How adorable are these? Arrived today from France, made by the lovely Jenni at Woollywraps, these have got to be my fave wool soakers ever.
Not much happening here on the creative front, I seem to have got to the part of my pregnancy where focusing on anything for longer than a few minutes is impossible, and all the energy I did have has gone and left me.
I should be packing for our family holiday right now for example, just can't seem to get up off my bum......
The dress is a little closer to completion. We did have a minor setback this morning when I accidentally cut into the lining and ended up replacing a whole lower front bodice panel. Thank goodness it was only the lining!
Next step is buttons and button holes. Then we need the petticoats before I can work on the hem.
I've been meaning to make some of these since Sid was a baby. Simple pull on soakers made from lush wool interlock.
They are very similiar in shape to the lovely Fleecycheeks my friend Angi used to make..totally unintentional, but I like that style. Of course Fleecycheeks were stuffable and these are not.
(The crease down the centre will dissapear once I wash and lanolise these.)
These are a medium size, just pondering how cute they'd be in a small.....
A wool interlock baby sleeping bag. Very stretchy wool with wrap front, finished with fold over elastic and labels. Super quick, and super effective...and the wool smells divine.
I've had such a lovely morning making a start on Heather's wedding dress. I'd got bored of fiddling about with toiles, but was slightly nervous of actually starting with the silk and lace. So glad I have now though, because so far (fingers crossed etc) it's coming together rather nicely.
Can't do any more today though because we need to do another fitting, and I've decisions to make re button holes.
The pattern calls for bound buttonholes, but I think that's almost certainly because it's a 1954 pattern, and I'm tempted to do machine buttonholes instead. I'll try both out on some scrap before I make any firm decisions. Got to cover all the buttons first anyhow.
Oh and before I go I have to just mention this cool video . After I posted the other day about washing all my flat nappies,this lovely lady left me a comment on flickr. Check out her other terry nappy pics too, they really made me smile, and judging by some of the comments left here they'll make a lot of you smile too.
Yesterday i received a parcel in the post from my lovely online sewing buddy, Kirsty. The parcel contained a knitting magazine, with lots of lovely freebie patterns in. This little hat being one of them.
Sid had a hat like this that I bought him on holiday in Cornwall when he was six weeks old, so I knew I had to make the baby one too.
I started it last night in bed, and finished it off this morning...still in bed!
I've now cast on a wool soaker with the same yarn.
My sewing up isn't getting any better! I knitted this up rather quickly from a freebie pattern I found online, then promptly lost the link.The finished article is far from perfect,but I think overall it'll be ok. The yarn is lovely, Sirdar Baby Bamboo, 80% bamboo and 20 % wool., it has a lovely feel and drape.
Kissaluvs in the smallest size! yes I know they'll only fit for a day or two, but who can resist such cuteness? Not me, I guess!
I'm now into the less than 10 week countdown to birth, and I'm actually quite excited!
You might have to put up with a few more posts like this one over the next few weeks.
The only sewing project I have on the go right now is Heather's wedding dress,but I'm taking my time with that. Off to hunt down some buttons for it later.
Ok, so the light is crappy this evening, and linen does like to crinkle despite my best efforts, plus there are still some tailors marking pen marks on this...but hopefully you get the idea.
This pattern was originally inspired by a vintage dress design, but after much tweaking and re drafting, this is what I've come up with.
I'm hoping it'll be cool and comfortable to wear after my July baby arrives.
The neck edge and armholes are finished with white bias binding and the buttons are tiny little pastel hearts. Maybe I'll get a pic of those and add it later. My camera battery has just died though.
...It's totally normal to wash all the flat nappies ( terries and muslins ) ready for the baby and then photograph them hanging to dry?
I don't think any other nesting is more satisfying than a line (or two) full of bright clean nappies, on a sunny and blowy day.
You know those days where the mood can change from one extreme to the other in an instant? well today has kinda been one of those days, even the weather couldn't make up it's mind, sunny and blue skies one moment, grey with freezing rain the next!
This morning I did some work on Heather's wedding dress toile no 2, and to my surprise liked the pattern way more when putting it together than I expected to. I even started to imagine how I could adapt the bodice design into a blouse one day when I'm not the size of a house.
Then I remembered I wanted to make some cool cotton pyjamas for after giving birth, and maybe I could adapt the bodice pattern into a pretty pyjama top, or at least the elements I liked.
So that's what I did. I'll be honest and say my first attempts are not exactly perfect, but wearable, and I now know better how to adapt the design , so may well have another go over the weekend.
I did try to take pics, but really all you can see is a hugely pregnant woman in pastel pj's...you'll just have to use your imagination.....
I am of the opinion that new Mums should stay in their pyjamas for at least a week after giving birth. I also think that having some nice new pyjamas to wear is a luxury at that time. (And if you are gonna stay in your jammies for a week, you need ones nice enough in which to greet any visitors.)
