Sewing Again

Well, so far my sewing experience has been a bust. I wanted to make my own clothes but never could get the patterns or fabric to work for me. Thank God for daughters. My eldest put me back on the right track without any effort on her part (and total effort on mine).

My eldest daughter is getting married in June. Thank God she did not ask me to sew the wedding dress or the bridesmaid's dresses. She did ask me to sew out of town bags. After much research (known as Googling), I came up with a cute idea for black and white bags. I wanted to use up my sewing stash, but did not have the right colors. The idea of "girlie" floral print bags just didn't appeal to me even though I had tons of fabric. So, off to the store I went and came home with 4 yards of black twill and 4 yards of black and white print. I figured I would make 12 bags. Thankfully (subtle sarcasm), my daughter wants 19 bags.

Here I am on Mother's Day sewing bags. So far, I have finished 7--only 12 more to go!!

Too Much Icing for Me

I hate to complain when God blesses me with paid time off from work. However, after being snowed and iced in for 5 days, the novelty is starting to wear off. I am bored, bored, bored. I never realized how much I move around until I am stuck indoors. Since we went back to school in January, I have worn my pedometer to work. I average 3-4 walking miles just at work every day. Some days have resulted in as many as 7 miles! I have not walked here for two days, and I really feel it!

I have been walking in the house with the Leslie Sansone 5 mile walk DVD. After 3 days, I tired of the chatter, and my calves started stiffening up. I walked around and around and around the living room, but that really looks silly!

So, here I sit on a Saturday morning, wondering what I could do to occupy time, burn fat and calories, and truly enjoy. Times up! No ideas. I guess Leslie and I are destined to march the 5 miles AGAIN.

January 2011

OK, so January has come and is nearly gone, and I am just slightly closer to my goals. I started off 2011 with a new calendar. In fact, I got a Daytimer with daily double pages for entering all kinds of stuff. I really thought that logging in the calendar would create some form of accountability that would help me stay on track. Well, the thought was good, but there was something missing with the follow-through.

I do have one goal that I am sticking with: I have decided to walk 2011 miles in 2011. To do so, I have to walk 5.5 miles every day. Though I do try to schedule regular exercise time, I get most of my mileage from "purposeful walking". I define "purposeful walking" as the steps that I take throughout my workday that are above and beyond what I would normally encounter. For example, I park far away from the building so I am forced to walk further into work. I use my old step counter to give me some idea of how far I have progressed. On most "bad" days, I get in at least 3 miles. On the good days, I am around 5 miles, and on the exceptional days, I have logged over 6 miles. To date, I am over 100 miles. I need to pick it up just a bit, but I am really not too far off track.

So, with temperatures today in the 70's, outside I go. Goal for today: 7 miles.

Ending 2010

As 2010 comes to an end, I cannot say that I am sad to see it leave. This has not been a bad year, but there are many ideas that I wanted to develop and, to date, they remain unfinished. I expected myself to be more advanced, proactive, and satisfied than I actually find myself. On the bright side, my self-awareness has increased. I found plenty of new interests that once experienced weren't all that interesting after all.

So here I sit, facing my computer screen and contemplating what I want to do next. I suppose I should feel discouraged for the lack of "success" in my planning. I am not discouraged though. I am excited at the adventure and growth that has occurred. It doesn't really matter to me if I try and fail--at least I tried. I have found another activity (or two) that I don't excel at, and I am accepting of that fact. At least I made the effort to explore the possibility.

I can almost feel 2011 staring at me. The New Year stretches before me with a myriad of possibilities. Like Columbus in search of a new route to the Indies, I will continue my quest for satisfaction and passion in my life. I know it's out there, and I am determined to keep looking for it.

If you wonder what I am talking about, I am diligently exploring my future now that my children are grown and independent. I am not in the middle of some form of midlife crisis--I think I went down that road when my eldest went off to college. I am trying to put my feet back on the ground now that they are completely gone and on their own.

