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Motherhood & Sewing // #easeintomotherhood


Today I'm honored to be a part of the July blog series called Ease Into Motherhood. Ease Into Motherhood is a sewists' celebration of motherhood and the changes it brings to our lives.


I can actually thank motherhood for bringing sewing into my life. I learned how to sew pretty early on by watching my mom sew. *It's amazing how much you pick up by just WATCHING!* I had a tiny sewing machine of my own when I was little and would sew scraps together. I don't remember ever making anything tangible, in fact, the thing I remember the most is my thread constantly getting tangled up in that little machine. Lol.


In high-school, I took a home ec. class that solidified the basics for me. After that, I hardly touched a sewing machine until I was married. I attempted a quilt top after being married for a year or so (I had the itch for a hobby), that quilt top still languishes unfinished in a box somewhere in my attic. I did manage to make some very simple curtains (completely straight panels with a rod pocket), with the help of my mom. Thanks Mom!


After my first child was born, I made a few more very simple projects. I remember making a small foam pad with a pillow-style envelope cover for his pack and play.


I mentioned earlier feeling an itch for a hobby. I worked outside our home up until I had my first child, then became a stay-at-home mom. This was something my husband and I wanted and planned for before we were married. It was all I ever dreamed of. I just wanted to be a mom. I thought that would be everything; my fulfillment, my purpose, my calling. Being pregnant for the first time, my mind was consumed with all things baby and I thought once he arrived, that would be my "thing". And it is. All of those things. All moms know, this is a 24 hour job, there is no off time, ever. And hard as it may be, as much as I feel like I want/need a break sometimes, it is the most fulfilling thing I could ever imagine doing.


Now, looking back, I realize even after Baby #1, that itch for a hobby really was an urge to MAKE. At that point it didn't really matter what it was, I just needed to MAKE. I discovered blogs while pregnant that first time, and started to soak in all the inspiration and creativity that I could. I started my own little blog at that point, filled with total randomness. No one read it. Haha! :)


After my baby was born and a few months old, I needed a project. It needed to be something that could be done in short bursts and still give me that satisfaction of completing something I MADE. So I started a little personal project to bake my way through Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook and blogging my progress. It was a fun little project, but life happened and we made a big move and life continued to move on. My new project became fixing up the house we bought and starting over socially and building new friendships and finding a church family.


Fast forward to becoming pregnant with Baby #2, I became even more obsessed with fixing up the house. Finding out a little less than halfway through the pregnancy that Baby #2 was a girl had me thrilled with all the girlie things I could make. By this time I had discovered Pinterest and ideas were never ending. I also picked back up with sewing a few things here and there. I made curtains for the nursery, frilly this time, and all by myself because my mom was hundreds of miles away. I was so proud of them! They were made from a clearanced sheet and an old skirt of mine. I also made a car seat cover and a nursing cover. I was so excited about those tangible projects, I just kept going. I made more of those things for friends, and also made a few drawstring bags for my almost 2 year old son and some for the new baby. I also made headbands for her.


Then baby girl was born and life was amazing. I had the smartest, cutest little 2 year old boy and the most precious little baby girl I had ever laid eyes on. A few months went by and the euphoria wore off. By the time she was 6 months old, I felt like all I was doing every minute of every day was feeding two mouths or diapering their bottoms.


At that point I was feeling very unsettled and depressed and felt lost as to why.? I mean, this life is what I always wanted, right? I went to the doctor to make sure all was well on that end and it was, we made a few tweaks, but overall everything was healthy and as it should be.


A short time later I finally pin pointed that I felt like I had lost myself. Who was I anymore? I mean yes, I was a mom, I was a wife. These things I still loved with all my heart, but who was "I"? I cried out to God in those lonely times and the answer didn't come right away, but soon I started to feel the urge to make again! And it started to make sense. I NEEDED to make. I needed something that would let out this energy I felt like was trapped inside.


