Finally, I have something to say

Fear not everyone, I didn't take to myself with my staple gun and put myself out of action for the last few weeks resulting in blog silence. It's just that nothing blogworthy has happened in the last few weeks, in fact I've been rather dispirited lately because Anna's sleeping patterns went from bad to worse: not only was she sleeping only 20 minutes at a time 3 or 4 times a day, she then stopped sleeping through the night as she had been and instead started waking every 45 minutes until we gave up and brought her into our bed, usually around 2am or so! So you can imagine how tired and frustrated I've been, and I had quite a few of those moments when you try to imagine your life if you never had children.....

But all is not lost because a few days ago I had an early childhood nurse come and spend the day with us to observe what is happening and to give assistance with sleep and settling routines. They don't advocate a controlled crying routine or a cry it out approach which is good because Anna didn't take to those methods at all. In fact she cried once for 2.5 hours straight even with me patting her stomach and singing to her until I gave in and picked her up when I tried the Tizzie Hall method which I found very harsh and upsetting. But on this more gentle approach, of only letting her cry for a minute before calming her it's so far so good, her naps this week have extended to 1.5 hours, falling to sleep quite quickly and re-settling quickly halfway through if she has woken. She is only waking twice at night time now, but they are getting shorter in length and she is sleeping for more hours before waking. So for any Sydney mums, I can thoroughly recommend the lovely ladies from The Infants Home in Ashfield if you're at the end of your tether like I was.

I guess I won't be dropping her off at the orphan's home just yet as I've been threatening to do (good thing babies don't fully understand what we're saying!). And apart from this hiccup she is doing great - rolling, sitting up, improving her dexterity and hand skills, eating solids and learning to squeal for fun, although that is not so great! And she is 6 months already, I can't believe how fast time has flown by. Here is a photo from just a few days ago:

Anyway this is a sewing blog, so enough about the baby and please imagine a big drum roll in your head: here is my new dress that I have been working on for at least a month or more now!

I used a vintage Butterick pattern, which is labelled an easy pattern. And it was an easy dress to sew, pre-baby it would have taken a few hours at most, but I think you all know how little time is left when there are children around. But I also made things harder for myself because the fabric I chose to use is very unstable, and would shift if I even looked at it, so it made it hard to keep the fabric straight when cutting and sewing it, made even more obvious by the check pattern of the fabric. I underlined the fabric with some black organza to make it more stable and more substantial since it is a lightweight woven cotton.

It has a bit of a school uniform look to it, although since my high school uniform was a bottle green straight skirt and lemon yellow blouse, and my primary school uniform was a pink check tunic with maroon ribbon, this would be a pretty good school uniform! Of course I could wear it with a more colourful polo neck top or scarf, or pair it with a red belt and shoes to brighten it up a little more. And taking a photo on a less gloomy day would help too I suppose. But nevermind, I'm just so pleased with myself for finally finishing it!

And to answer your question, Judy Ross, about the piping on the footstool in my previous post, I have to admit it was a bit of a shoddy job but you just can't really see it because of the thick fabric. Normally I would fold the raw end under and then sew the tubes one inside the other with the folded end on the outside, but because this fabric was so thick it would be too bulky, so I just overlapped the ends of the tube and sewed them down. To stop the raw end that is now exposed from fraying, I dabbed on some clear nail varnish! I suppose you could use some fray check spray if you wanted to do it properly, but I didn't have any and I find that clear nail varnish works wonders on lots of things other than your nails: stopping holes and ladders in pantyhose getting worse, replacing the plastic tips on shoelaces when they fall off, glueing down fabric where there are small holes or tears and finishing the ends of ribbon when cut. Anyway here is a close up of the join:

So I hope to be back shortly with something else to show off (other than the baby), hopefully I'm on a roll now!

stand back, I have a staple gun....

Sadly no garment sewing done again this week but I have been drooling over the past few issues of BWOF dreaming, so hopefully soon. I have been doing some more home dec sewing again, but this time it was so quick and simple that I almost didn't have time to get bored with it. Plus there's always fun to be had wherever a staple gun is required....

