A little progress

After coming back from aqua aerobics and showering yesterday, I had no time to sew. Just ate dinner and went to sleep. Today, since we weren't worked as hard in what I like to call my "boot camp" style class (yes, sometimes this teacher yells at you like a drill-sergeant), I decided to forfeit the shower and sew a little.
I was able to topstitch the tabs for the shoulders and sleeves, and stitched the front to the back. Here is what the top of the front looks like right now.

So next step: attach collar and facing. I'm apprehensive about attaching the sleeves because the instructions say to set in the sleeve, which I always find difficult. I'm not the best at easing fabric... Ah well, I'll just take my time when I get there. I think I will baste the sleeves on by hand first. That will definitely minimize my chances of screwing it up. Off to bed now. Another day of work and exercise tomorrow.

Still here...

Just barely. It's been a sewing desert over here, but I managed to stumble upon an oasis today. Can't be on the computer too long, but I have finally started working on the jacket. I finished the muslin (minus one arm) and even though the fit is a little iffy, I figured it was okay because for the first time, I'll actually have a jacket with arms that are long enough! Okay. Enough talk. Here is a picture of the muslin, and then a picture of the tabs I'm going to put on the shoulders and sleeves. I haven't thought yet about what kind of buttons I'm going to use to fasten the tabs to the jacket, I guess I'll just figure that out later. I've got the rest of the jacket cut out, but it will have to wait till sometime during the week...

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...

Gotta start somewhere

Not sewing-related at all, but I just registered for an aerobics class at a local community college. I find that I'm more compelled to do things when I know I'm getting a grade for them. This is the same place I took aerobics, gym, and ceramics classes after college (to stave off the boredom and uselessness of coming home after a day at work and having nothing to do but watch tv since all my friends were back on the east coast, where I went to college). Maybe the "good vibes" from back then will return and I'll once again be lithe. Hmmph. We'll see if I'm still feeling as optimistic after Monday night's class. Either way, it's a step in the right direction.

11:14pm edited to add: Oh dear! Just looked at the schedule - the class started TODAY. What the??? I guess I'll be hauling myself over there on Wednesday. (Darn, thought I was home free till next Monday... ah well, let's get it over with.)

My camera died,

but on a lighter note, happy new year! 2007 went by so fast! I'm kind of glad it's over, because it's a year that started with lots of stress and things crashing or not working as expected (both at home and at work). So, here's to a new, smoother-running year.

So, like I said, my camera died. It simply konked out. I pulled it out to take a picture of my hubby holding our adorable neice on Christmas day, and it wouldn't turn on - this after recharging the battery. Unfortunately, this also means I can't rescue all the pictures I have on the card, because of course (just my usual strange luck), Olympus decided to use the non-standard xD card in it's cameras, and all of the devices accessible to me only accept SD cards. Bummer.

I had wanted to take pictures of the yummy chin chin I made (might make more tomorrow - if I do, I'll definitely save some for you, Krazy Krafter!). Now it's all gone - sent most of it to my sis-in-law who requested it, gave some to my brother, and ate the rest in two days flat. Yum yum.
I also wanted to take pics of the fabric I picked up last weekend. Ah well. (Oh wow, firefox just crashed on me - I'm glad blogger saves drafts... Seems like 2007 is trying to wreak as much havoc as it can before it gives way to 2008, eh?)

So, resolutions? Not fond of them. I just want to sew more. Of course, since graduating college, the whole weight loss resolution has hung around - but that's not a New Years thing, it's an all the time thing. I was going through my clothing this past weekend to donate what I don't wear to the Salvation army and stumbled across two bags full of clothing that gave me a reality check.

These weren't just bags of any clothing, mind you. These were clothes that were brought by my parents when they visited a couple of years ago. Clothes that were tailored TO MY MEASUREMENTS in Nigeria. Most of them were slightly tight back then, because between the time the clothes were "commissioned" and my parent's trip, I had managed to gain about 10 pounds. The ones that weren't tight were too large. Needless to say, those clothes had been forgotten until now - 30 more pounds later - and the "too big" ones are also tight.

I was good at first, trying some items on and then refolding them for donation ("some tall lady will be glad to have brand new - never worn clothes"). With each new skirt, top, jacket and dress that I folded, I began to feel agitated. These were all FULLY LINED clothes that would take me ages to reconstruct. They had been made specifically for me and never been worn. There was no duplicate. The printed fabric definitely didn't exist anymore. I refolded work-perfect skirt after skirt (especially agonizing since I can't seem to perfect the fit on my straight skirt pattern - talk less of lining). Got to some gorgeous summer dresses with border prints. Refolded three of them. Pulled out some more...

Then I gave up. I can't get rid of those. I can't. I almost fit into them 3 years ago. i never got to wear them, and they were made for my (long-legged, long-armed, bootylicious) body in particular. Nothing has changed drastically in my life since then. I haven't had any kids, no medical issues that make me gain weight - nothing. There is no reason why I shouldn't strive towards fitting into them again - at least for one more year. No, I'm definitely not going to halt sewing until then. I need clothes that fit my body NOW, that's for sure. When I met my hubby in my gym class, I could have fit into those clothes. Maybe I should take another gym/pe class since I probably won't be taking a sewing one this spring? Either way, I now have a goal to work towards, God help me!

Yikes, that was quiet a long post - and with no pictures to break it up (darned camera). I'll quit while I still have some energy left.

Christmas and all (aka "Still not sewing")

Christmas Eve. I'm at work. Got all my gifts (and giftcards) ready, but still haven't made the most time-consuming gift. No, I'm not sewing for anyone. My SIL asked for a Nigerian "snack" called Chin-Chin. I have all the ingredients, and it's certainly not complicated to make. It's basically dough that's kneaded and then rolled out and cut then deep fried. My mom always made hers in a twisted 8 shape though (more time consuming) so I always do about half of those and half of the regular square/rectangle/diamond ones. However, after wrapping gifts yesterday I ended up doing dishes that had been in the sink for er... a few days... and then making dinner (whaaat? yah, I cooked). Then no time left since I had to come to work today.
The nice thing about being at work the day before a holiday is that we're usually allowed to leave early(and traffic's great! I got to work in 30 mins today!!). So I'm out of here at 2. Then I have to go get my MIL and FIL and take them to my place to pick up my DH and then off to Riverside for Christmas eve dinner. I thought it odd at first that their family congregates on Christmas eve rather than Christmas day, but now am glad for that cultural difference b/c it means we get to spend time with both families without time conflicts. Okay. I'm boring myself. That means time to get back to work. Later. Have a great Christmas!
(yes, I know, I still haven't sewed a stitch. Got some more fabric tho - pics later!)

Hmmm... looks like everyone's getting in on the top model reality show theme. Even my motherland --> Nigeria's next top model
** Updated 12:08pm - Apparently it's not a show, it's a "competition". Not sure if that means it's a non-TV thing. Hmm...