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On the weekend I finally finished a top that I first cut out about a week ago. It is McCalls 5469. It seemed to take forever to finish though.  I must say that even though my new job is only part-time, it is hard to fit all the things I want to do into my free time nowadays.  I am determined to find the time though, even if it is just here and there.  Yesterday I decided that I was finishing the green top and it shouldn’t have taken too long but in the end, it was a real pain in the neck!  The neckline that is. 

After some frustration, I had to rip out the neck binding and start again.  The trick was to cut the neckline piece twice as wide as the pattern piece and a little shorter.  I wasn’t going to give up, even though it was a pain and even though the fabric only cost me $1.50 per metre.  I also chopped about 2 inches off the sides which made it a little more figure hugging. I think if I make it again I will shorten it a bit too.

After all that, I wanted to start on something that I knew would be pretty straightforward so I went back to good ol’ Simplicity 4076 and made the wrap top with a Pucci inspired print.

It was all smooth sewing and I even found the time to finish it this evening. I wore the green to work today - maybe it will be the Pink Pucci tomorrow!

Oh and by the way, my article for the Sew, Mama, Sew blog went up the other day.  It’s all about how to alter your favourite TNT (tried n true) pants pattern to keep up with the latest styles.  It’s easy to change your wide leg pattern to make a pair of skinny jeans, or make some gauchos from your favourite capris pattern.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the special women out there making a difference in their children’s lives.  What a great job we have and how nice it is to be spoilt a little bit on Mother’s Day.  So far, I have enjoyed a sleep in, had lovely handmade things foisted on me by little hands, had bacon and eggs with hollandaise cooked for me, and I’m still in my jammies at 1pm.  Lovely! 

I went fabric shopping last weekend for the first time in a while.  I decided to get organised before I went so that I would only come home with fabrics that could be made into things that would fill holes in my work wardrobe.  I ended up spending about $90 and bought enough fabric to make eleven new tops.  If I had bought ready to wear, I would have gotten about three decent tops. 

That’s three pieces of fleece - red, green and grey.

Four pieces of jersey type fabric - red with white spots, green with white hearts, red, and a light green texture print.    The photos of the other fabrics were truly awful so I will have to rephotograph them another day but I bought a few nice prints in slinky type jersey too. 

Before I left the house I used my mobile phone to take photos of the pattern envelopes for all the tops I wanted to make and I wrote a list telling me how much fabric I would need to make each one.  Going through all my patterns to pull out the ones to make next and writing lists was a great way to get it all sorted in my head.  Now I just need to get stuck into all that fabric! 

I have started already - I am part way through sewing up McCalls 5469 in the light green as I love the sleeves and the pleats.  I’m making View B (the main photo on the envelope) and hoping it won’t be too billowy.  After I cut it out, I read that there is about 20cm ease in the bust area!  I’m thinking of making a self fabric belt to tie around my waist if I need it.

Oh, and I’ve written my article up for Women’s Clothing Month over at Sew, Mama, Sew blog.  You’ll have to wait a bit to see it though - I’m not sure which day it will go live. 

It’s the first of May!  I had to send a text message to my very best friend ever, Yvie to tell her:   “OMG!  You are getting married THIS month!”  I can’t wait to see her and Dan get married in Sydney in a few short weeks.  I’m sure it will be a lovely wedding and a great party afterwards.  Paul and I are having the kids minded and we’re going to stay at a posh hotel in Double Bay for the night.  Can’t wait!

Also happening in May - the lovely girls at the Sew, Mama, Sew! blog are doing a Women’s Clothing Month all through May.  I am very excited to say that I am keeping company with some inspiring women as I will be providing an article for them!   Mind you, I still have to write the article.   I have been percolating ideas in my head though so when I sit down to write it (maybe this weekend?) I will know where the article will be going.

It’s been three weeks now and I’m still really enjoying my new job and getting a lot out of it.  I have even done a crazy thing in the name of bonding -  I’ve signed up along with two of my workmates for one of those crack-of-dawn boot camp things!  Starting next week I will be getting up bright and early (or at least early) and being hounded and pounded for an hour from 6.15am, twice a week.  Am I crazy?  I think so.  I would still like to lose 10 kilos so this is a good way to keep motivated and do something a bit different.  Sharing it with two women from work will make it fun and we can all complain together.

It turns out that my boss is the star attraction at her gym - even appearing in their posters and giving motivational talks. She went from 150 kg (330 lbs) to 85 kg (187 lbs) in 12 months.  She is tall and so 85 kilos makes her very slim and trim.  A huge transformation and it should keep me on track with my weight loss goals - she even has one of the gym posters up at work with all the before, during and after shots.  I am always shocked at how much people’s faces change with all that extra weight.  I have been finding it hard to get to the gym since starting work so the boot camp is a good way to keep things going.  It’s just a pity I hate early mornings!

I’ve just watched Sam win on Biggest Loser and didn’t they all look AMAZING!  I was really hoping Allison would win and of course Kirsten too.  I like Kirsten but Allison was the won I wanted to win - since losing the weight and gaining confidence Allison had this wonderful child-like joy just shining out of her eyes.  By the way, I’m not saying I particularly agree with their idea of losing huge amounts of weight in just 3 months but it does make for a good show.  It’s the first year I have watched it and it was good to see the real results and of course,  The Journey.