Mummy Guilt

So this week I have mainly been sewing like a crazy woman to try and distract from these awful pangs of guilt I keep feeling. I’m sure all Mothers get them…don’t they?

My maternity leave ends next week and then I am going back to work, albeit part time but it stills feels awful to think that this lovely year is coming to an end, it has flown by so quickly and the thought of leaving my baby is very scary. He started nursery a few weeks ago so I could get him settled in and we could both get used to our new routine before I go back to work. Well that hasn’t exactly gone to plan. I’m sure he knows what I’m up to and lays in on our nursery days on purpose so we are late…I know I could wake him, but you know what they say…don’t wake a sleeping baby. He looks so cute all snuggled up and fast asleep and to be honest if he’s sleeping I may as well make the most of it and catch a few extra minutes myself :).

So we have been late to nursery every day so far…we are really going to have to get the hang of this before I go back to work. Everytime I drop him off he looks at me with his sad puppy dog eyes and accusing glare whilst clinging to me like a limpet and crying. By the time I get home I’m a mess and feeling so guilty for leaving him. So I do the only thing I can to try and distract from the awful pangs of guilt I am feeling and to try and stop myself turning into a sobbing wreck. I sew.

It’s funny isn’t it that when you have a little person attached to you all day long you think how much you would like just a couple of minutes to yourself and then when you get them you feel guilty about not being with your baby and leaving them. Who would have thought motherhood could evoke so many emotions at once.

So this week I have been making some bits for my friends two year old son. She is making him a little playroom and asked for some bean bags, cushions and a quilt. So here they are…

Toddler bean bag chair

Other side of the bean bag

This is the tutorial I followed Bean bag chair tutorial it was really clear and easy to use. I actually adapted it slightly. I didn’t use upholstery weight fabric as my friend choose a specific fabric…her little boy is a massive digger fan so we went for the blue trucks and diggers fabric. I choose the riley blake lucky star fabric for the other side. I love this fabric combination and the great thing is it is reversible.

To make my fabric stronger I used iron on interfacing which worked really well. The only thing I would say for anyone who hasn’t used it before is to make sure you cut it to size first, I had a little bit extra at the sides, I didn’t think it through very well and decided I would iron it on and then trim off any excess after. Well as you can imagine the excess ended up sticking to the ironing board and the iron and made quite a nice mess.

I also ended up using more beans, I used just under 5 cubic feet per bag.

My little man loves the bean bag chairs I’ve made so think I’ll be making another one soon for him.

Because I was making the bean bag chairs for a 2 year old I sewed them up to prevent the temptation of a little one unzipping them and unleashing a river of polyester beads everywhere or worse eating them. I think next time I will actually copy the pattern and make one out of fabric and one out of muslin. Then fill the muslin bag with the beans and sew this up completely and then insert inside the fabric cover with a zipper so it can be removed and washed, as let’s face it we all know what a mess sticky hands can make. Just an idea for next time.

These are the matching cushions I made.

And here is the quilt, I used a quilt panel for the first time and then quilted around the shapes with my quilting foot.

The quilt is a bit creased in places, I dont think I pulled the material taut enough but overall I am very happy with them all (especially the bean bag chairs which I love…I can’t wait to make some more) and hope my friends little boy is pleased with them.

I had my first go at applique as well this week, I used bondaweb and a not very neat zigzag stitch. I posted this on twitter and someone kindly suggested handsewing with a blanket stitch which I am planning on trying. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated. How does everyone else do their appliqué?

First attempt at appliqué

Also…I am paying on average £12-£15.50 a metre for fabric. Does anyone know any fabric wholesalers close to essex or online sights that I can find fabric slightly cheaper. I would love to start making some bits to sell but with the cost of all my materials it just doesn’t seem worth it at the moment.

My next project is a very special one for my Auntie…I’d better get started.

Happy stitching everyone.

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