luxe

i feel like such a terrible blogger, but i have been really pooped lately, so please forgive me. today, donna came over to help me with my sewing machine and she couldn’t figure out what was going on and we sort of left it at that, hours and hours later, i decided just to give it a try to see how it was and it worked. no idea what happened. it is still a bit fussy, but through all of the fussing, i figured out how to thread it and wind a bobbin and am over my fear of it. one of the things i didn’t realize was the needles don’t just snap and shoot at you for no reason. the people i knew that did that were sewing over pins full speed and nine layers of denim, etc. i didn’t actually know anyone who sewed well, i guess. anyway, donna was a super teacher and we had a really fun time. and! i got a skirt almost done! i need to finish the waist and the bottom. it isn’t the greatest thing in the world, but we put a zipper in and it looks good. i used the zipper foot! check me out! thanks so much donna, you rock! i tried on the skirt and it fit, i need to finish it and i looked so gross with no makeup and a tanktop on that i couldn’t bear to take a photo. i just looked too bad. soon, though.

as a result of the concentration, i am a bit pooped out. i have had a sore throat and swollen glands over the last few days, i think it is allergies, so i feel pretty sleepy. but i had to check in.

on redshirtknitting.com last night, i found e’s rant on pro-anorexia blogs and thought she might be overreacting…um…she wasn’t. i was so stunned at the fellowship on those blogs with girls giving each other tips and tricks to starve yourself, get down to your goal weight of 80 lbs and trick your parents into thinking you have eaten. they idolize nicole richie “for what she has done” meaning her physique.

anorexic queen is one of them. the worst thing is that the media helps to push these ideas. they scorn one of the olsen twins for being unhealthy and sickeningly thin, and the other who is a few pounds heavier looks hot. wha? they mock nicole richie for being “fat” and then when she melts away to nothing, they say how gross it is. gee, i wonder why girls have these issues. it is so hard not to. when i worry about my diet, i become obsessive about it. i was on the atkins diet and followed it to the letter, and it does work amazingly well. anyone that says it doesn’t is cheating. period. anyway, i kept losing weight, i couldn’t maintain weight without gaining, and on the strict diet, i lost my appetite to the point that i just didn’t want to eat at all. and the scary thing was i didn’t want to let go of that control. it made me feel powerful to be so thin. guys hooted at me. even guys that knew me and never even looked at me before. i loved telling them to kiss my ass. ha! so i do understand the addictive nature of dieting. i am sure you have figured out that i am an all or nothing kinda gal. the things i am into…i am INTO.

anyway, to extend this rant, i got a pattern for an aline skirt and donna warned me that they ran super small. well, i figured that it goes up to an 18 and i don’t wear anything near an 18, what’s the problem? well…according to the pattern, an american size 8 is the smallest size, with a 24 inch waist…what? the size 18 was a 32 inch waist. seriously? maybe they are euro sizes, but it doesn’t say that. so when i had been cruising sewing blogs and saw complaints about no patterns for bigger gals, i suddenly understood. women who are actually the average size in america are considered plus sized. sigh. on america’s next top model, the two girls who are 5′10 and wear a size 8-10 are considered plus sized. sigh. i won’t go on about this. the worst part is that most of us are critical of ourselves and of other women and it is so hard not to be. i don’t read fashion magazines and have gotten to the point of loathing fashion and feeling that it is utterly ridiculous. the costumes look silly on the teeny girls, who would possibly wear it? hence, i would love to be able to make my own clothes. no more disposable clothes. i am hoping to refashion some of my things that don’t fit or are ugly, or get rid of them. but i am excited to try to tear stuff up. i will keep you posted. again, we all know how obsessive i can be, so i fear that sewing might be the next big thing in my life. especially since i can make things for really cheap. that always gets the ball rolling. example? spinning, dyeing, etc, etc, etc. ok. end rant. i think that sewing will be healthier than what happens to me on the atkins diet. plus, i have been accumulating vintage fabric and linens for ages for when i learned to sew. seriously.

i stumbled across bookins.com another book trading site. if you want a book, you pay 3.99 for shipping, if you send one, you get a prepaid thing that you can print off of the computer, so no trips to the post office. i hoard the books i like, but i have loads that i don’t love so much. i need to get my bum in gear for one of these sites so i can get them to someone that will enjoy them more than i do. speaking of books, i just ordered some new things from amazon, which i haven’t gotten yet…but i got patternless fashions not a new book, but it came highly recommended. what else? sew what? skirts… which got rave reviews from new sewers and seasoned sewers alike. and spiral bound pages! woot! there are several more i want to get, although even as a total newbie, i see lots of things that have really simple patterns that i could make up myself, and i am not so into that. i will try to resist buying anything that isn’t inspirational. so. the other books i got are just fiction.

whilst cruising sewing blogs i found this adorable penguin tutorial from the moonstitches.typepad.com tutorial. too cute. oh my!

i also found a contest for something that can be produced from recycled plastic bags here which is purdy cool, no?

i got my new t-shirts from threadless.com today, which i will post. i got one of there girly t-s because i loved the design and the color, but i normally get guys shirts and cut of the next and stuff, and i got an xlarge because girl tshirts are not made for my boobs, so i assumed it would be like an american apparel xlarge which fits, but is tight and shorter than i fancy…anyway, it was almost the same size as the guys medium i got jake! i was so excited! the sleeves were a bit shorter, i will still cut off the neck and maybe do something else with it, but still, that is nice!

i guess that sums it up. i will be forced to give you some photos, because i like seeing photos when i read blogs. so. red couch from my sketchbook…

sooo sleepy and out of it. i am off to read and watch the black donnelly’s. so good. good soundtrack, too.

mwah!
n.