laurasaur

Those of you who are friends of me on facebook may have noticed already but for everyone else I’ve started a wee business called Squeakle! It’s basically just me trying to be crafty and selling handknits and bits and pieces I’ve sewn for babies/mums.

The website’s still in development but you are welcome to take a look at squeakle.co or join me on facebook where I’ve been listing all my products bit by bit. It’s been way more work than I thought and made me realise just how little time I actually do have in the day but so far I’m loving it and it’s been way more successful than I thought which is pretty cool too!

So the sewing bug has bitten and it has bitten hard! My once pristine dining table has turned into a swamp of sewing machines (yes, somehow there is 2 in my living room right now), fabric, elastic and random other haberdashery items. Since inheriting the beast that is the Brother Super Galaxie, I’ve attempted a dress (in the most hideous fabric that I now can’t bring myself to wear) and now a t-shirt. Neither of these items were made with patterns and that could well be the reason for my mixed success rate, either that or my decidedly average-yet improving sewing skills!

So I had a cotton on t-shirt that I loved except ideally it would have been longer, and upon inspection looked like a project I could handle as it is basically a giant rectangle with no sleeves! Winning. So I traced it out onto my fabric and simply stitched the seams together. Now I should have pinned the bottom hem as something funky happened there but just don’t look too close and it’s ok. I attempted some homemade bias binding for a neat finish around the arm holes and neckline and it looks actually really good! Sure my seam allowances were a bit all over the show but at least they are straight haha.

Next up, a matching dress for Charlotte so I can make some embarrassing family photos oooooooooooh yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!

Well both of my children are napping so I figured I should do something on my blog! Our gorgeous girl is 8 weeks today and it’s high time to get her birth story done and dusted.

{My sons birth story is here}

A bit of background – We had been living with my parents since returning from living in London – our house was not quite ready and Christmas and my due date (the 26th) were rapidly approaching.  I’d been emailing a midwife (in New Zealand you get to choose your midwife and all the care is free – amazing right?!) who I found online who sounded just perfect – very pro homebirth and not into intervening without good cause.

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I didn’t sew the whole time I was in London, but having a working sewing machine and a dining table to put it on is so novel I couldn’t help myself.

The other motivating factor in this little project was that the only cotton cot sheets I could find were $30 for a fitted sheet and a flat sheet and boring as heck. What’s with all the polycotton for babies anyway?! Considering we barely use flat sheets and already have some beautiful ones (we mostly use sleeping bags) that seemed like a mega waste of money.

So for the sum of 14 dollars I purchased enough fabric, elastic and thread for 2 fitted sheets. I SUCK at sewing, thus is the first thing I’ve made in many many years and it was so quick and easy. The hardest part for me was measuring it out! Xxx

So it’s been a long time between posts! what’s been going on? Well… we travelled through Europe, USA and Fiji, landed home in New Zealand – where my parents sorted out an amazing house for us, helped them do some major renovations on it both inside and out, moved in, did some serious furniture and whiteware shopping, got our boxes from London, got our boxes that we had in storage from 3 years ago, semi unpacked the boxes, did midwife appointments, set up sky and insurance and stuff like that, caught up with friends and family, job hunted, and oh yeah had a home birth.

This is our gorgeous baby girl, long awaited and already giving us so much joy – Charlotte. So yes I’ve been busy but thanks to my awesome husband’s Christmas present (galaxy note 2!) And lots and lots of feeding time I forsee more time online! Xx