Any ideas on how I can get back my sewing groove, even in a small way, and keep baby happy?

Home-canning is not such a safe baby-friendly activity.  This will have to do.  I am trying out various make-ahead home-made mix recipes.  They look very pretty on the shelf and having a premade item ready should cut down on cooking time as any day it’s “guess your best” on what type of mood the baby will be in during the supper hour.

Haven’t gotten back to the final big crazy ugly dog blanket that I am working on.  Hope to have some time this weekend.

A basket of sheeting scraps from practice muslins and one of those stiff fleece blankets from the 80's.

Sometimes I like a bit of what I call “unskilled sewing.”   At least it looks unskilled when I do it.

Right now I can’t imagine getting involved in a detailed project as I am constantly interrupted by the baby.  But I want to sew. 

Rooting through my stuff I found this basket of scraps from my practice muslins.  Often I make random household stuff out of this material and after seeing the dog shivering in her bin once winter set in, I decided to do some dog blankets.

Now let me tell you – my dog chews.  A bad habit.  But in this instance very freeing for me.

Combining some of Eleanor Burns’ Log Cabin quilt technique  with  the “Quilt as You Go” method and adding in some Paper Piecing ideas I came up with these truly crazy ugly dog blankets.

One Crazy Ugly Dog Blanket. Now there are several more where this came from and I have a tidy little pile of blankets for the dog's delight.

Totally freeform sewing.  Whatever fabric piece I reach for first is the one I use.  Not bothering to match thread, I use up my spare bobbins and leftover thread spools. If I get the seam right, wonderful, if not, so be it.  If the batting is a parallelogram rather than a rectangle, I don’t bother squaring the angles.

My dog enjoys adding some cotton fiber to her diet.

The goal – nothing wasted.  The attitude – who cares what it looks like.  The caveat – the dog may chew it anyway.

Hakuna Matata sewing – no worries.  It has been a lot of fun.  Stuff that was once only clutter around my house has been brought into use.   The blankets are admittedly ugly, but the dog has already begun her chewing.

Sly queries such as “Just what are who-ha’s,”  were met with “You Know.  And I don’t want to see them!”

Recently my daughter brought me her Ken doll and he clearly had a problem that would have sent my old boss into a tailspin.  His who-ha’s were most definitely hanging out.  Should Ken bend to dive into the pool he would expose his derriere for all the world to see.  My daughter said, “Fix these Mommy,” and smacked the small swim trunks down on my sewing machine bed.  

It took a few weeks and I didn’t even bother to change the thread to match.  Just dusted off my machine and hit the foot pedal.  It felt really good to be sewing again. 

Here are the finished trunks.  I would have shown you the outfit on Ken himself but his current whereabouts are unknown.  As he is the only male in a suitcase full of Barbies I guess he is a busy man. ; )

Well, yesterday my husband dropped into a bookstore for a gift for his mom and I gathered wrapping supplies at the local dollar store.  At peace with getting the seasonal chores so close to finished and enjoying the unusually sunny warm day for December I walked back to the car passing a bunch of shops I was glad not to have to go into as I was so close to finishing up the buying and gift wrapping.  

Such complacency never lasts long for me, and even feeling it should be a cue that something will rattle me in the next few seconds – and true to form the emotional landscape was about to change.

Do you know what capped the end of this little strip mall? 

 A super JoAnn’s! 

My peace was shattered.  Aahh!  I’d almost forgotten that JoAnn had recently opened a new store along this strip.  Now I felt an overwhelming desire to go in and buy something I do not need, had not planned to sew, and probably can’t even finish right now.

I fought the urge for a little while, but then thought “Pooh, I am a sewer after all, a creative person.  I am prone to such vagaries.  Just accept it.”

I told my husband I was going to go in to just smell the fabric.  He told me “You’ve got it pretty bad, babe.  Does fabric even have fumes?” 

Yeah, it kinda does.

I sent him to bring the car around while I took a whirlwind tour.  One quick look at the clearance rack which wasn’t very clearance-y in price, but then the big sales are past.  Traipsed past the patterns hoping for a 99 cent sale.  No sale but I was glad to see fresh pattern catalogs.  My daughter split for the kids crafts and came back with a paint kit I am supposed to remember for her birthday this January.   Saw all the bolts of quilting fabric lining the walls, and the bins of yarn, and gave a huge sigh of relief.  Nothing has changed since I’ve been gone.

Now I keep wondering which of my undone projects I can realistically finish as I care for the new baby.  I am sad that I have such a large stash of UFO”s but then consider it a blessing that I have so much to choose from in the undone department at this busy time when only projects that are quick and easy can be considered.

I’ve taken a duster to the machine, picked the cat off of the press board, and look forward to keeping you posted on what projects I find!

Bless you all!

Busy with baby, now I keep looking longingly at my machine but I haven’t much time to sew. However I do have one tiny clothing project, a refashioning project actually.

This is my first post-partum sewing project.  A no-sew project really.

I thought a soft and clingy A-tee would work nicely.

I was looking for something soft and comfortable to wear under my nightgown as early nursing can be a sensitive business.  I grabbed some men’s tee’s from the store, the type while growing up we used to call wifebeaters, not a pretty name but we did not think anything of it at the time, pre-PC and all.  The manufacturers obviously object to that name and call them A-tees I think.  The draw for me was that they fit close to the body and were very cheap.

