Work and Play

I've been out in the studio altering a pattern for myself. It's been a while since I sewed myself any clothes, but I've decided to make an effort to get back into the habit. The main sticking point is that I am far from a standard size. Of course that doesn't make shopping for ready-to-wear clothes much fun either.

I've already made my confessions about the department that needs the most support. Apart from that you could say I'm an apple shape--if you can picture an apple with a bumpy top half! I've been losing a little bit of weight lately--by design--and although my measurements have gone down, the proportions have stayed exactly the same. So I may as well get used to altering patterns. It's a challenge that's here to stay.

This week's goal is a nicely fitted pair of basic slacks. I 'm using a multi-size pattern--picking and choosing between three different sizes and tweaking the darts a little gets me close. Once I've reached a stable weight in my healthy range I might even draft myself some basics from scratch. For now I do the work of altering.

As a reward for my work, I brought this back inside.

It's a brooch to dress up my basic black coat which gets constant use in these wintry days. I'd glued the bead and pin to the feathers, left them on the bench to set and forgotten about them. Now it's mine to test and enjoy.