~wiws~ Autumn Palette

I really like the Wardrobe Architect series that the Colette blog has been running for a while now.  I haven't really gotten into the worksheets, but I enjoy the posts, and often come back to the concepts when planning things.  One of those concepts is to have a defined color palette for the season you are in.  Project 333 has really helped me to define a palette for my particular rotation.  This fall, my palette has a lot of rust, brown-reds, some purple, navy, and dark green.  I really love my palette for this rotation.  

Add navy, and this is basically my fall palette.

As my new rotation starts in a few weeks, I've been looking ahead to my winter projects, and I'm realizing that my winter palette is a bit different--more saturated jewel-tone colors: sapphire blues, peacock teal, true red, rich navy, and of course, deep bottle green.  As much as I've enjoyed this fall's palette, I'm kind of looking forward to having a new rotation of colors in my closet--the beauty of Project 333 is the three month rotation.  About the time I start to feel like my closet is getting stale, it is time to rotate!

But back to my fall colors: navy and rust are a favorite color combination at this time of year.  I haven't worn this skirt as much as I thought I would in part because I made it at the end of September, and I think I would have worn it more during the first half of this rotation.  I also realized this morning that it was just too long, so I spent a frantic half hour before I had to leave for church this morning hemming this skirt up two inches.  (This weekend has been all about skirt alterations--I spent half my day yesterday taking in two of my workhorse skirts as the temps have dropped 20 degrees overnight, and I'm wanting separates again).

I wore this outfit to church this morning and was so comfortable.  I love the combination of unfussy skirt+fitted knit top.  It is kind of my cooler weather uniform.  As soon as I finish the green cardigan on my needles, I'm casting on a sapphire blue pullover sweater that mimics the fit of a long-sleeve t-shirt.  I'm eager to see how it comes out.  It has raglan sleeves and is knit top-down, so I think it should fly by.

Outfit details:

Rust colored knit henley: Chaps via ThredUp

Navy twill skirt: me-made from Kaufman Hampton twill, September '15

Amber necklace: etsy

Acorn earrings: etsy

Lace up boots: Modcloth

Navy tights: Foot traffic via SockDreams

Linking with the FLAP girls for What I Wore Sunday.

When it can't be mended...

Project 333 has given me some valuable tools for evaluating my closet, and for making good choices for my clothes.  Which brings me to my project for today: a corduroy skirt.  You'll recognize the fabric from the skirt I made last year.  I wore that skirt heavily last fall and winter, and wore it quite a bit this fall, but there are a couple of problems with it.  First is that it has become too big in the waist.  This normally would be an easy fix--just pop the waist band off, and cinch in the darts, put the waist band back on, bob's your uncle.  I really debated about doing this, because it seemed like a slow-fashion kind of thing to do.  Make do and mend and all that.  

Unfortunately, the second problem was less fixable, which is that the corduroy has worn badly in the front across the center seam.  I (naively) used Hong Kong seam finishes when I made the skirt, and the seam allowances have pressed into the front, leaving visible creases in the fabric on the front in the middle.  I also don't like the patch pockets, and the bias binding is starting to wear through in places on the pocket edge, and while I could take them off and put in something different, I can't fix the worn spot right in the center front of the skirt. 

 I decided that the best thing to do was rather than spend a lot of time and aggravation trying to fix the fit issues on a skirt that was clearly wearing out was to just start fresh with the same fabric.  I've learned a bit about skirt fitting and making since I made that skirt, and while it has been a great piece for me, it is time to retire it and move on. 

(And by retire, I mean donate.  I don't donate worn clothing because I think someone else will get great use out of it; I donate it because places like Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc. are able to recycle fabric in better ways than me putting it in a landfill to compost.  Textiles can be recycled for insulation, rags, or rugs.  There is a whole different discussion to be had about the sheer quantity of unsaleable fabric that these places have to process, and what it does to Third World economies, but that is something best saved for another day, I think).  

