July Was A Very Busy Month!

Hey sewing friends! I’m back for my end of month recap and setting intentions for August. What a month July was!

We had a holiday in the Netherlands, I traveled to the UK and back twice – but spent less than 48 hours there the first time and just 13 hours the second… I sewed, I drew and I managed to get samples for wedding invitations too.

And I did as much work as I could in between all that. Because bills need to be paid!

Disclaimer: This is a personal blog entry and you will not learn anything from reading this other than my thoughts and feelings, which will help you to know me better! 🙂

The Holiday

Let’s start with the personal stuff this month, though I’ll be brief as I did cover it in-depth in this blog post!

I felt anxious at the beginning of the month, because I suddenly realised how little time I would have for work this month, and the plans I had penciled into place wouldn’t work with such a short timeframe. At the same time I knew I was desperately in need of some time out, so a holiday was much needed.

We travelled there and back by train, used the bus and train system while there, and I succeeded in doing no work. Unless you count the two For The Weekend emails I wrote and sent, but that doesn’t take too much time now I’m in a rhythm with them.

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At the end of the holiday, I felt refreshed and ready to get back to work! Win!

The Personal Projects

I had a mix of personal projects I wanted to work on throughout the month, and not all of them sewing!

The Swimsuit

I managed to sew up the Sunstar swimsuit for myself at the beginning of July! Yay! I made it from a gorgeous bring pink swim fabric I had bought last year from The New Crafthouse, and it was comfy to wear.

The only downside is that I have lost weight again (it’s a yoyo this year – yay menopause!) so the bottoms fell down very easily.

The Refashioned Top

In my summer sewing plans post I shared that I wanted to refashion a shirred top with billowy sleeves to better suit me and my style.

I succeeded in doing so, but I didn’t get to wear it on my holiday as I got too sunburned. Sigh.

I did turn the sleeves (unworn and brand new) into the most gorgeous eyelet romper for Baby M. More on that further down!

A Denim Dress

I loved the denim dress I found when sorting through some of my Mum’s bits, but it was more than a tad too long for me.

I hacked off a good amount, and hemmed it so that the length sits a couple inches above my knee and it suits me so much better!

I kept what I chopped off to make a cute denim pinafore dress for Baby M, but that’ll be a project for September I think.

Baby M Bits

I also spent some time in the middle of July creating a few bits for my great niece, known here as Baby M – which apparently her dad thinks is brilliant!

I made a sunhat and an eyelet romper, both of which are little patterns I’ve been working on. More on those further down!

Another project for Baby M was the cotton eyelet romper I made from the sleeve of my refashioned shirred top! I made the shoulder straps with elastic as she is quite tall and I wanted her to be able to get a little extra wear out of it.

Drawing & Painting & Other Creative Things

My final personal goal for July was to try and draw (or paint) every day. I find it very calming to practice art in this way, and really notice the difference in how I feel when I don’t.

I recommend everyone find creative outlet that they can turn to. I have several ‘creative hobbies’ that I turn to when I need something that doesn’t feel like work:

• Cooking and baking
• Drawing
• Painting
• Gardening
• Writing
• Weaving
• Knitting
• Crochet

The option I go for depends on how much time I have available, and I have found that drawing and painting are the ‘easiest’ for me in terms of picking something up for 15 minutes each day.

Some of the creative ‘non-work’ things I did in July are below!

FYI: If you like cooking I have a little foodie blog where I share the recipes I come up with, including the most delicious cookie recipe above!

The Family Time

I was so lucky to have my youngest niece and nephew come stay with us for a week! It was the very first time that my Niece had flown – and just the second time for my nephew! – and it was so wonderful to see her experience something new and exciting for the first time.

Those who have been here a while may recall that we almost lost my youngest niece in February last year after a vehicle went over her. She was a split second from having her neck snapped and the cycle helmet she had on is why she is still with us – reminder, WEAR YOUR CYCLE HELMETS!!!

I treasured the time I had with her and her older brother, but my goodness… I was exhausted by the time I returned from taking them back to the UK! It’s not that they need a lot of care… but they do like to have a lot time with me (which is great) and less time on their own. And then there’s the cooking. And the tidying up after cooking. My nephew is a growing lad and can eat for England!

Anyhow, I loved having them here, but the 25 hours travelling to and from the UK (in a 39hr period) was too much and I won’t be doing that again. Next time, I’ll break it up better.

Some of my favourite things about their visit was the amount of chess we played, that I got both of them drawing in my sketchbooks, watching England win the Women’s Euros final again, and that we ate every meal at the dining table like a family. Magic.

The Work

In July, I managed to get sixteen blog posts written or updated, which is more than I had set as a goal for the month… so yay me! I’ll list them out now, in case you missed any of them.