Oh Hey, 2015, What’s Going On?

It seems we’re in a new year. A NEW YEAR! Really? Did 2014 slip by so quickly? Yes, I guess it did.

Lots of things are going on over here at Casa Dahl despite my blog silence. You probably know a lot of this already if you’re friends with me on Facebook and/or Instagram. But maybe I have an inflated sense of how much you care about my social media streams. Well, good for all of us; I’m here to update you on EVERYTHING!

But first, let’s start with 2014. I’m gonna keep this short and sweet: I achieved all my goals. There were three:

1. Launch Pattern Workshop
2. Launch Selvage Designs
3. Have 1,000 followers on Bloglovin’

In addition, I signed contracts with Janome and BurdaStyle, and my family moved to PORTLAND! We are loving it so far. Yes, loving it! I am in fabric shopping/sewing heaven. HEAVEN, I tell you. And I really don’t mind the rain because you know what? Because NO SNOW. And because 50-degree high temperatures on average in the winter. And because everything, really.

Oh yeah, and I am having a baby. No biggie.

So let’s get on with these little announcements.

Will I be creating more sewing patterns in 2015?

Probably not! The truth is that I design for myself, and my own style is very basic. I wear t-shirts, jeans, button-downs and oversized sweaters/sweatshirts on most days. You know, when I change out of my pajamas. And as you all know, there are already great patterns out there for all those things. I’m just not feeling creatively motivated for it, so I’m going to leave it up to all you creative and innovative friends to give me new things to sew! As with anything I say, it might change at a later date, but for now, no thank you.

Am I sewing?

YES! Well, sort of. I’m in the process of working through the Wardrobe Architect series on Coletterie (more about this soon). It’s a 14-week series that helps you determine your style, color palette and basic silhouettes from which you build your wardrobe - handmade or not! Of course, I’m going with handmade. At the moment, I have a 42-inch waist (as opposed to my normal 27-29″, depending on lunch), so my dress form is getting a whole lot of use. But that kind of means I’m limited to forgiving knit tops and no bottoms since, well, my dress form has a pole for a crotch. #dressformproblems amirite?

I’ve sewn some things for the kids, but lately, I haven’t been too motivated for kid sewing. They grow too damn fast, and they could really care less at this age if I sewed something or bought it at Target. So, I’ve been focusing on taking care of myself and thinking I can focus on them after I have a basic wardrobe built for myself. You know, because I don’t grow. Normally.

I have been enjoying doing more process-oriented sewing - including kid sewing - and learning techniques I haven’t used before. This includes leotards and unitards for Harper’s dance/gymnastics classes and outerwear for myself. For a long time, I was a results-oriented sewist, but I realized I was sewing a lot but not really getting much out of it - the garments were too basic, ill-fitting, hastily made, the wrong fabric and/or just not my style. So now, I’m taking my time, learning the techniques, expanding my knowledge and consulting friends/books/videos to makes sure I’m doing things in the best way possible. My friend Maris pointed out recently that I’m a process-oriented sewist. I felt quite proud because I’ve never thought of myself as such. Perhaps the tide is changing (for the better).

Am I teaching or developing new courses?

YES! My courses on BurdaStyle have taken off and are going full-steam. Currently my digital pattern drafting course is in session, and another session of the fabric design course is open for enrollment. And as always, Pattern Workshop is chugging along with about 400 students! WOW!

I DO have plans for a new Pattern Workshop course in 2015. I’m not ready to announce it just yet since I haven’t really outlined it or fully decided I’m going to commit to it. But stay tuned. I should have a better idea soon. Hint: it’s not about pattern drafting or digitizing.

Next up, I’m teaching several REAL, LIVE, IN-PERSON CLASSES here in Portland at Modern Domestic. For starters, I’ll be doing the Hudson Pants, the Sailor Top and a Stretch Lab (all about sewing with spandex fabrics). These are all happening around March/April.

Finally, I’ll be delivering a webinar at BurdaStyle on setting up a sewing blog using self-hosted wordpress on February 23. You can read all the details and/or sign up for that here.

Anything else going on?

Well duh. I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t have a million things on my plate, right? You may have heard of this tiny little pattern company called Colette. Haha, COLETTE! Yes, tiny. So they are based in Portland and had a job opening recently for a sample sewist. I applied for it thinking I didn’t really want the job because sewing for money is kind of not my jam, but I thought it couldn’t hurt just to check out the opportunity, ya know? So I interviewed for the position and was offered something else entirely - something that is TOTALLY my jam: working with them to create their Pattern of the Month series and pattern add-ons. With Sarai’s direction and collaboration, I’ll be creating the monthly tutorials (tech illustrations, instructions, layouts, etc.). I’m really excited about this gig!

Any goals for 2015?

Survive! Have a baby! Lose 50 pounds! And have fun! That’s really about it.

HOPE YOU GUYS ARE ENJOYING THIS FABULOUS NEW YEAR AS MUCH AS I AM! xoxo