Still not tired of this

Oh Simplicity 2369, how I love thee.  A t-shirt as comfy as pajamas but with feminine flair.  While not a super fast sew (well, at least this time, being a bit rusty), everything is drafted just lovely and would be very simple for a beginner.  If you’re nursing, this is also a great top. 

Does the fabric look familiar?  I still had plenty of this poly knit leftover from my Burda maternity dress I made several months ago.  I faced the harsh reality of being a full 10 lbs heavier than where I was at the same point with Noah and cut the pattern slightly bigger.  In reality, I probably cut it TOO large, but I just wanted to have a pretty top to wear post partum.  When your body feels out of whack and oddly shaped, it’s reassuring perhaps to know there’s something pretty to cover it up with hanging in your closet. 

Again, I find myself grateful that I can sew.  It’s hard being a weight that you’re physically not comfortable being.  Being able to make clothes that FIT for whatever size you are gives you a lot more freedom.  I bought a lot of poorly made and really not all that cheap clothes post partum with Noah and I spent a lot of time feeling sad about my body instead of accepting where I was at and respecting it for the really cool thing that it had just been through.  Now that I have a set of skills, I feel much more ready to accept where I am this time and make some things to get me through the transition.  I will stop whining about my weight now…I’m working out again–it will come [is coming] off, just not instantly.

I updated my studio post below with actual pictures too if you’re interested.

Studio 1.0 and finished object #1

 

Updated with pictures!

 

So the sewing room has a good start (as you can see by the mess).  Except for about 1/2 of my fabric,

I’m all moved in.  The paint on the ceiling turned out lovely, and my in-laws just generally put a lot of work into painting this room so nicely.  Yay ceiling!

My next order of business is getting some task lighting.  My thought is to put pendant lights in the center of each of the three ceiling thingies.  It will make the aqua get less lost in the shadows and provide better light for my cut table.  The trickiest place to light is the ironing board, but whatever I have will provide more light than the light I’ve had for the past 2 years of ironing in the bathtub. 

In the middle of getting moved in, I went to my ASG meeting a couple of weeks ago and got to make a fat quarter tote. 

Normally I wouldn’t be   excited about such a project, but it was fast and easy and a good way to get back into sewing after a hiatus of a couple of months.  The flowered fabric is vintage fabric from my husband’s grandmother’s stash.  My mother-in-law said that she thought her Mom had made a wrap skirt for her out of this fabric.  It’s so bright and vivid and have been hoarding it until the right project came along.  It being nearly as heavy as canvas, a bag was a good choice, and it definitely makes a swell library tote.

I finished a top too and am working on some shorts!  But more on that later.

Diamond in the (not so) rough

We’re all moved into the house now.  Well, we’re moved in in the sense that our stuff is here, but many boxes are left to be dealt with.  My in-laws are here now to help with the house and to see Sam and Noah.  While they’re here, we were going to have them help paint what will eventually be Sam’s room.  As we started thinking about the process of painting, we decided to go ahead and paint the sewing room too, and a wall in the dining room, and the downstairs bathroom too–but isn’t that how all home improvement projects develop?

It’s been so long now since I’ve been able to sew that I thought that I’d want to sit in the sewing room for a while before changing anything, but really, I’ve thought about the design well enough that I’m okay just jumping in.  Here’s my plan:

The walls will get a really crisp white,(Valspar “Du Jour” 7002-6) and these little pockets in the ceiling

are going to get this pretty aqua color (what else?). 

 Valspar 222-2 “Alpine”–the swatch is more turquoisey than this one.

I think it will remind me of the sky, and that just sounds happy.  The closet, which was painted this funky light pink (so not me) will also get the same white since I don’t want any color competing with the fabric when I’m trying to judge color in basement light.

 

Eventually, I will add this wallpaper to one wall. 

I’m going to use this wallpaper as a rotating inspiration wall–tacking up bits of fabric or patterns in the frames or whatever.  I’ll keep posting as things get added.  Sometime next week I’ll be ready to move in!

The rest of the design is still coming together–I have a feeling I’ll think and rethink it many many times before everything comes together.  I’ll update as things come to be on this.  At the end of it all, it will be a right proper studio for me, and I can’t be more excited about that.