SuperEggplant

I have been a bit fixated on making my own activewear and knitwear lately. The thing is, I’m not very good at it, and I keep messing things up, but I just won’t give up! One of the reasons may be because I am astounded by the price tags on activewear. $85 for a pair of running tights? $50 for a running top? Crazy! [And yes, I realize that I’m probably spending that much if you count the items I have messed up and thus can’t really wear, but bear with me.] Another reason I don’t want to give up is because Rose City Textiles has SO MUCH GREAT FABRIC, and I can’t resist it. So, there you go.
The top above I made recently, and I haven’t had the chance to test it out running yet, but I am pretty happy with how it turned out. The fabric is a little bit heavier than some of the other wickaway lycras, so it should be great on those somewhat cold days where you need some sleeves but no jacket.
At Rose City Textiles they had a top similar to this one but in red. The fabric was so much fun that I decided I needed some. Unfortunately, they were out of the red, but then Annette dragged out this lovely green! Sold! The raglan sleeves are really nice for running, because you don’t have any seams digging into your armpits. And if you’re lazy like me, the rolled edge on the serger is a lifesaver for hems.
So, there you go. I still have more activewear to make, including some tights. Tights are hard because, well, they are tights, and they aren’t particularly flattering. I was wearing one pair of homemade tights, and Peter told me they made my butt look weird. This kind of implies that my butt sometimes looks normal, but you know, I think perhaps I just have a weird-looking butt. I try to keep it covered when I run, but that’s not always feasible. Well, I reckon I should stop talking about my butt now and go make dinner.

Hiya! Hope everyone’s holidays have been going well. I’ve kind of been on vacation, but I have been home (and wishing I were at a tropical resort), and it seems like I am getting just as little done as always. It makes very little sense.
Anyway, as some of you know, I am all about trying to make my own running gear (it’s so expensive!), but I usually screw it up. Whatever. So, I was wearing some running tights the other day, and I thought, “Hmm, my butt is kind of cold. It would be nice to have some sort of covering to keep my butt warmer.” Also, I don’t know about you, but I often feel self-conscious in tights and find myself pulling down my shirt to try to make it longer. So, the butt warmer doubles as a modesty shield.
This butt warmer is basically just an overskirt. Super simple and quick to make, and you can just throw it on over whatever. I added some side pockets for cash and ID and, you know, candy. It’s a little crazy looking, though. I had it on when I stopped by my mother’s today, and even she commented that I looked pretty insane. Yes, Peter would have had comments, too, but he was still asleep when I left the house!
Happy New Year, everyone!

Melissa and I took a patternmaking class at Portland Community College this semester, and one of the assignments was to find a top in a magazine and try to copy it by manipulating the darts on the bodice sloper. I selected the following top out of a Lucky Magazine:
It’s a cotton-angora top by Japanese designer Tsumori Chisato, and it costs a mere $315 (it’s on sale now for $158!). That’s not a typo. $315!! Anyway, I thought it was cute and kind of interesting, and I figured it’d be a nice challenge.
It was more complicated than I had anticipated, and it turned out not to be an exercise in dart manipulation, really. I ended up taking a t-shirt pattern and just cutting it up by eyeballing the seams. The placket was kinda tough, and really, after sewing the first pieces, I figured there was NO WAY the top was going to come together. I was really surprised that it turned out. I used an organic cotton knit from Lucy’s Fabric (I happened upon the site just by googling), which is nice and hefty. Because of all the curves in the pattern pieces, I opted to stitch most of it on my regular machine and clipped the heck out of the curves. For the hem and the sleeves, I used a narrow rolled edge hem on the serger.
And the back. All in all, it was a fun challenge. I don’t know that I would buy a shirt like this, but heck, I’ll wear it!
In other news, it is blizzarding here, and it’s supposed to get even colder! Makes me just want to curl up under some blankets and eat a lot of chocolate. Speaking of chocolate, Deedle ate an entire bar of dark chocolate yesterday. I thought she was going to die. Instead, she threw up all over her bed, ran around for a while, and then was relatively fine.