Around the time she was a year old, I was so inspired by Pinterest and all the amazing (yet simple) clothing sewing projects I was seeing that I decided to give them a try! I remember setting a goal for the month of January 2013 to sew as many clothing pieces as I could. I called it "Sewing Month". (so original) That month I made 2 simple maxi skirts for myself, a peasant dress, a pillowcase dress, and a ruffle skirt for my daughter. I made a pair of kid shorts by MADE and an embellished tee for my son, 5 more carseat covers and a baby blanket. I was on such a high after such a successful month! Now granted the maxi skirts for myself were a bit of a flop because I had no idea about fabric choices at that point. But all the rest of the projects were successes and the clothes I made for my kids were worn and worn and worn.


After that, "Sewing Month" turned into "Sewing Year", which actually means "Sewing Never Stops". I was happy again. My kids were happy too, when Mama's happy, everybody is happy. This is all too true. My kids loved it when I presented them with a new thing to wear, and they were willing photo subjects as well! *I also started my blog around this time, so if you're interested to see some of my first sewing projects you can browse the archives!*


About 2 years after I started sewing and blogging, I became pregnant with my 3rd baby. During pregnancy the sewing slowed a little bit because of lack of energy and also my nesting instincts come out in the form of "PAINT THE WHOLE HOUSE". I'm pretty sure Baby #3 is my final, so... Sorry house, looks like you won't be getting painted again, maybe ever. :)


After he was born though, the sew-jo returned rather quickly. I had that urge to MAKE again, and I knew I had this thing to fall back on this time, not to mention I recognized what the feeling was. The transition was so much smoother this time. I had that thing that made me feel like "ME", and it was there any time I needed it. Around the time he was a year old, I started sewing much, much more for myself. This was partly driven by the fact that taking 3 kids to the department store and trying on clothes was just literally more than I could handle most days. And online shopping also yielded in major frustration because so much didn't fit and then I had to fuss with returning to the store anyway or sending it back, sometimes with return shipping costs.


My oldest is going into 2nd grade this year, my daughter is starting Kindergarten and my "baby" will be 2 1/2 at that point. We are currently in the midst of summer "non-schedule", and sewing time can be hard to find sometimes. I also have a garden and do lots of canning in the summer, so that takes away from it too. I can find that frustrating, because I want to accomplish all these sewing projects, but my kids all want all the things. Like eating, all the time! Or swimming, Mom, please come in the pool with us! Or just plain old couch-sitting with them. So hard (I'm being sarcastic here). So really, my frustration is self imposed, because all the rest of the things are SO GOOD. And the canning also satisfies that need to MAKE. It makes me so extremely happy to open up my pantry and see it chock full of food that I have grown and preserved to feed us for the rest of the year. I'm not going to mention anything about the state of my house. It's chaos all the time right now, but I've given myself permission to let it go until they start back to school in a month. Then I will purge. And find more consistent sewing time again!



I really can't complain about the number or quality of the projects I've made this summer, they've been great, but us sewists' like to set lofty goals for ourselves!


So in summary. Motherhood brought me sewing. And sewing brought me that "thing" that made me feel like "ME" again in the midst of this glorious, wonderful, hard, thing that brings us the title of Mom. It's truly the best job in the world. *All the puffy hearts and tears right now* I'm going to go kiss my babies.





Thanks to Jodi, Erin, and Monserratt for hosting this series and making me stop and think about how rich my life is. 

Thank you for reading! If you made it to the end, you are the best of the best!! :)



4 comments

  1. Beautiful story. I have that desire to MAKE, too.

    I've moved into our home 7 years ago and still feel guilty I haven't painted ;-)

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  2. Heidi,
    Your post was a beautiful read. Thank you for sharing your experiences and those very lovely photos of your beautiful children. How awesome is to be able to go back in time browsing your archives. You have a beautiful family.

    <3
    M

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful story. Beautiful family. You should be SO proud of yourself. Just think of all those wonderful memories you are making.

    ReplyDelete

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