It’s my 45th birthday today!! It’s not been a great year, tbh, with a truly horrific last 6 months, but to quote my friend Louis de Pointe du Lac, “A shit life beats no life.” And maybe this birthday will mark the start of a fresh new year, eh?
If you’re a long-term reader, you’ll know that I always like to sew myself something special for my birthday. With gaining so much weight from Long Covid, I wanted to sew something that would fit me now and still fit me when I go back to my usual body size. The Named Saraste Top from their “Breaking the Pattern” book is one of my favourite ever patterns, so it was a natural choice. There’s mix and match pieces here that allow you to make a dress, shirt, or top with varying pieces. Here I used the body of the Top minus the ruffles, with the collar from the Shirt & Dress, and short sleeves from the Solina pattern.
I’ve made the shirt and dress versions of this Saraste pattern multiple times already, but only made the swinging Top version once before! But I love that top and wear it to death in summer, and it crucially still fits so it meant I could use the same pattern pieces and not have to print and prep new ones.
Last Fall I bought 2m of Lise Tailor “Nino cat” viscose fabric from Lamazi Fabrics because, well, it’s covered in cat drawings but without being a “childish” print. It was quite pricey at £21/m but I absolutely loved it and knew I’ve make it into something special. It was really difficult to find this anywhere that wasn’t sold out at the time, so there’s not much hope – ooh Good Fabric still have a few meters of it left in stock!
I also bought blue corozo buttons from Lamazi Fabrics at the same time, which ended up having the world’s tiniest buttonholes?! Truly, getting the needle to come up through the hole each time truly felt like a triumph!
But I’m glad I prevailed, even if I had to sew them on two at a time before I had to lie down for a while (it was a particularly bad Long Covid day).
I utterly love this new version of a beloved top, and birthday makes are always so special to me. Looking at my wardrobe I could tell you exactly which ones were from which year!
And incredibly, since I started this tradition on my 26th birthday so this marks the 20th year!
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If you recall, I always make myself something nice and special for my birthday each year…
Past Birthdays
44th – I sewed a floral print Issy top using fabric and a pattern I’d wanted to sew for such a long time!
40th – For my big 4-0 I sewed a bias-cut silk satin evening gown with cowl neck and plunging back for a big cocktail party! 
39th – I sewed myself a long sleeved cycling top though really I spent the day moving into our temporary flat while the boat was being renovated. 
38th – I made a Gimlet dress out of some incredible, embroidered ombre denim with flashes of the red satin lining.
37th – This birthday sucked. I’d been continuously ill for three months, we spent six hours stuck in traffic and got turned away from the restaurant (no bookings). I couldn’t even summon the enthusiasm to post about it, let alone make anything.
36th – A pair of jeans to take along for a week’s trip to NYC, where they saw active duty in our intensive, immersive theater schedule
35th – A galaxy-print sheath dress, using a Manequim pattern and a purple exposed zipper.
34th – A satin Matthew Williamson designer dress, made with his pattern from BurdaStyle magazine and a rich, plum duchesse satin.
33rd – A leather iPad case, protecting a new gift against the rigours of a transatlantic work trip the following day.
32nd – Manequim silk blouse: still being worn and loved many years later!
31st – LMB draped birthday dress in teal silk jersey:
30th – Green silk birthday dress using a Burda magazine pattern a emerald green silk satin:
29th – A bolero and jeans, on which I put the outline of the Thames on the back pockets, and lined the bolero with some vintage apron fabric from my Granny:
28th – I was homeless and living out of a suitcase in my boyfriend’s parents’ house, watching the Shipping Forecast every single day, hoping for good weather to sail our boat across the North Sea. My sewing machine was in storage, so I couldn’t make a new outfit, and frankly, ALL I wanted was for our boat to arrive. And it did, on the evening of my birthday.
27th – New Look 6429 in a fun sparkly knit from Walthamstow Market (and then about three days later decided to lose all that excess weight for good!).
26th – (probably the first year I was really into sewing) my favourite vest pattern with a red vinyl square neckband:
