Introducing Boy J

Well Hi There!

I swear time is definitely more wobbly-wobbly-timey-wimey than any sort of constant.  The last six or seven weeks have just disappeared; it’s been a roller coaster, that’s for sure but I think we’re starting to find some sort of new normality.

I’d like to introduce Boy J, baby brother to Boy (now known as Boy A)!

We’re doing fine!

 

These photos have all been robbed from Husband’s i-Phone as I didn’t take any in the first few days.

I had gestational diabetes whilst pregnant which meant my labour was induced at 38 weeks.  This went well and I’d got to 3cm in 24hrs so it was decided that they would artificially break my waters on the delivery suite to continue the momentum – this is all normal by the way for an induced labour.  This is also where we deviated from the text book.

During my pregnancy the scans had shown a lot of amniotic fluid, but the last scan had shown that the levels were normal.  When my waters were broken there was a LOT of water and the poor doctor got drenched.  Contractions started up beautifully but the baby’s heart rate was dropping by over 50% with each contraction.  This was not good.

When there’s a lot of water, the baby has more room to move about – think swimming pool versus bath tub.  Because there’s more room their head can come out of the pelvis more easily and as a result the umbilical cord can be flushed down into the space their head should be.  This is what happened.  Once the water had gone, each time I had a contraction Boy J’s head was being forced onto his umbilical cord and cutting off his life support.

Boy J was delivered by an emergency C-Section in the early hours of that Saturday morning.  As soon as I saw the heart rate dropping I knew what was going to happen but I will admit to never being so terrified in my life.  Not for myself but for the baby.  Husband has said he’s never been so terrified either.  We went from us plus a midwife and doctor in the room to more than a dozen, with my clothes being ripped off as I was prepped for surgery as I went down the corridor.  I have maybe two or three very vivid memories of those few minutes (all of how amazing the NHS staff were) then nothing until Husband handed me a baby and said it was a boy.  That first day doesn’t really exist for me.

About three hours old. And seriously spaced out me.

 

Boy J had to go to NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) on the Saturday evening so that he could be tube fed so that his blood sugars could be stabilised (the gestational diabetes puts the baby’s levels out of sync for a short period too, so their body has to learn what to do).  Again the staff were amazing and in less than 24 hours he was discharged from their care, back to the post natal ward and back to me.  I’d been told I could go home on the Sunday too, so late Sunday night the midwives sorted our paperwork out and we came home on the Monday.

Unfortunately the pain I was in got worse and worse to the point I could hardly walk.  I’d had major abdominal surgery so wasn’t expecting to be doing cartwheels, but I was immobile.  I couldn’t even pick Boy J up from his moses basket next to me.  I was also running a temperature, going hot and cold and literally counting down the minutes until I could take the next set of pain killers.

My wound had got infected and whilst my GP and the doctor I saw at the hospital thought so, a registrar basically said I was making a fuss over nothing, of course it’d hurt and sent me home.  That night my scar ruptured and I’ll spare you the details –  it was disgusting and made me want to throw up (and I’m pretty bomb-proof).

But again, the staff at the hospital were brilliant and spent a considerable amount of time draining it and sorting my after care out.  The lead consultant in gynaecology then did several follow up appointments and he discharged me a couple of weeks ago.  I’m able to drive again too now which is just amazing.  Living in a rural area my car isn’t a luxury – for the last six weeks I couldn’t even get Boy A to school.  My parents and siblings bailed me out with out any complaint.  In fact my Dad seems to miss doing the school run in the morning?!

Boy A and Boy J on the Sunday

 

All in all, a bit of a rough ride but me and Boy J are doing fine.  Boy A adores him and we’re finding our feet!  I’m incredibly grateful for the amazing things the NHS has done for me and Boy J in the last few months, and for my amazing Husband and family who’ve maintained as much ‘normal’ as possible for Boy A.  There’s sweet FA sewing going on but that hasn’t stopped me living vicariously through all your blogs, Instagram posts and tweets!  At some point I’ll organise my space in the office, but for now I’m enjoying baby cuddles!

