Lumpy & Bumpy

BEGIN RANT

Yesterday was one of those b-witchy days. A few things had already gone wrong when I started driving over to the tux store to - yet, still, again - attempt to pick up the CORRECT parts for my son's tux. Leaving our neighbourhood, the main road intersects with a road end. The end has the stop sign - and a bush - and cars commonly go too far forward into the intersection but not far enough forward that they can't stop and follow the rules. The "gentleman" at the stop sign ignored all that and instead of stopping when he saw me, gunned it, and cut in front of me even though my blinker was on indicating that I was turning left up that road. I was annoyed. Annoyed enough...

... with him and everything else going on that morning... to lay on the horn. Not a polite tap but a you've ticked me off full fledged hoot. Apparently, he didn't like that. He pulled a U-turn to follow me. Another car and then a school bus ended up between us. In the rear view mirror, I could see him weaving back and forth trying to keep me in sight so I turned down the highway where I could speed up and get a bit further ahead. He caught up with me near the bottom of the hill driving so fast I'm surprised he took the turn. At one point...

... he came right up on my back end before swerving to the left - as I turned to the right - into the Police station. There was no way I was putting up with that crap however, it was unnerving and made the rest of the day a bit shaky even though it proved my point. An incredibly rude, not following the rules, and apparently needs rage counselling, idiot. The day progressed mostly downhill from there. It was a relief to go to work.

END OF RANT



I planned to finish my skirt and wear it this morning. As per usual, I took the waist in an additional 3". It's very strange to me that my waist measures to the pattern and somehow I always end up taking it in. It must be something to do with distribution. When I was using Pattern Master Boutique software, I would draft with zero ease at the waist for skirts and pants and that worked great.



On me, the skirt has that beach ball look I've mentioned before. Millicent and I have the same waist and the same hip measurement however, as you can see, her distribution factors are not my distribution factors. That sticky-outy part to the left of the skirt actually matches up with my hips. I go way out way fast.

My hip high - 3" below my waist - is 9" bigger than my waist and my full hip - 8" below my waist - is 10" bigger than my waist. HOWEVER.. if you look at me sideways, with my high hip the weight is around the back and with my full hip, the weight is at the sides and the tape measure is pulled snug under my derriere which appears flat and wide. It's an in and out distribution format, lumpy and bumpy.



I decided to do some research and read through Fast Fit by Sandra Betzina and Fit For Real People by Pati Palmer. Both excellent books. As they say, it's easy to confuse the symptoms of a small waist and a full hip, however, with my triangle shape, it's most likely that I have larger hips as opposed to a smaller waist. A waist like mine is common to this figure type. It's small but not exceptionally small.



Full hips appear to have a more gradual increase of width as opposed to a sudden increase. The solution for this is to add equal amounts of tissue to the back and front at the side seams. Equal amounts was a clue as I've learned from previous experience that I need more width in the back and less in the front.



Sandra is very straight forward. When I took a workshop with her a few years ago, I asked how to deal with my flat derriere combined with protruding calves and she suggested pants with princess seams to which I responded but I don't always want seams down the back of my pants. Her reply - either get over it or deal with the wrinkles. Hmm... yes... well I do appreciate a tell it like it is approach. Her book is exactly the same.

For the full back high hip she writes - A pattern without princess seams in the back is a problem for this figure, because you are trying to put a flat piece of fabric over a highly curved part of the body. No matter how much fabric you have, it's still going to get caught up on the back high hip. On the other hand, garments with princess seams in the back provide two seams to contour so the fabric can be shaped to fit smoothly over the hip.



Apparently, I need to get over it. Patterns like Simplicity 2451 above with a yoke and only side seams for shaping opportunities are NOT my best look. Patterns like Simplicity 5914 below with no yoke, no waistband, and multiple seams for shaping opportunities ARE my best look. Sigh.



Do you ever get tired of your best look? This is exactly what I meant a few weeks ago when I was talking about finding your style and then getting bored with it. As you can tell, I'm still experimenting and still learning the (same) lessons.



Pati calls this full high hip stuff fluff - LOL. Look at the sewing instructions. Those lines don't exactly work for me either. In the back, it's good. In the front, I need something more gradual. Again - not sure how that works but that's my body. Either way, I end up with lumps and bumps along the side seam that are NOT flattering.



Sandra addresses that in Fast Fit. In this tip, she suggests sewing a 2" wide piece of pre-shrunk Petersham along the seam line attaching it to the seam allowance and extending from the waistband to the knee on both sides. An alternative is medium weight interfacing cut on the bias. I'm assuming non-fusible as she talks about sewing it in. This is a good tip to try on my next basic shift, pencil skirt, princess seamed pants, or wide legged trousers. Have you used it? How does it work?

Today is my birthday. It's not my usual birthday as it's more about my son's grad than my birth although I'm going out for breakfast with a friend and then for a manicure and later on tonight - after the cap and gown - we'll try out the gluten-free chocolate cake from a local bakery. I hope it's good.

Typically, on my birthday, I do whatever I want. While I appreciate when other people celebrate me and - if I'm completely honest - while I'm sometimes annoyed when they don't, especially when I make the effort to celebrate them - I don't wait for someone else to make my day special. That just leads to hurt feelings and disappointment. Instead, I plan some way in which to celebrate me. Most often I go on a shopping trip, take a class, or work on a special project. This year, I'll set another day as my celebrate day. Not next week. It's very busy with four hour shifts and I want the whole day. Hopefully, the week after. Either way - soon.

Monday, I should have grad photos including the raw silk skirt and wrap top for the cap and gown promenade and the mother of the grad dress for the banquet and - of course - my handsome grad.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - GRAD - finally!!!