Day off, new sewing space!

Ok, so it's not a totally new sewing space. We moved into our duplex about 2 months ago and although we are settled in many ways I am still getting used to the new space and it's quirks. We've just combined households and finding just the right way to put each of our belongings into the best use is the kind of challenge I love. Fortunately for us both my boyfriend likes my flair for organization and design. 

Here's the new layout!

I really should have taken some before/after photos since there is an enormous red, sculptural chair that is now hidden away in our Enormous Closet. I was getting pretty frustrated with my workspace flow before. I have a small ironing board and it would have to be used on top of the worktable. The serger felt crammed in at the far end when the giant chair was in the place of the sewing machine. Now, I have usurped a bookshelf for my ironing station (and lego storage for the kiddo!) and we have a lot more open floor space. Woo! I keep other supplies tucked away in our Enormous Closet.

Now, with the sewing space on its way to glory I have a couple of other things that need resolving. I'm pumped to hang these wine boxes for some additional storage/keeping junk off the workspace over my sewing machine. It'll be great to be able to keep thread and bobbins close at hand without having them on the work surface! Other items include: additional light for sewing machine area (perhaps), additional thread rack for overflow (absolutely!), hairpin legs for the worktable (when I can stop myself from blowing my candy money on Bakelite...rrrrright.)    

 

For now, I am off to spend the day with my stepdaughter. This will be her first time coming thrifting and antiquing with me. On the lookout for: Bakelite bangles, quilted hosiery boxes, end tables and cloth napkins. Future post on our day of spoils and also my approach to antiquing and thrifting, for sure!

A day to play

It's been a quiet week at work. The sort that finds me reaching out to coworkers to see what I can help with and compiling mental checklists of all the things I would like to get done at home. So I am super excited to be taking a personal day tomorrow!

On my to-do list:

-SEW! 

   -Work on the Butterick 5748 for a friend's wedding

   -cut out fabric for two other dresses

   -draft pockets/trim plans for the two dresses

-antique mall?

   -in Hopkins, Antiques on Main

   -look for: bakelite, cloth napkins, satin organizers! Like these:

   I have seen a bunch of folks storing bangles this way and I truly love it!

Happy almost Friday!

Great fabric in Minnesota

When I moved to Minnesota I really did not know where to go for good fabric. I knew there were a number of Jo-Ann stores in the metro but Ho-Ann is not my usual cup of tea. So you can certainly see why I was super excited to start learning about the less commercial options available! Two places in particular have become my regular stomping grounds: S.R. Harris and Crafty Planet.

S.R. Harris is an enormous, 30,000sq.ft. warehouse fill in every square inch with all manner of apparel and home fabrics and cut rate prices. Their typical set up is to offer 50% off of all shelf prices with occasional additional sales on specific categories (linen, silks, upholstery, etc). I had lived here more than 2 years before I went the first time. I has little knowledge of what I was getting myself into. I spent HOURS there. I know now to set a budget (usually about $100) for a visit and to go in with my little book of swatches and a plan. Otherwise I'll just go bonkers. These two fun projects came from quilting cottons I found there.

Crafty Planet is a small, independently-owned fabric and yarn store that specializes in all manner of sweet, novelty prints and unique quilting weight cottons. I got my stepdaughter this amazing KABOOM fabric for a circle skirt of her own!  They are a little on the spendy side but it does my heart good to support local businesses that support our enthusiastic maker/sewist community around these parts. If you happen to be in Minnesota I strongly encourage you to hit these spots up. It'll stoke your stitching fire!

Been awhile, been a-sewin'

I have a hard time keeping up with blog posts. This year I started teaching college in addition to my full time work as a fabric engineer. I have wanted to teach for a long time and the fulfillment of that goal, at least in a small way, has been absolutely amazing. It's energizing and exhausting. Humbling and ego-boosting. It's a head trip. Perhaps I will write about my classes more in depth in the future.

