A Day (Off) in the Life ... sewing

Today I took the day off from work without ANY responsibilities. Lately I've taken days off only to have them fill up with ugly grown-up things like Doctor's appointments, Life Insurance meetings, and general ickiness. But today was about only three things: 1) birthday yummies (coffee, cupcakes, etc.); 2) Buffy the Vampire Slayer (I've never seen it, and apparently that's a seriously blow to my street cred with my friends); and 3) working on my sewing.

I cleared out all my "fabric" over the weekend -- and by fabric I mean old T-shirts, clothes, and hunks of curtain that I can't bear to throw away. Well, it was time to get rid of some of it. I have these grand plans ("I'm going to turn these random pieces of linen into ... something!"). Yeah, no. So I any non-Notre Dame piece of clothing went in the donate pile (I have a plan for the ND stuff); real fabric (fabric, not curtains or old jeans) went in a (newly decorated) box; all clothes that hope to be turned into kids' clothes went in another box; and my clothes that needed to be altered were pulled out for today.

So the issue with clothes lately ... my shape has become very different than 2 year ago. Before the baby, I was about 155-160 lbs, with a 36DD chest. By the end of the pregnancy I was 185 pounds with a 38G chest (yes, G, as in Good-God)!). By the summer after baby was born, I was back at 160, still wearing the 38G bra (though actually just wearing nursing tanks and cardigans). I was wearing size 12 jeans.

Then 2012 hit and all hell broke loose. Everyone in the family (except the baby, but including Gramma and Grampy) got the stomach flu. I lost 11 pounds ... and it didn't come back. I was still nursing and pumping, and R had just learned to crawl and "cruise", so I figured I was just running around lot. February brought another bout of Mastitis, and I was in bed for 2 days. Another 5 pounds. March saw the first of FOUR throat infections in FIVE months. By the summer, I was down THIRTY POUNDS from the top of the year. I went shopping and bought size 8 jeans. WTF? (also, I felt really bad because the MIL had bought me some really nice dress pants for Christmas, all size 12, and they still have the tags on them :P).

(I've recently learned that I have Grave's Disease, which has lead to an over-active thyroid, which is part of the reason I lost so much weight -- or else why it didn't come back after those illnesses. We'll see, now that it's being treated, whether the following alterations were a waste of time.)

So, the Captain Obvious statement of the year: a lot of my clothes don't fit. I had put a few shirts away last summer, as they didn't contain my boobs or cover my belly. I pulled them out again this weekend, and while they cover the (no longer as prominent) belly, they still don't contain the boobs (I'm now wearing a 32E -- thinner, but still va-va-voomy). For example, a nice fitted knit sleeveless shirt finally reaches down to my belt, but my bra pops out the side. (oh, and don't get me started on the 1) hideousness and 2) monstrosities of nursing bras -- why do they have to be so big? Just cause I have to whip out the boob doesn't mean I am also wearing Turtle Necks, because I can't wear V-necks without everyone seeing the bra.). Anyway ... something needed to be done, and now that I've figured out how to turn the sewing machine on, I gave it a whirl.

#1 - The totally office-appropriate and adorable fitted knit sleeveless shirt



Not too bad, but take a look at the side view.



So much side-bra. Not classy.

The plan:



Just need to pull the cup back and up to the original side seam and boom, fitted bust and no side boob.




(hard to see with the black-on-black, but basically stitched that top seam together, and sewed a new taken-in side seam).




What WHAT?! Who's the sexy lady wearing a shirt that fits?!


It also comes in blue :)


#2 - The also totally adorable casual blousey tank top.

I was so sad about this one. It's adorable. It has this great asymmetrical shape, which looks great when it fits. When it's too big, it just looks like you don't know how to dress yourself.


Not to mention the notorious side-bra. Seriously, I'm going to get kicked off social media for being obscene. Or get a lot of attention from creeps.

The Plan: second verse, same as the first.



A cameo from the trusty sewing machine. I should give it a name. Something loyal like Sparky or Fido. Or Heidi, because it's a Project Runway brand! Yes, I like Heidi ... or Tim Gun. Gunner? Make it work!


So much better!

The tricky part with this one was the straps. They were still a little loose, and more loose on the inside than on the outside.


