I’m beginning to think that I should start acting like a hypochondriac, because the baby and I have come down sick again (which makes twice this month so far — ACK!). Break out the hand sanitizer and avoid populated areas, I guess?
Maybe eventually one day my immune system will regain its strength, and I won’t have to spend every month suffering.
It’s very hard to feel motivated to do anything with being sick so often. At this point I feel like throwing my hands up in defeat.
Progress on my wedding dress is going very, very slowly. I planned on having it finished by the end of May, and since I haven’t even gotten all of my fabric cut yet, I’m beginning to realize that I probably won’t be able to use a lot of the haute couture techniques that I had wanted to try out — especially now that the baby is old enough to be interested in everything I do.
Before too much longer, I’ll have to admit that my baby is no longer a baby, and start referring to her as my toddler.
We’ve begun the interesting challenge of having hobbies after the baby has learned how to walk. I can no longer put her down in a pile of toys and expect her to stay there. What I can expect is for her to get up, hunt me down, then hang onto my skirt and demand to be included in whatever it is that I’m up to. Helping Mama is much more fun than playing with toys alone, after all! So, I’ve been putting aside my projects in favor of building towers, having dance parties, and playing outside. Consequently, my projects are falling behind schedule.
This is why I don’t sew professionally!
That’s an update of what I’ve been up to. It’s not very showy, but it’s been a lot of fun in its own way.
For me, the best part of Mother’s Day is having a reminder to take a moment to marvel at how wonderful it is to have a child. It’s amazing how much babies grow and change during their first year, and it has been an honor to be there for my daughter every step of the way. I’m so glad that we have more years of growing and learning ahead of us.
Before I even conceived my baby, I decided to live by the philosophy that “Mother is a title to be earned.” Anyone can get pregnant and pop out a baby, but it takes a strong woman to raise happy, well-adjusted children.
I will always do my best to care for my family, so that my children will grow up proud to have me as their mother.
I inherited my grandma’s sewing machine, which is a Viking Multimatic 381 from West Germany. I can’t find any references to it on the internet, so there isn’t much that I can tell you about this machine. I don’t even know how old it is, since I can’t find any dates in the manual. All I know is that it is really damn cool.
The only maintenance I had to do was cleaning out the dust and lint balls from the inside, then oiling it up. It’s much quieter and more powerful than my other two machines, so this one will probably become my main squeeze. I’m definitely going to keep an eye out for compatible accessories.
The manual is in German with paper inserts that have the English translation.
The underside of the machine.
A unique bobbin case. At first I thought it was broken because it didn’t have the little arm, but then I realized that it was designed that way.
No seam markings on the throat plate. I’m undecided about whether or not I should add them on.
Sewing machine guts.
Different thread types, including preset button hole settings.
This is my first experiment in making fabric flowers. I did it on the cheap, and used some polyester fabric that I already have, plus some pipe cleaner. First, I cut out a 12″x12″ square of fabric, starched it to the extreme, then cut out the petals and painted them. The fun part was gluing the petals onto my pipe cleaner stem, and watching the flower form. I gave it to my husband to put on his desk, along with some paper flowers that I had made as well.
I really enjoyed making this, so in the future I’ll probably upgrade my materials to floral wire and china silk.
This whole “Me Made May” thing has me kind of baffled. So, many sewers out there are spending time, money, and materials to make garments that end up never getting worn? What’s the point of sewing then?
I started sewing so that I wouldn’t have to go shopping for clothing. I was sick of never being able to find anything that fit me, and of being limited to only choosing modern styles that I didn’t like. I wear everything that I make, even if it’s only long enough to figure out what sort of flaws my design had so that I know what to improve in the future. I wear my projects preferentially over commercial clothing, because they are custom fitted to me and my tastes. I don’t need any internet challenges to get me to wear the stuff I make — I’m already wearing it!
I have a huge pragmatic streak, so I don’t see any point in creating something for the sake of creating it. Art is meant to be displayed, clothing is meant to be worn, writing is meant to be read. Making something, then putting it away where it will never see the light of day again, is a waste of time and materials.
What’s the appeal in sewing clothing that you aren’t going to wear?
While my husband and I were out with our baby, we ran across someone who, despite the cues that we were giving, decided to make conversation about how children are such hard work, and that it’s better to have only one because it’s “easier.” Easier to be self-absorbed, I guess, because I personally don’t see any merit in having only one child. I came very close to telling the person that we were seriously thinking about baby number two, but decided that a quick escape was the preferable option.
I really love children, and my life has been considerably better since my daughter was born; I really don’t appreciate it when someone acts like I should feel otherwise. The part that really irks me is that this isn’t an isolated event, and that a lot of people think that children are a pain in the ass. What sort of generation are we going to raise if we have that sort of attitude?
I will never allow my children to be treated that way.