 Today I am mostly itching to write about my shift in personal style and how I've been using it to spur my sewing to newer, more productive and more rewarding heights. My Mom taught me about sewing at a fairly young age and I was not so thrilled. I remember getting my first sewing kit when I was 8 years old. It has a pink and white fabric lid that doubled as a pin cushion. My cousin D got one, too and I was thrilled to play with all of its little parts but not keen on using them to any productive end. It's kind of frustratingly hilarious to compare that to where I have taken my education and landed in my career. In high school I started getting more into it, making very simple skirts and pants, altering clothing I already had to be new and different. Often times driven by my urge to go club dancing and have a new, fun outfit every time.

These days my style is a bit different. I realized awhile ago that I've been dressing very dark. I told myself it was an easy solution to my work wardrobe (business dress was required at the time). I dressed almost exclusively in black for work and them "mixed it up" on the weekends with black t-shirts and blue jeans. As my work and personal life has taken a major uptick in the chaos field I looked at my wardrobe again and it dawned on me that black wasn't easy, it was giving in. I was hiding. Black clothes are slimming. They match everything. You don't have to think about the style of things so much. It's just shapes. I looked more pulled together without having to work at it. I started hating my closet and having to get dressed for work. Which is most unfortunate since my job is still pretty cool (even with the chaos) and I get a tickle every time I walk into our giant building. Something had to give. So I decided to go backwards. To when I was happier with my body, felt more balance in my life and was excited to get dressed each day.

I've gone back to vintage and vintage-inspired clothing. Circle skirts, striped tops, buttons, belts, red lips, bold eyelashes, pearls and bead necklaces galore. Dresses and skirts make me feel fun! Instead of like I am just trying to get through the day. It sounds a little superficial to say it that way, however, I have found that it makes a big difference. My boyfriend has commented that he sees a change. I walk into my closet each evening (I find it best to choose my outfits before bed) and I am excited. I am excited to put together a new outfit. I am excited to put it on each morning.

 Before coming to MN I sewed. A lot. It was my zen. I would get the urge and before I knew it it would be 3am and I would be entirely engrossed in what I was making. I am recharged. The 3am part may not be the best... there's nothing quite like a sewing hangover! But, I fall in love with my machine and my ability and my family history every time I sit down with it again.

 The latest project is the blouse from Simplicity 4047, the 1950's retro wardrobe, now out of print, but which I have had for nearly ten years. I made the skirt once upon a time and remember wanting the pattern since it had so many useful, functional daily-wear pieces (it includes a swing jacket, pencil skirt with 2 length options, blouse and capri pants). I took a risk and decided to make the blouse from a reverse-print slub jersey I had on hand and it is going really well! I can't wait to post a picture. I had been worried that the fabric wouldn't have a retro or vintage feel but it looks amazing in the silhouette and brings some much need lightness to my wardrobe. I am very excited to wear it year round and have started thinking this pattern was destined for knits (though the envelope says nothing about them!) More soon! xoxo Sarah

little starbursts.

I'm torn between sharing frustrations about work and sharing some of the bizarre highlights of what has become my life of late. So, perhaps a little of both. Work: There are a bunch of pregnant ladies at work right now and I have been flipping out about what will happen when they all go out on maternity leave at THE SAME TIME! We are already down some folks on our team and the idea makes my tummy flip.

Outside of work: I started teaching at a local university. I kind of can't believe it. I got out of class the first night and texted my Dude with, "I just taught COLLEGE!!!" I floated home in a warm, happy bubble. Last night was our 2nd class and I started getting the anxious tickles, the kind that make me feel like I screwed up. There is a woman in my class who makes me feel like she is mad all the time. Almost every contribution she has made in class had made me wonder if she is mad at me. 2 classes are not enough to be able to tell. Seriously, I am teaching a college class. I know that parts of it will make me flip out with self-imposed expectations (every time I percieve I've made a mistake, for instance). And other parts will make me insanely tickled. Overall, it's SO MUCH WORK! And so far, the thrill is the strongest part.

Balancing act.