You can see it's pushed up a little there in the back when I adjust the straps where I want them.


Also a little bra strap showing. (oh! Also, ask me about my underwire nursing bra. "WHAT?!" you say? Aren't those illegal? Another post, another blog.)


So you can see here how I adjusted the straps. Also it's really hard to take a picture of your back. And it's sort of unnerving to discover you're 30 and still have backne. God bless photoshop.


Here it is with the extra fabric removed. It may look a little tight on the back, but it's SO cute now.


#3 - The most adorable Target dress ever that I only got to wear once.

I got this the summer after baby, at my heaviest (post baby). It was perfect. However, I was so fitted and adorable that I couldn't wear it if I was going to 1) nurse the baby or 2) pump at work. I tried -- I basically had to take the whole thing off and be naked in the pumping room. Joy. And then I lost 30 pounds, and this is what it looked like.





O. M. G. That's awful. There was so much work to do.

Plan:
So I pinned the straps tighter, pinned the bust in the middle, pinned the sides, and pinned the side "flare", because there was a little too much flare for the smaller waste. It was tricky because there is a built-in slip, and around the zipper they are sewn together. But I have to pat myself on the back for this one.




The flare is still a little weird, especially around the side zipper, but I'm not good enough to know how to fix that. But I can wear this dress again, and I am SO PSYCHED!!!

So, to summarize:

These clothes seriously look like I bought them this way. That's probably $80 of clothing right there that has been saved from the donation bin.

I'd rather be knitting

also, wtf is this? and where can I get one?

It's that time of year again ...

... to plan too many projects with not enough time to finish them.

As we've seen, there are a lot of babies coming, and I'm realizing that many may have to settle for practical gifts and store-bought clothes, because I really don't have time to make things for everyone.

I've been seeing some amazing crochet gifts on Pinterest, and I want to do something for the Moms like crochet market bags or slippers or something.







I made Baby's stocking last year, but it didn't finish the way I wanted -- the pattern at the stop was very tight, so when I switched to a regular stockinet stitch for the heel, it stretched out a lot and looked really weird.

Now because I was doing this up until the moment Santa arrived, I didn't have time to fix it. So that's on the list to do before December 24. I also don't love how the name embroidery came out, so I want to fix that too.

Someday I'd also like to make a Tree Skirt, but that may have to wait until a summer without babies.

Tank Top Bag

Via Pinterest:

Mine's not quite as cute or different looking, but it's done.

I have a big box of clothes that done fit. I'm not quite "Old Navy" shape anymore. I've got momma boobs and grown-up lady hips, and while I've lost the baby-weight and more, I'm just not the same shape anymore. Big whup. Weight is just a number. But I'd like to have clothes that fit. My former Old Navy clothes have two problems -- L tops fit the boobs but swim on the shoulders and arms, M tops are too tight on the boobs but fine everywhere else. Tops that fit both the boobs and the shoulders are too short on the stomach (because of the bobs). I've always had a problem with pants -- 10 is fine on the hips, but sags on the ass; 8 is great on the butt, muffin-tops on the hips.

While I search the web for "clothes big boobs thin" and filter through the porn hits, I'm trying to figure out what to do with that box of clothes. Some tops that are too big I could take in on the waste -- I've done that on a few tank tops this summer. I have a few things Pinned and it doesn't seem hard. The tops that are too short, however, will either be donated or sent to the fabric stash (while it's reasonable to believe that I could lose weight and fit into smaller pants someday, it's unlikely that my boobs will shrink enough to fit some of these tops again -- not if my nursing toddler has anything to say about it).

So part of my daily pinning has been sewing patterns. I found the above a few weeks ago, and when I went through my closet today for filled that infamous box, I found a few things that might work.

I loved this shirt. It was so sweet and summery, but it's gathered at the bottom and rides up now that I have functional boobs. It seemed like a good candidate for the tank-to-bag conversion.

Step 1: Turn inside out and fold so the tank straps are together like handles.



Step 2: Sew along bottom and shape as needed (I didn't fold up to make pockets, this one was a little too short).



Step 3: Turn right-side out and go shopping.

Couch Fixin'

I was finally able to sew something from start to finish, without the baby yelling at me (too much).

