Skirt from a jacket

Had bought  some ultra light compact 90% Down me'ns jackets on sale XS for me and XL for J for 30% off as well as the last one in store, L blue with a zip that has puller tab missing but works, for 60% off.  The ere very soft and light, warm enough and thin enough to wear under a coat etc that may have not been warm enough for the coldest days.   I had seen down quilted skirts in Muji a few years ago and wish I had gotten one as the longer seem to be around.  Following on from my collection of Pins on Pinterest of people making dresses etc from mens shirts and jackets, I,thought up this idea of skirts from jackets.

The black XS is a bit short for me.  The blue, tho I dont love colour is a better length.  Js black XL gives a bit more gather.  sleeves can either be tied into a bow or hanging down.

Mittens project

being lazy and using screen grabs of facebook post, hency doubling of images to fit in the text.

UPDATE

Went ahead and did left thumb since am left handed.  Won't do right thumb as i like the asymmetry, the utility look of it.  I've also started blanket stitching the seems.

Weight loss finished, now continuing into maintenance

started. at 200lbs, 14'4

now 98lbs, 7', less than 1/2 the person i was

loss 102lbs

measurements. 34.5/26/34.5

never been less than 9 1/2 ' so still experimenting to find out maintenance calorie amount, probably 1600-1700

will report back on maintenance,  in 3months on Jan 11th, the 2 yr anniversay of starting on this journey, 

am a bit boney on top because of muscle loss but have finally lost most of belly fat i have had since 8yrs old

starting new arthritis drug next week so hopefully with less inflamation and pain, i will be able to exercise and build a stone of muscle.  If not then may add some fat back on.

Granny Chic Fashion Trend

This months Vogue reports on it.  This autumn/winter catwalks have plenty of traditional old lady fabrics like Herringbone etc. so I guess it will hit the high street as well in a mainstream way.  I guess the baggy jumpers in stores now are part of it.  It seems to build on the whole 'nerd', dress down /'Norm'/ 'Mom jeans' looks developed in economic hard times where make do and mend, and vintage has gone mainstream.  Of course there will be those who will pay thousands for the catwalk version rather than rummaging the charity shops.  

 When you Gooogle it you find its been round for at least 3 years and it ranges from we oldies dressing boldly to the young taking on granny look from dressing down to classic 40s look.  Some of the pics here are taken from 2011 news articles on why celebreties are dressing like their gran etc.    There iseven  granny look interior design.  I like it, most of it.  Encourages me in some of my more adventerous sewing projects.  There are different takes on it and it can be different for young and old wearing it of course.  

c

x

Revamp Js trousers and old jumper part 1

cHere is where I am with my next sewing project.  I will update post when finished.

Four pairs of Js old trousers.  Since he has seen how I used my small red jeans as apattern to restyle my black cord jeans, he now wants me to use his narrower style trousers as apattern to revamp the two trousers on the right.  The two on the left are what I am revamping for myself.

This shows how I have added two 6" in tucks - where the cross stiching is and the black striped pair behind show the original 40" waist size.  I will leave the crutch baggy and low and now just need to take up legs to 3/4 lenght with a cuff.

Even tho I have been doing this before I sought inspiration from Vogue, it has been useful to see various ways to do it depending on where pockets are etc.  For eg thsnkfully J is going to have the black striped ones revamped bc it it would be difficult for me to find rooms for big tucks, as the pockets go acroos the front horizintally whereas the ones i am doing above have more vertical pockets.  I didnt mind having hanging out horizontal pockets on my jeans, I didnt want that here.

Eg of hanging pockets where tucks were done inside pocket.

Other inspiration of how to reduce trousers.  These weren't taken in but created that way as part of the oversize fashion trend.

VB's version is about the lenght I want altho i will need to adapt as is more difficult to get it right on short person like myself - can make legs look even shorter.  I will add cuffs as well. My current ones are waisted, the second pair I will add smaller tucks so they sit more on hips like these.    Love the whole look here - vest and shirt.  Was looking at one designer on Vogue who always has a white shirt in every new collection bc she believes it is most important and versatile part of wardrobe.  I do agree that crisp white shirt is a wonderful thing.

 MY JUMPER REVAMP.

So far have started de-balling jumper, sewing wholes, taking up sleeves and using wool to crisscross edges - see left sleeve.  I will need to to add wool stiching to bottom and top of crosses as I can still see the grey cotton thread i add years ago to edge to stop it fraying.  I have also taken up bottom of jumper with sewing machine to create pockets in front and a dropped curved back.  This jumper was baggy when i was twice the size i am now so it will be very baggy.  I may extend the polo neck and make it bigger by knitting with black wool or may just edge it.  J thinks latter.

