Hello, blog! I’m all dressed up with nowhere to go…

Hi everyone, I’m still here, and I’m still sewing!

Yes, 2020 has been quite a year and I don’t think anyone’s going to judge me too harshly for neglecting this little blog. Basically, I have no childcare now (my mum has a serious respitory condition and can’t risk having the kids) and instead am now doing lots of childminding for other people. It’s really nice to not be broke any more (why hello, all you beautiful fabrics I can now afford to buy!) but the flip side is I have hardly any spare time for blogging.

Anyway, I’ve made lots of things and have a backlog to share here. I’m getting them up on the shiny new Minerva site–seriously, it’s awesome!–as there are lots made with fabric I was either gifted by or bought from there. I’ll be blogging all the ins and outs of making them there, but also be doing link posts here where I might say a bit more about how the items are fitting into my wardrobe. I’m still really interested in refining my style and think it’s one of the best ways of creating a sustainable wardrobe.

Anyway, first up to share here is a project that probably fails on the sustainability count as I have yet to wear it and I made it last December! Still, black tie events have been notably absent since Covid became a thing in all our lives, so I guess I have an excuse for the shockingly poor wear count! I present, the velvet sequinned cocktail dress:

I bloody love this dress. It turned out exactly how I was hoping and it was a mash up hack of a couple of my fave TNT patterns (the Knit Sweetheart Top and Easy Pencil Skirt from the Gertie Sews Vintage Casual book).

I should mention here that this is some seriously high quality fabric with a price tag to match, but I was gifted it in return for a blog post with photos on Minerva.com. There is no requirement to blog here.

I’ll admit, it’s a bit of a faff to get the dress off and on, but seeing as how I won’t be wearing it very often I guess that’s not too much of a problem. I mention on the Minerva post that I might change the back neckline for both visual interest (the back view isn’t so interesting) and to aid getting in and out of the dress. However, I think I’m going to wait until there’s a suitable event in the calendar before attempting this as my body is currently changing shape.

No, I’m not pregnant again! 3 kids is enough for this lady, thank you very much. I’m actually working out again and have shifted from mainly cardio to mainly lifting heavy things. Barbells or children–they both work! I’m not changing my eating habits which are already pretty healthy and mostly based around plants and animals, with a small amount of cereals (not proper low carb, but getting there). A couple of months in and I’ve already noticed some stubborn fat starting to shift, but more importantly I feel and look much stronger. I’m interested to find out how this affects the fit of my clothing…

It’s long been a hope of mine that I’ll be able to get back into the clothing I was wearing back in 2017 before getting pregnant with Lauren. Back then I did some lifting but not as heavy, and more emphasis on cardio. I can see already that my hip measurements might increase as although I’m losing fat there, I’m gaining lots of muscle!

Anyway, there will be some more recent pics coming soon, but these are from January I think:

Ah, here’s hoping for wonderful parties again next spring!

Hope everyone out there still following this blog are still happy and healthy. Wishing everyone lots of lovely, soothing sewing time to get through the rest of lockdown. I’ve got all my fingers and toes crossed for that vaccine so I can hug my mum again!

Much love,

Anna x