achieve or stick to them.   They seem kind of negative, I suppose because they often take the form of “I will not......”

However I do like the idea of setting myself some goals for this year, things to work towards in a positive way.

I have quite a list, so I’ll try to group them together in some way.

 

Sewing

I’ve signed up to Did You Make That?’s Sewultion and pledged to make a pair of trousers that fit me this year, so I suppose that should be top of my list of goals. I’m not sure what type of trousers they will be.  I could tie this in with another goal, which is to make at least one pattern by an independent designer, and use Sewaholic’s Thurlow trousers.  However I do tend to prefer straight or slim legged styles, so I’ll leave that decision for another day.

Sewaholic Thurlow trousers

 

So, my second goal is to make at least one pattern by an independent designer.  Who and what should I choose?  I can tell I’m going to be spending many happy hours browsing various websites to help me decide.

 

Some potential pattern choices ~ Colette Clovers; Victory Patterns Nicola dress; Sewaholic Pendrell blouse; Style Arc Julia jacket

Thirdly, do the Craftsy Couture Dress course that I purchased ages ago.  I even have fabric for the dress, just haven’t got my head around sitting down with my laptop and sewing machine at the same time.

Make things I will wear regularly, not just things I’ll wear once or twice and then shove in the back of the cupboard.  This means considering fabric, fit and styles that work for me and fit into my existing wardrobe. 

I’m not going to set a definite goal of a number of items to sew this year, but I would like to think that one a month is achievable.

  

Knitting

I have fewer knitting goals but that doesn’t mean I’ll be knitting less!

My first goal is to knit more from the patterns and pattern books I already own, rather than immediately start looking for “new” patterns every time I want to knit something.  I could in all honesty knit for several years without purchasing a new pattern, but I’ll stick with making at least three items this year from patterns I already own.   My knitting library needs to be my first stop when looking for a new project.

Secondly, knit things I will actually wear regularly. I love knitting, but often seem to enjoy the process more than the finished item.  I need to look at my pattern and yarn choices to make sure they fit into my existing wardrobe, be it coordinating with items I already have or filling a wardrobe gap.

 

Life in General

My main goal for my life in general this year could be summed up as Quality over Quantity.  I could apply this to various areas of my life. 

Unlike some bloggers, I’m never going to not want to buy clothing – sometimes nothing beats a new top or dress that you haven’t made yourself – but I want to concentrate on buying better quality items and fewer of them.  Do I really need 3 cheap tops that look tired after a few washes, or would one more expensive one be better?

I can also apply this to what I eat.  I want to eat more healthily consistently this year (and hopefully loose a few pounds along the way) but I know I’m never going to be able to give up my chocolate fix.  However a small amount of good quality chocolate has got to be better than a larger piece of cheap stuff in so many ways, not least for my waistline!

 

This sounds like quite a long list of goals, but I’m confident they are all achievable without too much difficulty.  To help me keep track of how I’m doing, I’ll be creating a new blog page where I’ll list my goals and update my progress throughout the year.