Problem: The cushion on the couch/futon slides down when you sit on it, and after a while it's half way down the frame.



Other problem: The bottom of the cushion is then half way off the end, leading to baby and puppy tumbles.



Goal: Put ties or straps on the top to attach it to the back, like this.



Fabric: Chris generously donated a t-shirt for the cause.



Step 1: Cut it up





I decided I needed 4 sets of traps. I cut 8 strips each about 3" x 13".

Step 2: Sew each strap in half to make a tube.





Step 3: Cut yourself on the needle and bleed on the fabric (optional).



Step 4: Turn tube right-side out.

I tried a few ways of doing this.
First I sewed up the side and then across one end, folding it and "hemming" it. I pushed the end through the tube and turned it rightside out just by pushing. This was difficult but worked in the end.





Then I tried sewing down the side and just across the end without hemming. I still had issues turning it right-side out.

Then I tried sewing across and THEN down one side, leaving long thread tails on the corner. If I left a very small hole where I started (by NOT doing a reinforcement stitch backwards), I could fit a tapestry needle through the whole and putt the tails inside and through the tube. Grab the needle and threads and pull. Much easier to turn right-side out.





Step 5: Measure, pin, and sew straps to mattress cover.

Tip: Measure the couch frame, not the cover. Because I wasn't sure where the edges of the cover fell when on the mattress, and because the edges were curved, I measured from the center of the futon frame and then from the center of mattress cover.





I reinforced the strap with diagonal stitches and double zig-zags on the ends.



Step 6: Put cover back on mattress and tie off.

Baby Brainstorming

Oh boy, there are so many babies coming soon! I have a running list in my phone that I just add to when someone else tells me there's a new family member cooking.

Baby Eleanor (Kerri + Dan) is making her way out soon.

Baby Rana from Nickelodeon is coming in October, along with another that I probably shouldn't know about.

November finds baby boy Porter and baby girl Guerrero.

December brings baby boy Androlli.

January brings one more that hasn't been officially announced, so I will list no names here.


Now I have to decide who gets real presents and who gets BRU gift cards.

Obviously baby Eleanor is super special and will continue to be the recipient of all my creative juices. So far she has ...







I have so many more ideas for a cutie little girl that needs spoiling ...








And baby Androli probably needs to having something fun (and I don't think his parents read this anyway, so here goes ...)

Dad went to Notre Dame, so the sweater I've made a few times would be a good choice.



But Mom and Dad seems to argue over NFL teams, Vikings and Packers. I love the idea of a half and half jacket or jersey.





Half Packers, Half Vikings?

And there is a nifty website that will convert images to a knitting pattern grid, http://www.microrevolt.org/knitPro/

Mystery January baby is also the offspring of sports-fan parents ... Yankees, Saints, LSU. I have some ideas, but it will probably have to wait until baby is announced.

It doesn't count as sewing ...

I do this a lot. I have a whole board full of super cute patterns for little girl dresses and diaper bags and all sorts of shit. And I have two boxes full of fabric and scrap clothes and stuff, just WAITING to be turned into something amazing.

But instead I'm at my desk at work. And whenever I'm home the child is there and in the way. I can't even plan out anything with him there -- he wouldn't even let me put a safety pin in my own shirt this morning. So the only time I am home without the baby is 1) if I'm sick, 2) if I take a day off, and 3) on the weekend when the baby is napping.

So the problems with the above scenarios -- 1, if I'm sick I am sick, and REALLY sick if I actually took the day off. Like vomiting or unconscious or something.
2, this would work. But most days I take the day off is for running errands or doing to the doctor and going out of town. I guess I could take the day off for the sole purpose of crafting. that would be awesome.
3) baby only naps for 45 minutes. Every once in a while he'll go an hour or 3, but that's usually at an inopportune time, like when we need to leave in 5 minutes, or when we've just arrived at the grandparents'. While it's been done, it's hard to get anything done while the baby is sleeping.

So until I'm rich enough to quit my job, or until the baby is not a baby anymore, I will continue to pin things and stash fabric. (OH! Also, I totally scored a $40 armoire on craigslist that will become my crafting closet!!! SO PSYCHED!)