A Virtual Baby Shower

Guys, you have no idea what I opened my blog reader to yesterday morning!!  It was the best surprise ever and one that seven rather wonderful people had kept quite since September last year!  I’m staggered that this has happened, never mind been kept so quiet!!

If you haven’t guessed yet, I was thrown a virtual baby shower by my online blogging friends!  I can’t begin to express how surprised and touched I am by the time and effort that has gone into the items they have made for our impending small person.

I knew the instigator, Anne of Annabelle Bumps, was planning on making something for bump but I had no idea that she’d rope so many others into doing the same thing!!  Things like this is one of the reasons I absolutely adore being part of this community; the selfless and generous sprit of so many people who sew and knit seems to know no bounds.

Look at what these gorgeous, spirited, generous people have made for bump!!

Sonja of Ginger Makes took on quilting and has made the most gorgeous hedgehog quilt, in the most beautiful colours! Kat of Modern Vintage Cupcakes and Muse Patterns, despite having a very active toddler and a young baby herself, and being the brains and beauty behind an indie sewing pattern co, has made two pairs of leggings (one of which has snails!!), Dottie Doodle of Dottie Doodle has made the most gorgeous sleep sack with owls and Tabatha (aka Louise) of Thread Carefully has made the cutest pair of fox print trousers for when bump is slightly older!  Bump is going to style Me Made May outta the park!!

So much consideration has gone into the construction too, with comfy knit fabrics, snaps and robust seams.  As well as some serious seam ripper time by the sounds of it!

I absolutely adore the animal theme and colours that have ended up being in bump’s collection too; all creatures we see in our garden or in the fields behind, plus blues and earth tones.  Just perfect.

But if I wasn’t spoilt enough, people have been wonderful enough to hand knit gorgeous items as well!  I can knit (just) but seriously don’t have the patience for it and these items are just works of art!

Anne has made not one but TWO cardigans because we don’t know if bump is a he or a she! 5CurrantBuns who blogs over at Being Frank has made the most amazing spiral blanket in gorgeous, earthy tones and the wonderful Symon Sez has created a beautiful cardigan – look at that detail around the neck and it’s repeated at the cuffs!!  Again, so much care has gone into pattern and material selection so that we’re not worried about using or washing these gorgeous items.

All these wonderful people are so talented, you should go an have a look at what else they get up to!!

I am totally and utterly amazed and grateful for the time and love that has gone into these gifts.  I can’t quite believe that this is all for our imminent arrival!!  You wonderful, amazing, generous people are far more organised than I am – I’ve only just found the changing mat and have no idea where the covers are at the moment…  Who’s going to look after Boy, hospital bags and the car seat are the only things that are properly sorted!

I am so pleased that, with everything else that is going on in the world, Boy and (all being well) Bump are growing up in a world where people do still care, do still cherish friendships and will still go out of their way to bring joy to others.  I am beyond blessed to have you all in my life.

Thank you.  The word doesn’t seem enough, but from the bottom of my hear, thank you.

Easy Sewing

Yesterday I wanted to do some easy sewing; something quick and simple but something that would also be useful.  With braxton hicks and baby kicks taking up pretty much every waking moment (and waking me up!) it was always going to be baby related.

I’d always planned on making a blanket for the baby as they’re one of those things you can never have too many of.  We have them strewn around the house and in the car when Boy was small and I doubt this time around it’ll be any different.  In fact I ordered the fabric from Plush Addict months ago, pre-washed it and then… Nothing.  I guess I got this weird idea into my head about tempting fate and all that, so it just sat there.

Until yesterday, when I used Jane’s tutorial for making a very simple baby blanket.  The only things I did differently were to round the corners (using a saucer to get the round) and slip stitching the gap closed, because I’m obsessive like that!  Oh, and use dimple minky because IT’S SO FLUFFY!!

Found on Pinterest – can’t find the original owner…

We don’t know whether we’re having a boy or a girl and to my mind, pewter grey and aqua would work well for both.  I like them too so that’s what I used!!  I was careful pinning this together because Minky is a knit and the polkadot is a woven so there was the potential for it all to shift around a fair bit.  The only other thing I did was to sew with the cotton uppermost.  There really isn’t a whole lot to say about it – but it was nice to spend a bit of time with the sewing machine, doing something quick and easy that I know will get used!

