The Magic of 31

As I ponder what to do next for sewing, in addition to running measurements on and doing a muslin for DD#2's semi-formal dress, I discovered I had reached a momentous milestone while at the gym. I've been a gym member for the past 11 out of 12 years, mostly hardworking, but periods of not so regular attendance occasionally.

During one of my not-so-hardworking periods, I had to get a tetanus shot after sitting on my carpet and getting (what else!) a long quilting pin jabbed deep into my right calf muscle. It wasn't fun pulling it out either. When I go to my GP, she always takes weight and BP. She informed me my BP was 135/75. I told her I'd lose at least 10 lbs and headed straight to the gym vowing to get back to a regular cardio/weightlifting schedule.

I did. And minus a prescription along with hard work, my BP is very much normal and down. Also, the girls work out too which is nice. I've waited so long for them to join me, and it's finally nice to have part of my family working out with me at the same time when they can. It doesn't seem that long ago that they were toddlers waving to me at the playroom window while I was working out.

That was around the age of 31. My magic gym number. You see, that was the year of my peak physical fitness--the best in my life. Then I became pregnant with baby no. 4 and had to tone down my cardio workouts to keep my heart rate no more than 140. Still lifted weights but no abs as per my OB/GYN's instructions. That led to the easiest C-section delivery known to woman LOL. I was able (given the go-ahead by my doctor) to resume lifting weights at 3 weeks for upper and lower body, and start light ab work at 6 weeks. Even DH comments that my C-section was a "piece of cake". We both thought it was going to be a big issue, and it wasn't.

After that, I came close at times to reaching the a physical fitness level close to what I was at 31, but never reached it. Until now. Two years ago, I made the committment to get back to my fitness peak at that magic age. It took almost two years to get there the first time, and it has been about the same this time. With one caveat. I can assure you I have to work harder at getting there with my 42-year old body than my former 31-year old one. Believe it when people tell you things get harder after 40. What I used to be able to accomplish in 1 1/2-2 hour workouts 3X/week now takes 5X/week. A typical workout week is 3 days/week weightlifting, 5 days/week cardio and abs.

Cardio-wise, I'm about 98% of what I was at 31. As for weightlifting, I'm way over my 31-year old level at about 115-120% of muscular fitness. Overall, I'm more fit. And I'm not slacker. I work out hard, really hard. I push myself to my physical limits in both areas, and my shirt is soaked when I'm done with my workouts. My focus the past year has been to bulk up. Not like a female bodybuilder, but enough that people will notice that I work out. My least favorite thing to do is ab work. But I do it. Every day I'm at the gym I work 'em hard.

I've finally reached the magic of 31. Again. It feels good. SO good. Now I have to get ready to go work out with my girls :) .

Feel the power, women! Stay strong!!

Cape Mod and the Self-Drafted Skirt

I finished up the Cape Mod from the Sew Everything Workshop book by Diana Rupp. I wanted my friend Pat to see the finished garment so here it is. I'm teaching her how to sew and this is the project she is working on.

I tried to simulate the look in the book and made a matching, self-drafted skirt and added the boots. Diana explains in her book that there is plenty of ease in the sizes. She is so correct! I truly feel I could have gone down a size both with the tunic and cape. However, the sizing is likely good for a beginner because sewing something that is too small, and thus unwearable, is terribly frustrating.

The construction method was a little frustrating to me, only because the instructions are very simplistic--GREAT for a beginner, but tedious and time consuming for an experienced sewer. For example, the bottom hem of the fashion fabric and lining is simply turned up and pressed. A wide ribbon is handstitched to cover the raw edge. This is a long hem! I hate hand stitching and would much rather bag linings whever possible. However, for a beginner it's a really good way to practice handstitching. The ribbon is also a great opportunity for embellishing the interior too. Gives a beginner sewer design opportunities if they find a really pretty ribbon. Problem is, I couldn't find any fancy nice ribbons and just used a Walmart-purchased brown one. The lining I used is just "any old lining fabric" purchased locally. It's brown. It's matches. It works.

In addition, I didn't see any info on stabilizing the buttonholes with interfacing. There again, there's not going to be too much stress on the buttonholes because of the nature of the cape. It's not form fitting. So not stabilizing would be okay. I think Diana's perspective was not to have the beginning sewer experience what I call "information overload". However, experienced sewers know to stabilize those buttonholes.

