Sewing Challenges for 2020

There are a lot of sewing challenges out there and I wanted to compile a list of some of the sewing challenges to participate in for 2020.  The one thing I enjoy about these sewing challenges is that they are flexible and that you do not need to participate every month.  You can pick and choose with ones you want to complete.

I reached out on my Instagram stories and asked my friends which sewing challenges they planned to participate in this year.  While I was compiling my list and looking for more details on some of the challenges, I found this list on Paulette’s website.  I’ll keep the challenges I’ve listed here, but for wayyyy more challenges, I’m going to direct you to Paulette’s blog.

Lets get started:

1. Sew My Style 2020 – This is an exciting one for me!  Paulette from petitefont.com is hosting it this year and guess what…..I’m going to be a featured blogger for the month of June!  How exciting is that?!  Sew My Style is a year round sewing challenge, offering 2 patterns per month (at a discount) for challengers to sew.
2. Sew Fancy Pants 2020 – Now, from my understanding this challenge is for the month of January only.  If you’ve been wanting to sew pants….this could be the challenge for you.
3. Sew Twists and Ties – I believe this challenge is too, offered for the month of January only.  This is where you sew a garment with some sort of twist or a tie.  This sounds like a fun challenge and I do have a McCalls dress pattern that involves a twist detail!  I might try to find the time to participate in this challenge!
4. Make 9 Challenge – In this challenge, you pick 9 projects – could be anything from sewing, crochet, to knitting or any kind of craft.  You set out 9 projects to complete that year.  I didn’t do so well last year, but I will most likely try it again this year.  They even have a worksheet on the website.  This is a fun and individual challenge to work at your own pace.
5.  Makers Curate 2020 – I’m not too familiar with this sewing challenge, I tried to look up the hashtag or to see if there is a website.  I believe this sewing activity (I read that it is not a challenge) I think you document your handmade wardrobe for a certain amount of time!?  Please do let me know in the comments if you have more details about this activity.
6. Sew 20 in 20 –  In this sewing challenge, you pick 20 meters or 20 yards worth of fabric that you wish to sew in 2020 – a great challenge to reduce that fabric stash!
7. Sew Your Books –  This sound like a fun one, if you have sewing books with patterns.  This challenge is for the month of January encouraging sewists to sew garments/projects from their sewing books.  I don’t own any books with patterns, but if you…this is a neat sewing challenge!
8. Sewing Bingo 2020 – This is a fun one that I plan on doing this year.  Similar concept to the Make 9 Challenge, except that instead of picking certain projects (fabrics and patterns) this one has 9 categories in which you could complete your projects.  Maybe one project could potentially fit into 2 categories?!  This one is right up my alley!
9. The Great Module Sewing Challenge – Hosted by Whitney and Carla are hosting a 6 week sewing challenge where you sew a module.  Sewing 3 tops, 2 bottoms and 1 topper in 6 weeks.  Each week they will provide YouTube videos on their channel to motivate and inspire you.

These are the challenges I’ve found this far, Paulette has basically all of the sewing challenges listed on her blog.  Definitely check it out as I’ve only covered a couple.

Which challenges do you plan on participating in for 2020?

“When you lose a precious member of your family, the love you shared does not die with them.  It lives forever among the shattered pieces of your heart.” — Gillian Roberts

2020 Sewing Goals

What do I want to accomplish in 2020? That’s a really good question! I feel like I failed at accomplishing many goals in 2019 as I fell off the wagon near the end of the year. But not all was lost, 2019 was still a very successful year, I just think I failed miserably at the Make 9 Challenge. With that being said, I want to set myself up for more success in 2020.

What will that look like? Well, I have put some time and some thought into it and I really do not want to plan out a full year worth of sewing. As we all know – new fabric, new patterns are always always released throughout the year, which causes me some distractions from my original plans! For 2020, I want to go with the flow and with whatever inspires me at that particular moment.

Of course all of the patterns and fabric that I have from old plans (make 9), will still be in the new plans, except I will work on them when I’m feeling inspired to work on them, rather than feeling forced to work on them.

As for the Make 9 Challenge for 2020, I’m still working on my little plan – once I complete that, I will let you all know. As of right now, I seen the hashtag #sewingbingo2020 and it is very similar to the Make 9 Challenge, except it doesn’t consist of patterns or fabrics – but rather categories in which your makes can fall under. For example, some categories are “repeat”, “solid”, “print” and “more involved”.

Completing the #sewingbingo2020 is definitely in my plan!

Next, some of the things that I would like to work towards in 2020 are:

• continue to focus on my blog and my YouTube channel. Both my blog and channel are things that I very much enjoy doing. I have a larger audience on my YouTube channel in which I thought about putting more effort into that, but have since decided that regardless the number of my audience, I still do enjoy writing out my blog posts. I would however like to be more regular on when my posts and videos are posted.
• Each month, I’d like to set a goal for 1 project, 1 re-make and 1 mommy and me make!
• I’d like to reduce the size of my stash.

I want to focus more on being in the moment and sewing with what inspires me rather than feeling forced to make a project because it is on my make 9 list.

What are your sewing goals for 2020?

“Perhaps they are not the stars, but rather openings in Heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy.” — Author Unknown

2019 Reflections

As 2019 comes to a close, I start to reflect on my sewing journey the past year and think about what 2020 might hold!

2019 started off strong for me, I started the year off by completing the Burda Style Teaching Certificate course!  I also had very strong intentions of completing my very first make 9 challenge.

This time of year is a mix for everyone – some like the freshness of a new year, while others do not care for new year resolutions.  I’m one of those people who look at New Years as an opportunity for a fresh start.  With our lives being so busy these days, it’s nice to take the time to sit and really think and reflect back on the past year and look towards the new year.  This is probably the only time in the whole year that I actually have the time to sit down and really think about the past year.

Make 9 Challenge

This was my first attempt at the Make 9 Challenge and unfortunately, I failed miserably.  But that is okay – I went into the challenging knowing that planning for a year of projects could change as the year goes on (motivations, inspirations, challenges), which is what happened in this case.  Are these projects still on my list of makes?  Absolutely, but in what priority….I’m unsure of at the moment.  Will I try the Make 9 Challenge again….absolutely!  I think in this next year, I’ll plan my Make 9 Challenge around the projects that I wish to complete within the first 4 months of the year – this way it gives me a chance to complete at least 3 makes by March and hopefully carry on the momentum for the rest of the year.

The makes that I did complete for my Make 9 Challenge were both for Minerva.com

In 2019, I sewed a lot of dresses….and I mean A LOT!  I think subconsciously I dream of sewing my daughter her grad dress and/or wedding dress and so I tend to gravitate towards sewing dresses perhaps as practice?!  Do I wear a lot of dress?  Absolutely not!  I think due to my new work schedule and having a very limited amount of time to dedicate to  my sewing, blogging and vlogging that in 2020 I’m going to make a conscious effort to choose patterns and fabrics that I will get a lot of wear both at work and at home.  Due to my new job, the type of clothes that I wear on a daily basis has changed quite a bit, so I’m hoping that my handmade wardrobe will reflect that!

It is no surprise that my Instagram Top 9 is of course all dresses!  Lets change that for 2020!  Which one of these dresses is your favorite from 2019?

Thanks for following along as I reflect back on the past year of sewing.  Next post up will be my goals for 2020.

“Happy New Year in heaven Dad!” — Me