Friday, February 10, 2012

Dress making.


My house looks like a jam factory.
There are crates of fruit, jars, clips, rubber bands, and lids everywhere you look.
There are cauldrons and preservers bubbling away.
The air is sticky.

And it is Friday and my kids are tired and cranky.
I am too.
This school business is exhausting. Draining.

Last night when everyone had finally gone to bed and the house was quiet I almost succumbed to a bit of a tantrum myself. But luckily I stopped myself and thought instead about happiness. What could turn that impending meltdown around and make me feel good? It had to be something just for me. Something good. Something that would almost certainly work.

Another dress!


Something plainish this time.

Some op-shopped denim.

The same tried and tested and fail safe pattern but with a lower neckline.


I considered some ruffles.


But ended up with vintage lace.



It worked too.
A few hours later I went to bed happy.

I can highly recommend dress making as therapy over a tantrum.

There is so much less drama and emotion involved.
It is easier physically.
It is kinder on everyone you live with.
AND you might even have a new dress to wear the next day.
Yay!

How are things at your place?
Are you all tired and ready for the weekend?
Are you cooking? Sewing? Making?
Is it hot or cold where you are?
What do you do to turn tantrum into terrific?


OK, I'm off to scrub bottles and stir pots.

I hope your weekend is sweeeeeeeeeeeet.
xx

ps. From now on I'll be answering questions in the comments section.
So if you ask me something, please come back and check for your answer.

41 comments:

  1. Hey Kate, love the combination of denim and lace.......looks great.

    Does anyone remember that song form the 70's Denim and Lace by
    Marty Rhone?

    Love the style it looks cool and comfortable.

    Hope the weekend brings a relaxing break in the school routine and you manage to get back on track.

    Claire :}

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  2. Beautiful dress Kate - looks like you could also wear it in cooler weather layered. And what a lovely evening of sewing therapy - good for you ;-)

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  3. Pretty, pretty dress :D

    My answer to the tantrum question: knit, of course!

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  4. Ah, there seems to be a bit of dress making therapy going on at yours and mine. Though I am envying your bubbling pots.
    We are tired.
    It is cold and wet here.
    I have a toothache that is making me think 32 hours of labor was not such a big deal.
    I sewed a half a dozen seams to ease the mounting anxiety.

    The vintage lace was a brilliant choice!
    Happy weekend to you and yours!

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  5. It's nice to read something that reminds me we're all human and get tired/grumpy! :)
    We baked some yummy cookies this morning and had a lovely playdate... then it took Miss Daisy over an hour to go to sleep - she's finally just nodded off! Hooray! Mummy time! xx Have a lovely weekend! x

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  6. What a beautiful dress! I love the sewing option ... but with small hands pressing buttons and foot controllers I have taken to weeding - one hour and I'm damn near angelic!

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  7. I love your dress. I'm doing just that now. It is the first thing i've made in my new studio and I'm loving it.

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  8. Sweet dress Kate. Ayden's moving out this weekend. I don't know what I'll do to make me feel better!

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    1. hello. i'm not sure if i'm supposed to use the reply section or is that for the blogger? anyhoo, my son is going tomorrow too- off on a road trip from west coast to east! next week my daughter goes to perth for uni. i am also madly finding things to fill my time and stop me crying. thinking of you, good luck! sue

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  9. Cool idea to channel energy into making something
    Thou I love a howl!
    Me, I am making your blackberry yoghurt cake, I have sourced organic blueberries, to welcome home my girlies after their first week of school

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  10. Hi Kate - your dress looks so sweet. I am rediscovering the virtues of dresses, in heat where having over in Pretoria. Might need to get myself sowing as well!I will be baking my mom's banana loaf - for the boys' school lunchboxes. And continue the good battle to get our second bathroom finished...where's the eletrician...

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  11. Gosh, just lovely. I have made this pattern - Happy Homemade volume 2 in a yellow linen. Love the muted colours and the trim.

    I completely agree with dree sewing therapy.Works for me every time.

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  12. It's wet wet wet here. About to storm.
    You've made another gorgeous dress.
    Crafting is good for the happy soul!

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  13. Pretty dress...love it! Tired on a Friday arvo at this house...but I am making sourdough bread to share with family tomorrow for lunch, my Friday afternoon therapy. A cold beer might also be on the agenda later :) Sweet weekend to you too!

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  14. love it!! Wish I could get into sewing at night but I just can't do it.. my head is always to fuzzy!

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  15. Great dress!!! Love the lace touches! :) Have a nice weekend!

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  16. Hi Kate, I've made your Upside-Down Plum Cake today, and I must say I've spent quite a bit of time admiring it as I've never made an upside-down anything before!

