Joyful, mindful Sewing

I’m always a bit hesitant to say that sewing is my therapy. I don’t want to take away from the real, good and helpful work of a professional therapist, neither do I want to belittle the very painful mental struggles people have. All that said, sewing does provide for me a way to relax, to think about things other than my struggles,  to channel my energy and negative thoughts into something constructive and beautiful. The buzz and joy I get from fabric and pattern coming together beautifully does my soul good. Even the challenging makes are good as they bring joy and satisfaction when they are conquered. So, in this way, I venture to say that sewing is for me a form of therapy and sometimes when I’m away from it, I miss it.

I was blessed to have a couple of weeks away in two different UK locations this year, and whilst the weather wasn’t brilliant every day, it wasn’t bad either. The first week was just my husband and me in a cottage in Northumbria and for the second week we took our youngest with us to a cottage near Dorchester.

Both holidays, we enjoyed beaches and woodlands, both of which are such beautiful,calming locations for me, giving me the opportunity to be peaceful, mindful of my smallness, and thankful for my existence and my creator.

The holiday was mostly restful. Our bodies and minds were in desperate need of rest. I got some reading done, I made the most of the opportunity to meditate on God’s word and to cut down my social media time! But difficulties don’t disappear just because you are away from home and we faced some challenges in between the relaxation, fun and beauty.

By the time I got home, I was itching to get sewing. I wanted a pattern that wasn’t too complicated and I wanted to use some bright, joyful fabric. I wanted to make something that would work for me, wearable, not too fancy.

I had recently been sent a new pattern to make and review and it seemed that this would fit the bill.

Izzo Sew Studios is a new independent pattern company. I’ve had the pleasure of following Izzy of Izzo Sews Studios on Instagram for a good while and then rather surprisingly bumping into her at a wedding recently. I was gifted the pattern and paid in return for an honest review.

The Dovestone dress is a simple, trapeze dress pulled together by a long drawstring that acts as straps and ties. There are several options for tying the straps, changing the look of the dress. Little loops at back of the dress (which I forgot to use for these photos!) helping to keep the straps in place.The pattern comes as a maxi or knee-length. And there are pockets.

I knew that I didn’t want to make the maxi dress as I have come to realise that much as I love the look, I’m not a maxi person. Whether it’s that I feel overdressed in a maxi or my body feels overwhelmed by too much fabric, I’m not sure. I considered adapting the pattern to make a top as I  am a bit of a “jeans and nice top” person. But when I saw some of the versions of the pattern popping up on Instagram, I knew I needed to make the knee length dress.

I chose to make it in this amazing 70s inspired viscose crepe. The colours and crazy pattern gave me such good feels. The only problem with this fabric is that it is really easy to get pulls in it, and annoyingly, I managed to get a pull or two.

I strongly recommend using clips instead of pins and using ball tips or microtex needles.

The Dovestone is a quick and easy make, the instructions are detailed and clear. This would be a good pattern for that last minute  desperate make, that we sewists are prone to! I wish could tell you how long it took me but I didn’t time it. I am a slow, distracted sewist, and I am rarely able to sew consistently, but I wrapped up the project over a couple of days of dipping in and out of sewing it. It was pleasant sewing. I should say that with those long ties and loops, there’s a lot of ironing, potential finger singe-ing ironing! If you have a bias binding machine, it might make this process easier.

Although my measurements put me at a UK 14, I went with the finished garment measurements and sewed a size 12, B cup. I knew it wasn’t a fitted garment, and I didn’t want too much fabric swathing my body.

I’m really pleased with how the dress turned out and how lovely to have sewn it while the sun was shining. I might actually get to wear it before summer goes. I am planning to go abroad in October and this make will be perfect.

I’m hoping that I’ll be able to make it work for autumn too. I’m thinking tall, brown boots, a close fitting polo-neck and a denim jacket maybe.

This dress is a little out of my comfort zone in that it shows a lot of flesh, and parts that I’m uncomfortable with. Flabby arms, untoned back, varicose veins. But I am wanting to fight my negative body issues and be kinder to myself. I love how I look in this dress and I love this body that has carried me for 53 years!

This was such a good post holiday make, speedy and beautiful. Just the right amount of effort needed, with space to think and enjoy. Quite an ingenious pattern and it was a joy to see it coming together. I absolutely love the fabric too, a great pairing methinks. All in all, just the confidence boosting, joy-giving thing I needed 😊