Post #15 Making up for lost time

Updates!

Sewing

I have still been doing a bit of trial and error when it comes to getting better at sewing. Since my last sewing post I made another circle skirt and a simple dress, both in the same fabric. The fabric I used is a black and white, tribal print pattern. I saw it at Joann's and I wanted it. It is a thick, knit fabric, aka it is stretchy, but not prone to runs like the navy blue knit fabric I used for my first dress (post #11). The circle skirt was only one piece, so a true circle skirt, that all I had to do was add the elastic waist band and secure the hem. I am pretty pleased with it. and it is one of three skirts I wear on a regular basis. (I have only worn my first skirt once). The dress is also a big hit, I am consistently getting complements on it.

Day 32 Lorac Alter Ego Celebrity and the dress I made

Makeup Artistry

I have not done any movie makeup looks since my Alien/Sea creature, but I did start a Pan Project on June 28th (Post #16). That is gonna be a big improvement because I was able to declutter some makeup that was dried up and was a waste of space. I also found that I have some darker foundations and powders that will look better with my summer skin (I managed to get a tan somehow). I am also currently partaking in a 100 days of lipstick (Post #17), which I will post about once it is all over, I am 30 days away. If you haven't seen pictures, you must not be following me on Instagram (neon8919). It is on Instagram that I am keeping track of what I look like in each lipstick. I am also writing down all the lipsticks in a little notebook, which is a helpful way to keep my life organized. 

Running

I restarted the Marathon Trainer for a third time, I am on week number 4, GEM kind of derailed my progress, but the hope is that I will be able to keep it up and get to a point where I can run without the Trainer. As I have said before, and I will say again, I am not intending to run a marathon any time soon, but I would like to be able to run a 10k (~6 miles), that would be awesome. 

Physics

June was a month of travel: the 2nd MMS community workshop (in Boulder, CO) at the beginning of the month, and then GEM 2017 (in Portsmouth, VA) the third week. I am one of the GEM Student Representatives so that kept me busy leading up to, and into, the meeting. 

This summer I have two things that need to get done:

(1) My paper - which I have been working on, but it is not in a completed stage yet...

(2) My thesis proposal - I will be turning it in at the beginning of the Fall semester, so as soon as my paper is done my efforts will be turned to coming up with my title. The title cannot be changed from the one I submit in the Fall, this means it has to be broad enough, because I don't know what results I might get, and it must be narrow enough to still be a PhD title. 

Post #14 *blows off dust* May

I've been MIA. Things got disorganized.

Tomorrow is a fresh start, albeit it is not the first of a month, and it is not the start of a week, but I know I have been slacking with stuff I want to make happen in my life. One good night sleep, followed by an early morning tomorrow.

Eleven days before I leave for Boulder (I have a MMS meeting there). I want to take care of a few things before leaving. I'm going to get through 11 more days of the Marathon Trainer. I am going to read a bunch of relevant papers, I am going to come to a conclusion about my research so I can finish writing my paper and send it to coauthors, I am going to use Memorial Day weekend to see a dress or two and do a makeup look or two. All these things just to kickstart myself back to productivity in all aspects of my life.

Post #11 So turns out I am not particularly patient (Hobby No. 1)

So I did only a couple sewing projects over the past month. The first one being my very first circle skirt, which turned out alright for a first project. Next I tackled sewing a full dress, complete with sleeves, which also turned out alright. I have a lot of progress to make before Halloween.

My first circle skirt. 

I started by cutting out a pattern from some package wrapping paper. I chose to make my skirt 24" long to ensure that it would reach my knees. I used my pattern on the folded fabric, and cut out a half circle. I repeated that process twice, and it resulted in two half circles. The picture below was after I sewed the two pieces together. 

 After hemming all the edges on the bottom of the skirt I started to tackle to waist. I decided to put in a zipper, which I pulled from another dress that didn't fit very well. After frankenstein-ing the zipper in, I decided I needed a waistband. Using the same fabric I used for the straps on my New Years Eve dress, I made a waistband that was about two inches thick, and attached that. My last step was to add a couple eye hooks to close the waistband. And voila! My first circle skirt.

Please disregard the cat, Hatter is obsessed with the bathroom (other cat owners can commiserate, I am sure).

 

It ended up fitting better after the first wash, although I should extend my ironing skills to the pre-wear time. Heck, my ironing skills need work too, I burned myself while working on this skirt.

Amount Spent: ~$17

My first dress

To be honest, I sewed this dress last night because I knew I was going to be posting this blog today. I started by using my circle skirt pattern to cut the skirt, but this time I folded the fabric so I ended up with one piece instead of the two I cut out for the first skirt. 

I then used one of my existing dresses to cut out the bodice, and finally I used some sleeves that I had from another hack job that I used for my sleeve pattern. I am kind of impressed with myself.

When walking into Joann's to buy the fabric, I didn't realize I was going to end up with Syracuse colors, oh well (Go 'Cuse!). What was good about this project is that I got to play with different stitched and different materials. FYI: The knit fabric I chose was so slick, it was kind of hard to work with. I will have to keep that in mind for my next outfit. 

