Tree Fall

38

I hate birthdays. I really do. Hate them. Always have.
I'd love to just blame Jim for not making enough of an effort (he doesn't), but the truth is I hate them anyway. In my world, my life, they're nothing more than an excuse to recognise that nobody loves me enough.
Yeah I know. Pathetic.
Seriously. I hate birthdays.
They suck.
Even when you get to go to the new Cath Kidston shop and spend without limit.
Hate them.
Yah boo sucks to birthdays.
Especially ones that put me two years off 40.

A year ago

It's my birthday this weekend. And it's the anniversary of a brief but important meeting.
Exactly a year ago, I walked in to Borders in York and started talking to a complete stranger. We were both in the craft section. I was looking for a new craft book as a birthday present and she was holding a couple of different books, including this one.
I have no idea what led to me approaching this woman, except that it was obvious that she was trying to make a decision about which book to buy, and some of my favourite people are in Crafters Companion, so I felt it my duty to offer an opinion.

My suggestion led to us having a long discussion about art and crafts, about how her daughter was studying it and how she wanted to make a living from it and about how she, herself loved to sew. In turn I gushed about how wonderful craft blogging was and how perfect Etsy is. About how there's a whole world wide community out there that supports people like us. That there's endless support and inspiration and immense opportunity.
I can be a little overly enthusiastic at times. When I believe in something I truly can gush. And I did.
All the while thinking to myself that I should just stop talking. And all the while knowing that as soon as I did I would want to die of embarrassment.
And yet we continued. She even went and got her daughter, to introduce her to me. And then the three of us talked and I gushed even more.

 
Eventually we said our good byes, followed quickly by an apology from me and went our separate ways.
I was of course mortified once I came back down to earth, but Jim said that I hadn't come across as completely crazy and that they had seemed to genuinely enjoy the conversation too.
I did wonder many times after that meeting whether the daughter had taken my advice and looked at Etsy, or whether either of them had ever looked at this blog. And every time I thought of it, I cringed inwardly, knowing that they really must have thought me completely mad. I really did wish that I hadn't done it.
Until this February, when I got a lovely, lovely email from the daughter. Saying that she now had an Etsy shop and that both her and her mother had enjoyed our meeting. She told me that her mother had even been inspired by me and had turned her guest room in to a sewing room and was now spending all her time in there. She said that the meeting had changed her mothers life. It had made her realise that she should be doing more of what she loved and that  it was never too late. She said that they wanted me to know that that brief meeting had meant something. That it had had an affect on their lives. And that they wanted to thank me.

That email made me cry. It made me cry to think that my love for all of this had affected someone else. Someone right there in front of me. A complete stranger was happy to have met me and to have talked to me and credited me with changing them, no matter how slightly.
I had a person in my life once, that changed other people's lives. She would meet people and change them. And for a brief moment I felt like her. And I felt so very grateful for experiencing that.
I wrote back and thanked them for letting me know that they didn't think I was mad and for saying everything they had. I tried to tell them how much that email meant to me, but I was a little worried that I would sound even crazier. So I just thanked them as honestly as I could.
And I told everyone about it. Because I was truly proud that this blog and my work and the confidence that I've gained had made a difference. That there really was a purpose to it.

A week later I got another email. She had died suddenly and her daughter wanted me to know again that our meeting had meant something. That it had changed her mothers life for the better.
And it did mean something. It really did mean something to me. And it changed my life too. And I want to thank her for that. Because her manner made me feel that it was reasonable to start talking to her and it made me want to keep talking to her. She gave me a gift that day and I never got to tell her that our conversation had very much been a two way street.
It was a brief meeting, but one I'll always be grateful for.

 

Squizzes

Feeling much better after the excitement on Saturday, thank you. And I have to say that if you are going to get rushed to hospital then it really does pay off to not only have a friend working the shift but also be good friends with the big boss of the department. Private room, super quick treatment and home within a few hours.All of which is unheard of usually on the NHS.
So you see, even when I'm unlucky enough to suddenly suffer from an allergy, I'm still pretty damn lucky.


In a crazy attempt to keep the shop a little more, well, shop like, I've updated it with a couple of squirrels today and I'm hoping for a few new pillows maybe tomorrow or the next day. And then, possibly I'm thinking of adding a few baby outfits!
Uh huh, I'm getting cocky already, and thinking that I can sell the clothes I make! It's worth a try though. Yes? No?

