Belated Blogiversary

On Saturday it was my 1 year blogiversary. I missed it completely. I only remembered this afternoon, at work.

Oh well. It would have been nice to have marked it with a giveaway or a tutorial, but I have nothing organised. Similarly, there is little point in doing a reflections type post, given I did just that quite recently. But I wanted to at least note the occasion with a little post!

Since my last post, I have started working on an Anda variation. This should be the simplest make ever - the basic dress in its natural form is just 4 seams, some bias binding and a casing and a tie at the waist, but so far I seem to have unpicked more than I've sewn. My tension has gone a bit wonky on my sewing machine, and I managed to break 2 threads on my overlocker.  Plus, I spent a good amount of time, just staring at the cut out pieces.

With my first pregnancy, I got my energy back once into the second trimester, but this time, while not as exhausted as I was during the first 12 weeks, I am still shattered in the evenings. I think pregnancy, plus dealing with Small Boy - who has been going through a really bad behaviour phase (God, I hope it's a phase) recently - plus I've been fighting a really bad chesty cough, plus I've been really busy at work (not forgetting I am only 4 months into a new job) are all adding up! Woe is me!

The thing is I am really keen and super-inspired to sew. I just can't quite summon up the energy. I have pushed myself, even just to do a quick half hour here or there, which has helped. But the dress is still not finished. I am modifying the Anda to fit my current shape, and I think that for tired sewing, this isn't a good idea. In this state of mind/physicality, I need to be able to blindly follow instructions, without necessarily having to think about things. However, I am working on Saturday, which means I am off Monday. My plan for then is to put Small Boy into nursery and spend the day at the sewing machine. I desperately need some new clothes, so although I have a few overdue projects, this really needs to be my priority. Selfish sewing having to be a priority? What a nightmare! :)

Anyway, I shall finish my 1 year blogiversary post with a little observation about how much sewing has embedded itself in my conscious this year.

I have realised that I missed off one reflection from my recent Reflections, Inspirations, Goals post; that I have developed a complete obsession with working out how garments are put together. More often than not, I catch myself on buses and in meetings at work, looking at a garment someone is wearing and admiring the pattern placement on the pocket, wondering what the inside of a blouse looks like, or mentally trying to recreate a pleat in my head. However, I think this obsession can be best demonstrated thus:

On Tuesday I had a routine hospital appointment. When I arrived, the nurse advised that they were running really late and that I'd be better off waiting in the cafe. So I took myself off to the cafe, where I sat and drank a (decaff) latte and did some work emails on my Blackberry. When my battery and my coffee ran out, I sat for a while, people watching and thinking. My mind was wandering and I started wondering whether the RTW maternity dress I was wearing had elastic at the empire waistline. I  pulled on the waist and it felt stretchy, but the dress is made of jersey, so would have some stretch anyway. The style of the dress is a fake wrap over (similar to Cake's Tiramisu, but less well designed), quite low - so low in fact that I had to wear a vest (cami/singlet) underneath. As the neckline was low, I pulled it out a bit and glanced down to see if it was elasticated. It was. It actually had clear elastic which had been applied with an overlocker - the elastic being held in a casing created by the stitches. I'd never seen that before, so I pulled the neckline out further with one hand to get a good look, turning and twisting the seam around with the other.

It was at this point that I realised I was sitting alone, in full view, in a busy cafe, looking down my dress, with my hand down there for good measure! I quickly let go of the dress and decided that actually it might be better to go to the shop and buy a magazine to pass the time.

Obsessed much?!