One thing I found annoying about this pattern. The shoulders are incredibly wide! Even for a broad-shouldered person. Pat is broad shouldered. I'm narrow shouldered. She made a Large and I made a medium. The shoulders on both sizes were so broad and angular (think square shoulders!), and the shoulder area collapsed. We had to redraw the shoulder seamline on both of our capes so the fabric would curve to our body.

Other than that, it's a nifty pattern for a beginner. It produces a nice, trendy cape great with jeans or to be dressed up as I have done with a matching skirt. I wasn't going to make a matching skirt at first, but thought, "What the heck!" I'm glad I did.

Here's another view showing more of the interior. Note the cape has convenient slits for the arms.

I had a terrible time matching buttons for the fabric I used: a mostly blue 100% thick (and itchy!) Irish wool purchased at Ursula's store. I finally found some at Pocono Sew and Vac with the help of one of their employees. Would have preferred dark brown buttons, but I have no other dark brown accessories and am not a person who wears dark brown well. Another thing I'm having a terrible time with...finding a matching caramel/brown/taupe colored turtleneck to match my boots and pumps. It HAS to be a turtleneck. In the pics, I'm not wearing a top underneath, and as mentioned before, this is itchy wool. I can't have that touching my arms or possibly my neck all day. It will drive me insane.

In order to balance my proportions, since the cape is so flowy, I created a slim, short skirt. My philosophy on dressing is to follow the narrow top/wide bottom, wide top/narrow bottom, or narrow top/narrow bottom rule. Too wide on both will make me look 20 lbs. heavier in an instant.



Here's a pic of the back at left. Nice and flowing. Still working hard to get those creases out with my steam iron. Just when I think they're gone, I find they're still there! Darn. Just by luck the boots were a good match. Do you know why I have them? About three years ago, DS#1 wanted to be Obi Wan Kenobi for Halloween. I made his outfit and we went to Payless to buy the boots. There was no way I was going to pay $20 or $30 for boots he'd wear once, so I bought them knowing full well they'd be mine once Halloween was over ;) . My exact words to him: "NO ONE will know they're girly boots! No boys focus on feet. And the girls will be so consumed with their frilly, girly costumes that they're not going to notice either." That convinced him, and we purchased the boots.


As for the skirt, I used my self-drafted slim skirt pattern and put a small slit in the back. The skirt has enough blue to be able to wear it with black. Here's another pic of the skirt with a black, stretch velvet top I made from a Kwik Sew pattern about 5 or 6 years ago.

Here's the skirt with top and flats:


I really like this look. It's polished, comfortable and would be good for work and church. Proportionately, I think it works for my figure too.

For some reason, I was struck with the idea of a fancier interior finish for my skirt. One that I don't usually do. Instead of traditional lining, I underlined the skirt with lining fabric and did a Hong Kong Finish of the seams. I used purchased brown bias tape to cover the edges. Probably should have just created my own from the lining fabric and it would have been a lot thinner, but that would take much more time which isn't it my schedule. I bound the hem edge with bias tape as well. On the waist edge, I bound it with bias tape and turned/topstitched. I made sure to do it in a way so the wool would not touch my skin because I will not tuck in my shirts unless wearing a blazer (the rule of short-waisted chicks like me).

I'm happy with the result. The skirt fits like a dream and looks nice inside and out. Yeah, I should have interfaced the hemline. Oh well, next time. My sewing jumps around so much from garment to garment that I don't always remember to do these things. The zip in the back is a centered zip, forget about wrestling with an invisible zip in the somewhat thick wool. And anyway, I actually like centered zips. Although a side, lapped one would have looked nice too.

I'll leave you with a view of my Hong Kong finished skirt seams and portion of the hem. The inside skirt finish makes me feel...rich. Fancy. You know...like I went shopping in an upscale boutique :) . I hope this feeling doesn't last too long LOL. You know what that will mean! A one-garment-a-month sewer :( . I sew slow and can't bear the thought of anything slowing me down even more.


Below: "Anti-Itch" Waistline binding at left shown from right side of skirt and Hong Kong finished seam and bound hem.




























Till next time, Happy Sewing! Happy Easter to my Christian friends and Happy Passover to my Jewish Friends.

The "Almost, If Only" Oufit.

