Also had a great session with the dietician, lots of new ideas on how to make breakfast better, and keep me feeling full longer - I’ve been going over my calorie allowance a little in the last week (although I have managed 3 walks - woot!)

And the new Burda mag (May) arrived today. (Sue, I grabbed yours while I was there.)   I’m looking at it with fresh eyes - it will still be a while before I fit into their regular (not plus) sizes, but it’s getting closer!

Also bought this mag - Sue had given me some earlier issues, and I find it really inspiring and challenging.

It was wet and miserable here today so I didn’t get a walk :-(  never mind, tomorrow I’ll make a big effort to get some exercise in - I’m starting to *gasp* miss it if I don’t do it!

And now I’m off to bed again.  Still getting over this cough/cold thing - arrgh!

So, we went to the doctor today.  And more exciting news - I NO LONGER HAVE TO USE THE “OBESE” CUFF on the sphygmomanometer!

For the last few years my upper arm has been too large to use the ordinary size cuff.  Today it not only fit without popping, it gave an accurate reading (I know this because it’s been the same reading on three different uits now.)

And that BP reading is such that I can HALVE my blood pressure medication!  My goal is, of course, to not need the medication at all, but going from 16mg to 8mg is so THRILLING!

AND - just to top off my excitement - today, for the first time in *mumblety* years, I bought a standard size bra.  18DD still isn’t exactly teeny, I grant you -but have you got ANY idea how much choice dropping to that size now gives me?  I could buy all sorts of PRETTY bras with knickers to match and that ARE NOT ONLY AVAILABLE IN PROSTHETIC PINKY-BEIGE!  And Tshirt bras!  And push up bras!!  WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!

Ahem.

And that’s all the news from Lake NoLongerQuiteSoFat.

Sewing to follow SOON.

Vogue 1057 : Donna Karan Dress and jacket.  LOVE the look of this dress, like wearing a top and skirt but without the hassle… and the length of this jacket is just right.  The bodice is knit, so I’m not sure why you’d need the “invisible zipper closure” - hmmm. (And is it just me or is the model cross-eyed??)

Best of all - goes up to a 22!  Not that *ahem* I plan on being that size, after all, I’m aiming at 70 kg (which is about a 14…)

I even like the jacket collar - I’m not a fan of fussy princess collars, but this one looks just pointy and spread enough.

Vogue 1056: Tom and Linda Platt knit dress.  Loving the twist at the neckline- HATING the granny sleeves!  I didn’t show a photo of my version of Simplicity 3678 that had these sleeves - because it was so awful it would have frightened the horses.

And small children.

And anyone with taste.

It was STUMPIFYING!  *shudder* Moving on.

Vogue 1064.  What a PERFECT little jacket!  Lovelovelove the shaping.  Princess seams AND multiple darts: even with weight loss still “in progress”, this is going to be a breeze to FIT!

The pants are good too, contoured waistband and otherwise very unfussy.  I don’t do fussy, especially not around the waist.  These pants have just the one little fob pocket - aaaaaah, lovely!

Although now I go back, these trousers by alice + olivia look very wearable too…

One I’m less sure of: Vogue 8515

In Theory, asymmetrical clothes are interesting and flattering.  In Real Life, I always worry that it looks like I don’t know how to dress myself properly.

Also, the sleeves seem awful wide at the cuff… (easily remedied, but… hmmm.)  Maybe as a pattern to make up the “Buy x number get y free”,  but otherwise?  Probably not.

A swing… and a miss?  I can’t quite decide yet about this new Sandra Betzina design, Vogue 1061.  The pants are slim and look quite versatile… the top appears to have ruched sleeves similar to the Christine Johnson pattern I just received.  (Although CJ’s is a gathered overlay rather than SB’s “elasticised gathers”… and CJ’s pattern is AWESOME for the amount of extra info you get. More on that in another post.)

But that back detailing, and the optional hood - do I love it?

It’s growing on me by the second.  I could actually see this as a fabulous jacket sort of top to throw on after the gym…

… Because YES, Gentle Reader, today I actually phoned up and organised a trial pass at the local girly gym.  I think I’m ready - my weight loss has slowed, so I need to kick it up a notch; and my back and knee pain have been stable for a while (touch wood!).  I just need to negotiate how to fund it (eek!) and get over this cough a bit more.

Had all good plans of walking today - but woke up to a temperature of 2 degrees (Which with wind-chill was MINUS TWO, arrgh!) and a 10 minute long coughing spasm that eventually calmed after a large dose of The Nasty Medicine™.  My lungs have been a bit squeezed all day, even after two puffs of ventolin - that next doctors appointment can’t come soon enough.

So - that’s it from the cold cold keyboard of Caity.  Have you got faves in the new Vogue patterns?

