I sewed it up using BBW 3835, in the longer dress version. Gathered yoke, tie sleeves, back darts and zipper.  I’ve made the shirt version of this pattern a trillion times, but not the dress version with the zipper. It wasn’t that hard, but the material was slippery as shit and gave me fits.  

The armbands are too tight, though. If I make this again (and that’s a very big if) I will have to adjust the fit there.  Everywhere else it fits great, not too fitted but it doesn’t end up looking like a tent, either.  

Love the patch pockets.  I tried to match the stripes, but fuck it. I’m not that kind of seamstress.

Love the retro look, like something I could’ve found in a thrift shop somewhere.  And lemme tell you, I’m really proud of what a good job I did on this dress.  I WILL break my arm patting myself on the back, thankyouverymuch.

Thea: Is that guy tied up? (talking about the guy driving the cart)
Me: No, I don’t think so. He’s steering the horses.
Thea: Is he drinking milk?
Me: Um, no…
Thea: Is he drinking water?
Me: No, he’s taking Ferdinand back home in a cart.
Thea: … Oh.  He is very handsome.  But… I don’t want to marry him.
Me: Ok, I think that’s a good idea. You can wait until you’re big, like me, before you get married.
Thea: Yes, I will marry Daddy.
Me: Well, no, you will find your own person to marry. When you’re much much older.
Thea: What if I can’t find my person?
Me: You’ll find your person. I promise. I will help you.
Thea: Can you be my person?
Me: Yes, I will always be your person.
Thea: You’re my BEST friend.

After she finished talking she grinned at me, put her head down on my shoulder, and fell immediately asleep.  And then my heart grew two sizes and I ate her up.

I will say this: I have body-image issues.  I guess I’ll probably always have them.  I try not to talk about it much, and I try to watch what I say around my girls.  For a very long time I’ve worn clothes that hide my shape because my body and I, well, we have a complicated relationship.  It’s been very emotionally hard on me doing this whole weight loss thing.  My instinct is to just stop eating.  Period.  I’m fighting that instinct, but it’s something I struggle with every. single. day.  I don’t want my kids to think that starving yourself is healthy, or heaven forbid “normal.”

It’s hard to convey how far I’ve come without really getting into all the nitty-gritty details.  I get that.  But for me, this journey isn’t just about another mom who decided to get off her ass and work out.  For me, it’s much much deeper than that.  For me, this is about trying to change the way I feel about me, the way I think about me, the way I take care of me.

Around the end of September I forced myself to get off my ass and work on myself.  I sort of didn’t want to talk about it, because it’s a really hard thing for me to do.  Also, if I failed, I didn’t want anyone to know.  I also get really tired of hearing, “What? But you look great for having 4 kids!”  That’s like a knife in the guts.  I just want to look good, and frankly the number of kids I’ve had shouldn’t factor into it.  

I’ve lost about 15 pounds since I started this whole thing.  I went from 150lbs to 135lbs, and that was a shit-ton of work.  I don’t do diets, and I never will.  That’s not what this is about for me.  This is about making overall healthier choices.  This is about choosing to continue to eat while trying to lose weight.  For me, that’s fundamentally counter-intuitive.  My brain screams at me to stop putting food in my mouth, and I have to fight that feeling and sometimes it’s exhausting.

But look, I’ve come really far.  I have photos on Flickr (they’re marked private to friends and family because I don’t want the whole internet to see me in my underwear) so if you check out my Fitness set you’ll see my progress.  The last one I took was about 2 weeks ago, and I’m fine sharing that because it’s not too revealing.  Those are pants that I used to be able to wear, and then pushed to the back of my closet because they were too tight.  I took them out just to see if they would fit me now, and they’re loose.  Which absolutely shocked me.

I’m not done, I’m not 100% where I want to be, but I get that I’m a work in progress.  I’m starting to be a little bit more proud of the way I look.  I’m starting to wear clothes that are flattering, that don’t hide my shape.  I like showing off my baby arm-muscles, because I worked really hard to get them.  My new goal is to get some abs and get more muscular definition, whatever the number on the scale says.  I’m starting to care less about how much I weigh, and more about making myself stronger.  I would like to get my overall body fat percentage down, but I’m not going to say no to a piece of cake, and I’m sure as shit going to eat pizza if I feel like eating pizza.  So, we’ll see what happens.

But I’m getting better and better every day, and I’m sticking with it.  I’m giving myself a big hug right now, because frankly I deserve it.

I’M SO NICE.

