Sophie's Communion Day

Well it was a very tight finish with myself and Mum finishing Sophie's dress just after midnight the night before the Holy Communion. I've been in hospital for 4 days since my last post. I'm still in bed. I've had numerous pain blocks and procedures but I'm still not good.

Should I have spent the guts of 2 days finishing the dress, no. But it was so important to me that I made her dress. I know it might not make sense. In fact I know that it doesn't make sense to a lot of people but that's just the way it is.

It is the one thing that I am most proud of making. She looked absolutely beautiful. Just as I had imagined it would be, and not only that but she only asked to take it off at 5 in the evening when I thought it wouldn't be on long once we got home. She loved it so much.

It was a very moving ceremony and basically just beautiful all round. I had to go to bed once I got home for a couple of hours and felt guilty about not being able to do anything. But after a stern talking to from my mum-in-law I saw that basically I had to look after myself and Sophie was too busy having a great time with her cousins to miss me.

Plus the fact that it was only our immediate family that came. This took the pressure off having to entertain as everyone pitched in. Now immediate family is our Mums and Dads, brothers, sisters and kids. This came to about 30 in total.
I was so happy that everyone made the effort to attend even though it was on a working day.

The health situation now is that I'm back in bed, pain still there but now with my 'good' leg with a numb/pins and needles feeling. So I'll have to ring the hospital on Tuesday. I've had mass cards and lovely messages from so many people. Tomorrow is my birthday, I'll be 39 and my only wish is that I could be well enough to get back to where I was health wise. I know you guys don't know this but I already suffer from a chronic pain disease so I'm used to being very sick but I manage. So I only ask to get back to that state! Oh well I guess there will be no trip out tomorrow or nice pub lunch. But I'm sure I'll enjoy my birthday nonetheless. It's a bank holiday here in Ireland, so I'll have my family around me x

8th day in bed

My usual position

Do you know when you are up to your eyes with kids, jobs, sewing, etc; you dream of a few days in bed where you can read and relax, catch up on TV and so on . Yeah well by day 8 it's a pain in the ass. What has to happen so that you are in bed means being really sick so that sucks too.

My back has been giving me trouble for some time now and last Thursday it went completely, it was excruciating and luckily I had my Mum and my sister with me and I called my hubby to come home asap. I ended up getting an ambulance into A&E and spent the night on a trolley they gave me strong drugs and sent me home. I was so glad to get home again, I hate hospitals and am always afraid that i'll pick up a bug as I'm that way inclined.

I know it's a bit of a mess but the light is fab and it will
make a great new sewing room when I'm up and about

So total bed rest was the only thing, luckily we have a pull out bed in what will soon be my new sewing room and it's incredibly comfy. I can't manage the stairs so it's great to have a bed on the ground floor, it's also great because the kids pop in and out and I hear all the goings on so I don't feel too isolated.

My Mum was up with me when all this happened and we were making Sophie's Communion dress while my back went and now it's half done. Her Communion is 2 weeks today. I'm refusing to panic. I have other orders in and sewing bee blocks, but everyone has been so kind and are willing to wait until I'm on my feet.

Now I know that my hubby is very capable, but he's been absolutely fantastic. He's remembering all of my meds, they have to be written down as there are so many and when my pain patches come off and on. He's managing the kids and their various appointments really well and Sophie who has just gone to school is sporting a very neat hairstyle! It was a bit rough on Monday but by the end of the week he has it mastered. Feck romance, it's when your husband brings you and helps you sit on the loo then that's love for you! ha ha ha

Reading everyone's blogs is great, I love to hear what you are all up to and what projects you are all working on. I'm missing sewing so much it's like an ache in my tummy. There are so many things I want to get working on but can't. I know I'm in love with sewing but didn't quite know the extent of that love until this week.

So, keep blogging, I'm enjoying every single one.

Geraldine x

I would be totally lost without this stick that my brother in law had

School time once more

It's great that school is finally back, boredom was beginning to set in and I'm not feeling very well as my back has gone again. So no mad rush to the sewing machine for me today. I did however just manage to finish off two blocks that are long overdue for the Modern Irish Bee.

