Welcome here
let me introduce myself…
I’m Rachael, a fulltime stay-at-home mom of three with a love for sewing. You’ll often find me in the kitchen, baking or making from-scratch meals for my family, or playing with my kids between house chores. I am enjoying trying my hand at gardening with a small vegetable garden and a larger flower garden. I would love to pick up knitting or crocheting, or both, one day but am content with waiting for a calmer season of motherhood. In the evening, my favorite way to wind down is with a book and maybe a cup of tea or hot chocolate.
my story
I taught myself how to sew out of desperation really. My body had changed so much postpartum that most of my clothes no longer fit me properly and the rest didn’t feel like my style anymore. All the pieces I could find that were my style were outside my budget.
So I thought why not just make them myself?
It wasn’t a quick or easy process. I started off making a few simple pieces for my kids before trying to make something for my own wardrobe. It was an hour or two one evening and thirty minutes the next. My first pieces were full of mistakes and all my sewing supplies were stored in a closet, which meant hulling everything out onto the kitchen table when I had time to sew.
Fast-forward three years and I now can confidently make pieces for myself and my kids that I am proud of. I have a permanent space for sewing that doesn’t need taking down after each sewing session. My wardrobe is slowly growing and my kids get excited when I make something for them. I’m learning how to alter patterns and even create my own so I can have the freedom to build a wardrobe that perfectly fits my body and style.
It still takes one or even two weeks to finish a project. Sometimes it looks like fifteen minutes after the kids have finally settled down. Other times it’s quickly pinning something together or taking a few minutes to press a seam while my toddler plays at my feet and my daughter watches. Some evenings I’m fortunate enough to get a full hour or more to work on a project. But even if five minutes is all I get in a day to sew, I’ve learned to be happy with that.
Motherhood doesn’t have to mean giving up what you love
There is so much messaging out there right now that motherhood strips you of everything. That your life is over once you have kids.
That is simply not true.
Are there seasons when you have to temporarily give up some of the things you love doing? Yes. Are there days when you don’t get to spend as much time on your passion as you would like to? Of course.
Things will look different in each season of motherhood. But what I’ve found is that it forces me to be more intentional with my time and my creative process. It means finding those small gaps of time – five minutes here, ten minutes there – and using those small gaps as efficiently as I can. It means setting up my sewing space to streamline my sewing process. It means finding the best way to store my fabrics, patterns, and supplies so I can find exactly what I’m looking for when I go looking for it.
If I’m honest, I prefer the intentional, slow pace of sewing vs having endless time to create and never having a reason to put more thought into my creative process.
Maybe you agree, or maybe you don’t. But what I hope to show you is that you can have passions and raise a family. You don’t have to give it all up. You just have to learn how to do it differently.