Another year has come and gone…..and with it, comes a little reflection. 2013 was the first complete year of the Frances Suzanne blog, and it was a fantastic one! We continue to be inspired by you, grow in our sewing skills, and hone into our particular styles and interests. 

As we kicked off the one year anniversary of our blog in June, we began the “Flip this Pattern” series – a series designed for YOU to showcase your creations, based from one particular pattern per month! It’s been so much fun to see the designs and creations showcased each and every month – not only from the competitors, but also the sew-along friends! We’ve also enjoyed working with pattern companies as patterns have been used as a springboard for other sewing projects. 

Then, since our birthdays are only a month apart, we opted to ‘gift’ each other a camera. Although Emily is the photographer, it is a gift to both of us…..saving Ashley time with photoshop editing. We purchased a Nikon D5100 with a portrait lens, and love, love, love the results!

Lindsay, of The Cottage Mama, introduced us to the world of “pattern tours.” She gave us the opportunity to share a creation using two Cottage Mama patterns {here and here}.

And, while Lindsay will be forever first on our “pattern tours”, we also shared with Sewing Mama RaeAnna and Welcome to the Mouse House readers alike.

Later in the summer, we felt like we had won the lottery when given the opportunity to sew a few Oliver and S patterns, prior to the fall release date!! SERIOUSLY a treat!!

Throughout the year, growing friendships continued with many of you and we began meeting blogging friends in ‘real life….’ In March, we traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina to attend a Girls’ Night Out Event, hosted by Jess, of The Sewing Rabbit. Man, does that girl know how to throw a party!! We only knew of a few bloggers that were attending {Vanessa of Designs by Sessa and Alida of Alida Makes}, but formed several lasting friendships once it was said and done. 

Meeting fellow bloggers proved to be addictive, so we quickly set up an informal breakfast / fabric shopping day with Sally, of Daisy Chain Creations and Sew Cool for the Tween Scene in early summer. Then, to cap off our blogger meetings for the year, a group convened at the Martha Pullen School of Fashion to share a dinner with Lindsay Wilkes, of The Cottage Mama. Again, we knew of some of the other people attending, but it was so good to meet Veronica, of sewVery and RaeAnna, of Sewing Mama RaeAnna, in person….along with others in the mix!

And, finally, we couldn’t leave out sewing along with Project Run and Play in Seasons 6, 7, and All-Star Season!! Those months are always a whole lot of fun – more chatter on the blog, more friendships being formed, and more bloggers to follow! 

We are excited to see what 2014 holds, and are looking forward to sharing our creations with you as the year unfolds…And, just for fun, we asked “Sister Momma” what were the most worn outfits for 2013.

For CL: hands down,  it was Straight Grain’s Bubble Dress. Sister Momma would have taken 10 of these outfits – perfect for diaper accessibility and warm summer days!

EA’s was more of a toss-up: the Mini Boden Knock-Off, Sgt. Pepper Dress, Emerald Dress, and Playtime Tunic and Leggings were all front runners!!

We hope each of you have blessed and prosperous 2014!!

As for our 2014 ReSEWlutions??? Stay tuned…we’ll review how we did on our 2013 ones, as well as share our 2014 ones with you in the upcoming days!!!

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