Two years.

That is how long this little corner of the internet has been quiet. Looking at the date of my last post feels almost surreal because, in my mind, I never really left. Every now and then I would think about coming back, write a few sentences in my head, imagine the stories I wanted to tell, and then quietly close the browser again.

Time passed much faster than I expected.

When I published my last posts, I was writing about anxiety, healing, and learning to navigate life after growing up in a difficult environment. Sewing became more than a hobby during that time. It became a way to quiet my mind, to process difficult emotions, and to slowly rebuild trust in myself. I often wondered if I would ever reach a point where creating wasn’t simply helping me survive, but allowing me to truly enjoy the process again.

Shortly after those posts, life took an unexpected turn.

One ordinary morning, I opened my e-Boks and found the letter that said I had been accepted into my master’s programme at the University of Southern Denmark. I remember reading it several times because I genuinely couldn’t believe it. Self-doubt had followed me for so many years that my first instinct wasn’t excitement, but disbelief. Even after receiving my student card, a part of me still expected someone to tell me there had been a mistake.

There wasn’t.

Those two years became some of the most demanding, rewarding, and transformative years of my life. They were filled with lectures, research, group projects, interviews, deadlines, and eventually a master’s thesis. But they were also filled with uncertainty. During my first semester, I reached one of the lowest points in my life. Looking back now, I can see that it became a turning point. Sometimes growth doesn’t begin when everything falls into place. Sometimes it begins when you reach a place where something simply has to change.

The blog quietly faded into the background.

Part of it was time. Part of it was exhaustion. But there was another reason that was harder to admit, even to myself.

Being visible online has never been easy for me. For a long time, sharing anything about my life came with anxiety. The longer I stayed away, the more difficult it became to return. I started wondering whether anyone still wanted to read these little stories or whether they even mattered anymore.

Eventually, I realised I had been asking the wrong question.

This blog isn’t here because people expect me to write.
It’s here because I never want to forget the person I was while creating.

A place where every garment tells me who I was when I made it. A place where I can look back years from now and remember not only the fabric or the pattern, but the season of life that surrounded it. This little blog has slowly become my portfolio, my journal, and a collection of memories that I don’t want to lose.

While I stopped writing, I never stopped creating.

After almost nine months away from my sewing machine, I slowly found my way back. One project became another, curiosity returned, and with it came the excitement I had been missing. During these two years, I carefully planned and made more than forty garments. Not because I wanted to fill my wardrobe, but because each piece was something I genuinely wanted to wear. Sustainability has always been an important part of why I sew, and every project began long before the fabric was cut.

Something else changed too.

My body changed, and instead of fighting it, I found myself becoming inspired by it. That journey eventually led me to something I had wanted to do for years: creating my own sewing patterns. Looking back at the shirt pattern I carefully copied apart years ago, I realise how much confidence I have gained. Today, I reach for patterns that began as my own ideas, and that feels incredibly special.

If someone had told me two years ago that I would finish my master’s degree with the highest grade, I would never have believed them. At the time, simply making it to the end felt uncertain. The grade is something I am incredibly proud of, but what matters even more is everything that happened between the acceptance letter and graduation. Learning to ask for help. Learning to trust myself a little more. Learning that taking care of myself isn’t selfish after all.

Right now, life is changing once again.

Graduation has brought a new beginning, one filled with uncertainty, applications, interviews, and the excitement of discovering what comes next. In the middle of all that, I found myself returning to something familiar. Sewing has become my way of grounding myself when everything else feels unknown.

And perhaps that is why it finally feels like the right time to return here as well.

This is the beginning of While I Was Away, a series dedicated to all the stories that never found their way onto these pages. The dresses, the shirts, the patterns, the fabrics, the mistakes, the little victories, and everything they came to represent.

The past two years have given me more stories than I could have imagined.

I think it’s finally time to tell them.