Swimsuit

So... I haven't lost a ton of pounds, but I am more fit and want to continue taking classes. I now have a love/hate relationship with the PE instructor. I love that he encourages us and insists that we also focus on our nutrition. I hate that he insists that we also focus on our nutrition and calls our bluff when we whine about how hard he makes us work. Tee hee...
Either way, I'm trying to keep my schedule pretty much the same - class at 5pm Monday through Thursday so I don't come straight home from work and do nothing. (Yah, I know, I could sew, but I'd be lying to myself if I said I could do that everyday). So, I'll be taking an aqua aerobics class with him twice a week. He has another class during the week, but not till 6:30 which would mean I'd be waiting around after work. I prefer leaving work, getting to campus in about 40 mins, and starting class soon after. No time wasted, and I can be home by 8pm.
Well, I registered for the aqua aerobics class, and it wasn't until yesterday that I realized what that means. I HAD TO HAVE A SWIMSUIT!! Whaaat?! What was I thinking?! Optimistic me, I thought - "oh, it's Los Angeles, there's bound to be swimsuits everywhere". NOT.
I went to Walmart, Ross, Target, Mervyns... Nothing. I was looking for a simple one piece that would stand up to all the movement in the water. A classmate who has taken the class a number of times made a point of saying I should definitely not spend a lot of $$ on a suit because it would get killed by the chlorine pretty quickly. No luck.
Now, here's the REALLY SAD THING: In my fashion class last Spring, one of our projects was a swimsuit. I made a swimsuit. However, I am not confident that I could do it again - especially when trying to fit an actual person as opposed to a mannequin. And I even remember a classmate, Krazy Krafter, was able to get some great fabric for $3 a yard at the time. How I wish I was confident enough in my sewing skills to whip up a swimsuit right now.
I finally found one - at the sport chalet - for $40 - 10 more than I had budgeted for a swimsuit, but not bad given the dire circumstances. Note to self - what you learned in class really can be useful in real life... start putting it to good use!

Nigerian Fashion

Nothing new from my sweat shop, but some fun stuff I found on youtube. These give me IDEAS! First is a fashion show at the Nigerian consulate in Atlanta (I found this at Evenstar's blog):


Next is a mini style documentary:

Back to work

Today is my second day back at work this year, and it's okay so far. Yesterday went surprisingly well. The only hitch was realizing that a friend who is out of the country had sent packages to me using my 3-year OLD address. Her fault completely. I believe one has been delivered already, unfortunately - and I am NOT about to go try to get if from whoever currently lives there that signed for it. How odd. Why would you sign for a package that doesn't have your name anywhere on it? I guess not everyone's honest. What was I talking about? Oh yah, my work day in itself went well.
The good thing about work today is that we're moving to a different floor, so we will have about 3 hours or downtime. Enough time for me to take the shuttle to campus and get my reimbursement for DSL. I will finally be getting a cube by the window! How divine! Okay, you don't understand - the building we were in since I started working here had no windows. We're currently in a temporary spot - which has windows, but not where I sit. So, yes, I'm happy that I finally get to look up and see the outdoors. It may seem like such a small thing to you, but try being cooped up in a windowless building for 5 years...
Okay, they're starting to move us at 8, so I need to log off before they come by. No sewing done - actually will probably not sew till the weekend since I have my class every day after work. Looking forward to working on the muslin for the 4789 jacket though.

I got a camera. I couldn't wait. Wait for what? I don't even know. Well, actually, come to think of it, I could have gotten it at least 13 dollars cheaper if I'd bought it online and had it shipped to the store... Shhhh... don't tell my hubby that, he'll make me take it back and buy it online...
Anyway, here's the picture of the bench pad I was talking about in the last post.

I'm noticing that I still had some tailors chalk markings on the fabric from when I measured. I also managed to get a picture of the camera box. I really hope this one works out. Anway, back to the bench pad. You can kind of see the texture of the fabric. Kinda thick twill canvas. I hated the color when I was pressing it. It was so blah, and I was wondering what I'd seen in it when I bought it. But with the piping, it doesn't look to bad. Kinda rugged army-ish color scheme going. Ah well. That's that. Proof that I DID sew. Tee hee...

I can't use my disabled camera as an excuse not to blog can I? Pictures make things more fun though!
So, I did go to the step aerobics class on Wednesday and Thursday. Can you say great workout?! Yah, it kicked my lazy butt, but that's exactly what I need. Worked up a good sweat and hoping I can make it through 4 days in a row for the next 4 weeks. I'm also back at work starting tomorrow (blech), so I'll be taking off from there.

I did sew something yesterday. I have a bench that had been buried in junk behind the closet door for over two years. Since tidying up two weeks ago, I dragged it out and now have it at the end of the bed. It needed a seating pad, because it's one of those benches with slats as the top (spaces between the slats - see, a picture would be so helpful here). I made the bench pad yesterday out of some scary-looking canvas-ish fabric I bought at Walmart years ago. Since it was a straightforward project (got the idea from the Reader's digest guide to sewing project), I decided to add some piping/cording to it. I MADE MY OWN bias strips in a similar fabric left over from a skirt, and then actually put in the cording (it's so much easier than it looks!), and used it between the seams. Turning the corners was a little tricky, as was meeting up with the zipper, but it came together. I'm pretty pleased with it (my first go at a functional piece like this - and at creating piping - yaaay!). Okay, now I want to go buy a camera just so I can post a pic...

Spent the rest of the day tracing the 4789 jacket (I'm so slow at this). I use wax paper, but for larger pieces I have to tape two strips of wax paper together before tracing. I wonder if there's wax paper in larger widths? I might be able to finish up a muslin for it today if I get the motivation. Kinda hard because with the overcast rain-ish weather outside, all I want to do is curl up and sleep (or read blogs, or a book). I do need to do laundry though, and make a visit to my cutie neice at some point. Goodness. I hope I get another camera soon...