It’s All About the Blog

Dibs nominated me to answer the blog hop questions doing the rounds at the moment.  I hope you’re not sick of them yet – I personally find them fascinating.  But I’m a nosey so-and-so and love to learn about the people behind the finished items and published posts.  It’s also made me write again, which is something I’ve missed doing!  So, here goes…

Why Do I Sew?

I have always liked making things.  Before sewing I was into cards and scrapbooking – paper based pursuits.  It sat really well alongside photography and I love taking pictures (as long as I’m not in them).  It’s a love I inherited from my Dad who used to develop photos he’d taken in our bath at home and would earn extra money as a quantity surveying student working for one of the best photography studios where I grew up.  Let’s just say he has a good eye!  I guess that need to be creative against a very precise job (I work in an enforcement role) is something we have in common.

My favourite class at school was graphic design – the aesthetic considerations being of just as much importance as the practical.  I guess sewing your own clothes is a (possibly stretched) extension of that.  You have the aesthetics of the fabric, colours and print against the amazing engineering blueprints of the patterns.  What intrigues me and challenges me after learning to follow that blueprint is that those blueprints are really springboards.  There are so many possibilities stemming from some lines on a bit of paper.  The possibilities are vast (and sometimes overwhelming!) and there’s always something new to learn.  A new technique, a new style line, a new fabric.

One of my most treasured sewing possessions is my copy of ‘Fabric for Fashion’ which is a swatch book of a myriad of unbleached fabric samples.  It’s a fabulous resource for learning about fabrics without getting distracted by the ‘ooooh, pretty!’ effect a good print can have!  Dad, with his construction background, saw it as a great reference tool to help understand the suitability or not of the materials you intend to use to follow the blue print (and yep, Mum and Dad bought it for me – it’s not a cheap book!).

The other reason I learnt to sew is because I wasn’t short changed in the bust.  Seriously – to get clothes that fit my upper torso means that they are around 2-3 sizes bigger than anywhere else on my body.  I hadn’t really realised this until I had Boy when all those hormonal changes increased that disparity even further.  I was sick of wearing clothes that drowned in one place whilst straining in another.  I felt self conscious enough, trying to wrap my head around how my body had changed, without the disaster that RTW was and is for me.

Sewing started out as cushions with my Nanny’s old Elna (a solid metal workhorse with those cams for different stitches), and then bags.  I followed a link from U-Handbag to one of Gertie‘s posts and the rest is history.  My focus switched to garments, my skill set grew (as did my blog reading list!), my clothing began to reflect who I was rather than what was the least offensive thing that fit, and I became a part of this amazing community.  You guys are part of the reason why I still sew – I wouldn’t have half the skills I do without you all sharing your knowledge so freely or providing me so much inspiration on a near daily basis!

What Am I Working On?

Currently, my Papercut Patterns Milano Cape.  It is so very nearly done and has involved a load of new techniques that I would never have tried a short time ago.  Pad stitching, re-drafting, bound buttonholes, welt pockets, bagged lining, drafting…  I can honestly say that the pattern has been an excellent jumping off point for me to make something that is perfect for me.  It’s not changed out of all recognition, but I’ve definitely put my own stamp on it beyond the usual fitting and fabric choices.  It’s also only been possible to make these changes because of the help I’ve had from fellow bloggers (Maddie and Emmie in particular!)

What am I going to sew next is a far harder question to answer!  I’ve got a wrap dress cut out and ready to go so I should make that up really, but I also want to make a Kimono.  I’ve had the fabric with that in mind sitting around for far too long.  There’s also a bag project I’ve started, Zo’s ‘Dolores’ top that’s recently come off the printer, and some hacked ‘Day to Night‘ tops that will fill a fairly massive void in my current wardrobe!  I also have an Elisalex hack that will be perfect for some events in December (and I have nothing else suitable for them so I’ll have to make it!).  Add the fact that fitting is like trying to hit a moving target at the moment, and my lack of ability to focus or stay awake beyond 21:30 and who knows what will come off the machine next!  Or when!