For so many years, I was a mom. My life revolved around my family. Child-focused activities and events ruled everything. Piano lessons, band practice, birthday presents, and sleepovers kept me busy. I worked and lived according to their schedule. Now, I only have mine, and I am not sure what to do with myself. I realize that I am rebuilding my life as they are building theirs.

Thankfully, I am neither scared nor sad. I accept this phase of my life for what it is. I enter a new season of possibility.

Will I sew in 2011? I doubt it, but if I do I will try new things. My sewing experience for 2010 flopped. If I try sewing again, I want to do something useful and functional. I wonder if I should try my hand at upholstery?

The Fork in My Road

Well, the July conference sewing was a bust. My floral shirt looked good and fit well. The pink top is too pink and the gathering under the boobs is disgusting. The white slacks fit good, but the linen pants stretched out and wrinkled and looked like crap when I wore them the first time.

My interests have changed tremendously since my last post. After the linen trouser fiasco, I put sewing to the side. I spent the summer enjoying my eldest daughter who is currently teaching in Afghanistan and my youngest daughter who lives in Lubbock, TX. I happened to watch a video that we made for work, and I was shocked by how fat and outta shape I appeared. So, I bought P90X and have been working out. Unfortunately, I got the stomach flu with all the trimmings and my workouts got postponed for 2 weeks. When I got back on the horse, it was a whole new experience. I had no stamina at all!! So, this week, I started back up again.

If asked, I would have to say that I am a very simple woman. I don't need a lot to keep me happy, and I don't complain a lot either. However, being majorly pragmatic, I hate to waste anything: time, money, etc. Right now, I have a ton of sewing experience, minimal sewing talent, a closet full of fabric, a million patterns (give or take 100 or so), and a job that requires that I look at least semi-professional.

I want to get in shape (which assumes that I will get slightly smaller). I want to use of the fabric that I have to fashion usable, wearable garments that are appropriate for work. I want a mix and match wardrobe that is functional. Sewing is a pleasure for me, so I would rather sew than shop; however, I only will wear clothing that fits and is attractive. Shopping offers the advantage of fitting before buying. Sewing offers the advantage of easily avoiding colors that are unattractive and focusing only on colors that compliment my coloring, body shape, etc.

So, where do I go from here?

A Weekend to Sew

This is my weekend to sew. I am attending a conference in Las Vegas next week and have absolutely nothing to wear. Fortunately I have a closet full of fabric. So far, I have made 2 pair of slacks, 2 t-shirts, and 3 dresses. I plan on wearing the slacks, a tank top dress, and one of the tops. I still need at least 2 more outfits. Somehow, though, I keep going into the closet and coming right back out again. There are so few patterns that I have used previously which makes me really uncomfortable. I hate to wast a piece of fabric making something that doesn't fit. As it stands, though right now, I have sewn no failures.

I plan on taking photos tomorrow.

Back at the sewing center

Well, I graduated and officially have a master's degree. I am proud of myself, but not full of myself. It is hard to get too conceited when it has taken me most of my adult life to achieve this accomplishment. I have chosen to work, raise daughters, have a successful partnership/ marriage for nearly 30 years, and attempt to enjoy my life despite my circumstances. I think I have done that fairly well, my daughters have both launched successfully, and my husband and I are still married after all these years. Those are not small accomplishments.
So, now that graduation is over, I am back at the sewing machine. I have two goals: replace the old, worn out clothes that exist in my closet and use up at least half of my sewing stash---and back to the sewing cabinet I go. I think that anyone who sews should have a decent workplace to create without having to stress out about the "mess" that they are making. Thus, I took a computer cabinet and converted it into a sewing cabinet. The entire space closes up, so I can hide my work. There is even a chair that folds away. Now I must admit that the chair is more of an annoyance than a blessing (the back folds down on me when I move the chair around). BUT, I never have to use a crummy chair to sew--I have my own personal, crummy, sewing chair, which makes me feel really special.
As you can see, my sewing space is really small. What you cannot see is that I share the area with a drum set and a piece of exercise equipment. However, humble, this is my area and no one messes with it but me.