I have plans to get out to either Spodshite™ or Lincrap ™ tomorrow to take advantage of their pattern sales - there’s one skirt pattern I have my eye on (Butterick 4859 - reviewed in the latest Threads but sadly with no photo of a finished garment) and for just one pattern, it’s not worth paying the postage to order from overseas.

Brr! I’m headed back to hunch over the heater.

Had a lovely night out with the girls on Saturday night - dinner at a Thai place (Thanks, Sue, for bringing wine - yum!) and then off we went with several THOUSAND other women and a few intrepid blokes to see Menopause the Musical. Fun, but LOUD!

I have spent the last two days entirely in bed - Mr Beloved wakes me up and makes me eat stuff, and feeds me cups of tea, but that’s all the energy I’ve had. Pathetic.

Tried to sew a dress to wear for the big night out and it was even more DISASTROUS than the last attempt!! At least now I know that long full sleeves with elastic at the bottom make me look older than my grandmother…. and that the weight of knit fabrics makes a HUGE difference to the alterations I need to do- which I spent AGES on - and which were then TOO BLOODY BIG.

BTW: I HATE THE F****KING CONTRACEPTIVE PILL. It was supposed to suppress ovulation and therefore the pain - NOPE. after some research, did you know that every kilogram heavier you are than 70kg makes the pill less effective? Great. I’ve had 4 migraines and feel like I’ve had PMT all month and THEN been run over by a garbage truck. And the diet? That’s just a loss right now - I think if I even walk PAST food I’m putting on weight, I don’t even have to eat it. I am NOT looking forward to seeing the dietician tomorrow.

Right, that’s about enough whinging from me - I’m off to make a last cuppa tea for the evening and watch CSI:NY.

The NEW - sleek (and even I can manage to straighten it now there’s SO MUCH LESS HAIR!) and definitely more age appropriate. Hair colour completely natural (I’m growing into my silver hair…)

Whaddaya think?

It’s sort of a modified bob - longer at the front, not severe shaping at the back but enough to keep it sharp. And I feel so much LIGHTER without all that hair - wow - must take that into account at next weigh-in, LOL!!

I love it so much. I am now officially at home here - I have good girlfriends, and a good doctor, dentist, and hairdresser - I’m NOT (touch wood) MOVING!!

*Swwooooooooons and has to go lie down with a nice cuppa tea.*

Marimekko “Always Mod”

I have ONE piece of Marimekko in my stash, that I got as a trade many years ago.  It’s lime green with orange flowers and I love it too much to cut it up!

In other news: Today I bought a new book.  Which is very helpful, so I’m off to read some more.  I have got a photo to trace off to see my body silhouette (so very confronting!)  like these women did.

The author, Annabelle van Tongeren, is an Aussie who has dressed a lot of our celebrities, and the book is beautiful.  (And looking at her gallery, I remember seeing one of her gorgeous dresses ages ago in Australian Stitches magazine - but that’s not one I keep, so I can’t tell you which issue.)

You know, when I finally get down to my goal weight, I’m going to find a way to have one of those makeovers.  In the meantime,  I’m going to try and learn and sew as much as I can to keep me motivated.  Only another 47 kilos to go!

Vogue 2017, copyright date 1997.

“Fitted, interfaced, lined, above hip jacket has raised neckline, shoulder pads, side panels, no side seams and long, two-piece sleeves with button vent. Semi-fitted, interfaced, line, straight skirt above mid-knee or above ankle, has waistband, side front seams, no side seams and side front button closing.”

I could happily and make and wear this RIGHT NOW - except that I couldn’t be bothered altering that pattern UP so many sizes. When I have lost more weight, though, look out!

I was feeling guilty about my pattern stash - so many patterns that are still in factory folds - but now I look on them as inspiration. As in - I want to wear that!

Just watched Trinny and Susannah’s show where they fit 1000 women in the right size bra. I cried. Seeing someone transformed by something so simple as actually being fitted properly - wow.

This ties in with my new sig line over on PatternReview.com (and something I have expressed previously on this blog) NO MORE FRUMPY CLOTHES! I’m getting closer to feeling able to try some new things for example - I really really REALLY want to make this dress.

The new things are: I haven’t made anything in knits for a really long time; and - I haven’t ever made anything that looks quite this glamorous. But I’m so sick of frumping around in baggy mens size t-shirts and jeans… I bought a size 24, even though my current measurements are closer to the 26 - but that’s where the pattern range split, and I can see myself using the smaller sizes soooooon.

(Ummmm - at the moment ANYTHING that’s not superfrump = glamorous. I’ll work up to actual evening gowns if I ever have a life that needs them, yes?!)