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  17. Another great dress. I especially love the lace. Much better use of your time than tantruming would've been.

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  18. Sorry, i'm just hyperventilating - where did you get the old preserving jars? I've got a couple of those Mason one's I'm using for my candles. I LOVE them.

    But before I got down to that photo, I was thinking that dress is my fave so far.

    And Alice told me last night she wasn't going to school today because she had "things to do". When I asked her what was so pressing that she couldn't go to school, she said that she needed to watch a movie and wanted to go through the box with all her old birthday cards. I laughed. First week in and she is exhausted. She just wants to go back to holiday time. Don't we all? Whereas Beth is loving grade 6 and all the "responsibilities" that go along with it. They make such a fuss over the grade 6 kids now, more than when I was at school. Back in the dark ages.

    Enjoy your weekend XX

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  19. I suspect the fact that I knit most nights for a couple of hours is great for my peace of mind and my blood pressure and wards off numerous mummy tanties. Once the kids are in bed and the house is quiet of course.

    Love that dress. I need a go to dress pattern too.

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  20. is there a rollerskating rink & video game arcade at your jam factory?! xxx

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  21. Good on ya for choosing happy dress making over being cranky.
    I was getting stressed out about all the packing up of stuff (we leave in 3 weeks) but then this afternoon, I started to organise the stuff.
    I shall cook a nice meal and drink some wine.
    Then tomorrow, pack the stuff away or get it ready for the motorhome.
    Thank you for your insights and honesty.
    cheers
    Sammy x

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  22. oh i am totally with you on the sewing therapy...and i love that pattern, i have a few vintge fabric number whipped up late night therapy styles in the very same. :Love the denim and lace combo.

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  23. I like your idea of sewing therapy, especially as my sewing room has a closing door!! Love the dress, is it a design you've made yourself?

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  24. i really love that dress and i also can imagine that with tights and lovely layers. sue

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  25. there is tantrums here too, tiredness on a grand scale and Chef has put his back out. the mummy bear feels like she doesn't get as much time with the baby bear as she would like. she feels like she sometimes has to work weekends which is not ok because that time is even more precious now that the baby bear is away from the cave all week.
    it will all work out.

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  26. I love that you do jam. It's on my to do list now that the tribe are all at school as I've never done it. I'm a bit scared of the jar sterilising business even though my Mum says it's easy. She's the sauce master. I've booked a hands on tutorial so she can share her wisdom and I can make some sauce and jam.
    PS Love the frock

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  27. Nice dress. Good therapy. I make strawberry jam and Wish I made different kinds but not yet. It is cold here in New York, Tomorrow 1 to 3 inches of snow.

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  28. Cranky melt downs all over the place here too. The wet season build up is delightful and we get a torrential downpour just at school pickup time to really help the moods. I have been making PJ's to give me a lift with the cutest fabric, and then after my nice soak in a bath with a book I can slip into a nice comfy pair of PJ's and relax....Bliss :-) Have a great weekend Kate xx

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  29. Very tired and very ready for the weekend. In the midst of finishing off some projects - a crocheted blanket, some baby beanies, my first quilt.

    It's good weather for finishing off projects - currently 0 degrees and snowing!

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  30. Too cold and snowy for tantrums here, just getting up in the dark to go sledging and then heading home back up the hill for hot chocolate.

    @Claire - Denim and lace, prettiest girl (something, something), I'm going to love you any place, dressed in denim and lace.

    I shall be humming that for the rest of the day now.

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  31. Oooh, that dress is cute as! What a great pattern.

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  32. i am seriously LOVING these dresses! you are one clever lady! i have been making a few tops and things but am yet to try a dress - although i have been collecting 'dress fabric' for the last 12 months! haha! time to just bite the bullet and give it a go me thinks!

    thanks for the inspiration :)

    Kel x

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  33. if only the 5yr old could sew!! I am so LOVING your dresses. I do try to do something just for me when I'm feeling a tantrum come on, though often not before I slam something I'm ashamed to say..x

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  34. Oh wow you are amazing!! just to be able to whip up a dress like that......wow! very clever indeed. x

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  35. No tantrums this weekend, mine or otherwise...loving that. Feeling the love and enjoying the wait...
    and love your new dress Kate.

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  36. Oh I do like the denim with lace. ...and yes tantrums are exhausting aren't they. This school business is a rough ride. I'm totally over it and it's only week three and my youngest is five years away from starting... so that means I have at least thirteen years of this to come!!! OMG! I'm going to have a lot of dresses!!!

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Thanks so much for stopping by...

I do read every single comment you leave and appreciate it very much, but I should let you know that I can be a wee bit on the useless side when replying to comments, that's just me, everyday life sometimes gets in the way....so I'll apologise now, just in case.

Kate XX

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