That Didn't Work

I wore the knock off t-shirt and a Simplicity 9825 skirt to church yesterday. Black is so hard to photograph. We couldn't get a really good picture of the top. Here is one overexposed. I wish I had re-arranged a few wrinkles BUT... what I really wanted to show was how the row of buttons across the bust worked better than stopping at that one right on the bust point. A good save. LOTS of compliments.




I made the skirt last September and then lost weight and needed to make it smaller. I did that and then never wore it because...




... one side of the back kick pleat kept flipping forward. It drove me crazy. I tried sewing the pleat shut and couldn't walk. Next, I opened the side seams, carefully pinned and aligned, re-sewed, and it still flipped. I tried again with no success and after that, gave up and didn't bother wearing it until Sunday when I needed something to go with the top.




When I asked Howard to take a picture of the outfit, I asked for one of that bit at the back that's sticking out too and he said nothing is sticking out. When I was getting dressed - and trying to talk myself into wearing a flippy kick pleat - I wondered if it might "wear out" and straighten all by itself. Apparently it did. Don't you love the shoes? I was looking for an excuse to wear them. Not quite the right green - turquoise would be better - but oh well... FUN !




This is the skirt pattern. It's pretty basic. I've decided to use this one with the fuchsia plaid for the SWAP (sewing with a plan) especially after my sewing experiences this weekend - read NOT good.

First, I pinned up the hem on the Marcy Tilton skirt, tried it on, and thought it looked frumpy. I asked my husband what he thought and he - with that deer in the headlights, what's the right answer, look on his face - said that yes, it did look frumpy. I knew it. That didn't work!

It just didn't FEEL right even though it fit nicely. I didn't even bother hemming it. I won't wear it. Dressing is a balance between what looks and what feels right. Doesn't matter to me how wonderful it looks if it doesn't feel like me although it does matter if it looks bad even when it does feel like me. I have to have feeling and looks together for a winning combination. Then I love it to death. The top is - luckily - a winner.

So is the Simplicity skirt. This is a "me" style only I wear it a lot - just like I wear a lot of several other "me" styles like trumpet skirts. My friend Caroline and I had a discussion earlier this year about lowering our frump factor by adding new lines to our typical styles. The Marcy Tilton skirt was supposed to be the new lines of my typical straight skirt. Apparently that's not working. Maybe new - non bias - lines.




This weekend, I changed my mind about using bias binding on the waistband. I couldn't figure out why I had to take the waist on that skirt in and in and in when it should have fit snug right out of the envelope. On Saturday, when I started a Vogue 8603 skirt, I used a facing because the one on the Simplicity skirt fits smooth and snug. As I was drawing the curve for my tipped waist (illustrated above) it dawned on me what the problem was. The curve is bias. Bias binding is bias. Bias stretches. There was nothing to stabilize the curve. DUH! Lesson learned. I'm back to facings made from lining fabrics.




Here's another lesson learned the hard way. When using a longer than needed zipper that I plan to cut the end off of AFTER it is secured with another seam, I pin the zipper tab closed BEFORE sewing the second seam so I don't yank the tab right off the zipper. Ask me how I know?

AND - another lesson. The Vogue 8603 skirt was supposed to be quick and easy, take my mind off the frumpy Marcy Tilton skirt and a few other things that were going on, and give me something to wear on Sunday EXCEPT...




... I forgot to cut out the center back pieces and then I didn't have enough fabric lengthwise and cut them on the crossgrain instead. It's not that I didn't think about it. I laid the fabrics across each other and it looked okay loose but NOT once sewn. Then, it looked like a skunk stripe which is so not happening on the back of my butt. After several dead ends, I switched to knitting for the rest of the weekend. LOL - my machine and I needed to go to our corners and "cool off".

Today, major cleaning and then some sewing. YES YES! I'll start on that plaid skirt. It's hugely ambitious and even so I'm hopeful of finishing both the skirt and the knitted top to wear to the exhibit opening on Friday. Maybe, maybe not.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - Namaste Foods - namaste is a Sanskrit word with no literal translation. It is used by this company to mean "the Spirit within me honors and respects the Spirit within you". I'll take that.
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Personal Growth - This weekend was somewhat of a pity party. I had a few good cries and some mad, sad, frustrated moments and now I'm putting on my big girl panties and getting on with it. On Friday, after food testing, I found out that not only am I allergic to gluten and dairy, I am also allergic to corn, soy, yeast, egg whites, and seventeen other foods. This is hugely overwhelming for me. I can cook but I don't like to and I tend to use cans and packages in combination with fresh foods. These often contain ingredients that I must now avoid which means cooking from scratch.

Cooking is an art form. It's not my art form. I love trying new foods and ethnic restaurants and eating varied cuisine and even so, I'd much rather be creative in other ways. I don't understand the language. I can't read a recipe and know what it will taste like unless I've eaten something similar. I don't have a sense for what a spice tastes like or how various spices work together. Apparently, that doesn't matter. Apparently, this is something I will need to learn.




My hissy fit is over. 24 hours, some whining, and now I'm formulating a plan. I need to do some more research and I'm confident that there IS a path of healing. Meanwhile, I'm very thankful for Namaste Foods which are produced in a gluten, wheat, soy, corn, potato, peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, and casein free environment. SO HELPFUL.

At least I can grab a bag once in while in-between reading and experimenting. This makes life a little easier. I'm also thankful that my husband is about to leave on a long trip. That will give me time to work through the harder parts of an elimination diet before he gets back. AND... it's winter. I rarely travel or have company in winter. AND... I have no plans until April. All good.

I find myself wondering what? Not why - what? Why never makes sense to me. Why not me? Why someone else? I'm not exempt from difficulties. I do believe that stuff happens for, and because of, various reasons and that there is always a lesson to be learned. What is my lesson?

Definitely this new reality will affect our health and our budget with less eating out and less buying of packaged foods. It will also make me more house bound. One is positive; one not necessarily so.

What can I learn? How can I use that to help myself and others? Where is this going? These are all questions that will become clearer over time. Right now, my focus is on overcoming and healing from allergies. If you have a positive story to that end, I'd love to hear it. If not, please no. I want to focus on the positive. Thanks.