I had an old footstool liberated from my grandparents but it was covered in cracked green vinyl and my husband was complaining about the amount of "junk" I hoard. So to shut him up, and because I had some of the fuschia chenille fabric left over from my recent chair recovering the solution was obvious:

Now one of my real life friends is going to ask me how to do this when she spies these photos, so here is a step by step for her and anyone else interested. The rest of you more experienced sewers who could do this in their sleep please feel free to move on to a more interesting blog and ooh and ah over their new gorgeous outfit!

Step One: Firstly pry the old cushion off the stool and let your dog push it around the backyard and tear it to shreds before picking up all the pieces to put in the rubbish bin! And then buy some new foam cut to size. Quietly choke on how expensive foam is.....

Step two: I covered the foam in some polyester wadding, using spray adhesive which works really well but I also roughly sewed the edges down to join them together so I could slide the cover on later without the wadding being pushed down.

Step three: From the fabric I cut out a circle for the top and a rectangle for the sides measuring off the finished dimensions of the foam with the wadding already on because the wadding will make it bigger(remember to add seam allowances and some extra to the rectangle to stretch underneath the footstool). Also I cut out a long narrow rectangle to make some piping.

Step four: Sew the long thin rectangle in half over some cord using a zipper foot to make the piping, and sew the short sides of the other rectangle together.

Step five: Sew the piping to the circle fabric piece, remembering to put the piping on the inside and the seam allowance to the outer of the circle.

Step six: Sew the rectangle to the sides of the circle fabric piece, close as possible to the stitching line of the piping. After sewing, clip the seam allowances every few centimetres to allow it to open up properly.

Step seven: Slide the cover over the foam and hope it fits well. If so continue, if not, put it in a cupboard for a few months until you feel like doing it again. Just kidding! That's how you get a ginormous UFO pile, just ask me! Also try to put all parts of the clipped seam allowances to one side (doesn't matter which just be consistent) because otherwise it will look lumpy, which mine does a bit but I can't be bothered going back to fix it.

Step eight: I used some of the spray adhesive to stick the foam to the top of the footstool and then stretched the sides of the fabric to the underside of the footstool and went staple crazy. I also added a fabric covered button to the top of the footstool since it already had a hole in the centre of the wooden base and was just crying out for it. You can see I used a highly technical device of a matchstick to secure the thread there in the centre, but if you had a button big enough to cover the hole that would probably do a better job.

I used the selvage of the fabric for one side of the rectangle so I didn't have to finish the edge of the fabric or worry about it unravelling, but I may still cover up the edge of the fabric and staples with some duct tape or similar just to make it look neater but it's not really necessary.

For the thread for the button I used four strands, pulled through beeswax to make it stronger, but it's still not that strong so don't pull it too hard! Again I know that from experience. I used a bloody big needle (another technical term) to push it through the foam:

Step nine: All done, turn your footstool over, ignore screaming children and barking dogs for a little while and sit back and put your feet up instead!

I can't believe how fast last week flew by! When you don't really have any set routine day to day (ie going to work) the days seem to go slow, except last week I had things I wanted to get done but for various reasons I didn't find the time. On Saturday night just gone I had my first night out without the baby since she was born (yes we have been joined at the hip for the last 5 and a half months), to celebrate a friend's birthday with dinner at a fancy French restaurant. So I decided I needed something new to wear to mark the momentous occasion of going out without the baby.

After seeing this gorgeous top over at Amanda's blog, I wanted to make BWOF 11/08 top 114 in a lovely red floral printed silk satin I purchased from the Remnant Warehouse a while back. The fabric is so vivid that I thought this style would be simple enough to let the fabric shine:

I envisaged wearing this with a black pencil skirt, a thin belt and a silver cuff bracelet and I would look quite the yummy mummy. Well, luckily I made a muslin for a change because this was a MAJOR wadder on me! I think maybe the sleeveless version is better than the long sleeved version, 'cos it just looked about 20 times too big on me even though I traced a size smaller. And since there are no reviews over at Pattern Review for the long sleeve version, I'm guessing that no one else thinks this one is a winner either.

