Sewing again

I walked into my work on Friday and was greeted at the door by a cashier, as are all who enter.  She smiled at me and said, "My, you are looking rounder!"

"Thank you," I beamed.  There will not be many periods of my life where that phrase will be a compliment, so I should enjoy it while it lasts.  Come January or February I might burst into a fit of postpartum sobs if someone dares to call me "rounder".

I have an aunt who was quite the fashionista in the 1970's.  She had many dresses that she wore or inherited from other family members.  Many of them were sewn by my grandmother.  Recently, she was purging her closet and she found some of these pieces.  She thought it would be fun to have a fashion show.  My younger sister and I took turns trying on these outdated dresses and modeling the groovy duds.  She said I could keep any dress that I liked.  I kept a few.  Some were stylish once again, and some had potential.

I finally unpacked my sewing machine today and tuned some of these dresses into more-updated maternity shirts and dresses.  I got an sense of euphoria sitting at that desk in my own home, being all domestic and whatnot.  I used my new counter space to lay out dresses and fabrics so I could more easily cut, pin, and iron.  It felt natural and wonderful, as though I was meant to do this since birth.  Dreams of beautifully home-sewn things danced around my head.  Then a feeling of sadness came over me.

Since April 15th, when I found out I was expecting, I've been saving up a little cash fund to use to buy fabric for a special quilt I planned to sew for my first child.  But, as tight as money is for a young couple, I've watched my fund dwindle until it is all but gone, being spent on things needed a little sooner than a quilt for my little girl.

I stepped out of the room and cried, wishing I had a special gift for her.  Irrational tears and snot began to descend down my face.  How silly I was being!  She will not sleep in the cold.  Her Aunt Janell has already made her a beautiful pink penguin blanket.  This comforted me a little as I took some deep breaths and felt that now familiar movement against my ribs.  Then, I looked in the linen closet and saw my baby blankets resting on a high shelf, clean and ready to hold a infant again.  It turns out I have something to give her after all.  When the penguin blanket is spit up on and in the wash, she'll still be bundled in love.

Here's a couple of the shirts I made from old dresses.  This one was big and shapeless so I cut it off, hemmed it up, and used the scraps to make a bow to tie in the back.

Here's the second.  It's going to be nice having clothes that fit.