How Does My Sewing Process Work?

I’m not sure that I could ever call it anything like a process!  Sometimes I get ‘see-it-want-it-isis’ when someone has shared something they’ve made and I neeeeeeed it.  It could be the silhouette, the pattern or the fabric.  Other times I’ll see a fabric and it has to come and live with me and eventually I’ll find a pattern that it’s ideal for.  Other times I’ll have a pattern and then obsessively hunt down the fabric I’ve pictured for it (My maxi Annalex was one such combination).

I can’t say that my pattern purchases have any logical reason to them.  Some will be love at first sight, others will need to grow on me through repeated exposure (hello blogland!!), then there are the ones with an interesting detail (such as the Deer and Doe Belladone).  I’m not a pattern drafter – whilst I’d love to have the skills and am pretty sure I could develop them, my spare time is at a premium.  Rather than working from scratch I’m much happier paying a designer for something I like and then tweaking – it’s much faster than starting with a blank sheet of paper!

What Keeps Me Motivated to Blog?

You guys.  My interaction with you all through this space, Twitter, Instagram, keep me sane.  I think you also keep my Husband sane so that he doesn’t have to listen to me talk about sewing (just pretend not to see the mess I make).  My skill set has grown, my ambition and ability has grown and my circle of friends has grown.  All because I decided to do something a little reckless and very brave (for me) by hitting publish on that first post.

I’m never going to make a career out of this (and have no intention to do so), my writing is to infrequent and haphazard for that!  I’m also never going to be an expert or a professional – enthusiastic / slightly obsessive is where I sit.  I blog because I get to share what I’m doing with you all.

Sewing is quite an introverted thing to do – you don’t need a team of people around you, you don’t have to put yourself into new social situations unless you choose to.  Go to a meet up, or not; you can do what is right for you and share your sewing and your life on your terms.  Letting people in as much or as little as you like.  I’ve learnt about countries and cultures I have never been to and may never visit.  I have friends on every continent who all share a passion with me.  Through this blog I have people who will send me an email just to check up on me if I’ve been a bit quiet.  You all inspire me in some way or another, you’ve encouraged a shy and introverted person to interact on a global platform and travel to a capital city to meet people that I’d only previously met on the inter webs.  You’ve broadened my horizons, educated me and inspired me.  So I blog; in the beginning for my own records and now because I love having a conversation with you all and going ‘wheee!  Look what I made!’.

At this point I’m supposed to pass this on to two other bloggers, to find out what their take on the questions is!  So, I’m going to ask Sonja at Gingermakes if she fancies having a go at this one, as well as Amanda at Bimble and Pimble.  Both of these bloggers have awesome style, sew up a storm and regularly inspire me whilst making me laugh all at the same time – that’s a pretty hard combination to beat!!

A Bit (Lot) Stuck

So, I’ve managed to sew one garment since I last spoke to you and have taken no photos of it!  I’ve also cut out one pattern and got no further – the fabric is still a big piece of fabric.  So this is going to be a wordy rather than pretty post I’m afraid.

Basically – I feel a bit stuck.  I have all these plans of what I’d like to make (as you know from my last post) but I’m…  I don’t know really…  Confused?  Not sure?  Long story short – I’ve recently been living in my maternity jeans from five years ago and a couple of vest (singlet) tops and a maternity top that’s also five years old.  Don’t get me wrong – they’ve got plenty of life in them and they don’t need replacing at all but…

I like dresses.  I like woven dresses.  I like dresses that make the best of what I have and I’m not sure how to do that at the moment.  Don’t get me wrong – I adore being pregnant (and everything that it brings!) but I’m not sure how to express who I am through my clothes at the moment.  I’m also in that slightly odd transition phase where I don’t fit into my clothes anymore but don’t really look pregnant at the moment (although I’m told I’m starting to ‘pop’).

This leaves me wanting to sew but not having any real clue WHAT to sew!!  I’m in the middle of making a quilt but even that isn’t scratching the itch at the moment.  I want to sew something for ME so that I feel less casual and more put together if that makes any sense at all?