Anyway I ended up wearing a dress I'd made previously and now fit back into (yay for me!) and wore a pair of super high heels for the first time in ages - I literally had to wipe the dust of them before wearing them. And dinner was great - very little baby talk since none of the friends there that night have kids, lots of swearing and obnoxious raucous chat that was very non child suitable. But I really needed some time out from Anna and being a mum because I've been very cranky with her and just about everyone else lately over the smallest things so it was definately time to recharge the batteries. And Michael didn't mind staying home since the rugby was on the telly.

I didn't get around to sewing the dress I've had cut out and pinned for the last two weeks though, because my overlocker has decided to have a few issues with the black thread I've put in it, even though I've used that thread many times previously. The tension is all over the place, and the upper threads keep snapping and I've spent time cleaning it, coaxing it, trying all different tension settings to no avail so it is probably time for a service.

Before I changed the thread though I made Anna a new sleeping bag from some quilted cotton and flannelette I picked up from a garage sale a while back because it's gotten pretty cold around here lately. Gotta love making a sleeping bag for next to nix when similar ones (albeit cuter more embellished ones) sell for $80.

I also made some simple pants in a stripe stretch corduroy because Anna wears far too much pink on pink for my liking, although I also made her this pink fleece jumper so I guess it's hard not to dress a little girl in pink. She's also discovered the joy of blowing raspberries hence the expression on her face:

This week's plan is to get the overlocker fixed so I can sew the dress because I want to post it over at Sew Retro for the June competition, as well as find time to decide on a new kitchen benchtop colour so we can make arrangements to finish off the kitchen sometime this decade! And before anyone asks, the house renovation is still not finished because there has been weeks of sometimes torrential rain so the backyard is still a muddy mess with unconnected drainage pipes sitting in puddles of water. The supposed three month renovation is now entering it's eighth month........

the long and the short of it

Thanks everyone for your delightful comments regarding the fabric stash, it still lifts my spirits every time I go in to my sewing room and see that wall of rainbow goodness. I could talk about my fabric stash all day, in fact visitors who dare to enter get a glazed look after a while, sort of like looking at other people's holiday slides..... But since you asked, here's some answers:

Anne LO asked if I was worried about fading the fabrics since the room is so sunny. This is a definate concern since a lot of that fabric (ok most of it) will sit there maturing for many many years before being used. I was toying with enclosing the shelves with fabric curtains but the reason I chose open shelving instead of cupboards was for the visual impact (ie if I see it I'm more likely to use it), so I'm going to make curtains for the windows instead to block the sun out when I'm not in the room.

Nancy K - I totally agree with you on the lack of complementary shoes for brown and tan colour clothes. Although I sometimes wear red shoes with tan colours, but then again I wear red shoes with practically everything (but not red clothes, that would be way too much!).

Paola asked about remnants. Well, as I have openly admitted I am a major hoarder and I find it difficult to throw out fabric scraps of practically any size, even though I'm not a quilter which is the logical use of them. I am hanging on to them for Anna to play with and make doll clothes from, or for potentially embellishing clothes. That said, I have way more remnants than I will ever need, but I just can't throw them in the bin. This red, white and blue stripey bag next to Anna has all my fabric scraps and remnants after I had a major throw out of the smaller pieces:

Tracy you're right about not getting into bad habits early just because it's funny like putting Anna in the washing basket. I have bought a cheap highchair from Ikea which is at the same height as my sewing desk, and Anna has been sitting next to me quite happily observing so I think this is a better solution.

georgeina your question about folding the fabric to get them all the same size is not uber-nerdy at all! I tried doing it quilting style, ie folding the fabric around a piece of rectangular cardboard to get the same widths but that may work for fat quarters but doesn't really for long lengths of fabric or chunky fabrics. So I just eyeballed it, and if you look closely they aren't exact but close enough. It does drive me a little crazy though, and I wish they were exact but obviously I have significant obsessive / compulsive issues....