I ordered the cord from Jewels in Fiber (it came so fast) and then worked my magic.  It was really easy, but it took me awhile to make the knot and then arrange the cords, rinse and repeat.

It looks so pretty and she loves it, so I win!  I had plans to make all kinds of Christmas gifts, but I think this is about as far as I’m getting.  Quit while you’re ahead, AMIRITE?  

Made out of some synthetic poly something-or-other that has a raised pattern on it, but feels reallll niiiiice.  I got this fabric (are you sitting down?) maybe 7 years ago when we lived in SoCal.  And I have carried it around with me ever since.  Until now, when I made an awesome tank dress.  I’m so crazy.

I didn’t have enough yardage to cut both pieces on the fold, so I cut the back into 2 pieces and seamed it up.  I doubt I would ever wear this without a long-sleeved tee and leggings under it, but that makes it perfect for winter, AMIRITE?

Today Charlie is seven.  I totally can’t believe it.  WHERE DOES THE TIME GO, I ask you?

We’re celebrating on Friday, but I did stay up way too late last night making cupcakes for her class for today.  Can I just say I love that they can bring in cupcakes to school?  That used to be one of my favorite things when I was little, to have a mini-party with treats in class. At their old school they didn’t allow baked goods (everything had to be prepackaged) so I’m glad we get to do stuff like this.  

I did the same thing I did for Phoebe’s birthday, with the cupcake wrappers and flag topper thingies.  It takes awhile to print and cut everything on the Silhouette, but it worked out nicely while the cupcakes were baking.

I made this frosting (no cinnamon!), and piped it on with this frosting tip.  And added sprinkles, at Charlie’s request.  On the way to school a lady stopped Bryan in the street to tell him how nice the cupcakes looked.  Score!

I did a fancy braid for Charlie’s birthday hair, and used some of the leftover glitter hairspray from Halloween.  Phoebe got in on that action, too.  I’m glad Thea was asleep for this part.

We have a few small treats for Charlie to open later today, and she asked for a “big girl bike” that we’ll take her to pick out on Friday.  Along with her birthday dinner (ham, of course).  

On Miss Charlie’s birthday request list were: crayons, coloring books, stickers, and socks.  Socks!  ZOMG she cracks me up.  Of course, she got everything she asked for.

She’s a little firecracker, this one.  Very laid back and easy going, with an incredible sense of humor and quite a strong sense of justice (she hates even the inkling of being treated unfairly).  She’s very generous with her affection and makes friends really easily.  We love her so very much, this Super Charlie of ours.

Oh ho ho, I’ve branched out, y’all!  Not just Wiksten tanks or Washi tunics anymore, I made a Wiksten TOVA (with pockets, natch).  You have to check out all the amazing Tovas in the photo pool here.  I’ve been drooling over them for days and days and days, and finally bit the bullet and made my own.

I used a blue linen that I picked up on my L.A. fabric trip.  I was originally going to make the girls a pair of these pants, but stole the linen for myself.  I take all the good shit for myself, don’t I?  I’m selfish like that.

It’s some sort of linen blend, but I couldn’t care less.  I love love love the color.  I had 2 yards, and the pattern called for a little over 3 for the dress, I think.  Well, lemme tell you, I had plenty of yardage with 2 yards.  I didn’t do the collar, but I could’ve.  Also, if all else failed, I could’ve cut the back as 2 pieces (instead of on the fold) and just seamed it up.  It was definitely an option.

I used bias tape for the collar, and I guess I shouldn’t have used white, but I really don’t care.  I still love how it turned out.  If I make it again, which I probably will, I intend to use the same method.

I stole the pockets off the Washi tunic and estimated the same placement on the Tova as the Washi, using the armpit as the guide.  It worked out nicely.  I did end up stitching the pocket bags down in the front, so the pockets didn’t get flipped or stuck to my tights.

I also used a different method for attaching the sleeve binding.  I hate stitching in the ditch and trying to catch the seam blind.  It drives me batshit crazy, so I did it my own way, and it came out fine.

I have to tell you, the oldest daughter was responsible for the pictures here.  I simply cannot take good photos of myself wearing something.  Also, my hair is not even slightly brushed nor is my face washed.  Don’t tell my mom.

Once the photo shoot was over, my photographer and I got a little silly.  I super love that kid.

Did I forget to mention that?  She had her birthday the day of the storm, so I made her cake a day in advance just in case.  Turns out it was the right call.  Black magic cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting, if you’re interested.  It was delicious.

