The 2016 Wednesday Showcase Hall of Fame

During this last week of the year, it's always great to take a look back as we think about moving forward. 

This past year brought a few changes to the blog, one of which was that I decided to end the Wednesday Showcase posts. I'm still going back and forth about whether I'll bring them back. For those of you who are new to the blog, I began doing the Wednesday Showcase posts, whew!!!, quite a few years ago. Each Wednesday I would choose 2 blogs to showcase, just a nice little surprise to say thank you to those who had chosen to follow my blog, and hopefully bring a little more attention to their blog as well. Some months back, I had a rather negative experience, and decided to just end the posts, at least for the time being. I have been working on something new, and I think exciting. More on that in a few days :) 

So, let's take a look back at some of the wonderful blogs that were showcased this past year.  

We began the year with Barbara Jane Made  A wonderful blogger from Australia. She loves to smile and her clothes reflect her happiness.

Beads and Barnacles is written by 2 sisters, Pippa and Nikki. Pippa is a sailor. Yep, a sewing sailor!!! Just love the picture below. They love to cook, sew, knit, dance, and sail, so inspiration abounds on this blog.

We then met Joyce of The Story Sew Far An avid sewist who does beautiful work and isn't afraid of a challenge.

Style Me Mary is written by the lovely Mary of course :) Below is a sample of her work. Those handmade buttons are to die for!!!

The Couture Counsellor is written by Wendy who is working hard to bring couture back to the courtroom. She's a fellow Haute Couture Club of Chicago member too! 

Lesley of Sew Nip Tuck is always up for a challenge, like this incredible blouse she made for her daughter.

We discovered a new way of blogging, Rather than being responsible for the entire content of the blog, 100 bloggers have joined forces and created Refashion Co-op. They inspire with their refashioned finds.

We were introduced to The Fold Line, a wonderful online sewing community that offers a newsletter, blog, sewing resources, pattern reviews, and sew much more!

Helen's Closet is written by Helen who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. She's a talented and energetic sewist. Featured below is her free Messenger Bag pattern. Pop by her blog and check out her super cute culotte pattern.

Another group who is sharing the load is The Denver Sewing Collective  A very talented group of sewists who love sharing what they do. 

We then met Amy of SewsNBows. She loves to sew, and she makes the cutest bows. You can find a link to the Etsy shop on her blog.

We Sew Retro is another shared blog, but their focus is on vintage patterns. They have over 1000 contributors, so you are sure to see something new whenever you visit. 

We then traveled back to Chicago and met Steph of Siouxzeegirl Designs. She too is a fellow member of the Haute Couture Club of Chicago. She absolutely loves to design and shares her process as she goes. 

Domestic Deb is anything but domestic, she is a true artist. The jacket below is a testament to her artistic abilities.

We went on to meet Stephanie of Sea of Teal. She lives in Germany and writes her blog in both German and English. A very talented lady. Just love those striped pants!!!

We met Jo of Making It Well. She is always in search of a challenge and enjoys making the cutest pieces.

gMarie Sews,  her blog says it all, she enjoys living a creative life...daily. And she does it all so well! 

We met Lyric of Sew Lyrically Vintage. This is an amazing woman, she sews beautifully and does it all on a hand crank sewing maching!!! 

Iris of IrisArctica not only loves to sew, but she enjoys seeing something ready made and recreating it for herself like the beautiful skirt below.

Zoubi Zoubisou loves vintage and yet makes it look so modern.

Learning Patterns is written by Rene, another fellow member of the Haute Couture Club of Chicago. She is an extraordinary fabric designer. The fabric that she used in the skirt below is her design. Pop over to her blog and then jump over to her Spoonflower shop for some wonderfully tempting designs.

Whitney is a custom clothing designer from Indiana. She writes and shares her work at Tom Kat Stitchery.

Vacuuming The Lawn is written by the effervescent Kyle. She is always up to something fun!

Sue's Sew By Me is all about her creative journey. Sue restyles patterns in the most wonderful artistic manner.

Patti of Not Dead Yet Style is not a sewist, but on her blog she offers a wonderful place to showcase what you do and it's called Visible Mondays. By all means, check it out!

Lori of Monkeyroom is an American living in Germany. Doesn't the picture below make you want to jump on a plane, head to Germany and have a cup of coffee with her?!! 

By this point in the year, I had stopped officially doing The Wednesday Showcase posts, but I just had to talk about Kim of The Material Lady. She and her husband came to Chicago for a holiday. While they were here, I took them up for a ride and tour of the city. A gift like this is what makes doing the Wednesday Showcase posts so worth the time!

And finally, our last Wednesday Showcase post for 2016 featured the one and only Paco Peralta and his lovely patterns for Vogue Patterns. Paco has not been writing a blog for over a year now, but the site is still up and well worth checking out for inspiration and his wonderful tutorials. You can find it HERE. 

So other than the one negative experience, it was another great year of meeting some of the most amazing people. Each of you are such an inspiration!