A Gingham Lady Skater Dress

Hello hello, if there's anybody out there! It has been such a long time since I posted. Needless to say I have been consumed by motherhood, but now, 6 months in I feel like I'm slowly getting back to myself, and feel ready to sew and blog again.

My incredible daughter is napping upstairs, and after 5 and a half months of refusing to, she is now happy to nap in her cot! I cannot tell you what a difference this makes. I had time to take blog pictures! Not great ones, mind, but I'm not fussy! She is wonderful and she has taught me so much already. I adore her and I feel enormously grateful that I get to be her mama.

Honestly the first two months of her life were a blur. A very happy but crazy blur. I did sew a tiny bit, as one day she napped for ages and I seized the opportunity to whip up a quick pleated skirt (I was sick of having nothing that fit me!), and that felt great, but then we moved house, to the beautiful Cotswolds countryside! That was crazy with a 3 month old, a very timid cat, and in a car that was on the verge of breakdown. Embarrassingly we have been here 3 months now and we are still not fully unpacked!!! Consequently there was a huge sewing drought until about 6 weeks ago.

I decided I needed to carve out some "me" time, and that I would use some of the evenings after our little one had gone to bed to do some crafting and sewing. It felt so SO good! It was only once I began this project that I realised how much my soul had missed it. It felt like coming home. So I whipped up this Lady Skater in a couple of hours flat on my overlocker, and I love it. It's nothing fancy, it's not my neatest work ever and the print at the waist seam doesn't quite match up, but I honestly don't care.

Dimming of the Day dress (Kitschy Coo's Lady Skater pattern in Gingham ponte from Minerva Crafts)

Worn with wellies and a teething necklace for practicality!

There's not much to say about the sewing, I made the same sizing as my Flibbertygibbet dress, as that still fits me (it used to be a bit big), and I sewed everything up on my overlocker. I did a zigzag hem as I still don't have a twin needle.

Told you the print at the waist seam really doesn't match up. Also, check out how wonky our new house is. I love it (except for the creaky floorboards!)

Yep, the print should match on the neckband too, and this one DOES bother me (just not enough to unpick overlocker stitching to redo it)

Zig zag hem

I love this dress, and the reasons are fivefold:
1. It is stretchy and practical for mama duties and for countryside walks
2. It's made of lovely snuggly warm ponte
3. It's suitable for all seasons with the right accessories!
4. It's a forgiving cut on my mum tum
5. The print is fun and it makes me feel more like me

That's a belt, not my bare midriff

Full disclosure: I actually never wear this with a belt. It gets in the way when wrangling a wriggly 6 month old baby. But it does look better with one so I put one on for the pictures.

None of my lovely handmade dresses fit anymore, bar a couple of jersey or ponte ones, but I'm hopeful that by the summer they'll fit again. In the meantime I will have to get sewing a new wardrobe! Every cloud has a silver lining, eh?!

I still have a couple of things to blog that I made towards the end of my pregnancy, so I will be back with those soon. I am also going to make a blind for the nursery, some more practical clothes for me, a Christmas stocking and of course a few Christmas gifts. As usual I have too many ideas and not enough time! Wish me luck!