Years ago, (um...many years ago sometime around the mid-late '80's) I bought the Butterick pattern below hoping to make a top like the left-most illustration and a skirt with fishtail godet on the right-hand illustration. When I bought the pattern, I immediately thought, "Oh! This is SO Joan Collins!" Alexis (yeah, I'm aging myself with my Dynasty days) would have been proud.

I never used the pattern and only recently just used the pattern cover for a guide and made a self-drafted bustier and self-drafted skirt to recreate the look below:

I went all out except for my darn shoes. Alexis would have had pumps that were a minimum 3" high. Bad me! I added my Hollywood hair too. Even had some bold earrings on. Let's face it though, Alexis would have put me to shame with a great matching clutch or some fancy purse.

However, Alexis would have also chimed in with, "It almost looks good. If only you would have changed the front horizontal waistline seam to a V-shaped seam instead." Alexis was short. But I don't think she was short-waisted like me. One little change on that seam, and the outfit would have looked way better. I accept it. I still like it. It's my "Almost" outfit. After all, I designed it to look like the pattern cover and it does. Except the pattern illustration features a model with an average length torso. You can be darn sure I'm going to change the pattern to a V-waist seam. It could have been a really nice outfit. Now it is just an average/good one. (Hey! Barbie dolls are short waisted too ;) .)

Not too worry. This really started out more like a muslin. I made the bustier in Kenneth King's class. I was hard at work self-drafting the pattern before the class started so I was good to go. Here's a closeup pic of the bustier on my dressform when it was almost done:

In fact, I wasn't paying too much attention on how I was going to close it up, then it was finished and I had to put in the zipper. Therefore, the zipper installation was crap. The zipper tape should have been put in between the lining and fashion fabric layers, and it wasn't. It was put in as a last step. Think raw, bulky edges at the waistline seam. It had to be covered up. There was NO way I'd stand in front of somebody with a shitty waistline/zipper area. So I got to work creating a focal point instead with ribbon work. Here's it is:

I created ribbon flowers for a ribbon flower corsage to match the flowers in the print. Also added some hot-fix crystals for the 80's glam look. Used some long ribbons for extra camoflauge just in case. Which reminds of another snafu. When cutting out the back skirt portion of the top, I forgot to include a CB seam! I was so mad. So I created a faced opening on the top's skirt portion. That's make-it-work sewing for you. No one can tell there was ever an issue.

The ribbon work is attached to the back via small velcro strips. Here's a pic of the back of the top. It doesn't look like the long, thin ribbon colors match the floral print, but they do.

On the skirt, I bound the top edge with bias binding (I just didn't feel like putting a whole lot of effort into an outfit I'll rarely wear) and installed an invisible zip. Personally, I don't care for invisible zips that much. They seem flimsy and sometimes break on me. I used El's invisible zipper tutorial, and it turned out great. Thank you very much, El's. That's a great tutorial as many people will concur. On the back, I had to do a little fudging with the godet. I drafted the godet as per instructions in Roberta Carr's Couture Sewing book, but I was installing it in the CB seam and not as per her info. It required a little work, but I like it, and find it has more of a "fishtail look" than with a standard godet.

Here's a pic of the godet on the back:

Overall, the outfit turned out fine. Not my fave because of the waistline seam and several things I din't think about beforehand due to this and that. However, I'm very glad I put forth the effort.

On to Kenneth King's Bustier class...it's AWESOME! My bustier is like a rock. It has so much support and is so well constructed you wouldn't believe it. There is NO chance of any wardrobe malfunctions in my bustier. In fact, I don't even need to wear a strapless bra--it's that supportive. Usually, I'd wear pushup pads in my strapless bra, but it was totally unnecessary. I can't wait to make one up again with a v-waist.

The reason why I took the class was to improve on my construction of strapless dresses. The ones I've made in the past have never been this well constructed. This info will certainly help when DD#2 asks me to make her prom dress in the next couple of years. When I do the pattern review for this outfit, I'll try to do the review for Kenneth's class as well.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to post my cape and matching skirt outfit.

Freshman High School Sewing: 2009

DD#2 just finished up her Sewing and Ceramics classes today. The upper grades use block scheduling so they're one marking period classes but double the daily time length (at least 1 1/2 hours for each class). She made so many nice things, and that's what I'm going to show you today! I think of HS as 9-12, but our school is not configured that way. Technically, she is Jr. High, and HS starts the Sophomore year. Anyway, these were her projects in her Freshman Sewing and Ceramics classes.