It’s a weird situation and one I wasn’t in when Boy was a bump.  I didn’t sew clothes then and having found out so late, a couple of pairs of jeans and a couple of tops got me through the few months when I did know about it (and went from not looking pregnant to looking very pregnant in a very short space of time) – I didn’t have time to get frustrated about what was on offer on the high street and quite honestly I didn’t project myself through my wardrobe in the same way!  I’m so grateful that I can do that through sewing but it’s a bit of a mind bender at the moment…

Sooo…  I’m getting used to the idea of (nearly) everything in a knit (I’m not a fan of the draped look although I know some people can pull that off brilliantly) as I still like to have some definition where I can.  Sewing knits is not a drama at all on my two machines either.  

So I don’t know what my problem is:
Is it what to sew?
Is it how to project who I am through who I sew?
Is it simply that I need to wrap my head around this transitional period and just sew something!

I think I’ll go with option three…

PS – Boy starts school on Thursday…  How on earth did we get to that stage already?!

Plotting and Planning But Not a Lot of Sewing… Yet…

I’m not even keeping up with my ‘one post a month’ target at the moment am I?!  But hey, tell you something you don’t know – right?  I promise I’ve had my reasons though, the main one being this:

Meet Fidget, mostly known as ‘our baby’ if you ask Boy.  It’s earned the moniker as during the dating scan earlier this week they did not want to stay still and have their measurements taken, or give the sonographer an easy first appointment of the day!  Hence the face down, slightly blurry image!  Everything looked good though and the blood tests have come back as all being well.  We’ve also made it out of the first Trimester so are starting to feel a little less worried and able to share the news.  We’re hoping to meet Fidget in mid to late February.

I’ve been too tired to sew and the be quite honest, not even sure WHAT to sew!  Bed time has been 9pm for weeks, which basically means no sewing.  Sleep was the priority!  Instead I’ve been hoping, dreaming and making some vague plans – what to wear being one element.

I’ve had fun sketching in my Fashionary and come up with a few ideas that I hope will work in the coming 6 months or so as well as afterwards, and some may even have a longer ‘shelf life’.

Here’s what I’ve come up with:

Butterick 5860, which is a wrap dress.  I’ve got some fabric earmarked to make at least two of these as I suspect they’ll become my uniform at work.  I have a colleague who had the most chic and pulled together maternity wardrobe during her recent second pregnancy and is the inspiration for a couple of pieces in my planned wardrobe…

Staple Dress by April Rhodes but with the shirring falling just under the bust and with a bump accommodating adjustment.  This is currently in progress.  I’ve just got to get brave to make the bias binding from a very silky rayon.  I’m gonna have to face that soon as I need it for a wedding in just under two weeks!

Papercut Patterns Circle Top as this will work now and well into the future!  So far I’ve got a navy and a purple version planned.  These will be in solids to give maximum wearing potential and are in two of my basic colours.

Maria Denmark Day to Night tops (why do I always want to type Knight when writing about this top?!).  I’m going to use Zo’s maternity alteration on these as I need some tops to go with the maternity jeans I had when pregnant with Boy.

I’ve also found a gorgeous French company called Deuxieme Arrondissement which make some gorgeous maternity patterns.  I’ve bought two:  The Duo 13H and Robe Minuit.  I think the Duo 13H will be perfect for a wedding we’re going to in December.  They’re completely different to any other maternity patterns out there, and whilst they’re entirely in French, I have faith in my language skills…  They’re printed on lovely thick paper and I’m looking forward to using them!

I’ve also hacked Jamie Christina’s Mission Maxi and am wearing a maxi skirt from a slightly failed experiment as I type.  I basically used a double knit and whilst I compensated for the lack of stretch everywhere else, with my changing chest size, it was a tad snug up top!  So I lopped the top portion off to turn it into a skirt.  I will probably revisit though, armed with a more suitable knit and again use Zo’s tutorial.

Finally, I’ve bought Burda 7239 with the express intention of recreating a top I wore when pregnant with Boy.  It was basically a cropped wrap cardigan with a false top underneath it made of a very light weight cotton.  It was fabulous to wear and my only splurge on maternity clothing with Boy.  It came from Mamas and Papas and cost me close to £40.  I wore it to death.

