The Craft Lounge is still being used as a guest bedroom (6 weeks and counting, folks). I didn't realize what a luxury it is to have a dedicated sewing space before now! But family is family, and so I'm trying to content myself with small or easy projects that I can do at the dining room table and then pack away in the evening.
But I'm definitely feeling the call of a "Big" project. So, even though I have a bunch of easy and fun projects in the works, I've begun drafting my pimped pencil skirt.
Step one was to get Phin to take some measurements.
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| A bit more "me" with purple hair colored in, don't you think? |
Now, here's a few questions for you: How often do you measure yourself? What measurements to you take? Do your measurements fluctuate? If yes, do only some fluctuate and do you have an idea why?
I take a few basic measurements (full/high/underbust, waist, hips) almost every time I start a new project or buy fabric for a project. Given that 16 months ago I was training for a half marathon and then 8 months ago I had to take steroids for an injury, I'm used to a small amount of variation.
But that aside, I've also noticed that my measurements regularly fluctuate within about an inch depending on the time of the month (full bust), what I've eaten (waist) or how active I've been (hips/thighs). My high- and underbust seem to stay pretty static. It's the, um, squishy parts that change.
When Phin helped me take the above set of measurements, I noticed they were slightly larger than is normal for me. It was right after the holidays. "Too much egg nog," I said to myself and moved on. But a few days further removed from the holidays and travel I decided to confirm the measurements, and they were back to "normal" - about an inch smaller at the waist and half an inch elsewhere.
I'm wondering if you have a similar experience. Do you feel like there is a little bit of a Squish Factor at play? And do you/how do you account for it in your sewing? I tend to use the "smaller normal" numbers because I'd rather that my clothing be a bit snug a few days a month than too loose the rest of the time.
On another note, one of the things I'm most excited for is sewing along with Marina. In fact, I went to a Couture Hand Sewing meet up she organized about two weeks ago and learned how to fell stitch and hand overcast.
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| Sample stitches |
So, I feel like an upping of my game is immanent, and that my pencil skirt is going to be a couture affair. Hopefully, I'll have my muslin in good working order by this time next week.
Anyways, later this week I have another fun, shiny garment that is done done done to post, as long as I can get a few pictures.
