3 Year Blogversary!

I can't believe it's been three whole years, and 60 posts, since I started this blogging journey! Time really flew by. I've learned so much since I started, and I've been so inspired by our amazing online sewing community. To celebrate, I'm sharing some of my favorite makes over the last three years.

Sewing-themed Shorts

Blue Peony Dress

Elephant Pincushion

Peplumed Peony

Oak Leaf Beignet Skirt

Laurel Muslin

Sewing-themed Laurel Dress

Color-Blocked Iris Shorts

Cooper Backpack

Practice Wedding Dress

Wedding Dress!

Midnight Myrtle Dress

Thanks for taking a peek at my favorite makes from the last 3 years! I'm excited to see where the next 3 years brings all of us in the sewing community  :D



feBREWary

Two weeks of fermentation!

In the last 4 weeks, Josh and I brewed, fermented, and bottled our first beer - a Belgian blonde. I bought Josh a home brew kit from Brooklyn Brews for Christmas. They have a lot of great kits and online tutorials, so it was perfect for learning to brew beer.

Bottling Day!

The brewing process was a little more complex and specific than I imagined. There is a lot of boiling ingredients, and waiting, and hoping, and sterilization involved. We were so worried that we might not have had the temperature perfect for the whole process, or that we might not have gotten the sterilization just right, and that our beer (after 4 weeks of work) could end up tasting terrible.

Finally pouring, after weeks of anticipation!

Eventually the head fizzled out and we could enjoy our beer!

I'm happy to report that our beer turned out delicious! We were so pleased and relieved. We may have added slightly too much honey (honey gets eaten by yeast to carbonate the beer) because our beer has a large head, but that's something we can easily change in the future. Once the head fizzed down a little, it was a delightful beer! We want to brew another batch soon, and maybe this time work with a recipe rather than a kit. We both love sour beers - so we might have to give those a go. Cheers!!

Oslo Sweater

Close-up of Oslo sweater

We had a snow day today, so I was finally able to finish my sweater! The pattern said it would take 2 hours... I started in December. It was really simple to make though, it took me longer because I would take week-long breaks from working on it. I really enjoyed sewing this, and I will definitely sew this pattern again.

This is the first pattern I've tried from Seamwork magazine, and it's great! For my next version, I need to take some room out of the bust and the bicep area - it just turned out a little too baggy for me. When I make those changes though, it will be perfect! I'd love to try it with a really thick sweater fabric, to make a sweater coat!

European Adventure

Josh ahead of the Louvre

The last two weeks of December, Josh and I finally went on our honeymoon. It was a whirlwind of adventure. We spent a day and a half in London, six days in Paris (the week of my birthday), six days in Prague (the week of Christmas), and even got to see my sister during a nine hour layover in Chicago! We had an amazing time and took over 2,000 photos! I thought I'd share a few favorites  :)

Sainte-Chapelle Chapel in Paris

My favorite part of the whole trip, was visiting Sainte-Chapelle Chapel in Paris. It is a beautiful medieval gothic chapel started in the 1200s. I learned about Sainte-Chapelle in college, and have been dying to visit ever since. It was well worth the wait - absolutely stunning!

Window shopping in Paris's Latin Quarter

Amazing architecture in Prague's Old Town Square

St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague

Enormous Christmas tree in Prague

Nettle beer and banana beer at Pivovarsky Dum!

Trdelnik in Wenceslaus Square

When we got back from our trip we moved into a new apartment, which we are loving. I also started taking a pattern drafting class! The class is going really well so far. We spent the first session taking measurements, and since have drafted our front bodice, back bodice, and sleeves. Next class we are sewing the bodice together to see how it fits - yay! I've also been taping together a sweater pattern from Seamwork magazine. It's only suppose to take a few hours to make the sweater, but so far it has taken me that long just to tape all the pattern pieces together  :)

Soooo much taping....