gettin' crafty

It's only a little over one month to spring here in Australia, and boy am I looking forward to some warmer weather. Of course when it does get hot, and I'll be heavily pregnant I just know I'll be wishing it was cooler....

So I've decided to stop sewing anymore winter maternity clothes, since they'll have a short shelf life indeed and I really do have enough to get me through the remaining cold weather. Without meaning to I created a mini capsule wardrobe, and quite a few things mix and match to create several different outfits.

But I can't stop myself sewing - I'm sure you all can relate, particularly since it's still cool enough to stay inside rather than get out and about and do things like exercise which my doctor has strongly recommended to make child birth easier, but I seriously doubt anything will make that easier! So I'll worry about that in oh say, November......

To fill the void, I've done a few crafty things sewing wise this weekend. First up I made two lunch bags from vintage tea towels and a vinyl coated cotton curtain for the lining picked up in op shops. I found a template from allpeoplequit.com and used the measurements for a large bag (the orange one below), but these clearly weren't written for a pregnant lady 'cos it was far too small to fit in all the food I carry to work with me these days! So I added a few extra inches to the height and width when I made the brown version below. I lined them both with the vinyl coated fabric so I could wipe the inside clean, and lo and behold here's my lunch bags:

Next up I made two door stops again from a vintage irish linen tea towel picked up in an op shop. I've seen quite a few of these around on the internets made from various patterns, but it's so simple I just made it up as I went along, and cut a square base of 10cm by 10cm and four equilateral triangles 10cm wide at the bottom and 15cm high. Sewed them up with a ribbon at the apex, stuffed the top bit with fibre fill to get the pyramid shape and filled the rest with sand in a plastic bag so it doesn't leak all over the floor and I've finally got something to stop the door slamming shut when it gets breezy, plus it amuses the dog because he stops to have a sniff and give them a nudge every time he runs past them!
And finally I made a cover for my sewing machine that I've been meaning to do for ages. It came with a hard plastic cover, but it only goes on if the cord is unplugged so I never bothered using it. I made this again from a tea towel that I picked up in an op shop that was too lovely to cut up, so this was perfect because all I've done is basically drape it over the machine with some calico side inserts sewed on to give it shape. And this was even simpler to make because I just pin fitted it over the hard cover and sewed it up. I left the seam over the cords open at the bottom so it would go over the cords nicely.

I've also been doing a bit of altering to some clothes I made previously. I did end up taking in the side seams of the olive green polka dot skirt I blogged about two posts ago, and shortened it a little to sit just above the knee. Now it's a loose straight skirt rather than an a-line and looks much better. I also took in the grey cotton Vogue Roland Mouret knock off dress I made, by reducing the four box pleats across the front to two - there's still enough room there for an enormous belly but it doesn't look quite like a muu muu anymore!

Speaking of waistlines, mine has gone from 70cm (28in) to nearly 100cm (39.5 in)! I know, I know it's supposed to do that, I just hope my former waistline comes back (the new bust size can stay though!). And thank you Sally for asking how I'm going - I'm feeling remarkably well except for finding it difficult to get comfy in bed and having to get up to pee a few times a night, I think I'm getting an insight into what a 90 year old must feel like! Being pregnant is also proving to have its devious uses too, whenever my boss is being annoying or blathering on for too long I just get up and say I'm not feeling well can we continue this later, and then spend the rest of the day avoiding him!