Noah came Early

Yes he did.

Technically he was supposed to finish baking on the 4th of April, however due to little technicalities, which I have moaned about non-stop on this blog, and which I am sure you all got tired of hearing about, the head chef decided to pull him out of the oven 1 week early, on the 27th of March.

So, I'll be brief. I am so sleepy I swear I could sleep in a chocolate making factory right now.....and NO, not even the chocolate can tempt me away from sleep right now....after I finish this post of course.

Crocheting my way out of boredom

I am now officially on maternity leave. Though to be honest, I stopped going into the office from mid January. I am also officially bored and fed-up. Sitting at home alone all day, day after day is quite mind numbing. I really would not have minded all this free time if I could go out and about and do stuff, but I am almost house bound, and trust me, that SUCKS!!!

Right, now that my little rant is off my chest, I can carry on with what has been making stuff bearable round these parts. I decided to start making things for the baby. I have given up on making anything for myself because

Meet my new friend

Hi guys, this is a non-sewing related post so you might want to stop reading now if you don't fancy a bit of a downer on this bright and cheerful Friday morning( the weather is actually horrible, but never mind).

I had a long day on Wednesday, 3 appointments with various people at the hospital. A midwife, a physiotherapist, and a consultant.

The midwife was optimistic (yay!!). Everything was okay with the growth, heartbeat and movements of the future co-heir of the Dibs Family millions

Sew Weekly: Simplicity 3673

I finished the simplicity dress during the week, but as I was home all week, I could not wear it to work for my friend to take a picture of it, and by the time Mr.Dibs comes home, its already too dark to take nice pictures.

I'm feeling much better today, so I decided to do some posing. I whipped out the afro wig for some reinforcements.....

I probably should have added more length at the front. The hem is quite wide, so I can always undo that and redo the hem with more allowance at the front.

 Mr.Dibs said I looked like a grumpy cow and ordered me to smile....

The dress called for lining, but I did not have any suitable lining at home, and going to buy one was not feasible so I just used bias tape on the armholes and neckline. The top ( I cut size 16) was massive. So either my babaloons have not become as big as I think they have, or the pattern is just sized for bigger busts. To rectify this problem, I made two tiny pleats at the neckline. I don't know if you can see them, but they are there.

I also used a velvet trim at the waist (bust?) seamline.

This is the first maternity wear I have completed, which is such as shame as I only have 10weeks left. I am still convinced I can make more, but as my body has already proven, I should not make plans.

More pictures outside, with my clutch which served as my inspiration...

This week's Sew Weekly challenge called for the use of buttons. I am now 1 week behind on the challenges, but I am going to do them all the same. I know that at some point in the year, I will catch up with the rest of the girls.  I have been making cover buttons lately, and I still have to choose what I will use for my next challenge amongst these two sets....

Which do you prefer?

Sew Weekly Challenge Inspiration

So this year I joined the Sew Weekly sewing challengers group. If you have not heard of the Sew Weekly, which I think is highly unlikely, you might want to pop over here www.sewweekly.com

Last week was the Accessories Challenge Week. I started something, which I still have to complete. So yes, i have already failed the challenge, as the week is already over. I don't mind though. I do not think I will be able to follow EVERY challenge, or finish every challenge on time, but I will try to participate to the best of my abilities.

So the challenge was to sew something which was inspired by an accessory.

My inspiration was one of my Lulu Guinness clutches:

And this is what I am making. A dress with an empire line waistline. I bought the fabric from walthamstow Market for £2/metre. I bought 3 metres, but I am using about 2 metres, or just under. It is a really soft stretch cotton fabric, and feels like velvet. So because of that, I am using a velvet trim on the waist seam line.

I am using the top half of this Simplicity pattern:

I cut size 16, but it is too big ( as I found out afterwards), so I am having to work some magic on the dress. Hopefully I should have it sorted. I really want to make this dress, AND finish it. It would do wonders for my confidence as I have not completed a single item since July last year. Shocking non?

I'm hoping to have it completed by Wednesday, and have some pictures up.

What are you all working on right now?

Vogue 1091 Muslin

I have finally bitten the dust, and started actually sewing something. I have so many projects in the pipeline, but for some reason I can't seem to find the motivation to get on the sewing machine.

I decided to start with something I deemed easy. Vogue 1091:

This is a test run. I used a medium weight jersey fabric I bought from Walthamstow market for £3.20/metre. Mr. Dibs was being a grumpy person today, so the pictures are not very good. I refuse to believe it is because he has got toothache, and blocked pores in his eyes. I think he is just jealous I have started sewing again, which only means I will start ignoring him when he comes home from work in the evenings.

So I am sorry about the picture quality.

I really do not think this suits me, as I look like a sac of potatoes. I actually look like I am about to go into labour in this picture. Gosh how huge.

