Busy!

Wishing I could retire! I seriously need more leisure time! I have lost about 50 lbs on the keto diet and have just hit my first stall with the past few weeks. My skin is starting to flap like loose clothes, so a pause and slow down is ok. I am feeling much better, and I need a new wardrobe. The bras from spring are like parachutes. I did complete the York pinafore (will I get a photo? I don’t know.) and I really like the pattern for casual wear, those pockets! Its alter ego in pant form is up for sewing soon, the Yanta overalls. I keep feeling them in corduroy, but I don’t have any YET. Denims and twills, plenty. More fabric, sigh.

I’ve finished a baby quilt except for binding, a short detour. I’ve got an unending list of quilts to do in my head, and almost that much quilting fabric. Not quite.

There’s some glow in the dark thread in the quilting here, for fun.

On night shift I’ve started some hand sewing, incredibly slow going for me. A benefit of the keto, my hands have been unable to do needle arts of any type for a while, but with the absence of all those carbs, I’m pretty pain free! I found the Ann Woods website with the most fabulous little hand sewing patterns for creatures and dolls and miniatures and I am slowly progressing with her mini dolls. I hope my skills rapidly improve!

Thank you to https://canadianneedlenana.blogspot.com/ for showing me the way to Ann Wood’s website.

I’m starting the bra journey again. Of course I’m a completely different size than any I’ve sewed before, so I did all the measurements and wire tested to begin. I’m grateful I bought the entire size range of wires from bra builders some time ago, in case I wanted to sew for someone else as well as for my fluctuations. The wire I decided on was 3 sizes smaller than the last one I used! I don’t think that 52 worked as well as a 50 would have, but 48 is my best bet this time. I am using Porcelynne’s Eve bra pattern, my third time because I really like the fit. I wasn’t sure about the size this time, so I knocked out a test band pretty quick with some less special but still definitely bra fabrics.

I left a little extra seam allowance to put in and possibly take out and replace bra cups. The band doesn’t need any changes, the first cup was so small I didn’t need to sew it in to know it was not going to fit. This bra isn’t sized in the same way as RTW bras and the designer sells her cups in a separate pattern from her band, allowing for a very accurate fit. So, getting   a great fitting band with wires off the bat was sweet, but only the start. Now it needs the correct cup with those wires to be complete, so I went up 2 sizes from the cup the measurements suggested.

My tricot for this fitting bra is very tricky to identify right from wrong side, until all of a sudden you can see shiny on one piece next to a dull on the joined piece. I saw Beverly Johnson from Pin Up Girls patterns use this price sticker trick to keep track of right sides. Since the Eve bra doesn’t have notches and I’ve been known to get those center and side pieces swapped and upside down, I also note orientation on the sticker. It really really helps my sleep deprived brain get assembly correct.

Note to self: if I’m ever inserting cups into a test bra band again, take the wires OUT before trying to sew the cups in. Took me several attempts and then seam ripping to figure that out.

Even with the wires out it’s still a little tricky to get cups in around channeling, especially around the lower band elastic area. I usually put cups in the front band before either of those, but the test band is different. Even with the gape along the bottom of the wire band, it was adequate to be able to put on and judge, nope! So tonight I’ve cut out cups again, 2 sizes bigger. This might do it, or the next, or certainly not more than 4.  I WILL end up with a bra that won’t irritate and will give the best shaping to an older lady’s bosom. Actually, about three wired and one or two with just channeling, then some new sports bras, and an assortment of new underwear too. The underwear are MUCH easier to put together, though bras are a lot easier than you would think. You are only dealing with inches of seams and cutting after all.

I kind of hate to admit it, but that damn ocean liner Janome I bought is really nicer to sew on than some of my other beauties. Though I still love those iron workhorses.

At last!

This quilt is finally complete, bound, and received by the intended. My best friend from my military brat childhood circa 1973 came for a visit to Delaware from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Come to think of it, we never made it over the line to Delaware, we stayed in Salisbury Md at my daughter’s apartment which had better guest facilities and was convenient to our day trips. We visited DC, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Waters house near Pittsburgh PA, and Chincoteague VA. Was tempted but failed to squeeze in a jaunt to NYC too, but maybe next time. It was a great visit.

Bisa Butler, “Harlem Hellfighters” 

Chawne Kimber, “still not” . Both of these were displayed at the Renwick Museum in DC and thrilled me to view in person, having admired the artists and many of their works on Instagram and else where.

Falling Waters. The house was awesome but the biggest thrill was experiencing different geography after years of not leaving this Delaware flat farm and shore area.

I made my first trip to Chincoteague so we could do a nice boat tour thing, but I couldn’t resist going to Assateague as well, the Maryland sister isle to Chincoteague and my personal favorite. The ponies mingle much more with people on Assateague at he state and federal park, and the beach is better as there’s ocean access, not just knee deep bay. I almost broke the legs of a misguided younger man that tried to save my floundering fat old self when I was trapped in the surf. I wasn’t drowning, just getting knocked down every time I tried to get up. Tried to tell him noooooo, but the next wave knocked me into his knees and took him down hard. Be careful trying to save folks in the ocean, it’s dangerous. We both made it out under our own volition though. All’s well.

I had to take the quilt still damp from being washed and line dried after getting the binding on the first morning of vacation! I’m going to miss it, I had it for at least three years while I worked on it bit by bit. Stalled and started. All those hand chosen fabrics. Not by any measure expert craftsmanship, not on the piecing or the quilting aspect, but dammit, lots of love. I believe it is well appreciated.

I’ve got other projects well under way, a baby quilt and a York pinafore, which I would have called a jumper growing up. I completed two bras and a pair of panties this spring too, badly needed, BUT! I started drinking nonstop, peeing like crazy and for the heck of it took a finger stick for glucose. I’m now a diabetic. I lost 16 pounds the first week with meds (mostly water weight) and then started keto for weight loss/glucose and insulin control. 3 months and I’m down 30 pounds which means undergarments are a new size, again. Thank God nursing scrubs can span a big range. I’ve still got several smaller sizes. But I expect to loose quite a bit more before I stop loosing weight so it’s going to be interesting. The good news is I’m almost back to the right size for my previously made bras.

After about 15 years in nursing, I started working in Dialysis and remember being blown away by what I learned then about high blood pressure, diabetes, and the kidneys. Now I’m at 30 and surprised AGAIN. I don’t recall learning about insulin resistance at anytime other than that’s how type two happens. But it was never treated as a primary disease of itself. Now I’m seeing that insulin resistance is a primary diagnosis that we should be trying to prevent and turn around. Except for acute kidney injury or chronic kidney disease, high blood sugar is almost always caused by insulin resistance. Type two diabetes, obesity (especially visceral fat), inflammatory diseases, even skin tags are all big indicators of insulin resistance. My skin tags are disappearing with diet modification, and my arthritis is GONE. I’m hoping for periodontal relief. Ok, health minute is over, but if you wonder about arthritis, polycystic ovary syndrome, stubborn weight gain, skin tags, eczema, etc etc, you can ask for a fasting insulin test, or a glycosylated hemoglobin that can stage you as “pre diabetic”. Lots of MDs won’t go for the insulin test and aren’t too fired up about insulin resistance, but it’s something you can help yourself with healthier eating (doesn’t have to be keto, which many doctors frown on). Really, health minute over.

Hoping that I’ll be doing much more sewing with my new energy and health!