2020 is here and I have a true life pivot that I'm faced with this year. The last few garments showcased in recent posts were made on the heels of being fired from my job one week before Thanksgiving 2019. Not the typical experience of being fired, I saw it coming, tried to move away from the target on my back, but to no avail, I finally asked to be let go...putting us both out of our misery, allowing him (a new sales leader) and me (an exhausted 25-year sales veteran) to both exhale and end the year with a sense of accomplishment. I did the happiest of happy dances just a few minutes after ending the call and spent the day calling my consultants making transitions and the next day packing up equipment to send to the company home office. The holidays were upon me and I was ready to relax and enjoy not being a W2 employee of a company that will continue thriving without me.

Happy New Year to me!

Entering my sewing room had new meanings the past few weeks and I will now enter my sewing room with new challenges and plans and results to help others learn to sew or up their sewing game. I do plan to find another job as it means one stream of income that I must have - I will have at least 4 streams of income in 2020. Wish me luck!

Meanwhile, my style showed up this December with sequins and bling and faux fur, fabrics I had been craving to work with. I'll be writing blog posts and tutorials for sequins and faux fur to help anyone new to these fabrics. I have worked with these challenging fabrics in the past, but needed a refresher and I had forgotten how messy sequins are and messy and annoying faux fur can be. Lessons learned: pattern choice is key - I wasn't overjoyed with Simplicity Pattern 8844 for a sequin blazer. The pattern is unlined and I needed to line the jacket - so there I am drafting lining pieces - affects so many areas of the jacket: the facing, the hem, and just overall fit...but I worked it out.

Hope you enjoy the pics of this seriously blinged out look, including boots from Dillards. And Noah Nicole asked could she push the button on the iphone on the tripod (exactly her height) and these are the best pics. So she gets all photographer credit for this shoot!

Haven't been to a New Year's Eve party in years and I wanted to go all out! #discoball comes to mind.

We set up the tripod with the iPhone while Erica took shots with the camera. Noah asks "can I push the button?" and we said yes. This is how all the iPhone pics showed up. Love it!

The boots are Jessica Simpson from Dillards - TWO YEARS AGO! Just needed the right fabric to match the boots. Now waiting for a trench coat fabric.

In the end, I so very happy with my suit and will surely do it again....this time with white sequin for the summer nights. I spent one week on the pants and the jacket gave me fits and I had to sleep on it for many nights until the various fixes came to me, especially with the lining because the pattern is not designed with a lining. And I always forget how small my shoulders are and sometimes have to take in the shoulder lines, whether I re-draft the pattern beforehand, or alter after cutting.

Thank you to everyone that showed me love for this make - I'll keep more coming.

Pattern: Simplicity 8844

Pants: self-drafted

Fabric: Fine Fabric Atlanta

Notions: store bought shoulder pads and Dritz snaps, knit interfacing from Joann's

Boots: Dillards

Photo Credit: Noah Nicole

Thanks for the love - Nikki G