 Hi you guys it's Lindsay here. Welcome back to Inside the Hymn. Today we're gonna do something that might be a little bit not difficult, that's not the right word, just enlightening. We are gonna go back and we are going to review the resolutions that I made for 2017 and evaluate how I did. And then we're also going to talk about some resolutions that I have for 2018. So in 2017 I made five sewing resolutions. I was just reviewing the video just now on my phone and I feel like they were all really good and they were all really on point and things that I really did want to focus on and that I had mediocre success with them which as I explained in the beginning of that video resolutions to me are a lot more like evolutions. It is a way to evolve yourself as a person or a sewist or you know whatever it is that you're focusing on but that we should never really be striving for something that has like a definitive end to it. Instead it should just always be like an improvement on where you are right now, like an evolution. So that really speaks loudly in the first resolution that I made for 2017. Let's take a look back. So my very first one is really about the finishing techniques and also in with that is tailoring techniques. Things that you can't see from the outside at all but are what make the structure for a garment that's gonna last longer, that's gonna wear well and look very nice and professional and all of that kind of stuff. So how did I do on that? I think I did better which is good. That's an evolution. That is progress. But I still feel like that is something that I think about. It's like this year I have been really like my mantra for this year personally and professionally has been what would my future self think of this decision that I'm getting ready to make right now. So when I'm getting ready to make a shortcut on sewing something whether it's you know not doing the hem properly or skipping the hem entirely or you know surging something when I know that I should be like finishing it a different way or whatever it is. When I go to put this garment on later am I gonna be okay with this decision that I'm getting ready to make right now. It's much harder to go back and fix something that you're unhappy with than it is just in the moment. Take the time that you need to do it right and then and then move forward later. A lot of times I'm in such a hurry to get finished with the project because I'm just so excited about it that I will skip certain steps or take shortcuts. So that resolution for 2017 is going to carry over into 2018. This year is gonna be all about taking my time and doing things the right way the first time simply because I know that in the future when I go to wear this or after I wash it for the first time or you know whatever it is I will be much happier with myself if I had just done it right the first time. Okay so now on to my second resolution from 2017. Let's take a look. My second one is to perfect a pants slipper. So if you've been watching for the past couple of months you know where we landed with this. I shouldn't have to reiterate. I did take a stab at it. I did really give it a go last year. I feel like I've gotten to a really good place with a jeans pattern that I should be able to make up here in the next month or so and be well on my way to having some great-fitting jeans and then not far past that is great-fitting pants. But I'm well on my way so it's like this is just a continuation of that and I feel better about pants than I ever have and in a weird way even though my body hasn't changed at all like I still can't wear ready-to-wear pants I still have like really strange weight distribution that like apparently is just so specific and unique and I've just come to accept that a lot more in 2017 which is why I think the pants thing took me all year to get to because I sort of needed to get into the right headspace for fitting my body and knowing you know for a lot of 2017 to my body was still changing from whenever I was sick I might even argue that I still am sick in certain areas areas that would affect the way pants fit person for example so yeah so 2018 is still gonna be the year of the pant we're just gonna have two years of the pants and we will get there and I feel really really really good about it but not a completed resolution thus yet okay let's see what the third one is number three is just to get the stash under control okay so getting the stash under control actually went really well I think a lot of it had to do with moving so packing up that pantry and moving it all to the new space granted I didn't move it into another pantry I moved it into its own sewing room so I have all the space anyone could ever want to store tons and tons and tons of fabric but it was important to me to not allow myself to just fill up this space with more and more stuff to where I'm in the same place I was this time last year and you know not even really being able to see what's in my stash or remember what's in there or remember what I bought the certain thing for so after I moved which was in July I believe I really got like a full inventory of what I have in my stash and for the most of the second half of 2017 I didn't buy a lot of fabric at all like at all I sewed from my stash a lot which felt really good and I think the evolution that I made that will carry over into this year is more about maybe letting go of some of the stuff that I have recognizing there are certain things that I was either given or things that I bought maybe early on before I realized you know what made a great garment and what fabrics I really liked to sew with maybe recognizing that those things don't belong in my stash anymore and finding a good home for them there's plenty of nonprofits here in Charleston specifically I know of a few of them so yeah so in 2017 I really feel like instead of getting closer and closer to the tipping point of