Guestimate and cut. I had to cut off the bottom because men's hips being so slender, there was no way I was going to get the hem to fit my post-partum hips.

I have kept the bottom cut-off portion to use as ribbing in future knit projects.  Otherwise the shirts are disposable and I will warn you as you continue nursing, your breast size will increase, and you will have to keep cutting a new shirt allowing for more space at the top.  Also, any leaking goes right through and you may find yourself changing up a few times a night.  Not a long term solution, but it got me through the early days when I was most tender.

October 14, 2011

9 pounds 7 ounces

22 inches

On October 14th my husband and I welcomed our son into the world, a healthy and hearty 9 lb. 7 oz. 22 inch long baby.  I am happy to be home with baby and recuperating nicely.  I am still a little sore and slow but I am already wondering what my next project will be.  (And looking forward to disposing of the maternity clothes.) 

I appreciate all of the well wishes and good advice I have received during the past nine months. 

Thank you and God Bless!

This time around I want to do better so I have given it some thought.  Like I mentioned last post I am going to branch out style-wise and do the unstructured, layered look.  Adding and subtracting clothing on a per-stain basis should be easier that way. 

Normally I am attracted to wovens, but I am going to concentrate on knits for a season, as they are quicker to sew, don’t need fancy seam finishes, and if unstructured, can be easily taken in as my waistline, hopefully!, decreases.

My next thought was color – what colors best repel or hide stains.  Not just puke stains.  As the baby grows and feeding solids begins, he will have his hands in strained peas and peaches and then want to love on me, adorning my clothes with permanent orange, green and brown marks.

Thinking through the fabric/color issue while waiting on my second glucose test at the OB/Gyn’s,  I decided to build my wardrobe around darker knits in solids or flowy/busy prints.  Taking a cue from a recent post by Stephanie of 3 Hours Past the Edge I got onto the website colourlovers.com and created a small basic palette.

Navy, burgundy, forest green, grey and purple in various prints and solids.

Not fancy but I think it will do for the upcoming season of baby yarp and food fights. 

Any other suggestions for baby friendly fabric or color options?

Given all of these discomforts I haven’t done any sewing since finishing my cousin’s wedding dress.  None of my projects interests me. I don’t weather pregnancy all that well.  My pregnancy complications aren’t life-threatening to myself or the baby, luckily, but they are enough to make for a difficult nine months.  Lately I have been a tad depressed and feeling drained of any spark.   Things that I normally do no longer interest me. 

Though most folks are advising me to rest, sleeping and staring off into space are not working to restore my mood.  Today I decided something else needed to happen so I picked up and went shopping.  With the birth only five to six weeks away I no longer can get excited about maternity clothes.  I am on to thinking about the next stage – nursing.

My past experience with nursing was very fulfilling, though a bit messy.  I have an unusual problem in that the banding on any kind of nursing or standard bra causes my milk ducts to clog.   Last time I brazened my way about town without a bra and no one said anything, though I did feel a bit self-conscious.  I didn’t think through what kind of clothing could best accomodate this situation, and the styles six years ago were different.  But experience is the best teacher and this time around I have a plan.

My solution

Cami’s and racerback tanks underneath with unstructured loose overblouses on top. 

 My normal styles leans toward semi-structured but that look really highlights that your boobs aren’t in that perky place they used to be.  (Alas my unfettered breasts no longer stand without support.     ) Plus the sewing is more intensive on structured garments and any leakage is impossible to hide if the item fits closer to one’s form.  So unstructured it shall be for the next year of nursing.  Easy access for the baby and coverage for me.

With these parameters in mind and looking forward to the next stage of life with the baby, on impulse, I stopped by my local Hancock’s.   Lo and behold they were having an 89 cent sale on Butterick patterns and Vogue patterns were going for $3.99!  Such fun sitting down perusing the catalogs and I want to show you what I came home with. 

Butterick 5216

Butterick 5216: Unsure if this one is going to work out but I liked the long-sleeve version.

Butterick 5645

Butterick 5645: No long sleeve versions unfortunately, but I like options C &D and think they should be fun come next spring/summer.

Butterick 5355

Butterick 5355: Looks like a standard tunic. I like versions A & C best as their sleeves look like they will stay out of harm's way. The other two version have sleeves that look so floufy that they might drag in baby messes.

Butterick 5357

Butterick 5357: Peasant tops usually emphasize all of my rounded features so normally I avoid them but they are quick and easy. This one should sew up well in either a knit or lightweight cotton. I might end my sleeves at 3/4 with a simple band though to get away from too girlish a look.

Butterick 5388

Butterick 5388: Looked simple to make and has both cold and hot weather options.

Butterick 3314

Butterick 3314: I really just wanted the cami from this pattern, but I might end up making some comfy PJ bottoms too.

Vogue 1261

Vogue 1261: Trendy hemline and looks like it is especially suitable for ultra-thin layering knits. Best of all some of the options are sewn up with unfinished seam edges. What could go more quickly?

All simple patterns without a lot of pieces, I am looking forward over the next few days cutting them out and giving them a trial.  I’ll keep everyone posted how things go!