I have 5 kiddos ranging in age from 5 to 15. They definitely keep me busy! My youngest two are girls and it would feel like a crime to own a sewing machine and not sew for them. My youngest is obsessed with super heroes but she likes her dresses too. She asked for a Batman dress a while back and.....well you can't just grab one from Target. I didn't sew then so I ended up paying a premium price on Etsy for an adorable and well-made Batman dress. But that was pretty much all she had. Poor baby, right??
Okay so fast forward a few months to Christmas and my genius husband shows up with a sewing machine. Okay, great....but now what? I almost didn't open it. It seemed VERY overwhelming. I finally decided to dive in and I can't say that I've found my way back out. I'm cool with that, though. There are SO many fantastic patterns for little girls. I decided I didn't want to buy anything for their back to school wardrobe and I've managed to hold to that just fine.
With all of my sewing for the girly women (and a bit for my boys, but don't get me started on the total lack of boy patterns) I would occasionally stop and think about how I wished I could sew something for myself. But I snapped out of it pretty quick because it seemed ridiculous. I'm not sure why but I couldn't justify making something for myself. I had made a skirt and a top...once. But I couldn't bring myself to spend valuable time planning more projects for just me.
I was so relieved when I started seeing all this talk of Selfish Sewing Week. So I wasn't alone?? But where to start? Luckily I was given the opportunity to try out the Uptown Dress by Design Fixation. Basically you use your own measurements to come up with the pieces. Total bonus here because there are NO pattern pieces to print and cut and it uses just a few pieces to put together and then poof....you've made a dress.
I shortened mine a tad because I wanted to be able to make it casual or dress it up. Needless to say I don't get to dress up much. I work 1-2 days a week but I'm a nurse and dressing for that is no fun. So I'm typically a leggings and boots gal in the fall/winter. This could easily work for that or with tights and heeled boots it could be amazing!
Forgive some of the goofy expressions. Remember, this is the face of a woman with 5 children. It does odd things to you. Soooo.....thank you for letting me share my experience with you. There are benefits to Selfish Sewing and now since its apparently a movement none of us will have to feel any guilt around it. And it has opened my eyes to the possibilities. I mean, have you guys looked at all of the women's patterns out there in PDF pattern land??
Disclosure: I received this pattern free as part of Selfish Sewing Week. All opinions my own.
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Thank you for sharing your Selfish Sewing with us Jess. That dress looks totally adorable on you, and how you sew with five kids and a job is beyond me! I can barely handle it with my two and school.
Have you seen what is going on over at imagine gnats?
Make sure you are uploading pictures of your Selfish Sewing to the Selfish Sewing FlickR pool as you sew this week. And don't forget to enter the contest below to win one of 8 different patterns featured during Selfish Sewing Week!
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