Sewing through the tears

I last posted over a year ago. It was about that time that I began having morning sickness with the pregnancy of my third daughter. Once that finally faded at about 18 weeks, I had a month or so to rush and do as much prep for the baby as I could before the third trimester fatigue.

I wish that the reasons I haven't written since her birth on May 6th were the late night feedings and endless diaper changes, but my reason instead is the exhaustion of grief. Our sweet, almost 7 pound, daughter died shortly before birth due to an unexpected umbilical cord injury. We endured a labor void of monitors and a birth void of cries from a babe. Our sobs were the only noises in the room. I know now why they call it a still birth or silent birth. It is eerily both.

We were able to take pictures of her in the dress made from my wedding gown that my two other daughters wore when they were blessed at three months by there father.


A kind friend made her her own dress from my wedding gown for her burial. She wore a pink cloth diaper to the grave that I had made especially for her, although it and and others were made with the intention of being soiled multiple times and not for a one-time-use.

These past several months have felt heavy with grief, but for the past month or so I have started to feel more energized. I have started several sewing projects and finished a few of them. I'll be posting more and look forward to meeting more sewing types as I do.

Through all this, I have learned many things. One is how precious life is and how important it is to relish in the joy that the people in your life bring.

The Ultimate in Refashion

Before I got married, I always said that I would just rent a wedding dress. Why spend upward of $1000 on a dress that you're only going to wear once? Well when the time came and my parents were actually paying for the dress, suddenly more than willing get one. I couldn't let it be worn just once, so when my daughter was born, a friend and I turned it into this:

I used a pattern (don 't know the number or designer off hand). I used the original hem from my dress and took some of the organza from the skirt and also used it on the sleeves. It closes with 4 buttons (from the original dress) in back

This is my older daughter wearing it. She is now 3 and a half. My younger daughter wore it as well. I'll try to post a pic as well. Funny story, when we were at church on the day she got blessed in it, two nine year old girls came to look at the baby. Then one of them gave me some advice, "I think next time you should make the dress after the baby is born so you'll know how long to make it." Gotta love kids!

Crocheted Dress

Many, many moons ago, before I had children or a man to make them with, I made this dress. My gage was off, so it turned out much bigger than anticipated. Also, I left it in my back window for too long and the part of it that was exposed faded in the sun. My husband thinks the faded part looks horrible, but I pretend its part of the artistic flair. She's only worn it once. . . to church when my husband was sick! She wasn't in the best of mood when I took this picture and wouldn't look at me!

Shirring

So I had seen clothes that had been shirred before and wanted to learn how to do it myself. Until the Sewing Dork posted this tutorial I had no idea how easy it was! So on a whim, I went out and bought a yard of fabric at 7pm and had 2 dresses ready for church the next day! My youngest turned 2 on the 8th and I wanted her to have a new dress. I didn't have quite enough fabric so I added some plain black on the sides. My younger daughter's dress has quite a bit more shirring lines than my older to make it tighter for the little lady who is still not on the growth chart!

Happy Birthday to my spunky Bug!

. . .who happens to have an equally goofy sister!

New Toy!

Wednesday after dinner my husband offered to take the girls for a while. I enjoyed the sweetness of the offer and the time to myself. When they got back he and the girls screamed "We love Mommy!" Again, very sweet I was busy cleaning their room so it took me a while to notice this:

on the floor! I was speechless! A serger of my very own.

Purple P.U.L.

Cakes showing off her new diaper

Recently, one of my friends started using cloth diapers. I went shopping with her when she bought supplies to sew with. The bad news is that the only local store that has PUL was out and wouldn't have any in for a few weeks. The good news is that she ended up ordering some from verybaby.com so I ordered some as well. I usually just get the white offered locally, because its cheaper, but it was fun to have an excuse to get purple (its more purple than it looks in this picture). I ordered 5/8 of a yard and made 3 diapers. I used a pattern that I made earlier for my younger daughter. I just added some to the rise.

The inside is a yellow micro chamois (similar to fleece). I think that even though the chamois is softer, I still prefer flannel. The chamois doesn't wick fast enough for my 3 year-old so she leaks. They're too big for my 1 year old, so she leaks. But don't worry, I have found a use for them. I stuff them and use them over a prefold for my one year old at night.

Soft Cozy inside, I even made laundry tabs

Cards

For about 2 years now, I have been a member of a card group. Each of us makes 10-12 identical cards each month and then swaps them at our party. Although, with my crazy life, I'm not able to go every month, this is the most recent card I made in February. I'm most proud that I designed it myself. The inside print came from a stack of Christmas paper that I have. I have determined to not buy anymore supplies for cards but rather use up what I have. The inside is stamped Happiness with a stamp set a purchased from Costco several years ago. The closure on the front is a metal heart attached with brad.

The theme for next month is butterflies. Any ideas?