After the birth of her first child, Stephanie Miller struggled with postpartum depression. In addition to adjusting to life with a newborn, the Utah mom wasn’t able to devote time to her artistic passions.
In an interview with Babble, the 27-year-old mother of four explained that not being able to express herself through her oil painting left her feeling lost:
“I felt a loss of identity,” Miller says. “I couldn’t paint anymore and didn’t feel fulfilled like I use to.”
She and her husband, Jon, lived in a one-bedroom apartment. So the fumes from her painting weren’t healthy for the new baby.
Understanding that his wife needed a new creative outlet, Miller’s husband purchased a $50 sewing machine from Walmart. Although she hadn’t sewn anything since she was an adolescent, the new mom tried her hand stitching a stuffed animal for her baby.
The effect of making something by hand for her child was more than she expected:
“That little stuffed bird was a sewing mess, but when I was done, I felt so satisfied,” she adds. “Sewing helped break my postpartum and honestly made me happy.”
Having felt at one point unable to express her creativity, her ideas were now flowing.
Sewing clicked instantly for Miller, who began teaching herself how to make dresses through YouTube videos, including breastfeeding-friendly designs (although admittedly not all of them were first-time hits).
However, it wasn’t always easy for Miller to balance her creative pursuits with the demands of motherhood.
But, as Miller can attest, inspiration can come from unlikely places as she saw life restored in her passion project while looking at her husband’s old button down shirts one day.
As Babble writes, Miller’s husband was cleaning out his closet when she saw a golden opportunity in an old shirt she had given him for Christmas.
Miller saw a dress pattern — for her daughters.
Since then, Miller has been taking men’s shirts and making clothing for her two little girls:
From dresses:
To rompers:
And adorable matching separates:
Miller has even used nail polish stains to her advantage after making a dress with frills:
Miller explained on Instagram that men’s shirts are easy to work with because the buttons and hems are already complete.
At first, a shirt of her husband’s that shrank in the wash upset Miller until she saw it was the basis for a darling gingham dress. No doubt the results left her very happy:
In fact, her husband’s shrinking shirts have become the perfect silhouette for little dresses:
Miller has said her creations don’t take a huge amount of time, and more importantly, her daughters always want to wear them:
The girls love their dresses and didn’t want to take them off to sleep which made my tired mama heart swell.
While she has no plans to sell her designs at the moment in order to focus on raising her kids, Miller told Babble that she would like to start her own business one day.
And Miller’s designs don’t stop at children’s clothes. She makes clothes for friends (and herself) for all occasions. From everyday wear such as peplum tops:
And comfy fitted skirts:
To chic dresses elegant enough for a certain first lady:
Miller’s shirts-turned-dresses are even sweet enough for a flower girl:
Although sewing might not be everyone’s forte, Miller told Babble that everyone has the potential to create joy if they allow themselves the time:
“Making and creating is such an important process to me and I believe everyone can create something beautiful in their life that brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment,” she says. “When we take unorganized material into our hands and mold it into something that did not exist before, it invigorates the soul. The more we take time to be creative, the more beautiful the world around us becomes.”
Luckily, Miller’s daughters see their mom’s creativity come to life every day.
For Miller, it’s important that her kids see her do what she loves. As she told Huffington Post UK in part: “I believe it is important for kids to see their parents be passionate and follow their dreams.”
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