So, I needed a new skirt.  I used my vintage Anne Adams 9481 again, as I like the straight silhouette better for this season, and 2 yards of the same heavy weight corduroy as last year, since I like the weight and color so much.  I added yoked pockets, and put the zip in the back, even though it isn't my favorite place for a zipper because a side zipper insertion with yoked pockets on this heavy weight fabric just wasn't going to fly.  I really need to draft or find a two-piece yoked pocket for projects like this, because while I love the all-in-one Hollyburn pocket, there are times that a two piece pocket would be helpful for reducing bulk on the side seams.

 

Not much to note about construction--I learned my lesson last year and just zig-zagged the seam allowances.  Having only three main seams helped a bit.  I used narrower ribbon to stabilize the waistband, and I might go back at some point and redo it with 1" petersham; I still have about 1/2 yard of fabric left and could easily recut a slightly wider waistband.  I imagine I will need to take this skirt in at some point, so I'll probably make the change then.  For now, however, I like the narrower waistband.  

I do need to move the hook and eye a bit, as there is a small gap at the top of the skirt. I like the little decorative buttons to either side--I debated using them, as I have four, and I hate to have orphan buttons, but I decided I wanted a little something special to finish the skirt.  I had intended a button closure, but goofed when I was trimming down the ends, so had to make it a flush closure. (Another reason to possibly make the waist band wider at some point).  

Oh right, I made a belt for this blouse that I never got around to showing.  I did end up taking the buttons off the blouse to make it more versatile (and also, one of my kids got poked by the sharp edges one day and I thought, life is too short for that nonsense).  

I was a little worried about the weight of the buttons pulling a hole in the fabric anyway.  But I kept the belt, at least for now.  The blouse looks just fine tucked it, but sometimes it is nice to have an option.  

Just the facts:

Rust Corduroy skirt: Anne Adams 9481, heavy weight Robert Kaufman corduroy, rust colored zip and vintage rust buttons, 5/8" grosgrain ribbon for waistband

Autumn flowers blouse and belt: me made

Rust cardigan: JCrew (Jacqui), via ThredUp

Knee Socks: Sock Dreams (O Socks in hunter)

Boots: Modcloth

Earrings: etsy

Amber necklace: etsy

~wiws~ Feedsack Dress

I have to say, I'm pretty excited about this dress.  I think I've mentioned my love of vintage feedsack fabric.  For those not familiar with vintage feedsack, you can read a very brief summary here, or a slightly longer one here.

Basically, feedsacks were an advertising gimmick used by manufacturers to get farmer's wives to be loyal to particular company (and fabric print!)  They are increasingly rare, and it is usually hard to find more than one of a particular print.  Vintage feedsacks are sometimes fragile, and have age spots, and often it is hard to use the whole sack on a project because of rips, tears, and the ravages of time.  I've bought several feedsacks over the past few years and made a couple of well-loved blouses, but I've long dreamed of having enough to make a whole dress from.

So you can imagine my delight when one of my favorite vintage fabric sellers had three, count 'em THREE lengths of the same print!  I did a quick calculation and realized I could get a whole dress out of the three pieces, with some creative cutting.  It didn't hurt that I've had my eye on this print for some time, and only recently realized she had three of them.

So I took the plunge a few weeks ago and ordered all three, thinking it might be nice for spring.  I've been consistently impressed with the fabrics I've bought from her (lakeviewarts on etsy), and they are always more fabulous than her photos show.  They arrived, I washed them up, and then did a bit of thinking about how to get the most mileage out of my yardage.  (I had decided in the meantime to sew it up this fall, as I needed an extra item or two for my Project 333 rotation)  There were almost no brown spots to cut around, and the fabric only had one or two minor rips near the selvages that were easy enough to cut around.