What I also need to do (and this is going to have to be interspersed by other projects) is crack on with my Papercut Patterns Milano Cape.  This was also inspired by my colleague, but it seemed wrong and tempting fate to do too much work on it whilst trying and then in the early stages of pregnancy.  Call me superstitious or plain daft, but after previous experiences I didn’t want to be presumptuous.

As for Fidget – well not a lot planned there at the moment as we’re not going to find out whether they’re a he or a she until they make an entrance into the world.  We’ve also got the vast majority of what we need for the early months from when we had Boy.  He was also an unknown so all our early baby stuff is neutral!  I think I may have a go at adapting Dog Under My Desk’s Day Tripper bag to be a more fun changing bag as the one from the days of Boy is a very man friendly grey!  Oh, and I’d love to make Boy and Fidget matching quilts…

So, some ‘quick’ projects (I hope) and some more involved…  Time will tell if I manage to get even half of them done!

Spring Sewing Swap

I really have to say a massive thank you to Kerry for organising the Spring Sewing Swap.  Through this bit of selfless shopping and fun I discovered teafortwodiary written by Jen and Elena.  My swap partner was Jen and I had an absolute blast shopping for her!

She also did some truly epic shopping and stash diving for me!  Look at the loveliness that I received!

There’s 3m of that beautiful poly – from Paris no less, the cutest little buttons, trim from Cloth House a dress which provides an interesting bodice for infinite skirt variations and a lovely card.  I think the fabric is destined to become some sort of maxi – I just need to decide on a pattern!

I have done a little bit of sewing too, in the last month.  I made a shirt for Boy’s best friend’s birthday – covered in dinosaurs but as I was attaching buttons the morning of said birthday I don’t have any pictures (bad blogger!) but he loves it and it got a ton of unsolicited compliments when it was worn to the Dinosaur Park!  His parents seemed to love telling people that it was a one of a kind and their friend made it for him!  I also got the biggest hug – I hope they don’t get ‘too cool’ for unique clothing anytime soon…

I’m also a hem and some binding away from finishing the Staple Dress that I bought as part of the last Pattern Parcel.  Shirring wasn’t too bad but my machine made some really strange noises whilst doing it – I think I may actually have to mess with the bobbin tension settings next time I take any shirring on – screeching squeaking is not good!

Oh and just to give you all a giggle, we took the rabbits in to have preventative fly-strike treatment and saw a rabbit specialist nurse.  Turns out Buzz is a boy and Woody is a girl.  48hrs later, Buzz became an ‘it’.  Hopefully we won’t get anymore surprises with those two!

So, you never know, I may leave it less than a month to make a reappearance here…  See you soon?!

Fabric and Friends

On Saturday, I got on the train just gone 7am and headed to London.  My plan was very simple – visit Walthamstow Market and visit Dibs.  Claire very kindly met me off the train at Liverpool Street and escorted me to Walthamstow and showed me around.  Oh. My.  I loved Goldhawk Road when I went last summer and quite frankly I also love Walthamstow but for different reasons.

In my whistle-stop shopping trip Walthamstow seems to specialise in knits, trims and haberdashery.  I did see a couple of places selling African Wax Print and Sari fabrics too but didn’t go in.  Whilst there were plenty of wovens on offer (particularly at Saeeds and the Man Outside Sainsburys) the strong suit really did seem to be knits.  I have to admit to not being a well versed visitor to either area, this is just my general impression!

Claire took me to the far end of the market and we worked our way back towards Walthamstow Central.  I loved our first stop where we bought fabric at £1 or £2 a metre.  I came away with a print test run on what is (we think) Rayon that cost £2/m and as there was only 2m I bought it all!  I also bought a gorgeous brushed navy twill, a very stable striped knit and a solid navy.  10m of fabric for £18.  I’d be lucky to get 2m of knit for that price locally.