The squirrels are here.

plan shplan

We had a plan. It was a good plan. It involved attending the opening of the new Cath Kidston shop in York (and possibly buying some fabric and wallpaper), followed by visiting a friend for a bbq and then out to the cinema to see this film.
But instead I took some antibiotics. And shortly afterwards Jim called an ambulance.
It was not the best day.
But we did get to see the film eventually.
And I at least now know to answer 'yes' to the 'do you have an allergies?' question.

My Favourite. Ever.

I am happier with this than anything else I have ever made. It's not original, it's not designed by me and it's not going to be in use for very long. And yet it's the best thing I've ever made.
I've spoken a lot about how I want to learn to make the girls clothes and about how I want to be able to understand patterns etc. And I've obviously made lots of steps towards that recently.
But what I've really wanted to do is make a particular sort of top for the girls. All along I've had a picture in my head of the blouse that I wanted to make.
It's a simple one. Nothing special. But it's one that would look great with everything and one that wouldn't look handmade.


And I've done it. I've made exactly what I wanted to make. It looks exactly how I wanted it to look and fits exactly how I wanted it to fit.
I've used the perfect fabric for it, with a print that I adore. It's lovely and soft and hangs perfectly. It's both comfortable and flattering.
And Lily looks great in it.


But the reason I love it so much, is because last night I sat down and looked for a pattern for a blouse, found the pattern, traced that pattern, cut out the pattern and made the blouse.
Without instructions.
Yep. I've finally come of age. And made something from a Japanese craft book.
And I love it. (did I mention that?)


The fabric is actually from an Ikea pillowcase that I bought for 10p last year and the pattern is from this book - ISBN978-4-579-11100-8.
The only fiddly bit was making the casings for the elastic, particularly for the arms. I did think about using fold over elastic (FOE), but to be honest I think it can look kind of cheap, so I perservered with the casings and the threading (hate, hate,hate, threading elastic) instead. And I think it was worth it.


I get a lot of emails asking me for sewing advice (!) which is lovely and very flattering but I just want to say that I've actually only been sewing for the last 4 years and that before that I had never made anything. I'm completely self taught and am constantly amazed that this stuff works out.All of which I say, because I know that there are lots of people out there thinking that it's too scary to try and do it themselves and I want them to know that it just takes a bit of practice.
Seriously, if I can do this, anyone can.


And it's so worth the effort when you can sit in the garden watching both of your children playing, wearing clothes that you made them.

Ever hopeful...

It's not all skirts and dresses around here (although Bella thinks it should be). We also have squirrels, new cushions and a few old favourites. And should the gods be smiling and my energy levels suddenly raised, we may even have some new quilts in the shop. You heard me. Quilts.
I know, I'm like a crazed woman.

Fun....

There are some days when everything just goes right.  I sit down at my sewing machine or at my cutting table and everything pans out exactly how I want it to. Leaving me wondering how I managed to do that. And leaving me pretty sure that that was all a fluke.
And the reason that I'm pretty sure it's a fluke is because of weekends like this one. Weekends when everything, everything I do turns to crap!
I can honestly say that my best and closest friend this weekend has been my quick unpick. Seriously, we're now best buds. Because that little piece of plastic has been by my side constantly, holding my hand, only laughing at me quietly, when it thought I wasn't looking. Unlike my sewing machine, who laughed at me right out loud, to my very face, at every given opportunity. Bastard.
But on the bright side, I now know that I hate shirring, and that linen hates it almost as much as I do. Not to mention that toweling, organic or not, is a bugger to work with and looks lousy as bloomers. And oh so many more interesting and useful tidbits that I would have been very happy not to learn this weekend.
So thanks weekend. It's been fun. Lets do it again sometime, because, you know, I've got shed loads of time to just throw away.
Not.

Just a little bit of boasting...

If I was ever going to boast about anything, it would have to be about just how lucky and loved my girls are. I'm very proud and more than a little humbled to say that both Lily and Bella have received some of the loveliest gifts in the last year. And this little bundle is no exception.
Those of you that read Amy's blog will recognise both the kimono and the bootees.As I've mentioned before, I've been wanting to try her new kimono pattern and have been waiting (not so patiently) for her to finish it ever since she posted a picture of this. What I didn't know was that the actual kimono that I wanted to copy was actually winging it's way to us. Along with the pair of gorgeous matching bootees.