Littleredhen - frustration levels re lack of napping around here reached all time high last week, almost to the point where I wanted to go back to work to get a break! I spent 30 minutes settling Anna to get only 8 minutes of napping, but mostly she is still only napping 20 minutes at a time. I've started feeding her solids now to see if that fills her up and makes her sleepy - it's how I feel after Christmas lunch so I thought I'd give it a try (yeah I'm not up for mother of the year award that's for sure!)

Anyway, having organised my stash has really got my motivation going since last week I made Anna a pair of pants and a little jumper, two pairs of boxer shorts for my husband and I've cut out and pinned a dress for myself but I need to change the thread in the overlocker before sewing it up. I didn't finish cleaning my sewing room though, just enough space around the machnes to work LOL.

I made the jumper and the pants for Anna from this 1980s pattern picked up from an op shop, and once again they were way too big. The jumper is now put away for a few more months time, but the pants I figure need to be a bit bigger since the fabric I used doesn't stretch and it needs to get over her big cloth nappy butt. I used some caramel coloured fine wale corduroy, chosen because it was in the stash and it's not pink! I know little girls are supposed to wear pink, but she has way too much pink clothing so I'm trying to balance it out with reds and neutrals. I also sewed a pocket on the back not because I'm expecting her to use it but just so I know which is the front and back when I'm dressing her.

The boxer shorts I made for my husband also came from stash fabric, and were made from a vintage sewing pattern for men's swim shorts. Apart from an Elvis costume and a kilt type skirt made novelty fabric (both for fancy dress) this would be the first clothes I've made for him. I really just wanted to make this pattern so I could post over at Sew Retro, but I won't tell him that!

So the pants and boxer shorts are pretty boring right? Well the funny thing is the extremes in size (ie the long and the short):

And I guess when you see the two wearers together you can see why!:

the great wall of fabric

Dear blog readers feast your eyes on this:

I'm pretty confident that this is my entire stash and I don't have any other bags stored at my parents house or on under a bed somewhere. So a few obversations:

1. I have a lot of fabric, but I sew regularly and it makes me happy so I'm not buying into the whole guilt trip thing.

2. I have lots of great fabric and fondling the fabric whilst folding it has given me so many ideas that I have about a millenium worth of projects lined up in my head.

3. I have heaps of grey fabric, which is ok because I make a lot of grey clothes. But weirdly I also have lots of orange and brown fabrics which I rarely wear.

4. I have a real hoarding tendency - I was going to get rid of some fabrics that I know I'll never use, but since I had enough space I couldn't bring myself to do it!

5. There is still some space there on the shelves, so I can't say I will completely stop buying more, but I will try to shop the stash first.

It has taken me the best part of two weeks to get my stash into this beautifully neat and ordered vision, not only because of the amount of fabric, or the fact that I had to do another trip to Ikea to get another shelf unit but also because I had to deal with constant interruptions from these two:

Anna would only play in her portable cot for a while before getting cranky, so I propped her up in the washing basket with some lovely soft microfleece and she seemed a bit happier for a little bit longer (it's not child abuse, she's doing some early bonding with fabric!). She still needs to be held most of the time and be given lots of attention though, so my window of getting things done with two hands is still limited. One of the mums in my mother's group is thinking about going back to work because she is bored: she sits around waiting for her daughter to wake up from her 2 hour naps three times a day. I am so jealous to say the least, but I have too many ideas in my head to ever be bored.

Thanks everyone for your feedback on the finer details of cloth nappies. I love having such an interactive blog getting advice on all these things because none of my real life friends cloth nappy or sew. Anyway I managed to salvage some of the bamboo fleece that I stupidly made into nappy liners and made some absorbent soakers four layers thick. This, combined with another soaker pad of four microfibre layers seems to give a really good amount of absorbency without too much bulk. In fact last night Anna slept through from 8pm to 5am (yay for small miracles) and her nappy lasted that entire time without any leakage.

Well I have so much more tidying up to in the sewing room before I can get any sewing done - that photo above doesn't show the great mountain of stuff that is in the rest of the room.....

does my bum look big in this?