I did make a few cutting changes to my usual Frankenpattern, in part because of the yardage and in part because I'm experimenting a little with the sihouette.  I took the seam allowance out of the front and back skirt pieces to make the sweep narrower (the fabric was 35" wide and had a few rips near the edges, so I would have had to narrow it in any case).  I made the skirt pieces shorter than my usual by about 1.5" and I had to cut inseam pockets instead of my preferred yoked ones, as I didn't have enough fabric for them.

They turned out pretty well, I must say!  I did have a bit of a headscratcher when I realized I was going to have install a zip behind the pocket (my first insertion this way!), but once I looked at the pieces, it was fairly obvious how it would go.  There is a tiny bubble in the fabric where the needle had to jump from the inside of the pocket to the outside, but overall, I'm happy with the zip.  I used a gold zipper that was a close color match to the orange in the dress, because, why not?

One reason I was thinking of saving this fabric is that I didn't think I had a cardigan that went with it, but I realized this one was close enough.  The lines on the design are kind of a dark gray/off black, so I think it would work with a charcoal gray sweater or even black too.  

I'm super happy with the fit of this dress, and the sweep of the skirt.  I like how the elastic cinches the waist, and the overall comfort of the dress.  I'd like to get some charcoal gray tights to wear with it, and maybe make an orange sweater to coordinate at some point, but for now, this works!

And even though I didn't initially think it said "fall" to me, I think the palette works well for several seasons.  All in all, an excellent addition to the wardrobe.  I wore it to church this morning (and indeed, all day today!) and felt very comfortable all day.

Just the facts:

Feedsack dress: frankenpattern, fabric from lakeviewarts, bias binding, gold zip

Fat Face cardigan: ThredUp (last year)

1940s resin leaf brooch: etsy

1950s earrings: etsy

Boots: modcloth

Tights: Foot Traffic Signature cotton tights in black

Linking with FLAP for What I Wore Sunday!

Horse beating of the dead variety

Can you stand another round of photos of the burgundy twill skirt?  sorrynotsorry.

I've worn and washed this skirt a few times now, and every time I wear it, something new annoys me about it, so about a week ago, I decided I just needed to take it apart and see if I could fix it from the inside out, so to speak.  I unpicked every stitch except the pockets and kept the waistband and petersham to the side.  The petersham ribbon had shrunk quite a bit in the wash, but the waistband was still in good shape, and had the hand-worked buttonhole that I didn't want to lose.

I decided that the main problems were the darts and the skirt fullness, particularly in the back.  For whatever reason, this skirt came out significantly bigger in the back, and it just hung strangely.  The zipper insertion was causing some weird rippling at the side that emphasized the oversize back, and the darts (even after I moved and deepened them) were in the wrong place and looked weird.  I also felt the skirt was a bit too long.

I pulled out my vintage Anne Adams 9481 pattern (the one I used for my beloved flannel skirt last winter) and decided to use it as a guide to remove some of the back fullness and also to straighten the lines of the skirt slightly.  I also used the darts as a guide.  It was a bit of a slap dash, as a skirt cut to a-line doesn't just magically straighten to a pencil-style silhouette, but in the end, I trimmed off a big triangle of fabric on both sides, including a lot of the pocket facing.  I trimmed 1.5 inches off the bottom as well.  

I resewed everything, reinserted the zipper, checked the fit, and put the waistband back on.  I added about 6" of petersham to the end to make up the difference in shrinkage and put the button back on the band.  I decided to leave off the decorative buttons on the pocket edges because the pockets are now much narrower and further back from the center, and I felt the skirt would work better plain.  

I think I need to move the button over, as there is a little too much room between the buttonhole and the edge, so the waistband is belling a bit at the side, and the pocket on the zipper side doesn't really want to lay totally flat, but I do like the straighter silhouette better, and have decided that I really just need to use that Anne Adams pattern more--it fits quite nicely, and I like the look of it, particularly for fall/winter skirts.  

One thing about feeling older, I like less full skirts, and straight skirts just feel "right" to me at the moment.  I do need to keep the length right (25-26") to keep it from being frumpy, but it helps me to plan appropriate projects for myself going forward.

