Autumn/Winter wardrobe for Musa

When I was a little girl one of my favorite things to do during school holidays was to sew doll clothes. As a group of friends, we would walk daily to a nearby industrial area and dig through the rubbish bins for  scraps of fabric. Then we would spend the rest of the day outdoors with needles and thread, chatting away while sewing clothes for our dolls...sometimes long into the evening when we could no longer even see the needle hole!

When I had Olivia, this childhood desire to sew was reawakened in me. I bought a secondhand sewing machine from an antique shop, but for a long time I was intimidated by it and didn't make good use of it. It wasn't until after Owen's birth a couple of years later (and almost three years ago) that I finally overcame this timidity and dove into sewing - and I have not looked back ever since!

Most recently Musa, our sweet baby number three, has been such a delight to sew for, and I am enjoying making tiny, cute items - especially since he is possibly my last baby (sob!). I started his Autumn/Winter sewing with the idea of creating a capsule wardrobe. This is a collection of a few essential items of clothing that co-ordinate, and the idea is to have as few items as possible. Well, I got the co-ordinating part right, but am still working on my minimalist skills…evident as I ended up with fifty one items for him - though this does include eight bibs, and a baby can never have too many bibs, right? 

A question I often receive when I share about my sewing is, "Where do you get the time?" Honestly I simply prioritize making time for it - much like people who love reading find time to get lost in a book or people who love watching series find time to get equally lost in them. 

Most days I get about an hour to sew. My older kids know that this is my special time, and they are usually happy to entertain themselves or watch something as long as I do not get lost for too long in sewing land...which I probably would if a little person or two didn't come looking for me. I usually time it around Musa's naps if possible, otherwise I find time after the kids go to sleep at night. And occasionally, when we have especially busy days, the only sewing time I can find are those hours when most adults are likewise asleep - which I will not elaborate further on lest I expose my craziness! 

My amazing husband knows how much I enjoy my sewing time and sees it as an important part of our family life. I would even love to start sewing items to sell on a small scale in the near future when my children are a little older, and so I see all this practice and discipline as part of investing in a future business. 

So back to Musa's "minimalist" wardrobe - Here are some pictures of the items I made for him. Olivia and I did the styling and put the outfits together. We tried to rope Scott in, but he was happy to rather help by entertaining the boys!