Over the road was another fabric shop with similar prices where I bought a pink leopard print knit.  I think this will probably become a Tiramisu and a pair of cropped leggings.  We’ll see how it goes particularly as I’ve now noticed it’s got lots of little runs in it.  It only cost something ridiculous like £1.50/m so whilst it’s annoying it’s not the end of the world.  I know I got change out of a £5 note for it!

We then went into a haberdashery and trim shop where I spent £14 on thread.  12 cones of overlocker thread which are identical to the ones I use at home and paid £4 each for – these were £1 each!  The Coat’s Moon thread was 50p a spool – vast improvement on the £2 I usually pay.  Whilst I only bought black , white and navy and some moon thread to match the pink leopard knit this shop had every single colour under the sun.  Salmon pink, neon orange, sage green, dusky blue – you name it, they had it.

Next stop was Saeed’s.  This was a complete contrast to the other shops in the area in terms of space, general presentation and how the fabric was displayed.  I bought 3m of a digital print linen to make Sewaholic’s Gabriola and spent the most per metre I had all day; £6.  £6!!  I am sure that locally this fabric would be at least £12/m if not more.  The staff were so friendly and helpful too – I can’t recommend them enough!

As we went down the market we popped into another haberdashery where there was a wall just full of beads and sequins.  I only bought 2 bags of trouser hooks – each bag was £1.  I was starting to become completely overwhelmed by it all.  The number of trims was insane.  Pompom, braid, bias tapes, ribbons, diamante, beaded collars…

We then found the legend that is the Man Outside Sainsburys.  I bought a dress length of cotton lawn and also of an alleged silk blend.  I’m inclined to believe him as it has the most beautiful drape.  Being such a dork I didn’t even ask the price when I saw the silk – I just wanted it!  I was gobsmaked when he only charged me £5.50/m for it and £2/m for the lawn.  He also had a lovely drapey fabric with an enormous digital print of magnolia in black and white on it.  Quite frankly, a trip to Walthamstow is worth it for him, Saeed’s and the insanely cheap first shop and my favourite of the day The Textile Centre (the one with the green writing outside at the end of the market nearest the tube, hiding behind a stall selling saucepans of catering proportions).

It was mental how many people were in there.  It was still a pleasant experience though as the staff were doing all they could and apologising for the delay.  I came away with 3m each of an Ikat style knit in blue and purple and 4m of the same hummingbird border print knit that Karen used for her Coco.  These were all about £2/m!  They also had a sequin fabric at £5.50/m which I loved but had no idea what I’d do with.  I’ve seen a gown online though with a similar silhouette to BHL’s Anna that was a full on sequinned number so that is now haunting me.  Not that I’d have anywhere to make such a gown!  Whilst we were there we were told about their other store on Watney Market (Called Paul’s Fabrics) which is apparently twice the size…

Whilst we were there Dibs caught up with us and did some quick shopping herself before we all headed off to her home to make macaroons!  Which I’ll save for another post as this one is ridiculous already!!

Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah Bat Shirt!

Seriously, it took me so long to work out how many Nah Nah’s there were in this title and I’m still not sure it’s right!  Anyway, behold the Bat Shirt!

Boy has got a serious Super Hero thing going on and this has lasted nearly a year!  His favourite hero is Batman, which I think is kinda cool as he told me it’s because he hasn’t got any super powers but is just really really clever and strong.  He has a point, although I’m sure the fact that Bruce Wayne is a billionaire or something probably helps!

This shirt was made back in January, but photographing a marauding four year old is hard!  I have no idea what he’s holding in that first photo – I think it might be an apple.  Or it could be a toy car – anyway he’s definitely not standing still!

The pattern is The Thomas Shirt pattern by Felicity Patterns.  It’s a PDF that cost less than £5 and I am so pleased with the result!  She states in the description that it’s a generous fit and she’s not wrong.  In the end I used the age 4 length and one of the skinniest cuts as Boy is not bulky – he’s like Husband and very lean.  Even so the shirt is a little big on him, but I hope that means we’ll get a year or so of wear out of it.