I bet you all saw that post title in bloglines and rolled your eyes right? You're thinking to yourself 'is she still going on about her post preggie body?'. Well I'm actually talking about this little one:

I finally finished sewing up the nappies for the second time and they work great. I don't think they last as long as disposables between changes, but since nappies should be changed frequently anyway to reduce the potential for nappy rash its not a problem. I'm glad I made the pattern with leg gussets because these are still a little big around the legs even with those chubby little thighs, but Anna will grow into them so they should last for longer this way. I used the Wee Weka pocket nappy pattern sized S-M but from what I've read from other users of this pattern they are big enough to fit until toilet training.

I was a bit worried that Anna's clothes wouldn't fit over the cloth nappies because they are a little bulkier than a disposable but since Anna is mostly in 00's for the length it's fine. Actually here's a question for all you cloth nappy users out there - how many layers of absorbent fabric do you use in your nappies? I've got four layers of microfibre in the pocket nappies, but I'm not sure whether I should use less or more. She still fits her bodysuit, it just looks a little lumpy:

Thanks for all your feedback on sleep habits, it seems lots of babies don't like to sleep each day but I guess each baby is different and changing all the time. Anna in fact had three short naps today, even after sleeping in until 9.30am after her 5am feed! So I had a little sleep in this morning myself, then also had time to shower, have a cup of tea and hang out some washing. I just hope she sleeps well tonight since I'm on my own - my husband is off at a work conference for a few days which just happens to be at a golf resort and his golf clubs just happen to be still in car after his usual Saturday golf.....

jumping on the Ottobre bandwagon

As if I don't have enough expensive European sewing magazines laying around the house unused (well read and thumbed through but still unused) I ponied up $23 (eek!) to buy the 2/2009 issue of Ottobre Woman from the crafty mamas website (fantastic customer service from them by the way). After seeing the great creations that Belinda over at Sew 4 Fun has been making for ages, and the fact that this issue had a nursing top pattern I was convinced to try it out.

At first I have to say I was a little undewhelmed by the magzine. It has far less patterns than BWOF, and look at these two patterns:

Hmmm, it's a little bizarre and if you want to put on as many layers of bulky and unflattering clothes then this is for you. But if it's not your style, thankfully the magazine does have some other lovely patterns, such as these two dresses:

I'll be putting these two on my sewing wishlist, but since I did buy this principally to make the nursing top, I thought I should make it first so I could wear it whilst I am still breastfeeding. The top has a cross over front and a modesty panel underneath the lapped portions that has the sides cut out so you can access your "girls" without exposing your bra too much. The pattern looks like this:

It was very easy to sew, but I wasn't too happy with the outcome. First up it was really long on me, almost tunic length which I don't really like in a clingy jersey type fabric over jeans. But reducing the length of the bottom half of the top made the proportions look all wrong, so instead I took the midriff band off completely which made it a much better length. I'm also not too happy with the self fabric binding to the neckline because it made the top much less stretchy and actually quite difficult to push the top aside to get access for nursing. The pattern suggests using clear elastic and self fabric binding, but I think I shall take the binding off and just turn and topstitch the edge over the clear elastic. And here's my version before I have taken the binding off (I'm a little hesitant at doing more unpicking as you can imagine!):


The fabric I used is a deep red jersey that I thought I had prewashed, but soon realised I hadn't when my fingers turned pink and stayed pink for several days, my white plastic sewing machine turned pink, the bathroom towel turned pink after I washed my hands trying to get the dye off, and even the next load of washing I did after washing this fabric came out with a pink tinge. My husband isn't too impressed with the now pink trim on his black shorts and navy blue t-shirt...

I vow to finish this off this week so I can start wearing it soon, although honestly Anna doesn't often want to feed when we're out and about in public because she's far too distracted by what's going on around her. In fact she is so interested in everything these days that she has practically stopped having daytime naps altogether. She was always a short napper during the day, but now she barely has one 30 minute nap a day which is driving me crazy! I seem to spend all day singing Twinkle Twinkle little star to get her to have a nap..... It makes me a bit angry actually, because not only can I not get anything done all day it is frustrating wasting so much time trying to get her to sleep but when she looks like this I can't stay mad for too long: