Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Clips and Pieces...

I found these fascinating video series during one of my unintentional Internet deep dives. Enjoy!


Gourmet Makes with Claire Saffitz from Bon Appetit.
I discovered this a month ago by accident. Claire recreates commercially produced snack foods such as Oreos, Cheetos, Skittles, and Twinkies using her baking knowledge and the Internet. It's fascinating!



Home Primp decorating videos from Chatelaine on YouTube. These inexpensive quick space makeovers produced by Alexandra Gater are quite good and will come in handy once I get my own place again. They're not too fussy nor bland.



Refinery 29's My Sweet Digs. I've always been interested in the idea of  living in quirky apartments from New York City to St. Louis. The ones covered in these videos are listed by rent and location, from all over the country, revealing the range of apartments and living styles available at different price points.

I'm warning you though...I binged these all like they were Netflix series.

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Sewing For My Curves

Have you checked out the Sewing For My Curves series on the Curvy Sewing Collective yet? You should. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading about other women telling it like it is and sharing the truth about how different every individual body is.

Well, I finally took the time to take new measurements and was surprised (once again) by what size I really am. Forgive me, members of the Collective, as I steal your format to map out my plans.

My Body*:

Upper Bust: 37"
Full Bust: 38.5"
Waist: 34"
Hip: 44
Height: 5'4"
Body type: Hourglass
RTW Size: I really have no idea, probably a 12.
Pattern Size: 16 on top and 20 on the bottom
Attributes: slightly uneven shoulders, high waist, narrow back, swayback/prominent buttocks, full thighs, proportionate hips

Pattern Adjustments I Make:
  • Use high bust to choose pattern size
  • Grade between bust to waist/and hips (which are the same pattern size)
  • Compare paper pattern measurements to my own
  • Shorten the back waist length
  • Add width to biceps
  • Attempt FBAs when needed

Where I Am Now

Since I turned 40, I have been putting on weight slowly, year by year. I wasn't bothered since everything was still staying in proportion and my clothes still fit. However, I have found that the gains are increasing so more quickly now. At some time I had gained 10 pounds without even noticing.

I have always had a proportionally small waist and unfortunately, that is where all my weight is going now. I hate the way it feels in my elastic waist skirts and looks in my slim fitting dresses. Therefore, clothing-wise, I am currently avoiding anything that obscures the waist because I feel the need to emphasize how slim I am there when compared with my fuller top and bottom.

A fit & flare silhouette is my go-to now and the way I will feel better in my clothes. For the time being no sheath or shift dresses and there has to be some waist definition, even if it's just the addition of a belt. The following patterns fit that silhouette.

Sewing Wishlist From My Stash:

Butterick 6316
McCall's 7415
New Look 6301
Simplicity 1560
McCall's 7432
Vogue 8665
Simplicity 1325

What's My Sewing Goal:

Create slopers that I will compare with all my store bought patterns. I will create two for the torso, one with McCall's 7279, a commercial fitting pattern (with Palmer & Pletsch instructions) and a second one drafted from the instructions in Pattern Cutting by Dennic Chunman Lo. For my bottom half, I will create a skirt sloper with steps from the Cal Patch book, Design It Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified and I will use McCall's 7415 (also Palmer & Pletsch) to create a no side-seam pant (similar to the Persephone pant by Anna Allen) before attempting a more traditional pant pattern.

* As of May 2018.

Sunday, July 15, 2018

It's All In The Numbers


Riteaid stores have this thing called higi, a health and wellness kiosk that measures and records certain health data through a procedure that only takes 15 minutes. It records the blood pressure, pulse, weight, and body mass index of an individual.

When I first moved back to Hampton in 2014, I sat down at the kiosk for the first time and recorded my numbers. At that time, my weight was 142 lbs and my BMI was 24.42, normal weight. Two years later, I recorded my numbers and my weight then was 162 lbs with my BMI increased by 3.55 to 27.98. I was now officially categorized as overweight. Oh my.

Note that the weight gain occurred in the years I was working big-box retail. I was a depressive sloth with a strange schedule who had learned how to stress-eat my feelings until I finally escaped that job.

So, now, two more years later; after reaching a high of 170 lbs at 5'4" tall, my exercise routine has me holding steady at 165 lbs. So, I did keep gaining but not at the pace of that first increase and I am currently walking approximately seven miles a week outdoors in this southern heat. So, I'm doing pretty good.

My wardrobe has suffered. As I find things no longer fit or are no longer comfortable, I've been moving them over to one side of my closet. That side is now taking over! So many lovely things that I can no longer wear....

