This week I achieved another one of my Goals For 2010. A few weeks ago I lifted the poor, unloved sewing machine from its home in the bottom of the wardrobe and I have been making stuff!
It has been a very long time since I have used a sewing machine for anything other than fixing a hole in a pair of trousers, or re-sewing a dropped hem. There is an art to following a sewing pattern that I had completely forgotton – most of the jargon felt like gobbeldygook. So, to ease myself back into the swing of things, I started with something simple...
This is a frieze that I made to show off Lara's swimming badges (I'm expecting her to get a lot of them, you'll note!) I made it from my old winter coat which I chopped up and sewed back together again. Now that's recycling.
Once I had remembered what I was doing, and was confident using my sewing machine, I bought a few very simple sewing patterns from eBay. Every weekend I have managed to do a small amount of sewing during Lara's afternoon nap. This is the result – a striking summer dress! It is clearly a bit big for her at present, but by the time that its warms up enough for her to wear it, the dress will fit perfectly.
There is something very rewarding about creating stuff – I've always loved the “I made this” feeling whether it is a website I've worked on, a product I've coded or a newspaper article I've written! A hand-made piece of clothing is unique – there is no other dress on the planet that looks like this. This is a proud mummy moment.
It has been a very long time since I have used a sewing machine for anything other than fixing a hole in a pair of trousers, or re-sewing a dropped hem. There is an art to following a sewing pattern that I had completely forgotton – most of the jargon felt like gobbeldygook. So, to ease myself back into the swing of things, I started with something simple...
This is a frieze that I made to show off Lara's swimming badges (I'm expecting her to get a lot of them, you'll note!) I made it from my old winter coat which I chopped up and sewed back together again. Now that's recycling.
Once I had remembered what I was doing, and was confident using my sewing machine, I bought a few very simple sewing patterns from eBay. Every weekend I have managed to do a small amount of sewing during Lara's afternoon nap. This is the result – a striking summer dress! It is clearly a bit big for her at present, but by the time that its warms up enough for her to wear it, the dress will fit perfectly.
There is something very rewarding about creating stuff – I've always loved the “I made this” feeling whether it is a website I've worked on, a product I've coded or a newspaper article I've written! A hand-made piece of clothing is unique – there is no other dress on the planet that looks like this. This is a proud mummy moment.
