November round-up and December’s sewing plans

November trees

This has been a weird old month. Not only is there the whole pregnancy thing throwing a spanner in my sewing plans, but Gabriel decided to give up his afternoon nap. That means he’s gone from napping 2-2.5 hours every day, to nothing, just like that! Oh yes, and not only have I lost my sanity time to get things done (including sewing), but he’s been throwing wobblers about random things as he’s tired and grumpy. Is it any surprise I haven’t been blogging?!

Blogged in November:

Err… /looks shifty/ Okay, look, I didn’t really blog anything, other than the announcement of my pregnancy. Let’s just call it a fallow month and move along now, shall we?

Sewing done in November:

Seamstress Erin Maternity Laminaria Swimsuit in snakeskin lycra

Right, I’ve got to admit that the only thing I actually sewed in November was never part of my plans for the month! I’m not considering that a failure in any way, though. The fact is, I was tempted by the idea of both trying out pattern testing for the first time, and by making a maternity swimming costume. The maternity version of the Laminaria Swimsuit by Seamstress Erin should be out in January, and it’s wonderful to finally have a maternity swimsuit I actually like. Unfortunately it’s come up a bit on the small side, so while I currently fit into it, I won’t for very long. Erin has made ease adjustments, and I’ll definitely be sewing a more roomy version when I get my mitts on the final version of the pattern. There’s plenty of that gorgeous snakeskin print fabric left, fortunately!

I did do some knitting, though, and I’ve just about finished the cabled purple cowl below (my December Minerva Make!) and the socks are completed. I do love knitting socks, but these have taken a really long time–just over a year! However, fingering weight socks are much nicer to wear than the thicker ones I’ve made in the past, so I think I’ll persevere with this weight yarn in the future. There’s no big hurry, is there?!

Cosy Cabled Cowl Magic loop socks with fish lips kiss heel

Money spent: £59.02

Patterns: £25.48 , Haberdashery: £1.58 , Fabric: £31.96

This is more than I’ve spent in a while, but I’m justifying it as I needed some decent maternity patterns, and I nabbed them in the Black Friday sales so they weren’t as expensive as they would otherwise have been. I also got three patterns printed by an online copyshop as I can’t be dealing with piecing together hundreds of sheets of A4 paper. Not with cats and children around!

The fabric spend was a metre of poly lycra for the swimming costume and 2x two-metre lengths of jersey for sewing up this month. I just didn’t have anything suitable in the stash, as maternity clothes use more fabric than I’m used to!

I’m hoping I’ll be able to get through December without spending anything, so really this is two month’s sewing budget, right?!

December sewing plans:

Party Animal Agnes dress - maternity version

Pictured above is the gorgeous animal print John Kaldor jersey I’m using to make myself a long sleeved Maternity Agnes dress. I’m hoping this will be a good party dress over the winter, with the possibility of dressing it down a bit for everyday wear too. I thought I had some decent maternity party dresses already, but it turns out I wore them all to death last time around. Not that I was partying lots, or anything, but they were comfy jersey dresses that also worked for breastfeeding, so they got a lot of use! Still, it’s nice to discover I do need a few new items, as I was getting a bit antsy with the idea of not sewing much for myself.

I’ve also been busy cutting out the fabric to make myself a Megan Nielsen Erin skirt (from the striped jersey pictured below) and a stretch velvet cami which is another maternity pattern testing project for Seamstress Erin. I’ll also be making a test pair of maternity leggings from the same black stretch velvet. Oooh, fancy!

If there’s time I’d really like to sew another Agnes dress, a quilt for Gabriel, and that Christmas tree skirt I’ve been contemplating making for years. I seriously doubt either of those last two will happen, but who knows? It’s getting easier to sew while Gabriel is awake, as the more I do it the less interest he takes (anyone else tried sewing with a toddler busy climbing onto your lap?!) I figure if I put him together a basket of scraps and ribbons then he should be pretty happy playing with those while I steam ahead on the machine.

I’ll also be getting back to blogging every week, I hope. There’ll be Gabriel’s cords coming up this week, and the Agnes dress and Erin skirt (assuming I get them finished with pics) in the weeks before Christmas. Then my Minerva post at the end of the month, and at least one post for the #SewingTop5 event hosted by Gillian of Crafting a Rainbow. Phew, that should make up for a month of being quiet, shouldn’t it?

Anyone else making themselves a new party dress this month? Or are you all about the gift sewing in December? #teamselfishsewingforme

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