Our five week European and UK family adventure is over and we are home again.  It was an awesome trip, but as always it is oh so nice to be home.

All smiles at Lake Contance (Germany)

I did… ahem…. buy quite a lot of fabric while I was away.  The quality, range and value was just too tempting.  Think French linens, Liberty (tana lawn and jersey!) and European knits… my three most favourite fabrics to sew!

I visited both Liberty London and Shaukat on my birthday and it was a memorable day.  Check out one of the walls of liberty in Shaukat… heavenly!

The lovely Lara from Thornberry has asked me to join in the writers’ blog hop.  Lara and I have similar body shape, colourings and we don’t shy away from colourful fabrics.  I remember when I first stumbled across Lara’s blog one evening I spent several hours searching all her archives as I had one of those moments of ‘if these patterns suit Lara, then it’s likely they will suit me too.’  I’m now super lucky as I not only get to enjoy Lara’s blog, but also see her in real life too.  Friends made on the internet… who would have thought?!

1. Why do you write?

Like a lot of the blog hop posts I’ve read, I write for two reasons.  The first is too keep a record of my makes and the second is to connect with the wonderful worldwide online sewing community.

I was inspired to start this blog a little over two year ago after I attended the first sewers/sewists meet-up in Melbourne.  Most people were introducing themselves as ‘such and such’ from ‘such and such’ blog.  Taking their lead, I went with the… Hi, I’m Anna, Blogless Anna.  Although it makes no sense at all (how can you be blogless when you have a blog?!) when I started my blog a month later I decided to keep the joke running.

2. What are you working on?

I’m hoping to join the Modern Vintage Make-a-long that the Handmaker’s Factory is running this month (better get onto that!).  I have my eye on View D (the white one) of an old Vogue Pattern 6601.  If the muslin goes well, I have selected some double gauze for the real deal.

My big girl celebrates her birthday this weekend and the tradition of a birthday dress will continue.  Miss A has placed her order – the same dress as last year, but with a longer skirt this time.  Yes, I better get onto that too!

While I was away, and with a little bit of time on my hands some evenings, I decided to join Pinterest.  I know, I’m a little behind the times, but the first board I created was a Sew Sooner one.

If that’s not enough, I’m also have some personal sewing challenges bubbling on in the background.

Challenge 1:  Full Bust Adjustment (FBA)

Several months ago I accepted the fact that I had a bigger bust than the usual B or C cup that patterns are drafted for and I would need to start learning more about Full Bust Adjustments (FBAs).  I started with a dartless top – The Scout Woven Tee – and it was amazing the difference that it makes.  These two tops are the same size, but the first is straight out of the packet and the second I completed an FBA.  If you can’t pick it up in the photos, the difference is definitely in the wearing…

I’m already playing around with FBA on a dartless top, and princess seams will be after that.

Challenge 2:  Experimenting

This one is really about pushing a pattern to it’s maximum and trying out different pattern alterations and fabrics and seeing how these changes effect the outcome.  How many Scout Woven Tees have I made myself recently… one, two, three, four?  And who’s counting the different fabrics I’ve used to sew up a boxy cropped Japanese pattern (jumper/sweater knit, viscose jersey & wool/silk)?  I’m enjoying the experimentation and learning lots along the way.

Challenge 3:  Sewing Silk

The silk stash keeps having little bits added to it here and there, but without anything being removed.  It’s time to re-acquaint myself with this fabulous, but slightly scarey fabric.  I’m going to start with simple patterns and french seams.  You guessed it, I’m planning (and it’s not on my Sew Sooner Pinterest board…oppphs!) another Scout Woven Tee with a full back alteration.

3. How does your blog differ from others of the same genre?

In short, it doesn’t.  But in saying that, I do feel that my blog reflects me and I am a unique individual who seems to have developed quite a love for fabric and print matching in the last 12months!

4. What is your writing process?

My blogging has changed over the last two years.  I used to finish an item, get Mr Blogless Anna to take a few photos, write the post and bang it was done.  I rarely moved onto the next project until the previous one was blogged.  The process is now the same.. sew, photos and then write, but the timing has changed dramatically.

My best friend (a non-sewer)… who understands me, my style and takes an awesome photo, has been my blog photographer this year and what a difference it makes (sorry Mr Blogless Anna).  The only problem is that my bestie and I live a 1.5hr drive from each other.  Therefore, these days I sew, sew, and sew some more, leading up to us seeing each other, we photograph several makes all at once (outfit, make-up, accessory and locations changes included) and then I blog the makes over the following couple of weeks.  My blogging therefore might not be as regular as before, but I think it’s worth it for the improved photos.  Call me vain, but I prefer my blog photos to be flattering and to capture all the details of the item.

Reflecting and writing this post has been fun.  I can’t quite get my head passing the blog hop on… so many of my regular reads have already participated!  So anyone who hasn’t already played along and feels like a bit of navel gazing, feel free to join in!