2014 Review

So I've had a lot of things going on this year. Sewing has taken a bit of a backseat, and blogging fell out of the car a while ago! But I've been working a way in the background, making bits and bobs when I can. These are mostly for Bubbaboo, but more recently I've started sewing for me again now I'm coming to terms with my post-partum body!

I'm going to do the usual (all over the blogosphere) round up for a bit of insight into whats been under my presser foot and how its worked out. It wont be a top 5 and its not very specific, but here goes nothing...

Maybe we should start with the misses:

Baby shoes
So fiddly, so cute, so never worn.
He came out too big for the cute pair I made for his Daddys first "I'm nearly a" Daddys Day, And by the time I'd finished these uber cute boots from an old wool skirt he didnt fit them either. Bad planning? Maybe, but I dont think I'll bother for future babies.

Baby shirts
I had great hopes, and they did look very cute on, but they weren't practical on a little one and I don't reach for them still. Maybe I should make an effort now the weather is warming up so he can be breezy but covered. I'll still make him a first birthday shirt as I got a lovely blue paisley Liberty remnant from Tessuti for only $7, but thats more for me than him.


Crochet hats
I had the most fabulous alpaca/wool blend yarn to make a little hat. I even lined it with jersey to stop any potential prickles, even though it felt yummy to me. But it was too big for our trip to the motherland, and Perth doesn't really get cold enough for fully lined alpaca blend bobble hats. I did get a few people asking me to make them one, so maybe I'll contribute it to a fund raising raffle for one of the groups I'm part of next year. Or I could just hoard it for ever and cuddle it.
He did get a couple of other acrylic ones that got a bit more wear, but I think I'll admit he didn't need 4 of them...

Actually, Crochet in general
I started trying to crochet him a winter cardigan/jacket. I found it was something I could do when I was under a sleeping baby and neither of us really wanted to move. But when I got to the end of the first sleeve I lost momentum. Maybe I'll frog it back and add a few more rows to widen the back/should (its raglan style) and give it a go for next year.

Most things for me
Meh. I tried doing FBA, I tried new patterns. But with limited sewing time I havn't had time to faff around adjusting things to fit and preferably still allow me to feed. I had plans to make shorts but I havnt quite got around to printing the pattern out. I will admit I still wear a few of my dodgy bust dart sorbettos and laurels around and about, because they're cool and comfy, but they're not the best. And I just finished a Tesuti Alice top, which is nice and light and breezy. Now the need to feed at any given moment is starting to end though, and I've got a new more fitted pattern muslined that will hopefully break me out of this bad streak!

And the hits:

Most things for Bubbaboo
I'm really proud to say that in just about every photo of my little man and just about every day he is wearing/using something I made. From shorts to pram liners and onsies to suck pads for the ergo. And hats and toys and jeans and playmats... I love that we aren't restricted by the pretty limited boys wear selection. We can do bright colours and non skinny jeans. We can do anything (and he can't complain yet!). Here are some of my favourites:

Purl Soho baby pants, KwickSew Romper, Sirocco dress for a friend, BBBPants with wrap scrap panel, half birthday Oliver+S Sunny Day shirt, Lion shirt for the City to Surf,
Matching Sunny Day and Negroni shirts. Suck pads and my fav (self drafted) pants of all yet rarely photo'd, upcycled onsie, shirt and upcycled lined jeans, Surfing Space Robot cargos, upcycled Tshirts into raglan t and pants,
Upcycled T to track pants- Daddys favourite, christmas shorts, second fav pants- green babycord BBBPants, Yellow cord overalls, red polo from scrap of op shopped red jersey used for maternity dress plus MoVember shorts, Haloween/dress-up box dinosaur/dragon reversible cape.

Megan Neilson Nursing tops
I wear these all the time, though have surprisingly few photos. I love that its easy to feed in but also draws in around the waist and skims the tummy. I found the neckline bagged out, so I sew elastic in the hem to stop that. I also found the modesty panel made it really hard to actually feed  through and the opening also stretched out, so I just wear it with a cut off singlet underneath instead.

Upcycling for baby clothes
I've been saving up old Tshirts and pants for a while. I have maybe also been buying things of varying states of newness to make into different things.  My favourite is this combo- Daddys well worn in tshirt with Daddys well worn in jeans, but as you can see in the above collage, there has been lots of recycling and reusing going on.

So yep, lots of sewing, just not much blogging. Not even much Flickr-ing!