having an added control stash I got a little bit further away from that I still have plenty of fabrics that are in my stash and that have been there for years and years but I am I know that they're there and I know what they're there for and I have better control over my spending I don't feel like I have to run out and get something new for every project anymore I really kind of reeled that back and recognized I bought all these fabrics that are in my stash for a reason because I love them at some point for something so why not make that thing so I really do feel like pat on the back to me that I got that resolution under control still working toward it again it's an evolution it's not it doesn't have like a firm set and I guess if ever I sewed every single thing in my stash but that's never gonna happen that again is like nirvana alright so let's see what else was on my list for 2017 get the work in progress stash under control as well I have this habit of finishing a project like 90% almost to where I can try it on and then after I try it on like the allure of making it has worn off is that strange okay again if you've been watching my channel at all for the past few months you know work in progress has been at the top of my list for the plans videos that I've been doing and I talked about it a little bit in January's plans videos as well so I did get under control again like I said in the this month's plans videos there were some months where I was a rock star and I like knocked out like a bunch of stuff in the work in progress then and then there were some months where I didn't touch it at all so I want to again continue to stay focused on the works in progress but adding to that this year adding to the evolution of that is not adding to the work in progress been either finishing every single thing I start so that has already proved to be a little bit difficult I find I have a lining that I need to hand so and I'm finding myself putting that off when I need to just sit down and get it done like there's plenty of TV coming back on TGIT is coming back the bachelor is back on I've fallen in love with a show on Netflix called called the midwife plenty of that to watch so I just I know that it's not gonna take any time once I sit down to do it it's just sitting down to do it so not adding to the works in progress been is it's gonna be a challenge I know but I will feel so good if I am you know eliminating reducing from the current works in progress then and know that it's not growing either that is that is the key so so we'll see how I do on that one again you know analyzing 2017 I give myself a solid D plus I'm really hard on myself though I just have so much more left to do but there was that one month where I had that whole been and it emptied it out and that felt great so I want to have that feeling a lot more in 2018 okay so we're on to our last resolution from 2017 let's take a look and then the last one is to kind of learn more and broaden my horizons so in different kinds of garments like lingerie or like the tailored coat that I've been talking about taking crafty classes and checking out more books from the library that I really do enjoy doing that so just doing a little bit more of that and just just kind of like expanding my knowledge base even if I don't apply it to anything even if it doesn't like become a project at least I can learn what there is to learn about different aspects of sewing or different fabrics or different applications and things like that okay so if I'm being honest I will say that I sort of forgot about this resolution like I didn't really remember that it was something that I had committed to I don't think I took a single crafty class the only new type of garment that I tried I might not have tried any I know I didn't try lingerie I didn't try swimwear okay so that's out I didn't make a tailored coat as you know I didn't make pants I guess the only thing I can really say that would fit into this category would be learning the alterations that I needed to learn to make the pants that I'm going to make which is not good so but I also don't know that that was a really great resolution to make because it was just too broad like learn more about sewing try more things that I haven't tried before so I don't know how I feel about that one maybe I'm giving myself a cop out like giving myself an excuse for why I just blanked on that one completely but I will say so for this year so my style which I'm participating in has a coat be lingerie so I know that if I stick with so my style like I want to do I will be able to attempt those two things as far as the classes go I'm just not sure I mean do I just sign up for something for the sake of signing up for it no that doesn't make any sense it seems like a a waste of money a waste of time possibly I don't know so maybe the way I go about expanding my knowledge about sewing isn't necessarily about crafty classes or trying new types of garments maybe it's more about like I don't know engaging more with other people and learning more from them there are a few people that I follow on Instagram where I feel like their stories are beyond knowledgeable I mean these people are certified experts in my opinion I have learned so much from following people on Instagram that I didn't need to pay for it all it's completely free so I don't know necessarily that a crafty class is the way that I'm gonna go or even if this resolution makes sense for me anymore not that I'm tapped out I know everything there is to know about sewing but maybe I know enough for the things I want to make maybe I know how to make I know every step of making a dress and maybe that's all I'm ever going to make what's the point in learning how to do a specific technique to sewing swimwear for example if I just know that I'm never going to make swimwear if I take this foray into making the lingerie for so my style and then I