KCW Spring - Update on days 2 + 3 of Kids Clothes Week

Yesterday (day two) I was mostly out of the house so I did not have a lot of time to work on the machine.  In the afternoon I just worked on embroidering the leaves on the Alabama Chanin inspired Oliver & S Tea Party Dress.

I started it a while ago, but I intend this week to finish the construction of the dress using handstitching ala Alabama Chanin and continue the embroidery afterwards.

Then I tried to sew last night after everyone was in bed and this happened:

That there is a MESS.  I tried last night to sew the bodice pieces together on the Geranium dress but managed to sew the front bodice together into a weird origami armhole.  Infinity strip unwearable art.  Oops.  Ripped it out and went to bed.

Today (day three) was PRODUCTIVE!  This morning I finished the Geranium Dress in the Marimekko fabric, all that is left is tacking the lining and buttons on the back.

 Pleats are like my favoritest thing to make and sew.  I love me some pleats.

 The lining is Pastry Line Voile that I have been hoarding for lining for a long time.  So soft!

As I have been working away  I keep thinking  this is sort of insane to begin, from scratch, four entirely new projects in order to gain momentum to finish others that only need buttons, or a pattern adjustment, or that dress which only needs a zipper!

Yet -  I am feeling the momentum.  Practice in moving gracefully from sewing table to lunch making to laundry folding to writing to story reading and back to sewing and ironing and pinning again.   What I was hoping to get out of this is that feeling of movement, to be comfortable with little bits of undone and to refocus and be able to start right where I left off again.

Changing gears from focusing on sewing to the pile of eggs on the floor under my daughters chair is something that has been challenging for me and has at times been immobilizing.  I have wished for more grace in doing, more ease in shifting.  Forcing this week to commit to get these four dresses done is a little like a bootcamp, throwing myself into the trenches, and hopefully next week it will feel so much easier to make one dress in a week, luxurious even!