The baby’s summer wardrobe all stitched up

Maybe it was the return of the Great British Sewing Bee, or the fact that I now have a scrumptious little model (who sometimes sleeps long enough for me to get things done!), either way, my sewing machine has come out of retirement in time to make a small summer wardrobe. (It’s for a small person and small as in only 5 items.)

At first I was very good and raided my fabric stash for what I needed and made a gorgeous little playsuit from some bright floral cotton

Making progress on another crocheted Christmas

Every year I have the same conversation about Christmas presents with my husband. We agree we’re not going to spend loads of money on presents but end up doing it anyway. Even when I decide to make most of the gifts for our family and friends, and I get everything done in time, there is always the worry that I won’t finish. The horror of someone being presentless leads to “just in case” bought presents, that sneaks into “just a knick knack each” and then the whole thing, for want of a better word, snowballs until I have all the pressure of making presents as well as the cost of buying them!

In recent years my whole family has relied heavily on Amazon wishlists to plan Christmas, but it feels as if it’s all got out of hand as the piles of books and discs stack up. Usually I don’t even remember who got me what from my wishlist, and my poor mum can’t remember what came from which list when the parcels start arriving. It’s almost an annual tradition for there to be at least one mystery gift that has to be claimed on the day, and sometimes this is complicated by being an item on more than one person’s list!