Coping with pandemic weight gain

They say...they say, everyone will emerge from the pandemic as a hunk or a chunk. (Or a drunk, but that's beyond the scope of this entry!). Speaking for myself, I wanted to use the time for a lot of extra exercise, but with politics and all...I haven't been as good about it. Also, the favored hiking places became CLOGGED with people! Not a very fun prospect. I can get my 10,000 steps per day in by walking outside, and even inside I can get about 8,000 steps in, but it doesn't feel vigorous. I've gained about six pounds and lost muscle mass, and my waist is about 4" larger! Before I re-wardrobe myself, I feel like going back to my standby plan, Diet Simple by Katherine Tallmadge. We got in touch with each other again in the past few months, and she now does virtual consults! Diet Simple is not a diet. It's a flexible way to learn new habits. Katherine has been helping Washingtonians fit into their best wardrobes for decades! She's well educated in the field, urbane, and non-judgemental. Book a consult to get back on track and you won't regret it!

Pink houndstooth inspiration!

Embed from Getty Images The ever-aspirational pink Chanel look! In this case, Penelope Cruz wears a dress, pink and white houndstooth tweed. This fabric from Exquisite Fabrics might just give me the look, and it's lighter weight and less bulky than a tweed. Am I in the mood for a dress? How about you?

INSPIRATION GARMENT, ETRO

If I had 100 million dollars, I would order all of my clothes from Etro.

I look at their pictures sometimes, for inspiration. 

I actually have some fabrics in these colors.

Do I need a dress with lace sleeves and lace overlay skirt? Probably not.

That probably should stop me. 

But, if I sew it, the occasion will come. 

Dress from Etro. https://www.etro.com/us-en/

The color blue

Those of us who work with color have probably been mystified or frustrated by colors in our imagination that just cannot be duplicated in life!

I used to see beautiful, vivid colors that might occur in nature but do not seem to replicable with dyes, paints, textiles, or other media.

Sometimes it's evident that color is elusive...just hover around the paint counter at your local Home Depot long enough and you'll hear frustrated customers who cannot find the right shade of white, or husbands and wives disagreeing whether a color is blue or green.

So when a "new" pigment is discovered and released for commercial use, its pretty exciting!
Crayola held a contest to name the vivid color, and the winner was "Bluetiful." (The scientific name for the pigment is YInMn). 

By Mas Subramanian - Mas Subramanian, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49854366

In my fabric life, there's a silk chiffon waiting for a beautiful creation...use code BLUE for 30% off your blue fabric purchase through 3/4.

Do see color or patterns as you fall asleep? There is a name for them: Phosphenes. They are thought to occur because of the natural electrical charges that occur from normal body/brain functions. While we are awake, the inputs to our eyes and brains just distract us from perceiving them!


Attributions:
The Metropolitan Museum
Wikipedia
The University of Oregon
ArtNet News
Exquisite Fabrics

2019 Oscars, the 91st Academy Awards

I hadn't watched the Oscars for years, and I missed the red carpet arrivals, but there was plenty to see during the awards portion! A nice little break from doing taxes.

This morning the stories were all about "pink" as the dominant color on the runway. That's okay, but what caught my eye are the fluid silver numbers!

As usual, Jennifer Lopez wore what many people would consider "the" dress, made with what looked like broken mirror pieces. The mirrored bits reflected the red carpet nicely too!
Embed from Getty Images


Other silver dresses (I love silver) were worn to perfection by Brie Larson (and complimented by Samuel L. Jackson in classic form)... Embed from Getty Images


  ...America Ferrara...
  Embed from Getty Images


...Lily Aldridge...

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All images used by permission.

Threads magazine shares a lace top pattern!

This looks like a good idea to me.  A nice lace top would be good to wear to the Fourth of July with jeans.  (Where I am going, I don't know. Could be the Castleton Festival or maybe Graves' Mountain.  Or Ida Lee Park.  So many choices!)

This top takes a yard and a half of lace.  One hint in the directions says not to cut the front and back pieces separately, but to leave the pattern pieces joined at the shoulder.  There's an error in how that is expressed--that shoulder join is referred to as "the vertical seam."  In fact it would be a horizontal seam.  Glad I could clear that up for you before you get started!

Your finished top will be a little less than 27" in length in front and the same in back.

Ready, buy the lace, get the instructions, and go!