I decided to tie a belt to see if I would look a tad better.

What do you think? Belt or no belt? or do I just give up on the dress?

And to demonstrate how vicious Mr.Dibs was tonight, here's a picture of me looking like I was a part of 28 Days Later. Anyone seen that movie?

The dress itself is really easy to sew and very fast too. I used my overlocker. This can be done in under 2 hours if you are inspired. I decided to use a plain jersey fabric I had at home to see how it would look with a contrasting hem. I cut the sleeves with the borders of the fabric to make it interesting. I'm sure you are wondering why I went to all these lengths to make the dress look nice if it was only going to be a muslin right? I don't know really. I suppose not having actually made anything in a long while pushed me to go crazy on a muslin.

So, what do you think? Yay or Nay?

Introducing Bumpina and Noah Maxwell

Hi Folks, meet Bumpina, she is currently 31 years old. She is also 23 weeks pregnant with Noah.

Guess who's going fabric shopping tomorrow....

Yeah folks. Me!!

Stevie over at Beebee's Vintage Dress is coming into town tomorrow, and she's organising a fabric excursion to Goldhawk road. Goldhawk road is only 20minutes from my house so I shall be pushing the bump all the way there at 11am.  For anyone who has suddenly decided they want to make it, we are meeting outside Goldhawk Road station at 11am, and attacking the shops from 11:30am.

I seem to spend my time buying fabric these days, and not actually sewing anything. Hopefully that will soon change. It is becoming quite obvious that I need more clothes. I wore a rather sorry looking combination to work yesterday, and  that prompted the ever silent Mr.Dibs ( silent in all matters concerning dressing), to ask me what the frack I was wearing. Today I tried my best to wear something less frumpy, and got silence from Mr.Dibs. So he either did not notice what I was wearing, or it passed muster.

The dress I'm wearing is a size 10 dress, and there's a very good reason why I am standing sideways. It looked obvious from the front that the dress was made for a smaller person. So yes, I really do need to go fabric shopping tomorrow.

I cut my hair as well. I did that when I was going through the first 4 months of being sick, and looking after my  hair was the last thing on my mind. Now that its getting pretty cold here in London, I'm starting to regret that moment of madness. Tomorrow I intend to step out in a wig. Give the excursion some 70's vibe. Oh yes!

Enjoy your weekend folks!!

So whats growing within?

Yesterday Mr. Dibs and I went to the hospital for my anomaly scan. I was pretty scared and excited at the same time. Excited because I was going to find out the baby's gender, and scared because I knew the sonographer was going to be checking for all sorts of anomalies with the baby, and no prospective mother wants to know that the little munchkin inside of her is not developing properly. Oh no....., I have not been eating all that broccoli for the love of vegetable!!!

As you might know, I have been announcing to all who would listen to me that I am carrying a girl. Yes! mothers can tell you know. Mr.Dibs on the other hand, has been most certain its a boy, based on his very unscientific theory that mothers are always wrong.

Anyways, to cut to the matter at hand, while the sonographer was going through the necessary checks, I noticed two dark spots, and quickly asked, in a mega excited voice

" Are those the ovaries?"

to which the sonographer replied, after laughing for a good minute

"No. Those are not the ovaries."

3 minutes later, I noticed a stick like something protruding from between the newly identified legs. I closed my eyes, willing THAT THING away. Oh, I thought to myself, I hope THAT THING is not what I think it is.

THAT THING was not meant to stay a mystery for too long, as I heard the sonograher say with a chuckle

" You see that thing between, the baby's legs? That, is a penis. Its a boy"

I can still hear the sound of Mr.Dibs laughing at the shock on my face when I heard those words, and when I realised I had been wrong all along.  After the initial shock, I am now as excited as ever about our little Maxwell. I spent the whole evening looking for ideas on what to make for a baby boy, and I am so happy I found loads.

Here, dear friends, is our little Maxwell

Rubbing his eyes!!

Giving a thumps up!!

Work in Progress......Simplicity 7558

Ok, so let it never be said I do not listen to advice!!!

During one of my pathetic moaning spells about the lack of nice maternity patterns,Debi,  Marie and Scruffy suggested I try out vintage patterns. Marie even did a search for me on Etsy for maternity dresses. Talk about dedication to vintage wear. I did find one pattern I liked.......Simplicity 7558

I searched the internet for any completed version to see what it would look like. I only saw one version of it, made by Julie of Julie's Blog. I fell in love COMPLETELY with her rendition of it, and would have gone for the same fabric choice as her, but I have already spent all of my meagre monthly fabric money, so that Houndstooth version will have to wait till November.