I'm still not 100% satisfied with it, but I like it better than before.  Sorry about the rumpled state of myself; I took these photos late in the day, after a long day of running about after children, and a bunch of sewing, including this vintage beauty, coming soon to a blog near you:

I'm also retaining enough water to qualify as part of Thailand, so I'm feeling a bit puffy and swollen too.  Blerg.

Just the facts:

Burgundy twill skirt (version 1.3): McCall's 4275/Anne Adams 9481, Hollyburn pocket, Robert Kaufman Hampton Twill, all-purpose zip, bias binding (in berry, a close match), vintage resin button

Water to Wine rayon blouse: vintage rayon remnant, Gertie's Portrait blouse pattern (from Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing)

Brown t shirt: Ann Taylor via ThredUp

Boots: Modcloth (still hanging on...the ebay boots were a bust and are going back.  Still looking for a replacement)

Acorn necklace: Weeping Grove (etsy)

Earrings: Target (old)

Wood hair barrett: St Augustine Vintage (etsy)

STATurday: Setbacks

These last two weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster.  The worst of the steroid withdrawal symptoms began to abate early this week; now I am more or less over it.  The ravenous hunger, the crazy hypoglycemic episodes all day, the muscle aches and extreme lethargy finally faded away.  It wasn't like I woke up one day and it was all gone, but every day got a little better until I noticed that I wasn't ravenous all day, and I hadn't had a hypoglycemic episode the day previous, etc. 

The other lingering side effect of the oral steroids I took at the end of September has been to totally kill my hormones.  My last cycle started August 31st, and since mid-September, nothing was happening.  Nothing at.all.  It was like my body had died below the waist.  It sort of concerned me, because I do have underlying hormone imbalances, and I just didn't know what was going on.  My hair has gotten even more patchy and thin this month, and my skin is brittle and extremely dry.  I figured it was related to the steroids, since everything changed around then, but I also figured that having anesthesia twice in a month's time wasn't doing my hormones any favors either.   I finally hit the mid-point of this cycle yesterday, to my great relief.   With the resumption of normalcy, however, is also the resumption of water retention and hormone craziness.  My fingers and legs are sausage-like today, my internal body temperature is all over the place, and I feel slightly nuts.  

As for the weight loss, well.  By Monday of this week, I'd lost several more pounds for a total loss of 18 pounds since the middle of July.  I was feeling pretty good, because I'd finally broken a threshold where I tend to plateau: the post-pregnancy weight I had for Piglet and Boo.  I had briefly gotten below that threshold in the late summer and fall of 2012, but then Ponchik was on her way, so I've never maintained anything below that weight in recent years.  But then I hit cycle midpoint, and began retaining water like it was going out of style, so I'm actually up 3 pounds since Wednesday.  Right back to that threshold number.  I am hoping that it is just water weight and will come off in a few days, because I've been working pretty hard to maintain a big calorie deficit in addition to being diligently active.

As for activity, last week, I started getting up very early to go to the gym.  I woke up around 4:15 a.m. one morning, and couldn't go back to sleep, so I figured I might as well hit the treadmill.  The gym opens at 5:00, so I got in a good workout, was home by 6:15, and decided that I would try to get up and be to the gym by the time it opened if I could manage it.  I also decided I would not set an alarm, so if I woke up on my own, I went.  I have trouble sleeping, so I've been getting up on my own around 4:45 most days.  We've had a challenging run of sleep with the girls these last two weeks.  Birdie has been waking multiple times per night, screaming with night terrors and coughing, and Ponchik has often been waking for the day between 3:00 and 4:00, so that has been difficult.  I've been trying to go to bed earlier to make up the difference, but I'm still running out of steam in the late afternoon.