Every year the girls get to pick their birthday dinner, and it’s usually a pretty big affair.  Ham, tacos, bacon, green bean casserole, meatloaf, etc.  I make them stick to maybe 3 big things, though, so we don’t get *super* cray.  Thea picked macaroni and cheese (yawn) and we ended up giving her the box kind since that’s all we could make once the power went out.  She didn’t care.

She’s been playing with play-doh a lot lot lot, and most of the stuff we have left is dried out and crusty, so we bought her a bunch to stock up, and she got some cool play-doh from AdriAunt & Tom, too.  She’s played with it just about every single day.

She also wanted red shoes for her birthday, which I thought was the cutest damn thing in the world.  I bought her these from Zappos.  Yes, I know, they cost a majillion dollars, but I plan to save them for her forever and ever.  Also, she’s worn them everywhere, even around the house.  Good purchase, I think.

I couldn’t figure out why she wanted red shoes in particular, until it was pointed out to me that I, in fact, own red shoes.  ERMAHGERD.  Now we’re twinsies.

She’s very into reading, so Bryan and I picked out a few more books we thought she would like.  The Neil Gaiman is a little bit old for her (her attention span is very low) but she loved Blueberries for Sal.  Anything with pictures to capture her interest works well.

I can’t believe how big she is now, what with her red shoes and super curly hair.  She cracks jokes with us, she likes to help us cook, and doesn’t bat an eyelash at helping clean up her room.  She gets annoyed if you call her baby, though, even affectionately.  She insists, “I. Am. A. Toddler!” so watch out.  She is certainly growing up.

Oh hai.  So, yesterday we finally celebrated our Halloween.  Hurricane Sandy blew through right before Halloween, so our festivities were postponed.  And then postponed again. And then finally we were told that we could take the kids trick-or-treating from 1pm-4pm yesterday.  

I have to tell you, the whole thing was pretty sad.  I don’t think we would’ve even done it this year, but the kids had been begging and begging to get dressed up in their costumes.  I guess all the makeup testing I did sort of fueled the fire there. Oh well.

Our pumpkins (we actually found some this year!) had been stored in a dark closet for days and days, and then it occurred to us that we should probably take them out before they fell to pieces.   It was almost too late, but we put them outside anyway.  Where the squirrels then began to feast upon them.  They actually ate clean through one pumpkin, those little suckers.  

So we scraped the mold off and worked around the half-eaten mess, and carved our sad mushy pumpkins.  There was a pumpkin or two that made it through relatively unscathed, so I was even able to roast some seeds. 

After pumpkin carving I got the girls all dressed up, and we went trick or treating.  Many houses weren’t participating this year, and some of the ones that did only put a bowl of candy out on their porches.  It made us all a little sad, only because half of the fun is having an adult hand you candy while telling you how scary/cute/great your costume looks.  

The neighborhood still looks pretty bad after the storm.  The streets are covered in leaves and branches, and there are many houses that sustained damage and were clearly vacant.  It was a fairly somber affair.

I’m glad the town did reschedule, though, and I’m glad the girls had an opportunity to show off their scariness (or in Charlie’s case, her super-hero-ness).  Last year we had a 3-day power outage for Halloween, and this year we had a hurricane.  I have to say, I’m a little nervous what next year will bring.

So, the Washi Tunic.  I did the scoop neck again with sleeves, and I ended up having to do a band of black on the front since I didn’t buy enough yardage.  Luckily it looks intentional, and I actually like it.  Winner winner chicken dinner!

The shirring on the back is so easy.  I hand-wind the bobbin and just sew a regular stitch across the back.  Once the rows are done I blast it with steam, and voila!  I do leave the ends long (I don’t backstitch) and I catch them in the serging when I attach the front and back pieces together.

This material is so pretty, and I got it on sale at JoAnn fabrics.  I promised myself I wouldn’t shop there again (the staff are so nasty and unhelpful at my store) but I can’t help it.  I love being able to see material in person.  First world problems.

So, the Wiksten tank is some peach skin that I picked up at the same shopping trip to Joann’s.  This fabric peeked out at me from the corner of my eye and I snatched the bolt up and carried it around with me like a baby.  It’s so pretty.  I love the chevron dots, and it is so soft and nice to wear.

Not much else to say about this top — it’s 2 pieces, y’all.  French seams, which make the finish so nice, and bias binding around the neck and armholes (that’s the thing that takes the longest).  I did do bias binding on the hem as well, to give it a little structure and because srsly I did not want to hem that slippery shizz.  Looks good though.

Next I really want to make a Washi dress (not just the tunic top) so don’t expect that I’ll branch out and show you anything new just yet.  I’m not done with these patterns by a long shot!