Blogiversary!

It took a lot of willpower not to capitalize the entire title of this post. Today is my one-year blogiversary!

Happy Birthday to this little ole blog of mine! How's about we take a look back at the last year, and look ahead at what's to come!

Most Popular Post

With almost 1500 views, this post on my DIY Chevron Maxi Skirt is my most popular. I actually don't wear this skirt very often, as it's hard to match a yellow stripey skirt with any sort of top. But I do love how nicely all the stripes match!

Least Popular Post

With a whopping 13 views, this post (my second ever) is among the least-viewed. Another poor performer, ironically, is a post from my sewiversary last year, describing my sewing goals! For some reason, I find it hilarious that nobody read that post, as it's probably the one that received the most thought ahead of time!

Bloggy Challenges

I participated in a few different blog challenges last year, including the Stashbusting Our Sister Fabric challenge, the Back to School challenge with Oliver+S, and the me-invented Fear Fabric Challenge. I love these cross-blog events, they're so much fun and a great way to find bloggers I haven't seen before.

What I've Learned

Man, I had no idea of the skillz you can (emphasis on the "can") learn for blogging! I've learned about domain names, website hosting, coding...on and on! That's a lot of stuff that had nothing to do with sewing. I've also tried to learn what I can about photography (mostly by trial and error!) and I'm currently saving up for a fancy DSLR. I hope to make the most of all this knowledge in my next year of blogging.

What's in Store for 2014?

Looking ahead, I see some changes coming, along with exciting new posts. Up until now, I've blogged pretty much daily for the last year. While this schedule was important for my type-A personality to develop the habit of blogging, I want to focus on posting quality over quantity. That applies to sewing AND blogging. So if I'm posting less often, know that I'm in the background learning and growing, and working on ways to better share that knowledge with all of you.

This is what a year's worth of post scheduling looks like.

In the next year, I hope to showcase:

• One indie pattern company each month
• A series on making the basics in a good wardrobe
• More menswear
• And anything else you'd like to see!

And you'll also be seeing more of my book, A Sewist's Notebook. There are some fun and exciting things happening with it (some that have been in the works for months) that I can't wait to share with you! The book would definitely not exist without the blog, so celebrating this bloggy anniversary makes me get all misty-eyed about the book as well.

Finally, a few words about YOU, my lovely readers. Blog comments are sent to my email inbox for moderating, and every time I see one pop up I can't wait to read it. Even after a year of blogging, reading comments is just as rewarding as it was when I started. The online sewing community is AMAZING. Amazing. I'm thrilled to be a part of it (that's the whole reason I started a blog in the first place!) and I hope I can help others the way they've helped me.

Enough sappy stuff. Time to pop some champagne!