Welcoming in 2011

As we welcome the new year it's time for us all to think about what we want to achieve this year, the paths we went to follow and the goals we want to set, you've got it, it's new years resolution time!

2010 was a pretty good year for me. In 2009 I was lost and I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life, so my big ambition for 2010 was to find out what I did want to do and set a plan in place. I'd been working in admin since 2006 and was bored, bored, bored! I did some research and I liked the idea of speech therapy so I applied to university and applied for assistant jobs and got lucky and got both the job and the university place! So I did the job for six months, found out that I did really like it so in September I made the big scary move away to university. University has been a real challenge for me, I'm five years older than all of my flatmates and most of my course mates, I'm living somewhere I don't really want to be and have really struggled to meet people that I have anything in common with. But I've put a lot of effort into joining clubs and meeting new people and slowly things are starting to fall into place. To be honest it's the career at the end which keeps me going, university is so different to full-time work and it's been hard to adjust. I also am very close to my family and my home friends who I've been close to for years, so I miss home a lot, I didn't quite realise how much I would. So though I achieved a lot last year, it's not been easy! So now it's time to think about the coming year and what that will bring.

I guess this post will give you a little more insight into my life and who I am, not all my resolutions are sewing related but most are relevant to them. I've gone with setting a few big ones and then I might break them down into further challenges for myself. So here we go!


1. To continue sewing and improve on my skills throughout the year. Projects I already know I want to work on are a dress with a peter pan collar and some sort of tartan dress. I also want to spend more time 'upcycling' clothes, buying from charity shops and ebay and making items into something more wearable, this will mean that I can have new clothes on a budget. Now I'm at university, money is extremely tight and I can't really afford to shop like I used to so it's time to use that to my advantage and make new from old.

2. To get myself out of the university clothing rut of wearing boring jeans and jumper combinations just because that's what everyone else is doing. I know I'm more of a dress person and until I started university I practically never wore jeans but for the past three months I've lived in jeans and a denim skirt - boring! Time to mix it up a bit and learn how to make classic dresses look more contemporary (see my style post below)! If I can make my own clothes then I can wear garments that I really love rather than having to rely on what's in fashion. I have a very classic style and I wear what suits me rather than what's trendy so making my own gives me more flexibility to be able to wear what I want to wear. Oh and let me just tag onto the end of this... stop being drawn to black clothes, I'm too pale for black!

3. Use my new skills to make presents for people. The longer I know people for the harder it becomes to come up with new and interesting present ideas, but if I am creative then I can give some unique and exciting gifts! I made a few gifts for people this year and they loved them so it's time to get my thinking hat on and get creative.

4. Be myself and be proud of it. Since starting university in September I've spent a lot of time trying to fit in and doing things that I don't really want to do. Going clubbing especially, when I got over that a few years ago and am happy to go once in a while but not every week like all the 18 year olds. I'd prefer to go and watch a good film, or go out for a meal or to the theatre and as of yet I haven't found many people with similar interests to me. I feel a bit like I don't fit in because I'm not the typical university student, but I'm sure that when my flatmates reach 23 in 5 years time they'll understand! This links in with number 2 as well, when I worked in an office I wore loads of cute dresses and outfits which I feel like I can't wear at uni because I'll stand out too much but I think I need to stop worrying so much about what other people think. At least I'll be interesting rather than wearing the same topshop clothes that everyone is wearing. And when I bought my sewing machine I was worried that all my flatmates will think I'm odd but if that's what I want to do then why should anyone else be bothered! Before I started university I was really confident and secure in myself, but being at uni is like being back at school, it's quite an immature environment where some people still have immature attitudes to life and that can be difficult sometimes when you're lacking in confidence like me!

There are some things which aren't on this list because they're a given, like 'I will work hard this year to get a good first year mark', and 'I will get a holiday job'. There are some rules of life that I naturally follow and these are generally based around trying to be the best person that I can be and rather than moaning about a situation, trying to change it and create opportunities for myself. My resolutions are based around reflections on 2010 and things that I feel that I need to keep in mind that I wouldn't normally keep in mind! And now they're written down I can refer back to them so I won't forget!

What are your resolutions?