Erin asked us each to pick a colour and I kinda joined the discussion a little late but was lucky that the low volume one was still left as I could have made 20 of these guys using these colours from my own stash! I hope she is happy with them and I know that mine are probably the last ones she is waiting on. 

I really need to get my butt in gear as May is my month and I need to get myself organised sooner rather than later. 

Hope everyone has a good week.

What tips do you use????

First things first, it's school holiday time so the chance to do some sewing is greatly diminished. But I'm pretty much okay with that because it was so busy coming up to Easter I'm glad to have a break too. So I've been attacking housework since the weekend. Every scrap of clothes in the house has been sorted, ironed and put away. There are 15 work shirts hanging merrily in the wardrobe. It's a great feeling to be finally on top of things.

Now just because I'm not sewing doesn't mean I'm not thinking about it! I decided to gather and photograph little bits and pieces that I use all the time for sewing but aren't necessarily sewing items. I wonder do you guys have similar things you use and are you willing to share your tips and tricks?

I use the lint roller all the time, I usually have a bunch of them in case I run out. I get these guys in IKEA. They are €1 each which is the cheapest I've seen yet. But not only are they cheap they are much better than others I have bought. The peel off on the diagonal and for some reason they are much easier to use than others.

I use my thin roll of masking tape all the time. If you want to use masking tape but are afraid that it is too sticky then just unroll what you need, and tape it onto your jeans or desk or whatever. Take it off and do it again and presto you now have low tac masking tape. This tip is used all the time in art too so that's where I got that one from.

Tweezers are so handy for many things. The only thing I don't seem to use them for is actually plucking my eyebrows!!! ha -- I must address that soon!

Tiny little bull-clips are brilliant for holding many layers of fabric and batting together. They are secure and they don't wobble about so that the seams match up really well.

The little metal ruler is sewing related but I only bought it recently. I find it very handy for small spaces that you need to measure.

The little tube on the right is for cleaning your iron. It is absolutely brilliant. My iron no matter how much care I take will eventually get brown marks on it. You know the feeling when you're absolutely sure that you put the interface on the right way round?? Yep, that's sure to make a mess of your iron, so this little beauty will make it look like new again.

On a different note, I bought the material for Sophie's Communion dress last weekend. It's just beautiful, it's pure silk, but a matt one. I love the sheen off it. I also got some netting and lining. I'm looking forward to making this up with my Mum in the coming weeks.

My Mother's Day present just arrived :)

I suggested this Mother's Day that instead of a present that I would treat myself to some fabric. Here it is, a nice way to brighten up another shocking day of bad weather.

Long weekend of relaxation

Not too much to report from this week. Have not been feeling the best these last two days. I've made lots and lots of Easter Baskets and have 5 more orders to get through. Just as well I love making them. We will be spending Easter in Sligo again this year so I hope the day is nice for egg hiding and then of course for the hunting part.

I knitted this little guy for a friend who had a baby girl a couple of months ago. I did indeed knit it the week after the little girls safe arrival but then as usual it went missing and didn't show up again until I did my sewing room clear out last week.

Now I'm going to knit another one with a blue nappy for my sister who had a beautiful baby boy a few weeks ago. I can't wait to see him again at Easter. 

I'm nearly there with my sewing bee blocks for this month. Erin from Billy Button Designs is the Queen Bee this month. I really love the colours in my block and have everything sewn and trimmed so it's just the piecing left.

Happy sewing x

A Tour of my Sewing Room

I've been spending a lot of time trawling the internet for photos of people's sewing and crafting rooms. I've created a board on Pinterest for inspiration as I will be moving my room downstairs into a larger room. 

At the moment my cutting mat and rulers are in my son's room, which isn't ideal. Also the ironing board is very close to where I sit so I'm somewhat hemmed in. The one thing I do have in my little room is good storage so that's something I will definitely have in place before I move. I want to get a dresser and paint it and have it to store a lot of my larger items.

So anyway here is a tour of my sewing space as it stands. I do love this room and I spend a lot of time here but the busier I get the greater the need for more space.