My excuses for not starting this dress right away, even though I have some lovely stretch fabric that I could use:

• I’m waiting on some thread for my overlocker (woolly polyester) although I could just use the plain thread that I already have, it just would make a slightly less nice seam finish…
  
• I should buy something cheaper to make up as a muslin first (cheaper than $20 per metre for knit that drapes the same way? Dream on!)
• I don’t have room to cut the dress out (unless I actually - *gasp* made the effort to shift the lounge room furniture and vacuum the floor)
• I can’t sew when I’m tired (well, in that case maybe I should just lie down in bed and never get up again, eh? LIVE WITH IT!)

Hmm. I may have just run out of excuses.

No other news - just had to share the excitement!

NOT!!!!

So I finally after drooling over this design for EVAH (well, not really , just since it was released on the Simplicity site) ordered 2981. No reviews yet on Pattern Review, though, so I’ll be flying solo! I was still hesitant about it since the long sleeved version needs - wait for it - 7 and a half yards of 45″ wide or 5 and three quarter yards of 60″ wide!

But then Sue said “Buy something cheap and we’ll stamp it!” DUH! Of course! That’s brilliant! I mean, what’s the point of having those dyes and fabric paints if I can’t use them to dress up some plain fabric, right?! Clever Sue.

And then, cos I was REALLY ANNOYED when I went into *chain sewing store* that the patterns I wanted were $Au 25 EACH, I ordered Vogue 8120 which looked utterly FABULOUS made up when we saw it recently at the Stitches and Craft Show but is just - blah! - in the illustration:

This doesn’t show you the way the funnel neck hides the fat pad at the base of the neck (yeah, you know what I mean, anyone over about a size - hmmm - 14?)

I may have ordered another one. Or two. Perhaps.

And now I am anxiously eagerly awaiting the arrival of the March Burda World Of Fashion magazine, and Burda Plus (surely THIS must be the month it gets here?) and the latest Ottobre woman mag - and then I will be on a “NO MORE PATTERNS til I have sewn up this lot” regime! (Well, except for the monthly Burda WOF, but I do send most of those on to Mum -right, Mum?!)

And now - to bed. I have an appointment with the exercise physiologist at 9 am for a “Heart Rate Monitored Walk” complete with multiple blood tests for lactic acid production. After which I am meant to know exactly what heart rate I need to walk at to burn fat best. Wish me luck!

Ever been in the situation where you KNOW you’ve got a book, but just can’t find it? I’m not even sure if I’ve seen it since the move to Toowoomba, but I’m sure I wouldn’t have (deliberately!) got rid of it - arrgggh! I’ve been looking for this book for DAYS now. I don’t think I’ve lent it to anyone… if I did, please let me know, eh? It’s one of those really handy reference books, and I’m missing it!

I’m definitely headed down the hill tomorrow for the Stitches and Craft Show. I’m really looking forward to going with Sue - at last, another sewing chick! Tonight I’m digging through patterns and reading reviews (PatternReview.com - awesome value!) to see what I should spend my limited $$ on.

In all the digging around, I did re-find (is that even a word? UNEARTHED, perhaps - I swear, the Time Team would have their work cut out for them amongst all my stuff!)

[click to see bigger images]

This is Vogue 1407, and has someones name and 4/4/66 written on the front. New in Factory Folds! Of course, nowhere near my size - but it’s very close to the size I will be at my goal weight, I hope.  “Narrow, sleeveless dress with a two-piece look at front has a deep V Surplice neckline. Wrapped coat swings wide, three quarter length set in sleeves.” It’s so NOW I’m almost tempted to grade it up and make it… almost! The front wrap over is actually an overlay on an otherwise plain sheath dress, but doesn’t it look good? (and why are the instructions on a 1966 pattern SO MUCH BETTER than instructions on current patterns, hmm?) Although this is one of those vintage patterns where the only markings you get are perforated dots. And this is the little blurb about the designer:”JO MATTLI (Mattly) - Swiss charm and Parisian taste combine in the designs of this member of London’s couture group. Mr Mattli has designed the clothes for many English films.”

I think I paid 20cents for this pattern at an op shop. Whereas tomorrow I’ll probably be paying $30 for this pattern - if I can get it! Or this one….or maybe this one?

And now I’d better go turn up the hem on my other pair of jeans - don’t think it would be cool to wander around a Stitches and Craft Show and watch the fashion parades with my jeans rolled - ugh!

[later ETA: But first, I have to go sort through all the art materials that were previously stashed under the kitchen table, as Mr Beloved just had to pull them all out to retrieve a mrrrrrrrooooooouuuuuuusssse! that Miss Kitty Bing brought in as part of her "catch and release" program - she's still looking for it, but it's dead and gone into the bin - ewwwwwwwww!]