As for my gym routine, I've been doing 3.5 miles on the treadmill, running every half mile or so, plus an extra lap at the 3.0 mile mark to make it a mile running, and fast walking hills on the in between laps.  I get a 650-675 calorie burn, and I'm not destroyed for the rest of the day.  I've also been walking the boys to school in the mornings with Ponchik on my back in the ERGO--a 2 mile round trip that burns around 350 calories. I've not been lifting at all, and I may hold off on weight lifting until things settle back into a better routine.  The girls have both been sick for weeks (I'm taking Birdie back to the doctor this morning because she sounds and looks terrible) and my sleep has been very interrupted.  

I logged about 22 miles last week and 26 miles this week.  On weekdays, I'm logging a 1000 calorie exercise deficit, in addition to the 500 calorie food deficit I'm trying to maintain, so I've had to eat back a few of my exercise calories just to stay functional, but I'm trying to keep my daily totals between 1800-1900 on those days.  Since I'm suddenly way less hungry again, I need to make some tweaks to my food and cut back a bit on the daily chocolate consumption.  I'm only two weeks into this new routine, so I'm sure it will take another week or so to work out the kinks.

My other issue is that of clothing--this particular round of Project 333 has been a challenge.  I've lost enough weight that several key pieces I selected for this rotation don't fit well, but I've not lost quite enough to go into the smaller stuff in the bin.  The weather has also been challenging, swinging from freezing to 80 degrees in the space of a day or two.  Some of the pieces I chose for my 33 are not really suitable for this sort of weather and I ended up swapping out several things for others that fit better, or suit the weather.  I know, I know.  #firstworldproblems

I'm not totally happy with this rotation yet.  I have two favorite skirts that are too big (and one of them is wearing badly after being in heavy rotation last winter), but I'm reluctant to take them in as my shape is changing quickly enough that I might have to do it again in a month or two.  I'd rather wait and do it once.  The burgundy skirt continues to fit oddly, and I'm contemplating what to do about it--I may take it apart and recut it as a straight skirt.  My dresses are forgiving enough that they mostly work, but at least three of them will need to be taken in or adjusted soon.  So I'm actually down to about 25 wearable pieces, including cardigans, which feels kind of lean.  I recently acquired enough vintage feedsack to make a dress; I was saving it for the spring, but I may make it up just to have another piece of clothing in the rotation right now.

My shoes are also a problem--I bought the boots in the pics above second-hand on ebay, thinking they would be a great addition to my fall wardrobe, but after three weeks of daily walking, the soles are starting to chunk away at the back.  The leather uppers are great (they are Clarks) but the soles are rubber and glued on, so no help for it.  Plus the boots are a little bit big, and I think the style doesn't do my short calves any favors.  I also noticed that my favorite brown lace up boots are starting to come apart near the soles and the heels are cracked again in a less-fixable place.  I've had them resoled once (at the cost of the boots!), but I don't think they can be saved a second time.  I'm bummed, as they are my favorite boots by far.  I've tried on and returned many pairs of boots this fall, in an effort to find a second pair of boots.  City walking is really hard on footwear, and it is helpful to have a couple of pairs of shoes or boots to rotate between to save the soles a bit.  I've had shoes literally disintegrate on my feet as I walked in the city, so I'm pretty attentive to the condition of my shoes.  I just wish there was a better guarantee of quality, and a better way to gauge it, because price really doesn't tell you much about the construction.  I find there isn't much difference between a $50 pair and a $100 pair in terms of quality, construction, and repairability.  I'm reluctant to spend more than that, as I don't think the quality or repairability increases as the price goes up.

In the end, I decided that less is more.  I found a pair of Naturalizer boots on ebay for a decent price yesterday, and while I don't love the look of them, I think they will be functional enough, and when the lace ups fall apart, I'll wear the Naturalizers until they fall apart.  I guess I don't need two pairs right now.  I'm trying to take that tack with my closet as well--I think that is the lesson of Project 333 anyway.  I'll write more on the subject another day.