First, the "Really Good" stuff! That would be Sewing :) .

1. Large, stuffed pillow with quilt blocks (machine stitched)

2. Small pillow (front pieces were handstitched with different types of stitching and the back piece is just a solid piece. Both sides were machine stitched together).

3. Needlepoint (Would you believe this little thing glows in the dark? It's stitched on glow-in-the-dark fabric!)

Check out the different stitches that were used in the closeup below--blanket stitch, running stitch, chain stitch among others.

Next up, a "white" apron. It *was* white and nicely stitched to boot. This was the apron I wrote about in a previous post because I thought it couldn't be the one she made in class. The stitches looked too nice for a beginner. When everyone was finished with their white aprons, they tie-dyed them in class.

Here's the front pocket stitching detail on the apron. That's some pretty straight stitching for a 14-year old beginner sewer:

Last but not least, this neon green tote bag. One side has a long handle, the other side a short one, with a drawstring top and small pocket on the side. I was very impressed with this one and think it looks very store bought.

I asked her to write up reviews for each project at Pattern Review but, unfortunately, she's not terribly interested in doing that. I'll keep pressing her because it might motivate other young sewers out there. Her class was so talented. Her teacher kept pushing the group to do more work because it was such a great group of kids. They had potential and ability. I hope to see some of their work in the local fair this summer.

On to the "Good" Stuff. This is not all inclusive. She said her last project was a large castle. Their final project was based on a fairy tale of their choice. She said it was impressive but needs me to pick her up to bring it home. She's really proud of that one and I'll post a pic of it when it comes home but for now...

Her Ceramics projects which include:

1. Vase. She's not too happy with it, says it could have been much better. I like its quirky look though, and it has a permanent spot on my kitchen counter.

2. The cheetah. She's proud of this one. It's actually a holder with a cover on the back.

3. Little holder with handles. I use it for pins :) .

4. Spoon holder. I love this! Just what I need in my kitchen.

5. Name plate for her room. Name obviously whited out.

6. Banana holder. I stash pieces of gum or mints in there from time to time.

7. A hastily-made, small shallow dish. She's not proud of this one but it's perfect for something like salsa or some other type of dip.

So these were her projects during the last 9 weeks. Last year she took Wood Shop and made a great stool. It looks like the kind you'd buy at an Amish store--very well made and sturdy. So what classes replace Ceramics and Sewing this marking period? Gym and Gifted. She's a jock so she'll like Gym, but as far as exercising the brain, I really like her work on the creative aspect. I'm hoping she'll miss it and think about taking more "crafty" type of classes if she can fit it in her academic schedule. These are the classes that make school fun IMO.

Phat Kat Pick of the Week: 4/3/07

I looked over blogs Saturday night and came up with another Pick of the Week. There are certain things I look for when making my pick.

No. 1: It has to be on a real body as opposed to a dress form. The reason being I'm looking for the "total" look. As sewers, we make a lot of things, some are duds and some are really stellar. Some look great on a dressform, but when we put it on our bodies, it just doesn't look as nice. Sewing IS important, but proportion and fit are just as important when creating the ideal look. Another issue is, the proportion and fit can be just right, but the style itself is simply not flattering. So I'm looking at everything.

So THE pick this week is found at Quality Time . Yes! This is Angie's dress. I think it looks so fab on her and I tell you why.

No. 1: It's a youthful look that looks terrific on her. I know she has two kids, is likely in her 30's, and she looks fresh out of college in this number. We all need dress like that. Her flowy hairstyle looks perfect with the dress too.

No. 2: How tall is she??? She looks 10 feet tall :) . You really can't tell. The dress elongates her figure IMO. It highlights her nice legs and arms. It's simply a really flattering style.

Way to go, Angie! I just love this style on you!!!

Public Service Announcement

Do you suffer from migraines? They're awful! They're the mother of all headaches. And I don't even get them like some people do where they get nauseous, numb, and are out for days. Mine only knock me out for a good 5-6 hour chunk of time. Luckily, I only get them occasionally, maybe once every 6 mos.-2 years. And I'm due for one unfortunately.

