Today I am gazing at my newly purchased 80's wrap dress pattern and kicking my heels as I wait for my ebay fabric to arrive. I had a great plan to sew this dress in a dark denim as a pinafore. I have some spotty denim already here but I am not sure a spotty wrap pinafore is quite what I want, so I am restraining my impatient self. If you do click the link, tell me, is this genius or idiocy to make this as a denim pinafore?
Today I am seriously thinking about my lack of a 21st century phone and all that that can offer. Yes, I still have an old push button phone. I can't access anything like Instagram on it. I always refused to update until I have a job and an income but now even my twelve year old has a smart phone, (yes, I am paying for it). I feel like a smart phone is the new normal and my dumbphone and me, well we are anachronisms. It is slowly dawning on me that maybe it wouldn't cost a lot more than my old phone...AND I could take photos without my camera and its missing battery.
Today I am contemplating dyeing a Dottie Angel dress that I have just finished. I started sewing it a few weeks ago and then decided I hated it, it would not suit me and I didn't want to go down that route. It was the front shaping by tucks not darts that I didn't like. I almost binned it and then a few days later I decided to try again and I enjoyed stitching it up. But I didn't follow the instructions after the pocket construction, I just stitched it. I made it from an old bed sheet of my mum's. It is pink but I always intended to dye it grey. I am just waiting for Rocket Girl to be at her nursery and then I can crack open the dye packet. Fabric dye and my three year old do not mix, I think.
Aren't playgroups funny things. I still go to one where I hardly talk to anyone, just because my son likes the big space, last week I talked to a few people there so it's getting better. There are others I go to where everyone chats, whether its the same faces or new faces each week. I love the look of that Luminarium!! and your 80's dress pattern, I hope the fabric arrives soon.
ReplyDeleteYes, playgroups are strange things. I think I will just stick with the one I am comfortable in,strange how different rooms and groupings feel so different. The luminarium was so good, I smile thinking about it. I am itching to start that 80s dress...
DeleteI enjoyed reading your update. I remember the 'playgroup days' well. Sometimes it just seems as though everyone is already in tightly closed groups. I found one on a Friday that was pretty inclusive and did my best to get one with everyone (I was a former career girl so everyone else seemed a bit more familiar with what being a mum involved than me!) and I just stuck to that one. The children did seem to really love it and they occasionally mention it now so I feel it was worth it!
ReplyDeleteNow, I love that new pattern. It's the type of thing I would choose to wear. I think whether it can be adapted to work for denim depends on the thickness of the denim as the illustration appears to show some drape. I made a peasant top in stiff cotton once and the arms stuck out instead of hanging down. I am afraid it had to be thrown away. So I try to err on the side of caution with fabric these days!! X
I can definitely see the advantages of playgroup. I expect I will look back one day, thinking playgroup days were the best! I have ordered lightweight denim so I will have to see about the drapeyness. The pattern doesn't appear to have darts though I haven't looked closely yet, so I am not sure about the bodice shaping if the denim doesn't hang well. But that is all part of the fun and challenge.
DeleteI remember going to a playgroup for the first time when my daughter was teething. Trying to get her back into the pram when she was upset and screaming whilst all these strangers just sat around in a circle staring at me was one of the longest moments of my life!!!! Put me off playgroups for a while but luckily I found a lovely one quite by chance and I am still friends with the women I met there ten years later. I would love to see that Toast coat - it sounds like a fabulous find. :)
ReplyDeleteI am writing off that group and just sticking with the one I like! Your story made me smile. I have sorted my camera so I can show you that Toast coat soon x
DeleteOh man, that sounds so stressful, the playgroup thing! It can be so difficult meeting new people. :( You have my sympathy!
ReplyDeleteThank you, I am quite rubbish at meeting new people! : x)
DeleteLife is too short to force yourself to go to playgroups that you don't feel comfortable in! After all, if you are going for RG's sake she will socialise well enough with older siblings around. I only went to one because my in-laws ran it and although I met some great friends there, there were still days when I sat in a corner not feeling like talking to anyone! Maybe I'm just a miserable so and so!! Did you dye the Dottie Angel dress?
ReplyDeleteYes you are right, life is too short. I went to different ones with my oldest and still have a good friend I met at one. I did dye the dress a pale grey and it worked. I just nxeed to hem it now.
DeleteI've had that weird playgroup thing too. For some reason it's just hard work at some, and so easy at others. I guess you can't bond with everyone, and life is just too short to try to force it. I've hardly taken my second son to anything. I got a bit stressed about it, but my midwife confirmed it wasn't going to do any psychological damage (ha!), so I went about the rest of my second maternity leave without a single mum/baby group and was totally content!
ReplyDeleteDitch the group and buy yourself a smart phone. You DO have a job, a very demanding one, and a phone with a camera does bring some greater connections and can really help with keeping the family organized. I'm eyeing the dottie angel dress too, but those tucks look potentially problematic.
ReplyDelete