Cut it out

Since the weather hasn't been very nice here in Vancouver, I decided to have a cutting marathon and get rid of some fabrics that have been in the closet for too long. It took me 2 days to cut out Vogue 8379, Kwik Sew 3115 & Jalie 2559.

This is a long process as I first copy all pattern pieces on to parchment paper. This means I don't have to cut into my patterns just in case I'm making the wrong sizes. I have to transfer all the markings on to my parchment pieces and then use them to cut out the fabric. At the end of the process, the sewing room looks like it's been through a windstorm. I have all my cut pieces of fabric hanging from the railings and my patterns and copies are strewn over my sewing table. It took me another hour or so to organize the pieces and get everything back into it's proper envelope.

After all that, I managed to get the Kwik Sew yoga pants and top sewn. I've sewn both of these pieces before and this time went down a size in the pants and sewed a medium. I also shortened the legs by 1.5". They fit perfectly. I turned the flower print inside out so that the pants are plain, I used the print for the waistband and sewed the top with the print showing. I think they've ended up looking like a set of scrubs, but they're OK to wear around the house. I used a medium weight knit and while it was a perfect weight for the pants, it was too heavy for the top. I'll stick to lighter knits for the top. I hope to get the Vogue dress sewn by the weekend as we're heading to California for 3 weeks and I'd like a dress to take along.
I'm still not working (and not looking very hard). I'll start a serious job search when we get back from California. The weather's not looking great there and if it doesn't improve we may end up going to Arizona instead. We'd like to spend time around Lake Havasu and Parker. We have no firm plans other than the weekend of April 16-18 when our daughters are flying down to join us in San Francisco. We've booked ourselves into Petaluma for 4 nights but have made no reservations other than that.

5K still eludes me. I was at 4.75K yesterday so shouldn't have a problem getting to 5K this week. I've been getting a bit of ankle and knee pain afterwards and have been icing them, hopefully I won't have to stop my program to let them rest. They're just niggling little pains so I don't think it's anything serious.

Survivor disappointed me this week. My favourite, Rob, is gone. I'm switching my bets to J.T. on the heroes team now. I still can't stand Russell and hope I don't have to look at him for too many more weeks. Amazing Race was excellent as usual and I was sorry to see Steve and Allie gone. I liked them. I actually like all of the teams that are left this time. Malaysia looked nice and it was surprising to me to find out how multicultural it is. I did a bit of googling after the show and it's apparently a predominantly Muslim country. My knowledge of world geography and social studies is very poor. I've decided that after each episode of The Amazing Race, I'm going to google the countries they spent time in and find out a little about them. I have to admit, I would fail miserably if asked to find most of these countries on a map.

Jalie 2559

I've spent the past couple of months slowly working my way through Jalie 2559. This is a fitted, lined jacket with princess seams. I'm happy to say it's finished and hanging in my closet. I've already worn it a couple of times and I like it. I used a celery green linen that I've had in my stash for a couple of years. I bought it on sale and just put it away for a suitable project. As you can see in the picture, the sleeves were long, I've since shortened them by 1 1/2" so they look much better now.

This was a good project for me, I learned how to do a welt pocket, how to do a lining, and probably most importantly, how to stop when I'm frustrated, put it aside and work on something else. I also worked very hard on my hand stitching and if I may say so myself, my hem is a thing of beauty, sadly it's now hidden by the lining, but underneath that lining, is some mighty fine hand stitching. I'm not sure what to work on next. I have a quilt that's sandwiched and ready to be quilted. Maybe I'll get that done this week or...............

I've watched a few shows this week, first off Survivor, Tyson, what an idiot! I'm going with Rob to take the whole thing this time he's awesome. Amazing Race was good also. I used to love the Cowboys and am happy to see they didn't get eliminated, but man they need to smarten up as they made some dumb moves this week. I'm embarassed to admit I'm watching Celebrity Apprentice as I'm writing this. It's surprisingly good company when you're working on the computer. I don't have to give it a lot of attention and can look up when something sounds interesting but I'm not sure what they're thinking by making each episode 2 hours, yikes. That's a lot of time to commit to B & C list celebrities, not to mention Donald.

I still haven't found another job, admittedly I haven't really been looking very hard, but I have a good reason. We're leaving on a 3 week holiday to California April 9, so it's awkward timing to take on another contract. A company would really have to want me to put up with that. I'll put out some feelers next week and see if I can generate some interest. It's scary putting yourself out there again. I haven't had to go through the interview process in probably 20 years, I'm sure it'll be a humbling experience.

As no part of my life is too trivial to blog about, how do you like my new wallet? It's courtesy of the Amazing Agatha, isn't it cute? Agatha you're too good, thanks a bunch.

Madame Beryl

I finally bought a dress form. I chose one I bought from EBay called the Dress Fitter. She got to work immediately upstairs in my sewing room helping me out with a jacket I'm making from Jalie Pattern 2559 and has been very helpful as I was able to pin the sleeve cap, and hand sew the shoulder pads while the jacket was hanging on the form. She's been christened Madame Beryl, or M.B. and hasn't let me down yet. I feel very "Project Runway" now that I have my own form. It makes a big difference having the garment hang so that you can look at it from all angles.

I've spent most of this week working on Jalie 2559. It's what's sitting on M.B. in the picture above. It's a nice, fitted and lined jacket with princess seams and has been well reviewed on Pattern Review. I'm using a celery green linen that I've had in my stash for several years. This is my first attempt at a jacket and I've been going very slowly. Thankfully the customer service at Jalie is very good as I've had to put it to the test several times this week. I got lost with the welt pockets and also with a step in the lining process. I'm slowly but surely working my way through it and will hopefully have it done by next Sunday. It'll be my first review on Pattern Review.

My work situation changed last week. My contract with the company I had been with for 6 years ended suddenly, so I'm now at a loose end but hey, it couldn't have come at a better time, Spring is here, the weather is improving daily and I'll be able to work on my garden and should have lots of garden pictures in the months to come.

I've also been working up to running 5K and have come from not being able to run for 1 minute 8 weeks ago, to running 28 minutes without stopping. I'm quite amazed with myself. I had intended to run 5K by my 55th birthday yesterday, but haven't quite made it. It looks like that's another week or two away but definitely within range so I'm happy.


Speaking of birthdays, I turned 55 yesterday and had a wonderful day. My husband,took our daughters, son in law (who shares the same birthday) and myself out for dinner to a local Vancouver restaurant called The Cannery. It's been a fixture in Vancouver for many, many years and is right on the waterfront. Sadly it's only going to be open for another week and then will close permanently. It's on land that belongs to the Port of Vancouver and is being shut down as it's right in the middle of a secured area. It's a great old place with good sea food, great service and spectacular views. We're all quite sad that this was our last time there.

I received some amazing gifts,as you can see above and below. First off a fabulous pink, plastic poodle watering can. The picture doesn't do the colour justice. It's a vibrant pink and has googley eyes. Totally tacky and I love it. Then my darling, beautiful, fantastic daughters gave me a Tiffany heart bracelet with Mom engraved on the heart. I've wanted one for a long time and couldn't have been more surprised to be given one. Todd, my son in law, took a beautiful picture of both girls together and gave it to me framed. What a great guy he is and a very good photographer.





Oh and one more thought, now that I'm officially 55 I'll be on the lookout for 55+ discounts at restaurants and golf courses woohoo!!