When I was pregnant with my first baby 11 years ago, due to years of infertility, I could not believe that I was pregnant. When my sweet baby was born, I looked at her for the first time and thought “It really happened?! Pinch me! How is this true?!” I was soooo unprepared for the days that followed!!
Today’s blogpost will be all about my current motherhood musings and AHA moments, memories I don’t want to forget, and the latest pattern by Sofilantjes. Thanks for stopping by!
Do you ever have moments in your life that you dream of, long for, and just can’t wait to happen? Then, when they do happen, it feels so surreal that you almost can’t take it all in and feel so unprepared? No, just me? I think motherhood (despite my longing for it) caught me by surprise. It finally took until my fifth child for somethings to click for me.
Keeping Memories
One of the things that clicked recently is “Take photos, write it down, and record the moments you can’t seem to take in because you will NOT remember it all!”
I did not have a smart phone when my first daughter was born and was absolutely clueless as to how to work my camera. I didn’t keep baby books and thought often “How would I ever forget XYZ adorable thing she just did?!” Sadly, one moment has toppled on the next, and I don’t remember everything I wished I did. Oh, how I wished I could tell my younger self to take a million photos and write it all down!!
I have had an Instagram account for my sewing for years, and a few weeks ago, I finally started a personal Instagram account to document my kids. Why did I not do this before?! It’s an account just for me to put a caption with a photo that shows up on Timehop every year for me to have and for the kids to have when they are older and want their memories. I don’t use that account to follow people or interact like I do on my sewing account. It is really a space for me to have memories. Do you have a better way that you collect memories with photos???? I would love to hear about it if you do.
The Advena Top and Dress Pattern by Sofilantjes
Now, let’s get into SEWING… I love when I get the opportunity to pattern test for my kids because then I get to make something fun for them and take them out for photos!
I recently got to test the Advena by Sofilantjes. I made my oldest a short sleeved shirt, and I made the youngest a short sleeved dress. The pattern comes with three neckline options, three sleeve lengths, and the option for a top, tunic, or dress. I made my oldest daughter’s top with the View C neckline, which has just one lapped shoulder. I made my youngest the neckline with both lapped shoulders so it makes getting her dressed easier. The other neckline option in the pattern is a basic round neckline.
When I asked my oldest which fabric she wanted, she immediately picked out my hoarded, precious Made Whimsy fabric. She was pretty excited that I used this fabric for her and also wanted to show me how great she is at handstands.
This is 10. I am loving 10. She is incredibly brilliant. She loves to help and can run the house just as well as I can. She is great at math and is pretty determined to learn anything she sets her heart to. She is also the photographer behind a lot of my blogposts. She makes the best chocolate chip cookies all from recipes she finds on her iPad and even brought me milk and freshly baked cookies on Saturday while I had lost track of time in my sewing room. She always asks if I need tea when she is making herself some and loves to join me for a great chat with a cup of tea. Her hugs are warm and so full of love. I pray that I can continue to raise this strong girl with wisdom and grace. When she was a defiant 2 year old, I wished I could have looked into the future to see this girl.
Now, the baby…. She is 15 months and has taken the toddler stage by storm. I got her dress out of a 12 inch piece of fabric!! I used the same navy cotton lycra from Made Whimsy on her side panels as I had for my daughters, and I love how it pulls both of their tops together.
When I was getting dressed this morning, this cutie pie found a cup of tea and poured it all over the carpet next to my night stand. Then, she found my contact case and some toothpaste and walked down the hall to my sewing room. In my sewing room, she dumped out the trash and was throwing fabric about wildly. Somehow I still made it through today (thank you JESUS!) She makes all the kids laugh and loves to show off where her eyes, nose, and belly button are. She also loves to sing.
Pattern Thoughts
I love the side panel on this pattern. It really helps to break up the dress and gives the older girls a slimmer view if they still have a bit of a baby belly.
I love that this pattern has a wide size range. I made my youngest the 12 month size and my oldest daughter size 11. I love Sofilantjes drafting. I can always trust it and don’t have to size up to make sure I don’t waste good fabric.
I will definitely be making this pattern again!!
I was amazed at just how many photos I got of her front in this photo session because most toddlers give you lots of photos of their backs as they run away….
Since I only had a 12 inch scrap for her dress, I had to get a front, back, 2 sleeves, and 2 skirt parts out of that entire strip. I had no way to pattern match and just had to go with how things were cut. I still can’t believe that the pattern matched up pretty well on the back!!
Resources
- The Advena Top and Dress Pattern can be found HERE. It is on sale right now for release and is also available in Dutch and French. Also, it is available in only baby sizes.
- The floral for my daughter’s top is cotton lycra from Made Whimsy.
- The fabric for my youngest daughter’s dress is from Jumping June Textiles.
- The solid navy cotton lycra on both girls’ side panels is from Made Whimsy.
Thanks for reading today! I hope I have inspired you! You may follow me on Instagram or receive updates by liking my page on Facebook. If you want to take a look into the things that inspire me, you can follow me on Pinterest. You may also follow my blog with Bloglovin.
Disclosures: I received this pattern for free as part of the testing process to give the designer feedback about the instructions and fit of the pattern. This post also may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small compensation when you purchase via my link. This does not cost you anything, and I appreciate the support. Any and all opinions expressed are still my own.
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