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Monday 2 November 2015

Why I skipped my birthday dress


Look at that sweater! Sewing doesn't get any easier than that! Just what I was thinking when I started working on a fitness outfit. Quick project, could easily be finished in an evening or two and then over to making a glorious birthday dress. To speed things up I skipped making a muslin.




Clever thinking, Mrs Foxgloves. What went wrong? I used a Knipmode pattern (KM 1510-13) in my usual size 48. It looked a bit big, but as I wanted to wear it as a layering piece it didn't worry me too much.



When I looked at the technical drawing I assumed it was rather short. Something to do with the over all proportions, and the sleeves looking longer than the bodice...so I added 6 cm extra length. Huge mistake! I was completely misreading the shape. It looked almost wider than long but it was not caused by the sweater being short, but by it being extremely wide! Not too worry, as a commenter on Instagram said: look at the bright side, it isn't too small!

After some chopping and going down two sizes I had another wadder.


Was this thing growing overnight? I recut again. Luckily there was so much excess fabric that I could just cut off all serged seams again, including the raglan seams. I finally ended up with something wearable, but I made three sweaters to get there. Waste of time de luxe. I equally blame the pattern, my own bad judgement and the fabric, which is a very soft, lightweight cotton/poly knit.

I attached the cowl neck twice on the final garment. Brilliant. Depending on how the cowl is worn you see the seam on the inside or the outside of the garment. The only way to get a clean finish both ways was by using French seams. On a very unstable knit. Holy cow, it never stopped!




That'll have to do. I finished my sweatshirt this morning, twenty minutes before my first serious fitness training in well over three years. I recently did some try-outs and my back and various other protesting body parts were finally holding up fine, so my return to the gym was planned for the first Monday in November. Wait, that's my birthday! As you can guess by now I didn't even start sewing my birthday dress. Well, who cares. It's the perfect day to start working on my health again and I'm very grateful to be able to reach a new level of exercise. I enrolled for a year of training and I'm wondering where I'll stand same time next year. I hope to rebuild my strength and, if possible, regain my former shape and size. And look, who needs a birthday dress when you can have a party in the gym???


It'll be quite a journey, for me as well as for my trainer. Cause I'm such a natural ;) See?


20 comments:

  1. Happy birthday!
    And good luck with the regimen! I wish I looked that stylish in workout gear.
    I was planning to start on the 1st Nov too but have been stymied by a rather irritating head cold and persistent cough. Fingers crossed I'll be back in sportswear within a week.

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    1. Thanks! Hope you get well soon and can resume your workout!

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  2. Happy birthday! And happy exercising - an excellent pledge!

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    1. Thanks, Gillian! So far, so good. Bit sore on the day after, but I guess that's part of the deal :)

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  3. Well you got a nice sweater in the end and that's what matters. Happy Birthday and good luck with the exercising.

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    1. Thanks, I need all the luck to get my rusty muscles back in shape!

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  4. Thanks, Valerie. A visible serged seam can look okay in sportswear, but not if it's all wonky. No matter what I did to the differential feed or the foot pressure, the seam came out wavy. Desperate times, desperate measures! The French seam worked, luckily it was in a spot where not much stretch was needed.

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  5. Despite the issues with the size of your sweater, the finished result looks great. Happy Birthday and I hope you are enjoying your new exercising program.

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    1. Thank you. I wouldn't say it's great, but I keep telling myself I can always make a new one once I'm a size down!

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  6. Happy birthday, Marianne! If you wear a pair of heels with your sweater and red lipstick, you look equally good as if you were in a dress! Great resolution for the year to come! I wish you to stick to it ;)

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    1. Thanks! Haha, not now that I've cut off 15 cm!

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  7. Happy Birthday!
    I, too, need to follow a plan like yours. I keep putting off (today root canal treatment) but joints are sore, cholesterol is high, stamina is down, clothes are tight . Time for action! Good luck! I'll offer support by trying to join in.

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    1. Go for it, Anne! There's no time like now to make a change. That quote 'A year from now you will wish you had started today' is so true!

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  8. Happy Birthday, Marianne! I am laughing at your post, but also feeling your pain! Why do we ever think anything is going to be a quick sew? Kind of like fitness - it takes time, but it's all worth it.

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    1. Thank you! Wise words. I'll try to remember when I'm tempted to bring out the tape measure to check my progress after the next training ;)

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  9. Don't you hate it when the "easy" things take forever? It looked great in the end, though. Well, now you've inspired me to go back to the gym. Karl will have to wait.

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  10. Happy birthday! It's such a cute looking line drawing! I can see why you wanted to make it. Despite the drama it's great. All the best with your exercise - I hope your strength increases and you start feeling wonderful as a result very soon!

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    1. Thanks! It's nice, although it's still a bit on the large side, I can live with that. Exercising felt great, the day after not so much ;)

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  11. Well despite all the problems it has turned out pretty cute and the fabric looks really nuce .

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