2011 has been a crazy year for me, and hopefully 2012 will be better.

Sewing-related resolutions:

Make better pants. In the winter I wear pants a lot, and that means pants of all sorts. Here are some of my favorite pants I’d like to make or perfect: Wearing History high-waisted 30s (and could pass for 40s) style trousers, 1950s high-waisted cigarette pants, Colette Patterns Clover. In the warmer weather, it’s shorts, culottes and capri pants.

Learn how to drape. I received a draping book (possibly an FIT textbook?) for Christmas, and I fully intend to use it.

Draft more patterns. I really like being able to “copy” (or be heavily inspired by) other dresses and patterns that I’ve seen. It’s very freeing from using a pattern and trying to figure out what the pattern designer intended. Conversely, if something goes wrong and the fit is off, you have no one to blame but yourself.

Conquer your fear of sewing with knits. I still have no idea how to sew with knits, and I’m still intimidated by it.

Find your “sewing voice”. As a self-taught web designer/dev, I was always drawn to hand-drawn, slightly imperfect, lots of grunge, overlays, and the darker side of design. As someone who sews, I still have no idea what my “sewing voice” is. I know what my personal style is and what projects I tend to wear and what patterns I tend to gravitate towards, but if I were to design my own dress, blouse, pants, or even a collection I’d have no idea what it would look like. Perhaps this will come with time (and lots of sketching.)

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Personal life resolutions:

Test and perfect your rolls. I’ve been studying jiu jitsu for a few years now, and it’s taught me so much both on and off the mat. I finally (no idea how) learned my rear roll, and my front roll. The only thing left is to go up on the next belt test.

Just roll with it. I’ve seemingly inherited my mom’s tendency to be worried about everything, including things I can’t control. This year I’m going to learn to be happier with the status quo (not to be confused with being complacent), not take anything for granted, and learn to live in the present.