How do you balance social etiquette, socializing and diet restrictions. With some things, like food intolerances, it is very straight forward: eat this, feel like crap. But keeping track of every item I eat (which I do) and being able to plan ahead for every social occasion is frustrating. I find myself being very reasonable in each setting, except that the frequency of each dalliance is the problem. How do you limit the social interactions? How do you build the bridges to have people want to support you instead of get frustrated by your constant refusals? I've cut way back on my calorie intake. I've tracked what a "normal" day was like before I started hitting the gym hardcore and using MyFitnessPal and I feel like I should be seeing an improvement faster than I am. I know that it is normal to make a sort of exchange of fat and muscle as you begin "losing weight" but I don't see it in my clothes. This is super frustrating. So, I look at the possible areas where I am still slipping up and thus, the paragraph above. What do you do? Who could I partner with to better understand the effect of my intake and output? Ultimately, I know that I am getting fitter. My skin texture is better. I feel my muscle tone improving. My energy is better. But I want it all. I want to be a better shape for my height. I want to have a healthy height/weight ratio. I want to wear smaller pants and feel even better nekkid. What to do!??!?!

More on swimsuit shopping.

I promised before that I would share more about my swimsuit adventure and here are a few oddball things I learned:

-If it is on the sale rack, there is a reason.
I tried on a few different suits from the sale rack and these were some of the worst suits I have EVER encountered. I am chubby, I get it. I don't expect to look like a supermodel in a swimsuit but I am also shapely. I have big hips and a big chest and suits that make me look like the Hanes Fruit of the Loom Apple man are pure atrocities of swim design.

-Every full-price suit with a hope was black.
This is not so bad, but patterns are better for masking flaws. It's just true. Not to mention it's hard to see the differences between one suit and another when they are all black black black. Cut, dimension, etc are helpful to understand before trying to pour yourself into one of these spandex chambers.

-Looking at the framed racing suit on the wall in the dressing room.
Made my head spin. It was so tiny I really could not imagine ever having been such a size myself. It's not like looking at a kid's suit and knowing that at some point in my life I fit into kid's clothing. This suit was worn by a grown woman. A tiny, grown, insanely athletic woman, yes. But it puts my head in a less than awesome space looking at that, and then my chubby butt trying to fit into these tubes without mercy.

-How we are performing now.
Once I got out of the suits I actually felt better. I landed with a TYR fitness suit that has some crossed/twisted/rushing on the chest that is a little more flattering but the whole thing stays on, covers well and is COMFORTABLE! I marched across the street and huffed my way through about 6 laps. And it felt good. I get like I was getting the burn I wanted. And I actually think it helps my foot. I am curious and will need to ask my podiatrist about it this afternoon. The best part is really that I feel empowered. I feel like I can still make this shit happen. That I won't just focus on what I can't do. That I am still making progress and kicking ass.

Walk a mile in my shoes.

More than a mile. With my FitBit I've set a personal gial of walking 12k steps a day. Well, last week I blew the cieling of that piece while attending a trade show for work. On the days we walked the show I cleared 20k steps a day, easy. I even had a day where I hit 26k+! Since I have learned that my heel pain is real pain I know that that much walking is kinda a no-no. I did what I could to mitigate the pain: rolled my ball, changed shoes daily, wore my sleeping boot but by the time we were ready to come home I knew I'd pushed too far. However, at the trade show I met a man named Eric from Icebug shoes and he was better than cake and ice cream. I swear I learned more from him that I did in my whole diagnosis adventure. I went to their booth since they were giving out free sample insoles and that sounded like a good idea to me! While chatting with him he dropped a few reality bombs on me like: -I should always wear shoes, not go barefoot (even at home) -keep using my ball -my boot's effectiveness is debatable -I need a shoe guru to lay the truth on my closet.

 I came away from the meeting with some great insoles and feeling more determined than ever to kick this pain. I took his advice and got some house shoes (so not sexy, but as the Dude said repeatedly, this will be GOOD for you). Like some sort of god-sent sign my trainer called to tell me he was not going to be able to make our 6am this morning, could I call the gym to reschedule? Yes! After days of foot abuse it was what I needed to hear. It's a swimming day. And hopefully by week's end I will have a better handle on how to work with my trainer to keep kicking my butt! While also healing my foot. Rock on!

New challenges. Oh, my dear feet.

