I initially made small projects like purses, cushions and single quilt block wall hangings which is why when I joined Instagram I named my account A Little Patchwork. From their accounts I discovered the quilting community on Instagram. One of my favourite fabric designers Tasha Noel, had a great blog which had links to lots of other fabulous patchwork bloggers like Amy Sinibaldi from Nana Company and Kerri Horsley from Lovely Little Handmades. It was wonderful to have a hobby that I loved and also meant I could help my little girl gain her confidence back as it stopped strangers staring at her whenever we left the house.Īs my children got older they preferred shop bought clothes over handmade ones which meant I was free to discover a new type of sewing – patchwork! So I used my sewing skills to make her pants that we could pull over her head like a skirt and then button up over her cast. Unfortunately along with having a little toddler stuck in a frog leg position we also couldn’t find any clothes to fit her. It was also a great skill to have after my 18 month old daughter was diagnosed with hip dysplasia and needed to spend 6 months in a hip spica cast (a cast from chest down to both ankles) and then a brace.

I enrolled in a basic dressmaking class at a local fabric store – which was a great introduction to sewing – and spent the next few years making clothes for my children. So I decided to try my hand at making my own clothes again and bought my first sewing machine 8 years ago. We spent two months sewing a pair of shorts in horrible fabric that in the end didn’t fit me and went straight to the bin!Īfter the birth of my daughter, I struggled to find dresses in prints that I liked, at a price I could afford. I had sewing lessons in high school but didn’t enjoy it in the slightest. She’s also a passionate sewist with a home full of handmade comfy cushions and snuggly quilts!Īnge found time to take five with us and share her sewing story. Happily married with two children and living in a converted shed on acreage about an hour outside Canberra, Ange Hamilton dreams about building an energy passive house and being self sufficient.

Hamilton keep it in your pants