TL;DR:
1.) Finish outstanding projects from 2018.
2.) An 1890s evening gown
3.) An 1860s re-do
4.) An 1840s gown
5.) Vintage
TL;DR: I did 90% of those things.
Let's have a look at what I did accomplish this year.
1.) Finish
I currently don't have any UFOs, so I managed to tick this one off the list. The two projects I was specific about were my natural form era ball gown and my 1660s court gown.
Done, and done. I'm definitely the most proud of the 1660s gown because that was hard. Even though I made a lot of mistakes, and definitely want to try another gown to fix these mistakes, it's by far a favourite of mine (and had the best photoshoot conditions of the entire year).
2.) An 1890s gown
I think this was the second project of the year....emphasis on I think. This was inspired by Dakota Fanning's green evening gown in the particularly awful Netflix show "The Alienist". It didn't turn out anything like hers, but I still like it.
This was a full ensemble, including an 1890s corset from Jill Salens Corsets book. Definitely one of my best corsets to date.
3,) Not an 1860s re-do a.k.a a pet en l'air
I never got round to doing my 1860s re-do because I found out I was going to an immersive 18th century event in 2020. I began researching robe a la francaise, and began to fall in love with these cute wee versions. I found the perfect material, and then it just blossomed into my favourite, or perhaps joint favourite, project of the year.
This ensemble included all foundations: my second go at 1770s stays, and first attempt at pocket hoops, and a cap from American Duchess's Guide to 18th century hair and beauty.
4.) An 1840s gown
The penultimate project of the year, based from an 1840s fashion plate with a few artistic liberties. I was practically done in December 2019, with a few finishing touches that I planned to do over Christmas whilst visiting family. Then, I got ill. A spectacularly bad head cold that settled on Christmas day and lasted until Hogmanay. As of writing I still haven't finished this project, but plan to do so by February (hopefully). I did manage to finish the corded petticoat that goes underneath though, possibly my 2nd favourite project of the year.
5.) Vintage
My most neglected point. I bought tons of vintage patterns this year but haven't gotten around to making any of them up yet. I did manage to eek out a skirt in December though, with plans for more in 2020. This was also another project that was meant to be finished over Christmas, but due to the flu I was unable.
6.) BBC's Merlin: Guinievere's court dress
The biggest project of the year, and not my favourite because I'm not that satisfied with how it came out. This has by far been the most ambitious project I've ever undertaken, and the fact I finished it and photographed it in a perfect location are points in its favour.
All in all I think I accomplished quite a lot this year, taking on challenges, and having not used one commercial pattern (despite the boxes of them I own). I've become less haphazard this year, and do find myself improving garment by garment, but I still have a long way to go.
I also went out of my comfort zone (a.k.a my back garden) and did some photoshoots at historical properties, and documented my experiences for your entertainment.
As a cousin of sorts to this post I will have a goals for 2020 post coming soon.