A few months ago I went absolutely wild for barefoot technology shoes. I loved the simple, ballet-slipper feel of them. I felt like I could dance across the world as my stage. They are light, flexible and they are finally coming out with styles that I can wear to work instead of just the awesome sneaker variety. Oh, I should also mention that these are not the 5-finger, toe separating variety. I love them.

And then I noticed that my heel would hurt a bit at the end of the day. I thought it mostly had to do with the resistance of my right foot to adapt to the barefoot cadence (a midfoot strike instead of a heel strike). However, further experience led me to believe that was not the case.

Over the course of a couple of months I felt the pain increase occasionally but still was not convinced it was a real problem. Which is goofy, since I remember the 5 worst words in personal health:

Maybe It Will Just Go Away

Dumb, dumb, dumb. So last week, after a pretty damn AWESOME workout with my trainer (lots of squats and lunges) and I felt like my heel was damn near about to abort it's relationship with my body I finally made an appointment to see the doctor. And learned that I have plantar fascitis. And a heel spur.

To combat my pain I am to: ice, stretch, stay off my foot, wear supportive footwear, sleep in this funky flexed-foot boot thing and roll my foot with a spiky massage ball. For I don't know how long. I have an appointment with a podiatrist in a week or so.

So how to do I keep kicking my own butt at the gym if I have to stay off of one of my feet so much? I don't want to create an imbalance in my upper and lower body. I want to slim and shape my legs/thighs. So I thought about swimming.

Need an ego-boosting pick me up? Don't go swimsuit shopping. I was determined to keep burning calories and marched my butt into a local swim shop to try their selection of plus size fitness suits. After a series of suits that had me doubting the true shape and proportions of my own body I found a suit that works and secured it for my own. Marched my butt across the street to one of my gym's branches and huffed my way through 6 laps of freestyle swimming. And went home satisfied.

In high school my dude was a swim team nut. He offered to write out a short workout for me and I think I might actually take him up on it. Feet! You will not keep me from my quest!

Now, do you know anything about how swimming may actually improve my foot pain? After several swim sessions I have noticed a sense of improvement in my feet that I am hesitant to trust just yet... Any clues???

Things are never what you expect.

Home nearly a week and what a difference a few days make. As per usual Dude and I have had a fascinatingly full week. I don't know what it is but there always seems to be something that mucks up the works. This week it was my dude who had the rough day rather than me but it was a doozy. Locked himself out of his house, had to taxi to me downtown to get my keys (stupid meetings!) and then learned that the Peanut (Dude's daughter) might have head lice. And then, at some point in the day a spider decided he was a delicious snack and gave him two big chomps. By the time I met up with Dude and Peanut for dinner he was a ball of swollen, itchy nerves.

We had a surprisingly smooth evening given that the Peanut is amazing: we kept her up 'til 10pm working on her hair, etc and she didn't cry or scream or complain at all. She is 4 years old. I am endlessly grateful. However, we were all so exhausted that the entire next day felt like a chore with every step.

Thankful it is Friday. Thankful to snuggle up the dude tonight after our long week. Thankful to be meeting with the trainer tomorrow to get me off of my exercise rut. I haven't been all that motivated to push hard this week. Just so tired and post-vacation reluctant. I'm excited to get my butt kicked a little. I need it to snap me back in.

An additional amusement on the fitness front: on vacation my steps per day were hardly ideal. I don't know that I met the 10k/day goal on a single day that we traveled. There was actually a day that I did not crack 4k (I napped, a lot. And LOVED it!). On returning home I've amped up my daily step goal. As I average about 12k while home and at work I decided to bump my daily goal up to 15k with the more active intention of actually achieving the goal steps. Every. Day.

Having a general step goal has given me good insight into how much I move. A few weeks of tracking my steps with the FitBit has shown me that I am much more active during the week than on weekends. I am a slug while visiting family. On days that I do not hit the gym my steps are low low low. I started out just wanting to see how much I walk. How much I move. Now, to get closer to my goal and faster I'm working on 15k/day. Every day. Regardless of hitting the gym.

How will I get it? Here's how-
-park further away at the store
-walk to the further bus stop
-stop taking the elevator for short trips
-plan active things to do with Mike
-go walking with lady friends

Have more ideas? Share 'em!