This is my first time doing a summary for my sewing during the year. I think before I was mostly doing quilting and HTV so there weren’t that many projects.

The main difference this year is I joined the Modern Makers sewing club and by doing so I found about a lot of things I had no idea about before, which motivated me to want to make a lot more things. The main reason I joined was because I wanted to be able to learn to sew better. I was trying my best by researching things by project, but by joining the club I now had access to master classes on different topics as well as the wealth of experience from people who have been sewing many many more years than me. I didn’t just learn about new techniques but also lots of useful tools and new shops (this was the dangerous part haha 🤣).

So it was quite hard coming up with a top five highlights for the year. In terms of upskilling/improvements:

1. Stash Hub – I found about this from another Modern Makers member and it has completely changed the way I organise…well everything really
2. Lighting – I installed some additional lighting in my sewing room. This means I now will have good enough light to work at night and not have to save everything for the weekend when I have access to daylight
3. Tools – the big ones that have really changed (made easier) sewing for me are wonder tape and washable thread. But I also learnt about the Jenerates seam circles, snippers, applique scissors, needle threaders and bought stuff like a tailors ham, buttonhole gauge, clapper and point presser and sleeve board. There’s probably a lot more that I’m forgetting.
4. Top Down Centre Out – I had no idea about this method and I’m so glad I’ve tried it now.
5. Shirt Making – after making *checks* 12 shirts this year I can see the progress I’ve made haha.

I started 2025 thinking I wanted to make work tops and jackets to wear out but now I want to make so many more things. I basically want to completely re-do my entire wardrobe. And I want to try sewing with all sorts of different fabrics. And learning about the different types of fabrics too, I’ve ordered the Minerva Fabric Guide – The Definitive Guide to Fabrics & Fibres as a starter. And I bought a whole bunch of courses from Closet Core to learn about lingerie, coat making and jeans making. So definitely looking to continue upskilling next year.

I also spent a lot of the last quarter of 2025 sorting my stash. I’m pretty much done and it’s going to make a big difference to my productivity in 2026. Stash Hub has been a big part of this. I will also probably be buying a lot less fabric. I was too enthusiastic in 2025, I was buying fabric that I thought would be interesting to sew with even if I didn’t have a project in mind. Well I’ve planned out my projects and I have over 100 so I don’t need to be adding to that any time soon. So in 2026 I will be buying what I need to complete the projects I have in mind plus anything I absolutely love. I also have a better idea of fabric quality having purchased quite a lot of fabric from a lot of stores in 2025 😅

• I’ve realised I absolutely love Tencel. This puts brands like meetMilk and Mind the Maker at the top of my wishlists
• I also have started learning a bit about other fabric brands and Merchant and Mills, Atelier Brunette and Good Earth Cotton (maybe not technically a fabric brand) are also really nice fabrics to work with
• MaaiDesign, Miss Maude, Fabulous Fabrics and Pattern Scissors Frock are shops with very high quality fabrics (most of them sell at least one of the brands listed above)
• Core Fabrics, Fabric Box, Miss Matatabi and Remnant Warehouse are good for mid to high quality fabrics
• Cozy Corner Quilts is my go to for quilting fabrics
• I really like Wattle Hill Fabrics for their fleecy but not a big fan of their wovens
• Tessuti and The Makers Society are probably high quality but I don’t think their fabrics are really to my tastes
• I feel like Homecraft Textiles isn’t as good as all the other fabric stores I’ve listed, but they are handy for notions given they are located in Perth. Although it seems like they are starting to move towards more Japanese fabrics so maybe the quality will go up a bit.
• I don’t think I’m likely to buy fabrics from Spotlight anymore unless they are a designer quilting cotton print of some sort

One of the tricky things when buying fabric is a lot of the time there is free shipping if you hit a certain value. And given I’m often just a little off that value, I feel better buying extra fabric for free shipping than paying for the shipping lol. So that means I’m probably going to buy more basics from places like Miss Matatabi and Core Fabrics (to get to that threshold) so I won’t need to buy toiling fabric from Homecraft anymore. I think I’ve also kinda gotten over the whole ‘save good fabrics for a nice project’. Because at the end of the day it’s more fun working with nice fabric than settling for a lower quality one. Especially since I’m trying to make all my wearable toiles really nice anyway.

So I feel like I could probably complete even more projects in 2026. Not just because I’m organised but because I did spend quite a bit of money in 2025 buying stuff to facilitate more sewing more often. Like buying all the patterns I was interested in (when they were on sale) and bulk buying things like interfacing and pattern paper. Because I realised that often I would settle for a project because that was the only one where I had everything I needed on hand but then as a result not be that motivated to sew or enjoy the process as much. Now that I’ve created projects in Stash Hub and am using the queue functionality, I’m able to plan ahead and buy what I need for upcoming projects. So theoretically I should have a smooth conveyor of projects to tackle. Plus I’ve accepted that I want to toile everything before cutting into the ‘chosen’ fabric, so I’ve created projects for these too. Less mental load trying to figure out what has and hasn’t been toiled yet and making sure I have the materials for said toiles. In addition to this, I’ve been trying to change my daily routine to match my husband’s cycling hobby, so this means I am waking up earlier. This means I can do a little bit of (mostly prep) work before I actually go to real work, which also helps keep things moving. And the new lighting means I can work at night as well.

I’m also hoping I will get a bit better at not falling behind on blogging LOL. I’ve updated my templates and am utilising Stash Hub’s project functionality to tackle two birds with one stone – curating my digital pattern stash as well as create summary images for the blog. By being diligent about updating my Stash Hub entries I hopefully also will be putting time into my write-ups, instead of rushing straight into the next project. For me, the reflection part of sewing is important as well, and if I let the list of blog posts pile up, I don’t feel like I’ve actually completed the project to emotionally fully move on.

Finally, I thought about doing a top 3 projects I was proud of (technically) and top 3 projects that I like to wear, but 2025 was fully of lots of learning, I don’t think I was really that happy with a lot of them (not that I don’t feel accomplished, but rather I acknowledge the quality might not really have been there. It’s a journey of learning after all). So I’ve decided to pick one that I’m most proud of and one that I love wearing the most and hopefully in 2026 I can do a proper list haha.

I’m most proud of the Kalle Corduroy Check Shirt. This project made me realise how important it was to toile things. And I was proud of my check matching (plus bias placement) and general shirt construction. It also taught me about bias binding curved hems which is something I’ll probably do on all shirts with this kind of hem moving forward. The only thing (which I would have noticed if I had actually worn the wearable toile for a full day) is that I find the collar constricting when buttoned all the way up. Something I plan to adjust next time I make a Kalle.

The one I like wearing the most is the Melange Light Ochre Cleaveland Sweater. I didn’t think I would like the cropped fit. But I love it. And because this is the second version, I was able to address the things I didn’t like about my first version so I’m actually happy with the insides as well. The fabric itself is super soft and comfy and I like the colour. It made me realise there are cute sweaters out there, I don’t need to wear/buy generic hoodies.

So that’s it for 2025! I actually feel very happy about sewing becoming an all-consuming and obsessive hobby again LOL. I love learning new things and working with natural fibres and I feel like there is still so much to learn ❤️

Categories: Sewing

Tagged as: Yearly Sewing Summary

hikaru