Luckily I discovered that OTC vitamins (of all things!) are a migraine trigger for me. When I start taking them, I'll get something like 3 migraines/week. I found this out through careful analysis at one point.

A small percentage of migraine sufferers have visual auras like me. They are the prelude to a headache. Mine last for about a 1/2 hour followed by the whammy of a migraine headache. Guess I should feel fortunate. It's a warning--find a place to relax and get some Tylenol, Motrin, and caffeine in my system fast. Caffeine restricts the blood vessels I think? It's in the OTC med for migraine headaches.

Problem is, most people don't understand the visual aura. I told my husband about it, and he thought it was simply halos around lights. It's not. About a year ago I found an excellent link as to what a migraine aura looks like to us migraine sufferers. It is highly enlightening to those who don't get migraines and understand the aura. My husband was quite surprised. It's bothersome, annoying, disorienting, and restricts your field of vision. It's why I need to lay down and close my eyes (if possible) when it happens. Even after closing my eyes though, I can still see the aura.

So for the general population that doesn't understand what an aura is or what it looks like, check out this link:

Migraine Aura Simulation

Click on the button next to the car. This outstanding simulation will let you "see" what we see during a visual aura. You might want to share the viewing experience with others that may not comprehend what happens during an aura.

Why is this not a sewing post this morning and rather a public service announcement? Because my camera battery died! Don't you hate when that happens?!?! But I do think the info above might be useful for someone.

13 Thank You's and Finished Projects

Last week I went into my daughter's Freshman Sewing class to do a presentation/activity with the class. The topic was Ribbon Roses and Ribbon Leaves. The info for the ribbon leaf can be found in my previous blog post on a ribbon leaf tutorial. It was a lot of fun, and a great embellishing activity to decorate their projects. A few days ago, DD#2 left a yellow envelope on my rocker. I picked it up, wondering what was inside, and found 13 Thank You notes from her class. Back to the class sewing projects, justwhat were they? Really super ones! They've made decorative samplers, craft caddies, aprons, small backpacks, and needlework. When they finished sewing their aprons, they tie-dyed them in class.

I'll post pics of most of her projects in the next few days. I thought her work was particularly outstanding for a beginner. She did, of course, take a beginner sewing class when she was 8 at our local Sew and Vac and made shorts and a fleece top so she's not a total sewing newbie, but the girl has talent. In fact, she left her apron folded on our living room rocker and when I picked it up I commented to myself, "Was this the apron she made in class? It can't be. The stitching lines look so nice and straight!" Three days later she asks, "Mom, where is that apron that I left on the rocker?" To which I responded, "That's not the one you made, is it?" She absolutely surprised me and said it was. It simply was such nice work.

Some day. Some day I tell you. She'll realize sewing is fun and she'll sit down at the machine and won't want to get back up. Not yet though. But I have to believe it will happen.

Anyway, I finally finished that super easy cape from the Sew Everything Workshop book. It's so easy, but a lot of handsewing drudgery. Very important stuff, IMO, to teach a beginning sewer how to do, but I much prefer to bag a lining. Anything but handsewing for me. It had to be done, though, for my beginning sewing students. It's nice to actually see the garment made up beforehand. Also made a matching skirt. In fact, I want to shout to the world, "Yeah! Go ahead and look up my skirt!" :) . Inside you will find an underlined skirt with lining fabric with a nice Hong Kong finish for the seams. I should have mitered the corners of the vent but simply didn't remember to do until the hemline was completely done. The hemline edge was bound in the same fabric as the Hong Kong finish.

Also, the bustier is completely finished and I made a matching skirt. The bustier is a floral print, the skirt is black with a matching floral godet at the CB ceam in the back where the slit would be. I used Roberta Carr's Couture Sewing book to create the godet.

Both skirts were made from my self-drafted pattern. I really love that pattern, and it's so helpful and enjoyable to simply be able to whip up a pattern and not worry too much about fit since those issues have already been worked out.

In addition, I made 12 individual gifts with embroidery for DD#2's travel softball team. I'd love to take a pic of those but can't due to privacy reason.

Haven't decided what to work on next for myself, but I have to get started on DD#2's semi-formal dress and a Chinese Auction basket for the school softball team's fundraiser dance. Trying to do some stash reduction as well.

Pics ARE forthcoming.