So I sew...kind of...

Back in high school, I was terrible in textiles. I had no desire to sit at a sewing machine and create wonderful pieces for me to wear. I liked making scrunchies (remember them?!) to put in my hair. But that was about it.

The class started with an easy tie-dyed bag. No probs. Whipped that up in no time – never mind the holes where I ran off the side of the material, or that it wasn’t a perfect rectangle.

We moved on to basic shorts. Coolest fabric – navy and red tartan, as was the fashion in 1994. My hems didn’t match up, one leg was longer than the other, but I was proud of them. Then I tackled a jacket with a zip. The zip seemed too long for the pattern...so I cut it in half. (The zip, not the pattern – just to be clear).

Thank goodness for my Mum, who is an excellent sewer and saved me from failing when I took it all home for homework!

I had little to no patience and no vision for what a piece of material could become, so that’s where I left my sewing ambitions – back in Year 8. Or so I thought.

When I had my girls, I started noticing all these very cute vintage-type dresses popping up all over the place. Most were handmade and selling on Etsy or at markets. Suddenly a sewing bug crept upon me!

I looked into some patterns – a pillowcase dress seemed easy enough, made from an actual pillowcase, how hard could it be?

I used invisable cotton – how cool is that stuff?! The seams are completely invisble! I hand sewed the whole thing. Added ribbons – voila! A pillowcase dress. Lex looked so ridiculous in it, I had to put it away in a box so I can show her one day what her silly Mum did!

But then Mum bought me a sewing machine for my 30^th, oh I was thrilled! And bit by bit, I tought myself how to sew properly. Following patterns, techniques, etc. I even ‘adapt’ patterns a bit these days and they work most of the time. I’ve found my sewing mojo!

I must say though – I still lack patience with it all. I rarely pin my material, just cut it out and off I go. I don’t always double hem, instead I use zig zag stitching to prevent fraying. But if it looks good on the outside, who cares? As long as it doesn’t fall apart in the first wash, it’s a success! I’m not planning on going into the business of selling my creations! It’s just something I’ve found I love to do, a burst of another favourite creativity of mine, but it comes and goes. One day I could sit and sew all day. The next day I just can’t be arsed!

I love the old fashioned nighties that my sister and I used to wear in the 80s. So I whipped a couple of them up for my girls this week. I absolutely love them and so do they!

 So is this going to turn into a crafty Mummy blog – highly unlikely! But a few little crafty posts from me might pop up from time to time, when I get the urge!

 - Mem x