You might have been forgiven in thinking I’d dropped off the face of the world but I have seriously lost my sew-jo this summer. I set myself a challenge at the beginning of the year to sew a dress a month (I know this is nothing compared to some other sewers but a lot for me) well that was an Epic Fail! I’ve ground to a halt, the dresses I’ve made I like and have been wearing all summer but having a commitment made it too much of a chore. Over the summer I started a quilt for myself and I really enjoyed the fact of having no deadline, no commitment (other than winter!) and no pressure! I haven’t finished it yet (need to get some more fabric) but I don’t care! I will finish it but I don’t feel obliged to finish it by any particular date. I’ve also been on holiday and the change of routine of the school holidays has really put a dent in my enthusiasm.
So now we’re in September and the kids are back to school and this year things are different, I’m back to school as well! For the last half term before Summer I was working as as dinner lady at Miss M’s Middle School and I’ve returned to that, on top of that I’ve taken a job at Miss C’s First School as a Casual Teaching Assistant. I’ve been volunteering at her school for a number of years since my kids started going there and came to the conclusion that it was the kind of job I could enjoy doing. I don’t have any formal qualification in this area so I’m also starting a course next week to get a qualification in Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools! The Teaching Assistant role is covering sickness and absence for the Teaching Assistants at the school and I’ll be part of a team so I’m not sure how much I’ll get called on, so I’ve come to an arrangement with the Middle School that if I get called into be a TA I don’t have to be a Dinner Lady that day as well! Does that make sense? We’ll have to see how it goes…
So this is my first job after 5 years out of work and I suddenly realised that I don’t have any suitable clothes! I need practical clothes that are smart but friendly given I’m dealing with children aged up to 8. So I got some black trousers (that workplace standard) and a couple of blouses, I’ve also got some fabric to make my own!
Simplicity 2599
I’ve had this pattern for well over a year after seeing so many great tops made all over the blogosphere. As I’ve been concentrating on dresses I’ve just never got the pattern out of the packet. It looks like it can be a good basic top with plenty of options. The fabric is a viscose with small flowers, my husband said ‘That looks like you work in a school!’ so I guess its the right fabric!
Sewaholic Renfrew
Again I’ve had this pattern since it was released but never got it out of the packet. I’ve never found a jersey I liked as my local fabric store doesn’t have a great range of jerseys so today I went to Fabricland in Brighton where they have loads of jerseys. I have photos of all my patterns stored on my phone so I can check the details when I’m in a shop to find out how much I need, I did that today and looked at the back for the largest size and saw 3, so I asked for 3 metres of each jersey. What I didn’t appreciate is the width of the fabric, so I actually have loads of jersey! We might end up being a family with matching t-shirts soon!
So these are my plans, not too taxing, no deadline, but with a reason to make them rather than a nice to have. How do you get your sew-jo back when its wandered off? Change of plans, ditch the plans, or keep plugging on regardless?