My exercise routine has to increase, despite this heat. I need to take my diet more seriously, eating less is not producing the weight loss, like I hoped. It also isn't that enjoyable. I need to also research more on anti-bloat foods (low FODMAP*) because my stomach is frequently betraying me when I start to think I can wear something cute again. Suggestions about that are very welcome.

One bright light I found is Rini Frey aka @ownitbabe on Instagram. I appreciate her philosophy about accepting your own body and not being too hard on yourself. It has helped.

* Look at the good-to-eat list first, most things can still be enjoyed, just in moderation.

Sunday, June 10, 2018

Wedding Guest Dress Breakdown: One Year Later

Speaking of weddings, my niece got married last year on June 10. That spring, I had written a series of posts on the making of the two dresses I wore, a green silk evening dress and it's multi-color slip. I ended up finishing the main dress a mere two days before traveling to the wedding and didn't get any satisfactory pictures of me in my complete outfit.

So on the one-year anniversary, here's an update on how I wore the dress to that wedding. I pretty much looked at it as if I was going to an awards banquet. I researched and sourced the individual elements from all over. There were plenty of things that I bought and returned, things I lucked out on, and even things I eventually would regret not buying.

I received a hint of what I wanted to wear when I saw a swatch of emerald green silk crepe de chine and it reminded me of my favorite green dress in Atonement. Once I decided that was the way I wanted to go I started thinking of a 1920s-30s vibe. Of course, I didn't take that literally. However, the dress pattern I chose, Vogue 2745, did have the v-neck, elongated waist, and a handkerchief hem reminiscent of 1930s style.

My most important concern was my hair, a short curly natural that was drastically cut too short a week before this event. So how was I going to style it to fit this dress and the romantic vibe I wanted to have? Luckily, my love of award show red carpet reporting came to the rescue as you'll see below.


Moving clockwise:


1. Once I saw this double-tiered Jennifer Behr gold headpiece that Janelle Monáe wore to the 2017 Vanity Fair party I knew what I needed to find. This led to a search of accessory shops such as Claire's; however, I never really expected to find something that came so close, but I did!


2. The winning earrings came from Charming Charlie's. Why did no one tell me about this amazing place, all organized by color? They have everything, purses, scarves, jewelry, even tiaras! These earrings not only picked up the emerald but also royal, turquoise, and chartreuse. They will be worn lovingly for years.


3. An extremely cheap $1(!) compact mirror from Michael's arts and crafts, of all places, in a green that matched my dress perfectly. I also bought two more in pearlized white and royal blue for the bride and her maid-of-honor.


4. Yes, I actually found an extremely similar headband, the gold double row daisies headband shown here from icing.com, although I found mine locally at Claire's.


5. The Style & Co Paycee sandal in Red from Macy's. I bought these because they weren't as tall as my first choice, the 3" high Monrae from Jessica Simpson. However, the Paycee non-adjustable ankle strap turned out to be extremely constricting and I had to change shoes in order to dance.

Monrae sandal

I ended up wishing I had gone ahead and bought the taller Jessica Simpson's even though I probably would have taken them off too but at least I would not have had to compromise on style.


6. The Wanda zipper wristlet, an adorable purse in gold from Charming Charlie's. This will surely get a lot of use in the future.

7. L.A. Girl Color Pop nail polish in Amour, a fabulous red that adorned my toes in those perfectly color-matched shoes.

So, I wish I had a picture here to show you all these elements coming together but I didn't actively try to get a picture of me taken in the completed ensemble. Someone did get two pictures of me that day with family and hopefully I can get them color corrected so I can post here.

Monday, May 21, 2018

She Did Good!

Harry and HRH, The Duchess of Sussex, 
Countess of Dumbarton, and Baroness Kilkeel.

Givenchy



Stella McCartney

I loved both these, the ceremony gown was even more streamlined than I had imagined and so thoughtful with symbolism. However, it was not as accurately fitted as it should have been from a design house such as Givenchy. It was disappointing but I chalk it up to the stress she's been under these last few weeks and Meghan probably not being as bothered with the loose fit to have them take the dress apart for alterations.

When I first saw Meghan, my first thought was of Princess Angela of Liechtenstein, the first black female royal bride. The dress, veil, bouquet, minimal makeup, and the lack of opulent jewels are so similar.

Princess Angela of Liechtenstein in 2000.

Then the Internet reminded me of the resemblance to some other European royal brides who also admire a classic streamlined, romantic style that allowed themselves to shine more than the dress or their adornments.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, 2001
 and Infanta Cristina of Spain, 1997.

She did very well, indeed.