Happy 1-Year Anniversary, 昔のSewing!

Welcome back to Mukashi no Sewing! Friends, I can hardly believe it, but this week is the 1-year anniversary of this blog. I am so delighted that I’ve been able to keep creating and sharing for a whole year, and I wanted to take a moment to thank YOU for reading for a whole year! Your comments and support have really helped me feel connected to a community of people who love history, sewing, and crafts as much as I do. ❤

I thought it would be fun to take a look at everything I’ve accomplished this year on the blog!

My very first project was restoring this Meiji-era kimono, and I’m SO glad it catapulted me into sharing my adventures here. I really love this kimono and being able to wear it (even though it’s much too short for me, haha!) is a real honor. Also looking at this photo, I had completely forgotten I own that green obijime (the cord around the obi), and now I want to do a pink and green outfit for spring with another kimono I have! Maybe you’ll get a bonus photoshoot later… 🙂

My second completed project was making this dropcloth for my iaido weapons out of a repurposed obi, and I still use it every single week! (Three times a week, actually.) I get constant compliments on it at the dojo, so this was definitely a good choice! 😀

The third project here was restoring my Victorian era nightgown, and this project gave me so much confidence in my restoration abilities. It’s one thing to do some light mending, and another to actually clean away decades (or a century+) of dirt and stains. I would like to wear this again for another photoshoot this year; I have some ideas percolating! 🙂

The fourth completed project on Mukashi no Sewing was the Hawaiian print Mary Quant minidress, and this was definitely my most ambitious sewing project of the year. I sewed a whole dress, you guys! I can hardly believe it! I’m really looking forward to this spring and summer, and getting to wear it more.

Project five was restoring my Milky-chan the Fawn JSK! I had so much fun with this, and it made me a lot less nervous about buying other lolita dresses with minor “damage”/missing pieces. In fact, I may or may not have another similar project on deck for this year…

Mukashi no Sewing’s sixth project was short in terms of posts, but took an awfully long time to complete! I searched for months to find a perfume bottle to fill the empty spot in my Victorian perfume case, and I was so relieved to finally find this silver-capped beauty!

My seventh project completed over the year was sewing the steampunk utility belt! Technically this is “Project 8,” but the Victorian Undergarments project (which is numerically number seven) is still in progress. (Let’s all cheer for me to finish it this year!) I loved this fun accessory project, and I would love to sew more accessories for myself. My closets can only hold so many clothes… 😀

My eighth and final project completed over this last year was restoring my Victorian parasol! One of the most difficult projects I completed – I’m still over the moon with my work on it, and I really feel like if I can do this I can do anything. (Technically this was “Project 10,” but again, the Edo coat restoration is still in progress and messing up the numbers. 😀 )

I even hosted my very first guest project here on the blog, my aunt Susie’s komebukuro sewing project! I hope to feature more guest projects here in the coming year – it was so much fun to collaborate in this way. ❤

I also shared nine spotlights of various antiques in my collection, and did absolute tons of research on them which was really just as fun as any sewing. These were:

• Singer Featherweight
• Victorian Purse and Handkerchief
• Featherweight Accessories, Part 1
• Teacups
• Iaido Uniform
• 1943 Dressmaking Manual
• Victorian Cake Box
• Featherweight Accessories, Part 2
• 1928 Japanese Sewing Book

So what’s to come in the next year? Hopefully, a lot of fun! I’ve got the Victorian Undergarments and Edo Coat Restoration projects to finish, as well as my shorter second obi makeover. The holdup on the first two projects has honestly been a severe dearth of creative energy. Both of them require a lot of fiddly problem-solving and decisions about fit and finish, and my batteries on that front are low. I find repetitive work like the stitching needed on my obi to be restorative, oddly enough, and that soothing project is definitely getting me back into the swing of things so I hope to have the other projects rumbling along soon!

I have some more spotlights, of course, and some really interesting restoration projects including another parasol, and even a mirror from the Edo period! 😉 I’ve been wanting to do a cooking project here for ages as well and recently purchased a vintage piece of bakeware that will enable just that. And as I alluded to, I’ve purchased two more lolita dresses that require light restoration work, but in a fabric I’ve never played with before: velvet. Eek!! So thank you again from the bottom of my heart for joining me this year, and I hope to see you back every Tuesday in the coming year here at Mukashi no Sewing! ❤