Amount Spent: ~$25

As I mentioned in my title, as I was sewing last night I realized that I am a "measure once, cut once, sew once" kind of person. I don't take extra time to make sure everything is the way it should be. This is something I need to work on. Luckily, both my hobbies are situated where I am able to practice patience. I am not sure what my next sewing project will be, probably my dress for the Third Annual Tea Party. I do know that April's post will be beach-y!

Post #9 January Summary - February Goals

Motivation

I was sick at the beginning of January, and unfortunately had to take a number of days away from the office. In my recovery I popped a number of Halls cough drops (they are my favorite cough drop). Recently, Halls has included 'a pep talk in every drop' on the wrappers of each drop, so I would like to write out a couple here:

1. Turn "can do" into "can did!"

2. You got it in you.

3. Don't wait to get started.

4. Tough is your middle name. 

Stuff I finished this month:

1. A circle skirt (to be revealed in the February sewing blog)

2. Three makeup looks (Post #8)

3. Chapter 1 in Gurnett and Bhattacharjee

4. A first & second working draft of my first first-author paper

5. A first working draft of my thesis proposal

6. Weeks 9 and 10 in the C210k Trainer = 34.15 miles

Stuff I am hoping to finish in February:

1. Sew my first dress (will also be in the February sewing blog)
2. An alien makeup inspired by a deep sea creature

3. Chapter 2 of Gurnett and Bhattacharjee

4. Submit my first first-author paper

5. Have my thesis proposal mostly done.
6. Finish the C210k Trainer

Overall January was pretty productive, there is room for improvement, as always. February might be a short month but I am going to make it a good one. (I even rearranged my 6 goals for February to match the categories of stuff I finished in January, yay organization!!)

Post #7 Introduction to Sewing (Hobby No. 1)

Blog post 1.2 of 2017, my first stitch fix. 

Outline:
1) Introduction to my Sewing Machine
2) Altering my NYE dress

So this was my big Christmas gift this year. I am so excited. I am hoping to change my sporadic sewing into a real hobby. So far I have completed one project, but I am getting ahead of myself. This is the Singer Simple 3221 sewing machine. It is a simple little thing. Does about 12-15 stitched and includes a button hole foot, which is pretty awesome.

I was able to set it up pretty easily. I had two big issues when starting. 1) setting up the bottom thread, but now that I was able to get it it is easy. 2) starting to sew, turns out having the tension set at 4 is too high, I moved it down to 2 and now it's okay.

The first project I did was sew some straps for my NYE dress.





NYE Dress - Stitch Fix #1

Before - fat arms

Before - as high as I could lift my arm

So I got this dress at Francesca's on New Year's Eve eve (December 30th) because the dress I had bought from Lord & Taylor on December 27th wasn't going to be delivered in time (womp womp). But lemonade out of lemons. This dress was cute and fit me well, except for one huge issue, my arms. It was a structured off the shoulder dress, and my upper arms are fat, and did not look good at all. Not to mention I could not even lift my arms past my waist, there go my killer dance moves. But, as I stood there in the dress, knowing it wasn't going to work, and my sister saying how cute it was otherwise, I thought about what might happen if I tucked in the straps (I did that with the halter straps on my prom dress, why shouldn't I be able to do that with this one?). Well that didn't work 100% but it did give my sister and I the idea that I could alter the dress myself after purchasing it. So, I psyched myself up with a pep talk (You can do this, you are crafty enough!), and I bought it (plus another dress that I didn't have to alter).
So I got home that evening, and after doing some quick hand stitching on my sister's gala outfit, I set to work on my dress.

First Step was to take some really unflattering pictures of how bad the structured off the shoulder sleeves looked on me. I mean, if I stood a certain way and didn't move at all, it didn't look too bad, but I was going to a Gala, where I was going to dance, drink, and socialize with friends & strangers, I needed the ability to move.

Step 1.5: Setting up my sewing machine. I wanted to use my new favorite toy to help me with this project to I took the time to wind my bobbin and tread my upper and lower threads.

Second Step: I needed to psych myself up again, because the second step was the hardest. I needed to CUT the dress I just paid money for, and not thrift store money, (but not Lord & Taylor money either, it was <$40), but still. So I did it, I cut the straps.

Third Step involved me securing the remnants of the sleeves. I was going to do a quick straight stitch on the end of the cut strap with my sewing machine, but I failed miserably at my first sewing attempt (caused by having the tension set too high - see above). So instead of risking the dress I decided to hand sew the remnants into place. Repeat for all four areas that had remnants. One good thing about hand sewing this part is that I was able to keep the stitches in the black of the dress pattern so you couldn't see where I had stitched.

Step 3.5: Run to Joann's Fabrics to get fabric to make into straps because after cutting the straps off this dress it turned out that strapless was not going to work.

After - looks so much better

Fourth Step had me using my sewing machine correctly and I made straps!! Albeit they are slightly uneven, but hey, they worked.

After - right before the gala

Fifth Step, hand sew straps into place - breaking a pin in the process...

Overall I am very pleased with it:





I had a great time at the Gala, and it was a good start to my 2017.
I had planned to add a second project I am working on, but this post was already a bit wordy so I will have to save that for my February Stitch Fix post.

Let me add this; January projects -
~ My first Circle Skirt
~ lengthening a dress
~ shortening a dress