Sunday 12 April 2015

Purple Dress for Epilepsy

March 26 was Purple Day for Epilepsy so I made a purple dress :)
(I had it ready for the day, but haven't had chance to photograph and blog it until now!)


The dress is from a Sew Sweet Handmade Clothes For Girls by Yuki Araki, a Japanese sewing book translated into English that I was lucky enough to receive for Christmas.  The dress went together well enough although as is common with these books the instructions can be a bit sparse.  Looking at the diagrams though and using my own sewing know-how I figured it out.  The only annoying part being having to add seam allowances to the pattern pieces.  Luckily for this dress the pieces had lots of straight lines so it wasn't too hard to do.


The dress went together quite easily. I was about nervous about the square neckline but I'm starting to get better at top-stitching at long last and it all went together smoothly.  I've found that moving the needle over and using the lines on my sewing foot gives me pretty good results.  Most people have probably been doing that for years but I have to admit it's been a recent revelation for me.


I made a size 100 which is 3/4.  I know Japanese sewing books can be generous with sizing but this one had a note from the author saying it is important to have clothes that fit kids not just be too big for them to grow in to so I erred on the side of caution.  It is fairly generous on Freya, especially around the neck but not ridiculously so.


The charity cause for Epilepsy is close to the heart for me as Freya was diagnosed with Epilepsy just over 18 months ago after having three big seizures in about a month.  This time last year we were in hospital for her uncontrollable seizures which got continuously worse (she started averaging around 80+ a day), despite the best efforts of the team of doctors at the Children's Hospital.  We were lucky enough that Freya was able to have brain surgery in April last year and since then, with medication she hasn't had a seizure since July.  The surgery left her with the weakness in her right arm and leg, but we are so proud of how far she has come and the way she has exceeded the doctors expectations with what she is able to do.  Although it was a truly awful time we count our blessings that the doctors were able to help Freya and do something to help her,  There are so many people out there where epilepsy has such a profound effect on their lives, and medications don't always work.



5 comments:

  1. Lovely dress - and I really like the fabric. I'm sorry to hear about Freya's epilepsy, that must have been a very scary and difficult time for you. It's good to hear that things have improved so dramatically, and i hope they continue to get better. She is such a cutie!

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    1. Thank you, I just thought it was time to share her story here and do my bit to raise a tiny bit of awareness. It was a scary time but she was amazing throughout this past year, always having a smile for the doctors and nurses. She has come such a long way and we are so very proud of her!

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  2. You made a very cute dress again. I admit that I was wondering why she has the leg brace. What a horrible period that must have been, the time of the seizures and operation. Not knowing about the future of your child has to be one of the worst things possible. I hope she will continue to amaze you and the doctors.

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  3. Love the dress and thanks for the update. I have been following your blog and noticing over the past year just how much more Freya is using her right arm in her model poses. As far as shoes and boots, perhaps there is a blog for parents of kids with orthopedic challenges? One of my kids had a club foot requiring casts and splints for a year, then corrective shoes, another had severe life threatening asthma, not the typical kind since he was born with impaired lung function and I found great support and assistance from other parents going thru similar problems. They also helped by giving me support in dealing with insensitive comments from adults who should know better, or make blase comments like "oh that's just something he'll outgrow" when we were hoping/praying to just make it through another day.Good luck and God bless. She is just blossoming under your loving care!

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    1. Thank you for your support! I hope your kids are doing well now. That's a good idea about finding similar groups, I've managed to find some forums for the Epilepsy but I'll look for some orthopedic ones too. Luckily we've been blessed with some very supportive family, friends and colleagues.

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