Mistress of Disguise

Dresses

Undies

Accessories

Sewing goals for 2019:

Make all my Wedding Stuff.

This is really my One Big Goal, because, well, I have to get it done! I've designed my dress and have my petticoat done for it, but I need a new corset and, well, pretty much everything else. I have weight loss goals I really want to hit, so I'm going to delay working on the bodice until a couple of months before the wedding so I can slim down as much as possible before then. The skirt is the more complicated part anyway, and will take way more time, so I'm going to start work on that this summer. I also have a couple of bridesmaids dresses to make, and I can totally get those done first before I start on my own trousseau. I'll have posts about the bridesmaids stuff throughout the year, but I won't be posting about my own dress until after the wedding, so probably the end of the year closer to December.

Finish more things, even if I miss getting them done for an event.

I have a bad habit of sewing like a crazed lunatic up until an event, and then abandoning the thing after the event is over, even if the project isn't finished yet. I have a lot of missing waistbands and items without closures because I get things just wearable enough to have for the event, and I never go back and add in those few things that would make them 100% complete. But y'all, it was amazing to have a waistband on my Dickens skirt. I need more completed garments in my life.

Finish some new stuff for M.

A good chunk of my UFOs are stuff for M, so he has a lot of great looking stuff that just isn't done yet. I need to buckle down and work on some of his things again.

Refine my drafting and grading skills.

This is something that I've wanted to do for a while, but I really feel like this is the year to make it happen. I'm going to pick up some second-hand textbooks from the UNT fashion design school and really have a go at making proper patterns. I can drape stuff all day long, but drafting is a sort of weak spot.

Non-sewing goals for 2019:

Save up for our own place.

I've been thinking about what sort of things I want to do this year that are not costuming related, and there are definitely some big things on the horizon. M and I are going to be moving into our own place in the fall, after he graduates and finds himself a job. I'm so excited to get out of my parent's house and finally have my own, adult space. Just this morning I was thinking about how much I hate having to creep around in the morning in some sort of monastic silence so I don't wake the household, when all I want to do is have the freedom to make breakfast, watch the weather report, and have a real start to the morning.

So, goal one is to save up for the move. I'm hoping to have a few grand in savings by the time we're ready to move out, since I've always been advised to have a couple of month's worth of rent saved up just in case there are unforeseen things popping up.

Become conversational in another language.

I've been sort of passively doing my language lessons for the past couple of years, but mostly I've just been chugging through a lesson to get the points and not really engaging with them, or doing any sort of studying outside of the lesson. I really need to get my German up to snuff, and I want to be able to get my French up to listening comprehension rather than just being able to read it. I'd like to get my German to the point where I can actively engage with people and not sit there searching for the right word for an eternity.

Save up for an overseas trip for 2020.

I won't be able to do any international travel this year, with the wedding and moving both happening, but I have been feeling my wanderlust bubbling up hard, and I need to do something about it. It's now been three years since I've been out of the country, and my inner nomad is hurting. I'm thinking maybe a trip to the UK. I've always wanted to go to the Beltane fire festival in Edinburgh, so I figure I could maybe do a week in Scotland and then head to London for another week. Either that, or I'll head to London so I can do the summer solstice at Stonehenge, and then spend the rest of the time poking around in England. I haven't decided yet, but dammit, I need to travel, and for some reason the old feast days are calling to me.

Lose weight for the wedding.

I want to lose weight anyway, not just for the wedding, but it does give me extra incentive to get to hit my goals. I want to get back down to where I was the first time I went to TrekCon, which means at least 50 pounds. Yikes. If I can lose about 10 pounds a month, I should be able to get there by the time I walk down the aisle.