Some inspirstion from the big knit trend.

Update. Finished jumper.  Only OK but good for around home.

Latest batch of jam

Should have used 2 sachets of pectin for nesrly 2kg fruit and it would have been normal thickness.

Preparing jam for freezer - bc I dont have faith in my jam process.  Even tho i boil jars etc i feel safer putting them in freezer.  After some jars breaking in freezer, I turn them upside down with plenty of spare room in jar , on kitchen paper in plastic bag.  This allows for expansion of frozen liquid straight up into widest part of jar so it doesnt get stuck in narrow part above jar shoulder just under lid which is what causes most breakages..  The paper and plastic is just added security which i also use when transferring to fridge for defrosting to ensure no mess in case i still get breakage, tho none since i have used this method.

more charity shop and redesigning my old clothes

After getting up at 6.30 for a totally uneccessary hospital appointment, as I half expected, I cheered my self up with another trip to charity shop and the most amazing scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast at my corner cafe.

1. Blue spotted oversized dress, size 12 believe it or not,  in Victoria Becham style, Cos brand worth £50-100 according to Cos website dresses.  - £5

I like VBs style and her collection even if she is a little thin.  Is usually restrained, classic with some edgyness now and then like this dress.

After a good polish, not bad for £5.

2.  Brown leather cloogs by Josef Siegel, worth £60. - £5.  nicely worn in, new soles, just need some polish.

3.  I have managed to take in several of my big trousers.  These black thin cord. were original size 14 straight loose leg, not much shape - it was the thin cord I liked.  I have taken them in 3 times as I lost weight.  This time I used the red skinny gap jeans in previous post as a pattern to take in again.  Just left legs slightly looser than the red ones.  I love them even more now.

4. I have managed to brilliantly save 2 fav 38D/DD bras that had become too big for me.  Fortunately no pics of me wearing them, but you can see my perky boobs in blue tshirt above which i would normally only get with my new smaller bras which i only have one of.  I had to do 3 things:

   1. take in 2" near back hook join

   2. bend underwires so they werent as wide which had keep my boobies spread out near my arms but are now more forward and uplifted

   3. in the centre front, i sewed the cups together up about 2" from the original centre strip/ where underwires come together.  This tightened upper cup looseness.  It has made bra no good for low cut tops but i dont wear low cut anyway.  I cut out this step for second smaller pair as it wasnt needed so they are low in front.

Is great, I feel very supported, comfy and saved about £30-40.

My next projects for next post - VB style trousers made from Js old size 40 trousers.  Have done the waist, now need to shorten legs.   Also saved very baggy jumper from the 'painting clothes' box.  Halfway thru revamping them after inspiration from Vogue site.  So glad I will still get to wear this fav old thing.  It's only symthetic knit and I have had to de-ball it and sew up holes but it will be worth it I think.

6 items at charity shop for £24

my charity shops getting better as area comes up.  All were new or as new.  Got banana blue&green Republic dress worth £70 for £5, yellow Oasis dress £5(not so sure now), red Gap jeans worth £35 for £5.  green George trousers £2  anit label trainers for £4, River Island baggy floral top £3.  I guess it the growing problem of shopaholics never wearing half of what they buy - i have to keep away from the charity shops as i newrly always find something i dont really need.  The red jeans and blue dress are my favs.  I was looking for jeans this shape- tighter lower legs with looser hips in size 8 to have goal to fit into.  Till now i just tried on in store so it was amazing to find these so cheap.  They are supposedly a size 6 but i have worked out that Gap who is owned by BR use very flattering sizing so they are really size 8/10.  That is why the blue BR dress which is suppose to be size 4/0 feels like a loose size 12 on.  

Last night i tried on two size 12 pleated skirts i bought in '89. They fit perfectly.  So, as i read in magazine once, sizing these days means very little.  In fact i have a chart where you can add your measurements to find out what size you are in different stores.

http://sizes.darkgreener.com/

I also tried on old heeled boots which i was going to get rid of bc i couldnt wear heels.  Guess what, I can, for short periods.  Last time i tried them was half way thru weight loss.  It must be the extra loss which makes my feet more comfortable.  Would use walking stick just to be on safe side and only wear when i can drive outside restsurant etc.  Still it feels a little sexy to have them on and its been a long time since i felt that.  Not sure I would wear them like this outside, would need a baggy top or coat to cover up a bit.  The other thing is that long boots, which i have 3 of, i had thought were bad seconds bc the calves were so tight - i could never get them past having a gap of 1-2 inches at the top of the zip, so was also surprised that i now have 1 inch loose gap when closed.  Its things like these that bring home the weight loss when usually, because it has been so slow, that it doesn't feel so much.