Sew Excited I'm Learning to Sew

Living Life in Colour

Over the last few years, since I have had my children, I have existed mostly in black yoga pants and black vests. Its grim and slightly gothic but they are comfortable and alas I still don't fit into my pre baby rainbow wardrobe. I have considered buying new colourful attire but when I go to the shops it all seems so overpriced and polyester. Plus vanity kicks in and it feels like defeat to settle into my new more comfortable size. So I walk away empty handed.

Consequently I have decided it is time  to make my own clothes. I even have a box of bits of fabric destined one day to become attire. I have always dreamt of designing and making my own clothes, but when I have tried I have been strangely resistant to using patterns, imagining that I possess some powerful sewing instict and choosing to copy outlines or just guess. To say the results were interesting gives my attempts too much credit. However deep down I must have known I needed to learn the rules, and have been quietly kicking myself for not buying what appeared to be a particularly excellent second hand book from a local market. So I decided to treat myself to a new one, that covers both techniques and has some patterns included.

In the end I chose this one, Learn to Sew by Tessa Evelegh because it had some great patterns and also because it has clear (though sometimes a little more detail would help) technique overviews and it was a bargain.

The clothes are great and simple with a definite classic vintage twist.What I love most about the book is how Tessa Evelegh frequently tells you that such and such a pattern would look fantastic in silk. how glamorous. So when I have not been sitting reading my sewing porn, or wandering fabric shops stroking the fabrics I have been online trying to source wholesale silk.

The patterns in the book are available for free down load at www.quadrille.co.uk/sewingbee/patterns

Looky looky what I have made so far. Its the basic tunic, dress length (the pattern of which comes with the book). Its made from cotton broadcloth as it is an inexpensive fabric to practice with. I added some pockets from an old pair of my partners work trousers. I wore it out the other day and my partner tells me he could see ladies left right and centre looking with awe at my creation. Oh flattery, I love to believe it.

                                                                                                       

Check out my pinterest board for sewing related pins  Sew Excited

How to make your own re-usable breast pads.

I have loved breast feeding my children and my body seemed to know it, producing vast quantities of milk. I would wake up in a pool of milk in the middle of the night and if I was feeding on one side the other would start up, fountain like. I preferred it this way to too little milk and actually it made me feel like a big bountiful mama. However it meant that I needed to buy breast pads to keep those leaks in check. Now I know you can buy reusable breast pads in the shops but they just seemed a bit expensive and even though they would have been cheaper in the long run it was easier to buy a box of disposable ones from the supermarket. With my first child I actually feel like I was in a bit of a haze for at least the first year and I look back and wonder to myself why didn't you....? about lots of things and making some breast pads is one of them. I really didn't like buying them, I imagined the chemical residue from the new pad leeching onto my nipple and being absorbed by the baby and all the waste, each pad individually wrapped in plastic, oh the horror. So second time round I decided to make my own from scraps I had around the house.

1. I had been lucky enough to have been given reusable nappies and so  I decided to sacrifice one of these to the cause. This in itself was slightly wasteful but I salvaged lots of other bits to use like elastic and stoppers to make myself feel better. You don't have to use an old nappy, you could use bits of old towel/ face washers, microfiber cloth, and even some pretty fabric for the outside. Off course I made sure the nappy was clean and had boiled the fabrics that would be next to my breast for about ten/twenty mins to make sure they were thoroughly disinfected. I have laid the nappy out into its sections, the outer part which has a waterproof membrane, the green microfiber cloth which is placed between bottom and nappy and the bamboo fleece absorber which has natural antibacterial properties.

                                                               

2. Drawn round a disposable breast pad or a large jar lid approx. 10cm diameter. Make sure you make a pair of everything. I was, to start of with making two pairs, so I decided to make one super absorbent pair, which consisted of, per pad; two circles of microfiber fleece and one circle of bamboo fleece, though I had to scavenge another microfiber cloth for this. Also I wanted to make one  lightweight slimline water proof pair so I cut, for each; one circle from the nappy outer and one circle of bamboo fibre. I felt it would be best to have the natural bamboo fibre as the layer next to my breast.

Unpick the seams of the bamboo absorber

3. Lay your circles out ready to sew. The picture shows an extra design I tried to make, however the outer was made of a lightweight material with a bit of stretch, it was quite hard to  sew with the machine to the fleece. For all pads I felt it would be best to have the natural bamboo fibre as the layer next to my breast.

4. Pin the circles in place. I used the sewing machine to sew mine. I wanted them to hold well so I used a zig zag stitch, which also made them look prettier.

Voila! Homemade breast pads. I delayed writing this so that I could test them thoroughly and I am pleased to say that they worked well. Obviously you wash them between uses. The thicker ones were great, comfy and absorbent. Excellent in bed at night. Whereas I wore the ones with waterproof membranes for occasions where I didn't want the bulky pad to show through my top, if it was tight -ish and I definitely didn't want any leak marks. So here they are months later, a bit raggle taggle but still with lots of use in them.