With that in mind I ran up this kimono style robe this afternoon. I used some vintage cotton I bought last year at the Antique Textiles Fair, and trimmed the whole thing with some white satin ribbon.
I just made the pattern up as I went along.
The cotton should be nice and cool, plus it'll be easy to wash and care for, both essential after birth.
I would show you a modelled pic, since I've made it generous enough to fit now and post partum, but I look rather like Demis Roussos. Infact I was trying it on, when Woody walked in on me laughing so hysterically at myself that I had tears streaming down my face!
I've spent this morning working on the toile for my best friends wedding dress, it's all rather daunting at times I'll admit.
Actually this is only toile number 1. We haven't finally decided which dress to go with,so I'm making up two toiles to see which works best, and which one Heather prefers.
I'll keep you posted, without giving too much away hopefully.
Just a little bit of nesting, I've a way to go yet before I start getting truly nesty.
This cupboard was given to me by a very dear friend several years ago. She sadly died four years ago from breast cancer, and I miss her still every day.
I've always loved the cupboard,but after a bedroom move about, a couple of years ago I had nowhere for this cupboard to go, so I reluctantly put it in storage in the cellar, where it got rather grubby and sad.
I think it was one of those nights when I couldn't sleep that I remembered the cupboard and thought it'd be great to store the baby's clothes and nappies.
A good clean up, some glue in the joints ( and a bit of reinforcement here and there...thanks Woody! ), a couple of coats of paint, and a rub down with a wire brush, and I have a "shabby chic " style storage cupboard.
I added some Cath Kidston scented drawer liners, and this little hand sewn heart, : voila!! Perfect place to put all the baby things.
Thank you to Anton, wherever you are honey!
Today I have got out of bed on the right side..yay! The sun is shining, I'm off to the hairdressers in a short while, and I've just finished this wool soaker for baby.
I used a pattern from http://www.woolsoaker.com/ and some lovely hand dyed merino wool, I bought on a whim in John Lewis.
I like this pattern, it's quick and simple for a knitter like me. ( ie not that great! )
Will knit more of these,but I'll also be buying some of my fave ever wool soakers too.
Boy oh boy, have I woken up in a bad mood this morning! Guess I can just blame those preggo hormones?
I've had a weird old morning, and tried distracting myself out of a bad mood firstly by doing a bit of knitting, then a bit of cupboard painting and finally by whipping up another maternity skirt.
This one is a fuller skirt, I slashed and spread my pattern piece before cutting out, and also experimented with cutting on the straight grain...(since the slashing and spreading gave me a little more room in the "waist" to play with too.)
I like the way this has turned out. I plan to wear it with my lovely yellow shoes, and am pondering making a matching bag, but maybe that would be too much?
Not sure I even have a t shirt that will go, I like these....maybe I need a bit of retail therapy to shake off this grey cloud.....
Look over there on the left, I've added another free tutorial, this time for my maternity skirts.
I'd say it's more for the intermediate seamstress, rather than a total beginner. Actually the construction is simple,but the pattern making part is slightly more complex and does assume a certain amount of knowledge.
Please give it a go, and let me know what you think.
By the way, I'm liking this maternity leave thing. Today I made this skirt and tutorial and then went bra shopping with my friend.
Saturdays are usually my only full work day. Woody is home, so can take care of the children while I have the luxury of a full day working on custom orders. The rest of the week, like so many other Mums working from home and combining work with childcare, work is done in little bursts of available time, between school runs, dirty nappies and play times.
Today though, I only have one custom order to complete and that's me done for the next few months. My expanding bump has made me come to a decision regarding maternity leave. So no more custom orders for me, and the only remaining stock is in my Etsy shop until May 23rd, and that's it, until...well the beauty of working for yourself is, I don't know until when...until I'm ready.
For now, it's time to focus on the last 12 weeks or so of being pregnant and the arrival of our fifth baby.
Doesn't mean I wont be sewing at all though, still got lots of projects on the go, not least a wedding dress for someone very special...more news on that later.
We don't exactly have anywhere to store things for the new baby yet. I have a cupboard I'm intending to renovate,but at the moment that's drying out after being in storage in our cellar for some time.
Meanwhile there is a growing pile of baby items stored right at the back of our wardrobe cubby in the loft. It's really difficult to get to, especially if like me you have a sizeable bump. Consequently I'm not exactly sure what we have down there, but I do know there is a lot, and I also know the pile of slings is really rather large.
Still, I couldn't resist making one more ring sling. This time in grey linen with my Spoonflower Dahlia print and teal silk as an accent.
I had planned to make an Asymetric wrap skirt with the grey linen and Dahlia print, heavily inspired by the skirts over at Ink and Spindle , and I may still, but probably not until after the baby is here and I have some idea of what size I'll be...scary thought!