I have this thick knit fabric I am going to use. I don't know how it will come out, but the pattern did say you could also use bonded knits. I have no idea what that means, but I am going to experiment with this fabric. I got it cheap anyway, for £1/metre. I have 3 metres of it this, and if I mess up, I will go back to where I got it from. It is somewhere near Tottenham Hale tube station.Its the fabric outlet for a knit fabric manufacturer, and the most expensive fabric there is £2/metre.

This is their address.

Cannon Street Jersey Fabrics Ltd

Knitted Fabric Manufacturers, Finishers And Printers

ASHLEY WORKS, ASHLEY ROAD, TOTTENHAM HALE, LONDON N17 9LJ

TEL: 020 8885 9401   FAX: 020 8885 9410

There is A LOT to be bought there. Some of it is quite comical, but you will DEFINITELY find something you want, like good interlock knit for £1/metre. Word of warning though, they do not take cards, so go there with cash, and make sure you take a trolley with you. Trust me!!!. 

YOU WILL NEED IT!!!

So Ironic it hurts

A young woman, not really interested in fashion.
She falls pregnant, and watches her waistline go
and all of a sudden........she develops an interest in fashion and an addiction to style.com.
But there's scant fashionable stuff out there for the burgeoning belly.

Now isn't this ironic? Don't you think.

Dressing the Bump!!

Thank you ladies, for all the congratulatory messages. I was so touched by how happy you all were by my little baby news. Now, about the baby, we don't know what we are having yet. I am convinced it's a girl. Mr. Dibs on the other hand is convinced its a boy because of my absolute conviction that there is a little mini-me growing inside me. His theory being tha mothers always get the gender wrong. I asked him to bet £20 on that, and got a big NO in return.....the little coward!!!

I don't mind the gender of the baby to be honest. All I am praying for is a healthy baby, so I shall be grateful for either boy or girl. That said, I am still 100% convinced its a girl. I don't know why I'm so certain of this. One possibility could be the fact that I have been dreaming of sewing little pillow case dresses for a baby girl. I don't think a mini Mr.Dibs will be amused by mummy's pillow case dresses. I've also realised there are many more patterns out there for little girls compared to boys.

While we are on the subject of patterns........when I found out I was preggers, one of the things I started doing was looking for nice maternity patterns. I've been looking for too long now I think. Unfortunately though, I can't seem to find any pattern that will make me go "WOW". There's alot of stuff on the blogoshphere for diy maternity wear but most often they are for casual wear, whch is perfect if you have the luxury of staying at home. I don't stop working till February, so I have to find patterns that will tide me professionally till I can relax for a whole week in my yoga pants.

I've put aside a few patterns which I like, and which I think will do me some good. First up, Vogue 1179. Seeing Eugenia and Karen raving about this pattern made me cave in. I ordered it this morning, so it should be here soon.

And a few others

Vogue1027.....

Vogue 8489.....

Vogue 8575...

Butterick 5523

You will have noticed there are no skirts or trousers. I can't seem to decide on what to do about those, so for now I shall start off with these. The idea is to make things I can also wear after I have the baby. All of these patterns require knit fabric so hopefully they shall stretch as the bump grows, and since they are not really maternity patterns, I can always use them later.

I went to Walthamstow market on saturday to source knit fabric, and I did come out with a few good bargains, which I shall blog about in another post. Walthamstow market is definitely the way forward for me now...bargains galore I tell you. Imagine buying knit fabric for £1.50/metre. oh yes!! thats my cup of tea. more on that expedition later. Its bed time..................

Still alive and kicking!!

Hi peeps. Been a while since I've been on here. Those of you who have been reading my blog would know I was sick sometime ago. What a mysterious illness it was. Well I'm glad to say the good people at the NHS found out what was wrong with yours truly, and I am being looked after.....not properly all the time.....but most often they make me feel happy.

So, about this illness. what exactly has kept me from you all? ahem!!! Lets say i'm suffering from one of those conditions that make you go through 3 stages. Each stage lasts approximately 3months. The first and and the last stages being the worst. I am in the second stage now, having gone through a horrible first stage, which made me so ill, as you all can testify.  I have not made anything sewing or crocheting related since July. Shocking non?

The second stage is really treating me well. I am almost certain I am enjoying this stage. Then again, thoughts of the last 3 months of my "illness" fill me with dread!!

All of this, will of course have a direct impact on what I will be sewing in the coming months. I'm already going crazy just thinking about all those projects.

1 thing that has been puzzling me about this "illness", is its inability to help me loose weight. You'd think being sick for the past 4.5 months would leave anyone stick thin right? Apparently not. If anything, I have piled on a couple of pounds in places which can't be hidden. I kid you not. I am fast running out of clothes.

I have not taken any pictures of myself......too concious of the extra bulges here and there, but suffice it to say I look somewhat like this




maybe not that black, but still..........

A shout out to Debbie of Minnado's House, who I know is going through the same "illness" as moi.

Enjoy your weekend everyone.