Sewing round up 2021

Looking back at 2021, I was surprised at just how many sewing projects I made time for. Sewing definitely became one of my main re-centering activities, especially on cold and wet days (which are frequent in the Pacific Northwest!) A lot of my motivation came from my little kiddo, and I loved being able to make pieces that facilitated her outdoor adventures in all types of weather. Here’s a few of my favorites:

Wool pixie pea coat, with a lady bug lining. I found this small wool piece at the thrift store and had a lot of fun figuring out how to match the plaid stripes and get everything cut from this little piece. Pattern is the Twig + Tale pixie pea coat

One-a-day embroideries I did during an online conference, of some of my favorite species I encountered in Washington this year: Pixie cup lichen, Common loon, Pacific Trillium, and Red dorid nudibranch

Two sets of overalls, one for beach days and one in softshell fleece for the ultimate puddle-splashing and snow-stomping attire (Twig + Tale rainhaven overalls)

Baby vests and boots gallore! These are the patterns that got the most re-use this year: Twig and Tale pathfinder vest and tie-back boots. Warm boots, waterproof boots, boots with leather soles. Almost completely made from ripped pants, thrifted material, and leftover pieces from other projects.

Hats for sun and hats for snow, both patterns from Twig and Tale. The red wool hats were made from just half of a thrifted red wool jacket and it was a puzzle getting all the pieces out of it! I made 6 hats total this year.

I made four shirts for myself this year, including this Twig + Tale shirt in a beautiful Robert Kaufmann yarn-dyed flannel, and some tshirts using a Patterns for Pirates design

And finally the Halloween masterpiece, the dragon costume! Another great Twig+Tale pattern (can you tell I love their patterns?) and also made entirely from thrifted and scrap materials.

I also made two fun twirly dresses for my kiddo using a pattern from Ellie and Mac–one of them in an amazing SPACE DINOSAUR fabric–some stuffed fabric pumpkins for Halloween decor, and finished up a slow-moving embroidery project. And of course it wouldn’t be a proper round-up of 2021 without mentioning the mountain of masks I made! There were leaf masks, cat masks, Halloween masks, Star Wars masks, and even two I made especially to match my outfit for job interviews.

I’m so grateful for the calm and the joy I got from all these projects in this chaotic year.

Hurricane Ridge vistas

December 2021–finishing out the year with beautiful snowy peaks and sun-lit valleys at Olympic National Park.

Last summer I tried something different with my photos, keeping a nature journal with notes on the species I saw and places I visited. Over the next few weeks I’ll be uploading those photos here and maybe sharing some of the finished journal pages too

Pacific northwest fall

October color along the Elwha river

Forest Spring

Enjoying the spring ephemerals and the dappled sunlight in the forest understory. Trillium, lady’s slipper orchid, salmon berry, wild ginger, pinesap, vanilla leaf.

Around the birdfeeder

It’s bizarre to see that it’s been almost a year since I last posted anything. An international move, an interstate move, and a new job, with a young family, during a pandemic took just about all my energy. But I have been taking pictures and we are loving being back in familiar surroundings and exploring our local natural areas. To start back up, here’s some photos from our time in California, and a few of the backyard birds we met there.

Rhododendrons in the rain

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A gardenful of rhododendrons—Washington’s state flower—in our local park in Leipzig. Something beautiful of home to break up the isolation of quarantine so far from home.

Spring walks

 

Like much of the world, we’re limited in our travels and consequent photo opportunities. Instead we’ve been enjoying walks in the city park near our home, especially with all the flowers and waterfowl. The family of coots swimming around the pond yesterday was a big highlight!

Past Snapshots: Magic Gardens

 

Since we’re not going out much, I’m trying to continue working through old photos, cleaning out a lot of them and posting a few favorite memories. This one is from a trip to Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens over Thanksgiving weekend, 2013.

Giant’s Causeway

I spent last week in Belfast for a conference, and was lucky enough to get an extra day to explore the Northern Ireland coast. The weather was volatile, with sleeting rain switching to bright sun and back every hour. At the Giant’s Causeway, intense wind gusts kicked up choppy waves and forced tourists off the columns, providing a few unexpected openings to take people-free pictures. Topped off with a beautiful sunset and a final stop to see castle ruins, it was a pretty incredible afternoon.