Oh Dear December is Upon Us.

Hello lovely readers. I'm a bit behind in the blogging but then I feel I'm a bit behind in everything. December has that effect on me. I hate it and try to fight it because I just love Christmas. I do not want to feel stressed about it. Truth is there's always a moment in there where I do feel overwhelmed but it usually passes quickly. This year is different as I've been battling major anxiety. It's so weird and scary and makes me feel guilty which, I think, adds to it. I finally talked to my husband and my parents and that helped. It helped a lot actually.

I cut back even more on my pie-in-the-sky ideas of what to make for whom and made a list and spent some quality time in the bathtub. Now I feel back to myself, excited for the season. All that to say I don't have much to share with you...yet but it's coming.

Our Thanksgiving was lovely and my very pink barbie cake was well received. How is making pink frosting you ask? It's glorious!

Not bad for a first barbie cake and using only
a sandwich bag to decorate with.

I was pretending the S&P shakers were
her dwarf friends.

 I also realized I had never posted about this skirt and bag. Not the best picture which is why it's cropped funny but you get the idea. The skirt is from the "Colette Sewing Handbook" and the bag is from Alicia's book "Stitched in Time." I like the bag and already have a bunch of ideas on how to improve it. I am also very cautiously attempting to sew the skirt from you-know-where that I never finished last year. I would love to wear it to the Christmas Eve Service, I'll keep you updated on that. The pattern is labeled "intermediate" and I had to regrade it since my waist measurements and hip measurements are nowhere close to each other. Wish me luck!

So how is your season shaping up? What are your tricks for enjoying the season rather then stressing. Apparently I need all the help I can get.

My UFO.

Isn't this pretty? If I ever finish mine
it will be done in grey wool.

First let me start by explaining that a UFO is an unfinished project not a space craft, though, when I was six my cousin and I were convinced we had seen one of those too. Anyway, I have one. A big one and it's basically the reason I haven't done one of those fall/winter roundup posts about all the things I've made to wear. Because for some reason I keep thinking I'll finish it.

Yea, I'm not going to finish it, not this season anyway. I mean I've already moved on to my spring/summer wardrobe (yes we have snow on the ground, and no I won't let that deter me).

What happened was that I bought this really expensive wool fabric for the skirt. So expensive that even with a 50% off coupon it was still more then I normally spend. Because it was so expensive I measured myself just to make sure that I was the size I normally am for that particular companies patterns. That is when I discovered what I wish I had never known; my waist is about three sizes bigger then my hips and bust. Oh the agony!!!! Because the skirt was more form fitting then anything I've ever made I would need to draft the pattern and make a muslin. Yea, I don't really know what those things mean either. Let's be real people I don't have time to make a fake garment to see if it fits right before I make the real one. I barely have time to make the real garment.

One of the wisest friends I have told me that she wouldn't have measured and would have just made the skirt in the size she thought she was. There is a verse in scripture about following Godly advice and I wish that I had done so. And here's another thing about pattern sizes. They are totally WACK! I'm sorry to get all belligerent but they are not even close to the same as ready-to-wear garments. I don't care if simplicity patterns are on sale for $3 I won't buy it if it says I'm a size 100! (Slight exaggeration here but not much) It's one of the reasons (among many) that I love Colette Patterns because their measurements are closer to a regular size. I can admit I'm a size 12 but I will never be able to admit that I'm a size 100!

I felt like I learned a foreign language when I finally
learned how to read the back of pattern envelopes.

Where was I anyway? Oh yea my skirt. So I've decided to put it away until next fall. I have added to my daily walks, yoga three times a week and an abs workout I found on pinterest (we all know if it's on pinterest then it can't fail). I've also added to my diet, cookies and donuts but that's another story and surely won't interfere with project "flatter stomach". This makes more frugal sense to me too because surely by next fall I will have lost all the weight I will ever want to loose so I will be able to wear this skirt indefinitely. Please note that last line was meant to be read with just a touch of sarcasm. 

I like To Torture Myself.

It may be an oldest child thing but when I decide that I am going to do something I will do it and do it and do it no matter how hard, stupid and frustrating it is. If I get an idea in my mind then I will continue to bash my head against the wall until that thing is done. This is both good and bad. It's the reason I can make really good yeast bread including cinnamon and pie crusts, it's the reason I can crochet, and it's the reason my oldest son is potty trained. However, it's also the reason I have tons and tons of jewelry making supplies that I no longer use, the reason my relationships in college suffered because school work consumed me, and the reason that I am 30 pounds over weight (see yeast breads and pie crusts).

I love Alicia Paulson. She is so talented owns a corgi dog and creates patterns and kits that make me drool. I own both her books. Her latest book Embroidery Companion Classic Designs For Modern Living, has a skirt on the cover that I fell in love with. I have had semi-good luck with sewing skirts for myself (zero luck with tops, and dresses) so I got it into my head that I must make myself this skirt...

Well First you have to create the pattern sew the skirt and then embroider the design on it. My first attempt was such a horrible miserable failure and waist of fabric that I should have stopped there, given up and gone about my life recovering the hours I had already put in. But no, that would go against every fiber in my crazy body. So I found some better fabric started again and put in a lot more time. This skirt turned out relatively well, after several bumps in the road (it was way to big and I had to, gradually and carefully so as not to ruin it, take it in). I am pleased with it. It's far from perfect and not as flattering as I would like but it's pretty, warm and soft and after finding and purchasing a suitable top I think it was worth it (as I learned new skills) and definitely worth wearing.  What do you think continue learning to sew my own clothes or just stick with turtles?