And as you can see, they both fit perfectly. And look wonderful.
So you see, if, if I was going to boast, I think it would be understandable. Don't you?


Thanks Amy! And thank you for the books - I can't tell you how much I enjoyed listening to my father try and read them to Bella with his scottish accent!

The Skirt

There's been a significant change around here in the last few days. Some thing that I've been waiting for has finally happened. Bella has discovered that I might just be useful. Although she's always known that I make things for her, she's never before put two and two together.
And yet in the last week she's suddenly worked out that she can actually ask me to make stuff for her. Stuff that she wants. As opposed to the things that I say she has to like because I made it for her!
Because she's been showing a marked interest in my fabric recently, I thought it might be nice for the two of us to choose some fabric together so that I could make a skirt for her. It's the first time that I've actively involved Bella in the decision making (I'm too much of a control freak) and the first time that I've set out to make her something with her in my studio with me.


So with Lily asleep, Bella and I spent a couple of hours in the studio with me sewing and her 'sewing' and talking (and talking) and playing hospitals (fabric bandages) playing mummys (quilts and covers for the babies) and most importantly, planning. Planning all the new things that I can make for her. Planning all the quilts that I can make for her babies, because they always need more covers. And all the dresses and skirts that I can make for her. And the new bags. And even more quilts. For Bella, the possibilities are suddenly endless (especially as she's unhindered by any concept of a limit to my skills!) and I have to say that I'm loving that. And finding myself unable to say no.
This skirt is the first of many to come. I finished it a couple of days ago and Bella has worn it constantly since. She loves it. But now she wants a dress. Actually, let me rephrase that. She wants a dress now.
So that's what I've been working on today. And whether it was finished or not was her first question on returning home from nursery. (it's not, but it will be tomorrow).






In the meantime though I'm thinking she likes the skirt.

The fabrics we chose are Umekko Wasabe in red, from Alexander Henry and the grey print is from the Come Quilt With Me collection, by Pat Yemin for Marcus Brothers. The pattern is from a tutorial by Tanya of Grand Revival Designs and can be found here.

3 Months

Lily you turned three months old yesterday. Three. Months.Already.
Time is going by so fast that I have to make a real effort to stop and notice the small things before they disappear for ever.
I think the biggest shock for me is just how fast it's going this time around and just how much seems to happen whilst I'm not looking.


Your personality is already wonderful. You smile all the time, but especially when I kiss your cheeks.
You are the wriggliest baby that I've ever met and you are already trying to turn over. We struggle with keeping you in one place when you're in your cot and you are constantly facing the wrong way or back to front when we get you up in the morning, even though your are both swaddled and in a sleep positioner. You are in fact the Harry Houdini of babies and we're completely stumped by how you get out of your positioner and swaddle. And when we ask you, you literally laugh at us. I think you're pretty proud of yourself, and so you should be.


Like your big sister, you very rarely cry and then only when you want something specific, like milk or to be left to go to sleep. But unlike Bella, you don't like to be comforted when you're tired. We feel really bad that you cry yourself to sleep most nights, even though it only takes five minutes. If we try and calm you you get hysterical and cry until we leave you alone. We learnt that the hard way.
Your favourite toy is the parrot on your playmat and you already love books. You also love the television, so that doesn't go on in the day anymore.


You found your hands today and have started trying to put things in your mouth and we're pretty sure that those rosy red cheeks and very drooly mouth mean that you're starting to teeth.
When you lie on the sofa you stare endlessly at the patchwork quilt and when you're in my studio you literally smile at the fabric. I think you're a girl after my own heart.
You sleep wonderfully and we're very grateful that so far we've had not a single sleepless night. Long may that continue.
I worried a lot about having a second child and who you would be and how you would fit in, but all my worries have been completely unfounded. You are a delight to be with and have had a wonderful influence on all of us. Bella loves having you as a sister and can't wait to teach you everything.
And we love having you as a daughter and can't wait to see you grow.
Thank you for being you, Lily. And thank you for making it so easy for us all.