Week 8 of motherhood is here! Last week was hard, because I had to be out for work all week long. I missed hanging out with Kiko during the day. My mother and husband watched Kiko while I was out, so at least I felt safe, knowing that she was in the hands of people who love and care for her.
The first day of work, I did not have sufficient time to pump, so by the end of the day, my breasts were so full. Although I told my boss that I would need 10-15 minutes to pump here and there during the day, it was hard to find time to do so. We were going from meeting to meeting, and eating with clients in between leaving me with only 4-5 minutes to pump. By the end of the week, I felt that my milk production went down significantly. My body decided it wasn’t really necessary for it to produce milk I guess. On top of that, I was exhausted and stressed. I’ve read that exhaustion affects the milk production. I read this post about breastfeeding dilemma for working mothers, and I could relate to the writer of the post. Working moms out there, what do you think of this issue? Any advice?
Thankfully over the weekend, I had time to relax a bit and start on some new sewing projects that I had postponed because of work. I was asked by a friend of mine to make a Minnie mouse dress for her one year old daughter. She wanted it for an outing to Tokyo Disney Land. I gladly agreed to make it:) My friend said her daughter wore size 90, which means it is a size for a child who is 90 cm in height. I did not have any pattern for a size 90 girl, but I have a dress for Kiko which is size 100. So I took the dress, and cut out the red and white polkadot fabric based on the dress. I did not add seam allowance because I wanted to make the dress a bit smaller than the one I have.
There are 4 separate parts to this dress: front top, front skirt, back tops and back skirts.
I decided to add a little twist to this simple dress. I did this by inserting a white piping detail – you might already know how much I’m into piping now by my After the Carnival clothes! So I cut out some white bias strips..
And used some cords I bought from 100 yen shop.
Gathered the front and back skirt pieces…
Tada! Piping inserted!
The dress has a back button closure. I just imitated the size 100 dress I had.
I finished the arm hole with bias strips. And done!
I hope the dress fits her daughter well. I’m sending it with a little thank you note because she gave me a very nice shower gift:)
Another friend of mine came over on Saturday for a wedding dress fitting (Yes! I’m making a wedding dress for her!) so I showed her the Minnie mouse dress. Later she sent me this picture of a catalog, for a little girl’s Minnie mouse dress that costs 3700 yen (about 40 USD). Guess how much I spent for my version of the Minnie mouse dress?! A whopping 600 yen for 1 meter of fabric! 🙂
Inspiration: Japanese Magazine
Alice in Wonderland Dress
Collaboration with Takatsu Akemi ART GALLERY
MADE | Butterick 4610 Camel Wool Coat
Cindora says
The dress is so cute and I’m interested in the wedding dress, I hope to see a picture after you’ve finished it 🙂
Chie says
of course, i will be posting pics of wedding dress when its complete! im so excited for this opportunity:)
Paunnet says
That’s the cutest dress ever! I love the piping!
I want an adult version 🙂
Chie says
meee tooo! i love piping details so much. i love your ginger skirt and the use of piping!
longredthread says
OMG this is 2 cute 4 word! Job well done 🙂
juebejue says
what a cute dress! sorry to hear that you are starting work already and not be able to pump 🙁 is it possible to schedule something on your calendar to make sure other people dont schedule meetings with you at the same time? perhaps if your let other people know your priorities, they would try to accomodate.
Chie says
hi jue! hope your pregnancy is going well:) actually, im done with work for now, and on child care leave till august. i was working on a special project for a week, which required me to be out meeting with clients. i enjoyed working again, but im glad now its over! 🙂
Susan - Knitters Delight says
Very cute dress. I have had a significant loss of milk too. I do manage to pump for 15 minutes late morning. I also use part of my lunch to go and feed my baby at daycare. Since I’m the last person to leave me office. I pump again before leaving work while finishing my last bit of work. This has helped quite a bit.
Chie says
i see – it takes a while to pump, store milk properly, and clean up the pump doesn’t it? i felt so rushed and frustrated in the bathroom..
Brigita says
That dress is so cute!
It sucks that you had to go back to work so early. How long maternity leave do you have? Women here can stay home for a year if they choose to and when you’re breastfeeding that’s very convenient.
I’d love to see the wedding dress pics too! 🙂
Chie says
where do you live? in japan, people usually take one year, or sometimes two years for child care leave. i live in japan, but work for american company so i work on american schedule – i have 16 weeks for the leave:)
Janene says
I quite often use existing dresses to make childrens clothes. Its very satisfying and seems to make the process quicker! I love the mini mouse print. Absolutely adorable. I think she will be sooo pleased. x