In any case, I'm going to keep on keeping on--I'm still excited about this weight loss journey, eager to see where it takes me.  Even though I've had some set-backs and plateaus lately, I know they are temporary, and as long as I'm doing what I need to be doing every day, the weight will come off eventually.  15 pounds is nothing to sneeze at (and really, it might be closer to 18 anyway...water weight is so tricky)

Onward!

Talking Tuesday: Salvation is Not a Comfortable Chair

Image via

Rod Dreher has been burning up his little corner of the interwebs lately--so many good posts this past week or so, as he thinks through various aspects of the Benedict Option (for those who aren't familiar with the concept, I refer you to his FAQ on the topic).  Last week, he posted a little reflection that included an excerpt of an interview with an Orthodox bishop in Tajikistan.  Bishop Pitirim reflected that our modern times have made us Christians soft, that we no longer know what it is to thirst for Christ, to know our own brokenness and need for salvation.

He says:

"Many today want the Church to be a “Church of good people.” But the Church is a hospital. Here all the masks, all the curtains fall away, and a person is seen for what he is. And of course what he is rather unsightly.

People who don’t come to Church for Christ are looking for some kind of comfort, a peaceful state of being. There will be a peaceful state, and comfort—but a different kind. However, we have to grow into that state."

~Bishop Pitirim, The Folly of Comfortable Christianity, (article by Anastasia Rakhlina), pravoslavie.ru, 2/10/15, excerpted by Rod Dreher on The American Conservative blog, October 7, 2015.

Image via

I admit, I've struggled a lot with the whys of the more difficult aspects of my life these past years. Why three of my children have to bear such a heavy health burden, why several of them have special needs beyond the health issues, why I have to feel the weight of caring for them so heavily upon my back.  Why my own health problems seem so chronic and intractable as I'm trying to be the primary health care giver and just all around caregiver for my kids. 

I'm not saying that I've suddenly gotten over that struggle, but the weight feels less burdensome lately.  I suppose I realized that everyone (even those who appear to coast through life) has a cross to bear, some podvig that follows them around for the entirety of their lives, a weight on their back, a thorn in the flesh, so to speak.  

Without that weight on my shoulders, without that thorn poking me in the side, perhaps I would be too comfortable, too self-satisfied, not aware enough of my need for Christ.  My fists would remain closed tightly around the things of this world, instead of being loosed for the peace and grace that is not of this world.  

Life isn't necessarily meant to be some comfortable chair that I climb into and then coast through my days.  Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying we should actively seek to make our lives more difficult than they need to be, but rather, when faced with the hills and valleys that make up our lives, accept them as part of the larger journey, and look for the blessings and grace in the quiet moments that come along the way.  

The spiritual life in particular is meant to be one of struggle, of learning the depths of my brokenness, my continual failures on so many different levels, and seeking healing from the Comforter, the living water from the Savior.  

Lord, I thirst.  Give me water to drink. 

Let's party like it's 2005 ~wiws~

Ever have one of those days when you just can't get comfortable in your clothes?  Today was such a day.  I think I tried five different iterations (nope...nope...nope...NOPE) before settling on this outfit for church this morning: 

The weather has majorly cooled down over the last two days, which is some of my difficulty--I always find transitional weather difficult.  If I put on a sweater or tights in the morning, I want to wear it all day, and not worry that I'm going to roast in it by mid-afternoon.  With temps in the 40s in the morning, but in the upper 60s or low 70s by afternoon, it is hard to find appropriate layers to wear.  (Don't get me wrong: the weather is gorgeous, I'm not complaining that fall is finally here.  I'm just saying it can be a challenge to dress for)

Anyway.  A boring outfit that I could easily have worn 10 years ago.  But I still like it.

Just the facts: 

Shirt: Michael Starrs (via ThredUp)

Scarf: Target (very old)

Skirt: me-made

Boots: Modcloth

Earrings: etsy

Necklace: gift from a friend

Linking with FLAP for What I Wore Sunday.