Pregnancy can be a real pain…

I can tell I’m “done” being pregnant.  Obviously, baby is not done, but my head and body have had it.  I spent Sophia’s entire 4 hour nap yesterday (yes, I am VERY blessed!) working in the basement, reorganizing, moving things around (including a headboard and heavy sewing machine), putting a table together.  You know, all things probably against medical advice during pregnancy, but whatever.  Things need to get done. 

Then, I spent the rest of the night dealing with major hip pain and limping around the house.  SO annoying. 

Last night was not great for sleeping.  I am having no problems getting comfortable, other than the hip thing still bugging me, but when I wake up it seems my tiny daughter is having parties in the middle of the night at my expense.  She won’t hold still and I can’t sleep.  So, at 6 when Dan left for work and I was in tears (how could he leave me for work of all things?!) I decided to get over it (what can I do about it anyway?) and go sew something.  And my blessed, little angel Sophia is STILL sleeping – it’s 9 on the dot.  That means, I was able to finish a whole shirt and make a cup of coffee AND type this post.

So, corduroy was on sale a couple weeks ago and I stocked up – I didn’t realize you could buy patterned corduroy and I LOVE this shirt.  I kind of made it up using bits and pieces from other patterns and adding the details I wanted for myself. 


I LOVE the butterfly buttons, even if they are kind of a pain to get through the button holes.
I also changed the bottom of the shirt a bit so I didn’t have to have SO many buttons.  I feel like everything I make has at least five buttons and I decided that three was my limit today.


And, I thought I’d try my hand at elasticized sleeves.  This one looks great – the other one…well, it seems I will be, once again, using the seam ripper. :)



All in all, I really like it, but I would much rather be sleeping in like Sophia is right now.  I could have made this a different time and my eyes are burning behind my glasses.  And I just realized that my coffee is decaf, so I guess that won’t do me much good. 

Another thing that has been a pain this pregnancy is that I was diagnosed with Gestational Thrombocytopenia, which isn’t a HUGE issue, but has been a bit high-maintenance.  It basically means that my blood platelet count isn't where it should be, and now it’s dropped to a point where I won’t be able to have an epidural.  That either means a drug-free VBAC or that I’ll be put under for a C-section and won’t get to meet baby right away, a thought I find pretty devastating.  The danger with the condition is, were it to be undiagnosed,  I could bleed out during delivery but as long as they keep a close eye on the situation, everything will be just fine.  I actually just got a call this morning that my care will likely be transferred from the midwives to the OB’s so they can monitor it better.  As of now, I just have a lot of weekly blood draws and extra appointments. 

Dan reminded me that I probably shouldn’t complain since I haven’t been sick, pretty much at all, I’ve not had to deal with a special diet, like someone with Gestational Diabetes, and don’t have any other major complications, plus as far as everything looks we have a perfectly healthy baby.  He’s right, but hormones don’t always see logic.

Please keep baby and I in your prayers.  She’s fine and will be.  I’m just emotional and annoyed, but could use prayer for a better attitude. :)

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One pattern, three ways

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I feel like I only have  a few weeks left at the sewing machine – my belly and my back say so.  Which, is sad, because now that I’ve found something that keeps my interest and is both fun and practical, I’ll be all distracted by a newborn.

Wow…that made it sound like having a newborn is sad, and it’s NOT – it’s going to be a lot of fun and I’m very excited.  I just wish I had discovered this interest a long time ago. 

Anyway – I got this pattern a while ago and started working on cutting out the right size layouts, etc. for Sophia’s size.  At first, I was pretty annoyed at how long using a real pattern took, but I quickly realized that the best part of a “real” pattern (purchased and edited by a professional) is that the product turns out pretty perfect if you follow the directions.  It also gives you a starting point that lets you apply your own creativity and make the shirt/dress, etc. into what you want.  And that’s what I did!

First, I made the pattern as intended – long sleeve, with buttons and button-holes at the neck and I like it.  However, the idea of buying the patterns was to make good use of them and use them a LOT, and I wasn’t big on the idea of Sophia having 18 different Sailboat shirts.  This one seemed really fancy, somehow…I think it’s the buttons.  Maybe it will be a holiday shirt.





After the first one, I decided to make a cozy t-shirt, but I didn’t want long sleeves, so I went out on a limb and chopped off half of each sleeve, then lined the bottom with grey.  I also closed it with snaps instead of buttons, because I’m pretty sure the buttons would make it too fancy to be called a t-shirt.

This one was a little tricky because I wasn’t attaching any sleeves, but Soph has a great brown sweater for fall that will look great over this.  The main fabric was intended for a baby dress, but it didn’t go so well so I ditched it and went with this instead. 

 

Oh, and the best part of these three shirts is that the total cost, including buttons, was $12!  Goal accomplished!

There are a few more shirts I’ve finished, a handful of skirts and dresses cut and ready to go, and a two projects that I’ve made up on my own by combining the two purchased patterns I own, but that’s enough for now, don’t you think?

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What I’m working on…

For fall, Sophia has two pairs of pants, a sweater and a jersey cardigan.  Obviously, not enough to get her through the fall and winter.  So, I decided to do my best to create a super cheap, super cute fall wardrobe for her with clearance/sale fabrics, making the most of each and every yard and getting creative with the patterns I have.

So, I’ve finally putting those patterns to use and have made Sophia FOUR shirts in the past week!  Needless to say, my back is sore.  I normally have pretty good posture, but not when sewing.  I bend over too much, and with a big belly hanging down, it’s not easy on my  back. 

I’ll post a picture of those as soon as they’re completely done (all are done, except for buttons), but for now here’s my newest pile of goods – soon to be a few skirts, a jumper, a shirt and a nightgown. 



All for about $20.  The best part is that after all of that, there will be leftover fabric that I can play around with. :)  Stay tuned!

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