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Everything old is new again

when old becomes new vine and the oliveI admit I’ve been so quiet as of late. The end of summer and the beginning of fall were harder than anticipated as I fought hard against morning (read: all day) sickness. I felt like I was having to hide a part of my story as we waited to get through the first trimester since the last time we were pregnant we found out we’d lost the baby at the 11th week and so while I felt calmer and more hopeful this time, I still felt nervous.  But for those of you who did miss the announcement, we’re pregnant! I’m finally feeling like my feet are on solid ground after three months on what felt like a boat, and this makes life a lot easier for everyone.

You may remember that last September I did a capsule wardrobe experiment. It was only a month but it was very insightful (if you missed it you can start by looking here.) I learned a lot about what was in my closet and what was working and equally what wasn’t. I’d love to tell you that I got rid of a ton of things after that experiment but the truth is, I didn’t. I just put them aside unable to put them in the hamper of old clothes destined to become rags or to donate them. Somehow, I still felt like they had something else to give and finally I have found a use for them! 

Now that my energy levels are coming back again and I can at long last down a cup of coffee after months of not even being able to look at it, I’ve come up with a great way to reuse my old clothes. I come from a family of sewers and while I’ve done a little over the years I am certainly the least gifted of the bunch but I manage to hold my own when needed and it has served me well especially this past week. 

Since we found out we were pregnant I’ve told Jérémie he could expect a little mariner baby since there’d be lots of stripes in our future but little did I know those stripes were going to be coming from my own closet! 

Thanks to the internet, the pile of old clothes, an average sewing machine and some time I’ve whipped together a couple items that were in short supply in our box of baby clothes leftover from when my step-daughter was born. There’s also been a sense of joy in seeing how these items transformed and knowing that our baby will have a few one of a kind pieces in his or her wardrobe and some pretty adorable ones at that (if I do say so myself!) 

I’ve also made a little felt wool ball and I’ve got some colourful silks (not pictured) to play with that I dyed at my parent’s house a while back to add to the fun. We’ve also got a guest appearance from Jérémie’s own Sofie the Giraffe from when he was little (it’s a bit worse for wear when you look up close but I can’t help but think it’s great that a toy has lasted that long. The only difference is modern Sofie is a little rounder than her older counterpart)

So I give you:

a pair of baby leggings 

harem pants (though I modified them somewhat according to my sister’s suggestion)

two little knot hats 

and some scratch mittens out of a perfectly sized scrap piece of fabric.

I’m sure you can expect I’ll get a few more things made in the coming months since my pile of old clothes hasn’t dwindled much yet and of course there are things we’ll need to buy as the time goes on (this is going to be one stylish French/Canadian baby I tell you!), but in the meantime, if you’ve got some great patterns to share or you’ve managed to upcylce your old clothes into something else I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

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