I followed the instructions that came with the pattern and didn’t make any changes – the yoke is a double one so the inside is all neatly finished in the same way Grainline’s Archer is.  There aren’t any flat felled seams but for a casual shirt like this I don’t have a problem with that.  The hem is just overlocked, turned up and stitched.  Not the neatest looking finish when you can see the guts but it’s plenty robust enough.  This shirt is in heavy rotation and is standing up to the consequential numerous trips in the washing machine just fine.

The fabric came from Plush Addict (who don’t seem to stock it any more) and this shirt came out of 1m.  The buttons came from eBay although I did make a bit of a mistake in that the shirt buttons up ‘girl’ style as the buttons are on his left hand side rather than the apparently correct for boys right hand side.  I wasn’t aware of this until Husband pointed it out.  Boy doesn’t care though – I’ll just try and get things the right way round when I make the next version with another Batman print!

Gratitude

It’s ‘Sew Grateful‘ week again. A now annual event organised by Debbie over at My Happy Sewing Place. You’ve probably seen posts popping up in your reader all week with giveaways, tutorials and people using patterns they were gifted.

I’m not going to offer you a giveaway (having just held one) and I don’t have a tutorial to offer (I don’t feel qualified!). I haven’t got a pattern that someone gifted me sewn up and ready to share. What I do have is gratitude.

You know me, I’m honest to the point of TMI on this blog sometimes. You all know about the things that have gone right and wrong and some that have floored me and taken a while to pick myself up and dust myself down from. I’ve suffered from depression and the destruction, saddness, alienation and everything that goes with it. To quote the Blogess: “Depression Lies”. Remembering that is hard.

Thankfully I have things mostly on an even keel and have done for a little while now, but every so often I wobble. I’m human. To help combat the wobbles I’ve been keeping a record of things that I’m grateful for.
Now before you get completely weirded out by me (and I accept and love the fact that I’m a little bit weird!) can I ask that you keep reading for a little bit?

This week has been insane and intense for a number of reasons. Work, home, Husband’s business, slamming my hand in the door of the truck (who knew I could swear in multiple languages?!), thinking I was going to have to have my wedding ring cut off as a result of the swelling caused by that damn door… You get the picture. The thing that stopped me starting on a very slippery spiral was just reading back through those gratitudes I’d made a note of.

There were common themes to them which I hadn’t really picked up until I read them back. Family, Boy, Husband were all in there. The fact that I have a nice home and a reasonable income. The one that made me sit and think though was the kindness of people I have never met in real life.

Take Lizzy. I was in a funk on Monday morning but we had a chat on Twitter and she reassured me and virtually held my hand.

Then there’s Maddie. I got completely stuck with a pattern alteration regarding collar roll and reached out to her. In a short amount of time she gave me some starting points on Twitter and is going to provide me with further guidance and advice over the weekend.

Emmie came to my rescue when I was trying to source tailoring supplies and sent some of her own horse hair canvas for me to use. She wanted nothing in return.

Sonja made me laugh about slamming my hand in the truck door.

Some of these people are less than a hundred miles away, others are across the Atlantic or in the other hemisphere. I’ve only met one of them for a brief time in reality. But I’m proud to ‘know’ each and every one of them. I’m proud to ‘know’ each and every person I interact with through Twitter, Instagram and this blog (my social media outlets of choice).

Through sewing, a wonderful range of people and perspectives have entered my life and informed, educated, supported and shared with me not just sewing but their day to day lives. Sweary, I know you’re not into blogs, but you have opened my eyes to so many different things through Twitter.

I can’t think of any other more graphically diverse community that would hold a sewing competition in honour of the marriage of a member of that community. Sew Dolly Clackett is going to be immense? Unreal? I can’t find the right word. And the motivation is not blog views, sponsorship or any form of self gain or promotion. It’s purely because Sarah is across the Atlantic and wanted to do something for Roisin and Nic. Pure and simple.

The blogging, tweeting and instagraming that goes on in our community is so much more than ‘look what I made’. It’s a welcoming group of people with whom you can share life, love, laughter and tears with. That’s pretty damn special.

My gratitude to you guys is immense. I love helping you out when I can, lending an ear, pattern, opinion, support. Just being part of this community has enriched my life immeasurably. Thank you x