Here it goes.....

So, this is the first post. How ever so terribly exciting.

I already blog for T5M. At least, in theory I do, she says, slapping herself on the wrist for the embarrassing length of time since the last post and resolving to try harder. But I thought I'd have a go at doing a more crafty, clothes-making-related one with the intention of even attempting a few tutorials...

So here we go. The general gist of it all is that last year I made a pledge that Ruby would only wear second-hand or home-made clothes, partly in an attempt to save money, partly in a knee-jerk reaction to my rapidly accelerating disposable attitude towards baby clothes (well, when you have a wardrobe filled with approximately seven thousand babygros and one of them gets poo on it you do tend to think "Sod it. I'll just chuck the thing out."), and partly because I drink less wine when my hands are occupied with cutting, pinning and sewing.

I did really well with this pledge, although admittedly I was fortunate enough that Ruby's birthday is in May and we were given a few lovely pieces that I could swear people chose because they knew they were things I wouldn't be able to (read: wouldn't be bothered to) make. Jeans, a fancy dress or two and a couple of cardies, all of which served us very, very well and complemented the hand-made stuff brilliantly. I made it through to september, when I gave in and admitted that there were a few things madam needed that I hadn't been lucky enough to find in decent nick and/or the right size in charity shops, such as jeans, jumpers and coats, and which I wasn't likely to make because, well, I'm not a masochist.

So I caved, and then I caved some more, and then I came over to the States for a bit where I had no sewing machine, and basically the whole thing fell by the wayside. But then, fate decided that my excuses had got out of hand and left a sewing machine literally on my doorstep. (As an aside, I love New York for that: people just leave things they don't want by the side of the road or in the hallway, there for the taking.) It needed a bit of attention, such as the paintbrush I stole from Ruby and parcel-taped onto the side to replace the missing spool holder, and it's not exactly very advanced – you can't adjust the stitch length or owt – but it works, and that is all that matters.

So my excuses are gone, spring is rapidly approaching, and I am starting the pledge all over again. Somewhat fortuitously, I haven't bought her any clothes since Christmas either, so I can conveniently backdate it to New Year and pretend that I had intended to do it all along. I will warn you now that I am giving myself advance permission to buy jeans new if I can't find any second-hand in the right size. And possibly the odd thing I see that I simply must have, although I may try to get through that with the birthday loophole, by pointing generous relatives in the right direction.

It won't all be clothes-making, but a mixture of that and some baking adventures and general toddler-related fiff-faffery, so bear with me while I waffle away. Since I recently went a bit nuts with a bunch if thrift store t-shirts I rather conveniently have a whole bunch of dresses all ready to photograph and show off, which will surely make me appear all industrious and resourceful. Read on.......