decide so my style I mean lingerie is just not my thing I just would rather go by it what's the point in becoming an expert on sewing lingerie you know I'm saying like it still needs to fit within my lifestyle which brings me to my 2018 resolutions I talked a little bit about some of them as they carried over from 2017 but for 2018 I have what are they six of them where did they go yeah one of them already mentioned and that was to not add to the works in progress been so we've been over that two is to complete so my style last year I fell off the wagon mid-year and I kept making excuses for myself and it was silly and I see everybody's posts that was doing the collage all of their so my styles from the whole year and I'm so jealous I want that for myself so I'm going to finish so my style this year and you know again it goes back to what will my future self think this time next year and I'm putting together my little collage or maybe a little video showing all the things that I made and so my style I will feel so good about myself and I'll be so proud so I want to finish so my style that's another one okay so we have make more pants which we've talked about getting very close as a continuation sort of from 2017 also make lingerie is on there which we are going to attempt in so my style doesn't I don't think it doesn't come up until the end of the year September maybe but we'll give it a concerted effort and then the last one which I think kind of touches on what we were just talking about is about practical sewing so this is about knowing my style knowing what I actually wear here in Charleston not what I want to wear or could wear but what I actually wear and only sewing within that so I have so many sweater knits and wools and patterns to make like warm weather stuff whenever it truly really is only cold enough here for any of that for like maybe two weeks so I think that I just need to accept the fact that this is where I live this is my life right now I'm going into an office so I do need some work wear but it's very business casual there like I don't need a suit coat I don't need you know business attire so scratch that off the list just don't even make that I had a ton of fun making that sort of like semi-formal cocktail dress and I can get a lot of wear out of stuff like that here in Charleston because we have so many restaurants and events and you know different things going on where you can dress up I mean no one can ever be overdressed in Charleston no matter where you go you'll just never be overdressed no matter what you're wearing Charleston really runs the gamut and as far as that is concerned so working on projects that fit into my lifestyle is definitely what I want to work on for 2017 I will always be a girl who loves to wear a dress it will always be hot really really hot um I will always be able to dress up or dress down without any issue so if I know those few things about the lifestyle what I'm comfortable in what looks good on me then I should really only be making projects that fit into that and only be making projects that I know that I'm going to wear there's nothing more frustrating than looking through my closet and being like I can't even tell you the last time I wore that nor can I tell you when I would wear it again um so I don't want to have that issue anymore I only want to sew things that I know I'm gonna wear so that's probably the biggest single thing for 2018 in that it is kind of like brand new evolution and a brand new way of thinking for me whereas all of the other ones are sort of continuations evolutions on what I've already sort of had in the back of my mind for this past year maybe even a little bit more so it's gonna be a very fun and exciting 2018 you know I it's been weird because the new year started and then we had this huge snowstorm so everything kind of shut down and I feel like the normal like first of the year excitement and rejuvenation and all that got kind of delayed but I'm feeling it now for the first time as we're a week into the new year and I'm just really really excited I can't wait to see what this new year brings I also believe that I'm going on my sixth year I'll be up this time currently in my fifth year of sewing is that right hmm I can't remember I'll have to look that up and follow up with you guys but I just feel like that's a long time that is a long time to be committed to one hobby that's definitely the longest I've ever stopped with anything ever so that's really cool just to to feel how that commitment is paying off and what I know and how I'm able to help other people and what that brings to this channel and the videos and all of that it's just really really cool and I can just I just feel all the feels about the new year right now so that's that's really good but let me know in the comments what your big 2018 resolution is whether you're just getting started sewing or whether you've been along this journey with me all along or even longer we all have things that we want to work on so let me know what your sewing resolution is I can't wait to hear all of them maybe somehow they will get incorporated into what I'm doing as well you know we all kind of feed off of each other I also want to say how much I have absolutely loved the fact that you guys have started commenting with each other in the comments section it's not just a conversation between me and you but it's also a conversation amongst all of you and it just touches my heart so much to know that I'm like bringing other people together too so don't just go to the comments section and leave a comment for me read through them and see what other people are doing and then comment back if you are so inclined and you know let's start a whole conversation in the comment section that would just be so so so cool so yeah well thank you so much for watching buckle up for a really great 2018 and I will see you all in my next video bye