What I Want for My Birthday, From a Sewist Who Also Happens to Be a Tired Mum

Here is the thing. I am not just one woman.

I am an engineer with a demanding job. I am a mother of two who is completely obsessed with her kids. And somewhere underneath all of that I am still the ten-year-old who loves a hobby, a cute little craft, and randomly baking some bread for her friends.

I want so desperately to be all three that every single day I am exhausted. Happy, but exhausted. Some day I’ll have a cleaner and lord knows what other services I’ll pay for to take things off my plate. Right now I am tired, and I need something. A treat, if you may, to feel like it isn’t all work and mothering and getting contact dermatitis from hand washing my kids’ clothes without gloves.

So this year I’ve chosen three things that each do one job: solve a problem, nourish a hobby, or give me a little treat I have been wanting for years. Three things that each fill a cup in my life that’s looking a little empty.

How I chose these three

If you came here for crafty mum gift ideas, this is the filter I used, and you’re welcome to borrow it. Every option had to earn its place by filling one of three cups. The first cup is the practical one: does it solve a problem I actually have, or take a job off my hands. The second is the hobby cup: does it make one of the things I love easier to reach for on a tired evening. The third is the pure treat cup, the one most mums leave empty for years, the thing you want simply because it’s beautiful and it’s yours. One gift per cup. That’s the whole system.

1. Solve a problem: a new servo motor for my overlocker

I got a beautiful Grimaldi overlocker from my friend. Vintage, beastly, scary, and a bit too mechanical for me. I am an engineer, but I’m an Excel engineer, not a wrench engineer. So it needs a new motor, and I’ve got my eye on a Jack JK-563A energy-saving servo motor from a UK company that actually answers the phone if something goes wrong. That last part matters more to me than the spec sheet. A quiet servo instead of the old clutch motor also means I can sew at 11pm without waking the whole house.

2. Nourish the hobby: a Cricut Joy 2, and it’s time

I want a Cricut and it’s time. I have wanted one for ages and I’ve been watching videos for a while now. I want beautiful handmade paper crafts and I want them now. I found a lovely deal on the Cricut website: the Cricut Joy 2 Ultimate Plus bundle at £199.99, and right now they’re throwing in a free Hat Press with any machine bundle. If that isn’t a sign to get my Cricut now, I don’t know what is.

3. A little treat: a Longchamp backpack

Lastly, I want a beautiful treat that I can look at and say, yeah, that’s mine. So I am finally getting a Longchamp Le Pliage One backpack in burgundy, £145. I love my tote and it has lasted ten years without a scratch. I want a backpack that will let me carry my stuff while carrying a baby and trying to keep a kid from running into traffic. I love the contrast between comfort and beauty, and this is the year.

More than a wishlist

If your birthday or Christmas is coming up, here’s my advice: don’t waste the ask. Pick something that solves a real problem and lifts a bit of weight off you, and then pick something purely for the joy of it, because you have wanted it for years and you more than deserve it. We spend so much of the year taking things off everyone else’s plate. One day of the year, let someone take something off yours.

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Sign-off

If you make your own three-cup wishlist this year, I’d love to see it. Tag me @caramba.crafts and tell me which cup you filled first.