Making new things

This week got off to a great start when I decided to bite the bullet and book my first market stall.  Not content to start small and test things out I jumped straight into a two day booking at the Canberra Christmas markets in December!  Eek!!  I think I will try for a casual stall at a smaller market before then just as a practise run!  Despite worrying that I may have jumped in above my head I am quite excited about the prospect and have spent time researching different ideas for displaying goods, thinking about packaging and banners, tags, small items, and creating a cohesive display.  All so very exciting!!  That is the same weekend that the chicks’ father returns to the country, so the timing couldn’t be better in terms of them being busy catching up with him, and me being able to just enjoy being a stall holder.

With that spurt of adrenaline I decided to set myself some targets this week, instead of being distracted by social ‘stuff’, and it is paying off already!  On Monday I whipped up yet another Trojan tunic for the school performance as one of the eldest chick’s classmates has returned from holiday in time for the finals so now needs to be costumed up.  That took longer than expected while I wrestled with my overlocker tension, but I got there in the end!!

That meant that last night I was free to start on a gift for one of my staff who is about to go on maternity leave.  This achieved three things.  First I get to make something personal for her, secondly I got to try out a pattern I have been eyeing off for a while, and third, I sewed laminated cotton for the first time.

The pattern was a free tutorial on the Jordana Paige blog for a Diaper Changing Pad Clutch.

Of course, in my measuring and cutting I somehow managed to cut the laminate 3 – 4 inches shorter than I was meant to and wasn’t confident about piecing it, so the mat ended up a bit shorter than it was meant to.

I also decided to deviate from the pattern a bit (!!) so added sewn in hook and loop fasteners rather than the button and elastic in the pattern.  Then I realised that the spiky hook side would be near the baby’s head, so made a little flap to protect the head!

I also used bamboo fleece as the batting and decided to quilt it to the lining so that it doesn’t lose its shape when it is washed.

Overall I am happy with it, although it is wider than I imagined it would be  (which is ridiculous when the measurements were provided and I measured and cut the fabric!  I am rolling my eyes at myself here!).  She will receive it on Friday so I hope that she likes it!  I was pleasantly surprised about how easy it was to sew the laminated cotton.  I had read a lot about how tricky it was, and I just didn’t find it tricky at all, so will now be more prepared to tackle other projects using it!

Not bad for the middle of the week!  Next on the list is a bag for a raffle at work on Friday, superhero capes, the quilt top, the long list of things bursting out of my head at the moment……..  I need more hours in the day!!!

I am struggling with the dance of life a bit at the moment.  Trying to fit in the things that I want to do (sew, design, sew, market, sew, plan), the things that I want the kids to do (sports, homework, music practice), the things that we have to do (eat, sleep, bathe, etc), work (fairly essential to pay for everything else) and time with the new (insert appropriate word here – ‘boyfriend’ seems so silly at my age, we are not yet ‘partners’, ‘flame’ is a bit dramatic, ‘man’ seems a bit pejorative, ‘lover’ takes the blog places I don’t want to go when my parents read it, ‘friend’ seems too coy, and all attempts at incorporating some reference to birds or chicks in keeping with my descriptions of myself and the kids just look majorly dodgy when I type them!!  Suggestions are welcome!)  The analogy of dancing to the rhythm to find the right path through life seems particularly appropriate at the moment.  Maybe I just need to find the right soundtrack!!

I hope that your week is going well, and that you have had small spurts of creativity energy to keep you going!