At the beginning of last year I had a ridiculously long list of things I wanted to sew. I also had a baby who was less than a year old who was still nursing, but he had just started daycare part-time so I could smell freedom on the horizon. There’s something about having next to no time for yourself that makes the brain go nearly crazy with ideas, am I right? He was sick a lot from day care, I was driving back and forth to nurse him during the day so I didn’t get much done, and I still couldn’t figure out how I was going to make this 3-kids thing work, so I was frustrated. Instead of throwing myself into despair (OK…so that’s not exactly true, I wrote a long rambling blog post entitled “The Struggle is Real” which I never had the guts to post because I was afraid it might come off as too self-pitying), I put all the ideas for sewing projects onto a piece of paper and hung it up on a door in my studio.

As the year progressed, I found moments to sew, so I started a second list, entitled “2015 Makes,” and hung it up next to the “Ideas for Sewing in 2015” list (see the pic at the bottom of this post?) so I could chart my progress. In previous years my blog has been the primary way that I log my projects, but after years of blogging I think I’ve finally realized that it will always be impossible to get *everything* on the blog and it isn’t going to get any easier with a toddler (and honestly, last year I still was grappling with whether or not it was still really worth it to blog, with Instagram and Facebook and all — but my thoughts on that will have to wait for a different time).

I also started photographing some of the finished projects against a plain wall since getting pictures of worn clothing on my kids and myself is also something I have to be more realistic about; it’s just tough to do. I didn’t get pictures of everything on my “Made in 2015” list, but it still gives me a sense of accomplishment. You might recognize some of the things in these photos, I only found time to blog some of them so some of them you’ve never seen before. And while it would have been nice if I could have written “I made this!” posts about all of these things, I’m OK with how it all went down; this has been a year about letting go for me. I also want to make sure you know that other hands helped make some of this stuff as well (Karen and Tashina), so that’s something else to consider when looking at these projects.

In addition to sewing and blogging some things I made, I managed to launch three patterns this year; Moon Pants for kids; and Beatrix and Luna Pants for women. We even had a sewalong for Beatrix. All of this would not have been possible without the stellar team that backs me up: Elli, Jess, Karen, and Tashina (who has just launched her own jewelry business!!) and Tashina’s replacement, Melissa. Their hard work behind the scenes has allowed me the privilege of staying home with Hugo three days a week while still keeping the MBR machine running. Nobody can do it all, least of all me, and I’m so grateful to have these awesome people to have my back.

I’m also grateful for all of you who have read, commented, and supported my shop and business this past year. Thank you so much for reading! Feel free to leave a comment if you want details on anything pictured here; I’m happy to answer or point you toward the right post if applicable.

Here’s to another year (and a new list) of sewing! Oh, and here are a few previous year-in-review posts if you’re interested: 2012 / 2013 / 2014

Made in 2015

Explore

Help

Stay Connected