April Sew-Along Update I

Sorry for the day late update but this project has been giving me some problems. So this is where I am with this at this point in the game. I have all my pieces cut out, and let me tell you that was really interesting. I have never ever seen a pattern that tells you to cut something out like that first picture shows. It was really weird, you had to have two folds and have the salvages meeting in the middle. It was really awkward to lay out and I had quite the time of it. This fabric has been mildly nightmarish to work with too, it's all slippery and pulls, and I am currently attempting to finish the seams before I start sewing the pieces together. It isn't going that smoothly so far, I might have to get new needles for my serger. I'll see how things go over the next week and keep you guys posted!  

Hearts and Bows

What I Wore:

Dress: Bealls 

Shirt: Giant Tiger

Belt: Spoof (a store in Toronto)

Leggings: Suzy Shier

Boots: ModCloth

So I was feeling pretty awesome in this outfit when I was wearing it earlier this week. I love how you can kind of see the hearts through the thin black crepe. It's pretty sweet. I was going to try out something a little different with my shoes but a) it was really cold and b) it apparently  looked a bit odd/eccentric and since I was going to work I decided to play it safe. I really should have just worn what I wanted to, and I kind of regretted it afterwards, but there is always next time (and like I said it was coooold). I went about my business feeling amazing still. I kind of felt like what Rae is saying in this GIF from My Mad Fat Diary (I say I felt like what she is saying because you can tell she doesn't really believe it, but she is trying too and that's what matters).

And then someone had to go and make the comment "That outfit doesn't really do anything for me." Now, I know they didn't mean it in a harmful way, but this is someone I respect and it really hurt. A lot of horrible things went through my head. First I thought "Maybe I do look awful" and then I checked myself and realised that was ridiculous. Then I thought "Maybe I don't like how I look because you dress like a 13 year old boy" but that was kind of mean (but true and they have admitted this). In the end I realized the person said it because they don't feel comfortable with themselves and they feel the need to comment on others who do feel confident. They are not necessarily conscious of this, but they still do it and it can be hurtful. But now that I realize the comments are coming from a very insecure part of that person and that I shouldn't take it personally. They just need to be taught how to love themselves so they can look awesome everyday just like I do! Maybe I should make them read some of the fat acceptance blogs that helped me on my own journey, share the love so to speak. I will leave you with this quotation from Jes over at the Militant Baker. (Some context, this is from her post Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls..SO I Will)

"Wearing whatever you want is a political statement. Join the revolution. Throw style rules out the window. Wear the tutu. Wear the horizontal stripes. Wear the turquoise skinny jeans. Wear the see-through blouse. Wear the bikini. Wear the sweat pants. Wear the shirt that says "Does this shirt make me look fat?". Wear whatever it is that makes you happy. This is your life."

Coral, Green, Hearts Theme

 What I Wore:
Shirt: Thrifted (Frenchy's)
Sweater: Old Navy
Jeans: Old Navy
Shoes: Ardene
Socks: Ardene
Earrings: Target

Kind of having a mental block as of what to write about today. I am digging the up-do I was sporting that day. It's kind of messy but I like that. Sometimes I like to have themes to my outfits, this one is hearts. It's hard to tell but my earrings are hearts too. I thought they matched the print on my sweater perfectly. Sadly it got colder here after the nice Easter weekend we had and it called for breaking out lots of layers. I don't know if real spring is ever going to come. Apparently at this time last year (and most years in the past) we have been in the double digits, but it is still below freezing most days. Yuck!

I enjoy the colour combination of minty-green and coral in this outfit. I just got these shoes from Ardene's on the weekend and they are super comfortable. I find that their products actually hold up pretty well, and for the price I can't really complain. I have a pair of black oxfords from there that my mum bought me in a 3 pairs for $10 sale and they have lasted for ages. I usually buy my tights from there too because most of the time I can get away with their Large size and they have a great selection. While I was there I spotted these socks in a 5 for $10 section. I thought they were really neat and bought a few pairs in similar styles. The others will probably appear on here soon. I can't wait to pair them with the shoes I picked out from B.A.I.T! I was hemming and hawing for a while but I finally decided on a pair that I have been eyeing for a few months now. I wasn't sure if I should pick something else because those ones were already on sale, but I kept coming back to them and the likelihood that I would buy them myself was slim (shipping to Canada makes things really pricey). I am happy with my final decision  and I can't wait for them to arrive, I already have so many ideas about what to pair them with! Sorry for the slightly disjointed post, I warned you I was unsure of what to write about.

Weekend Walk

What I Wore:

Dress: Old Navy

Cardi: Thrifted (Value Village)

Tights: Ardene

Shoes: Payless

My family doesn't really celebrate Easter, but on holiday weekends we like to go out and take a walk together. This time we headed out to the Arboretum, which is part of the Royal Botanical Gardens. There are some really nice trails to walk and some of nice scenery to look at. Unfortunately it was kind of a grey and mucky day (which especially sucks since the day before was beautiful and sunny), but it was still a nice temperature and it wasn't raining so it was fine for walking. The trails were practically deserted too so we didn't have to worry about our crazy dog barking at people. She's not really crazy, just wary of strangers. She was abused by her previous owner so she is kind of funny around people sometimes. Luckily she took to use right away and have never had any problems with her. She liked Colin right away too which is good. Anyway, we had a really nice walk and I thought I would share some of the pictures from the day. I didn't bring my proper camera (didn't think too, whoops),but my phone does pretty decently outside and I think they turned out pretty well. Enjoy!

The sun came out near the end of our walk and it was really beautiful. I also drove us to the trails, which is pretty exciting. I am getting to be a decent driver. I need to work on parking a bit more and checking my mirrors frequently, but I have improved a lot since I really started practicing in the late fall. Hopefully by summer I will be ready to take my road test, but we'll see. It's not a race, haha!

How To Be A Fat Bitch e-course Week #6

Discussion

If you had to name your VBO, what would you call it? I think I would name mine Ms. Jiggly N. Fluffy, Master of Sexy and Spandex. Because she likes spandex. Your turn!

Squishy "Not A Baby But Still Awesome" McGee 

Assignment

Stand in front of a mirror and come to terms and get to know your VBO. Talk to it, tell it why you love it, sing it a song, tell it it's sexy, touch it, etc. Do this once or until you have happy feelings about your belly. Blog it, Instagram it, Tweet it (#fatbitchecourse, #nearsightedowl), etc. and share it in the comments below.

A Letter To My VBO

Oh VBO, 

in the past I haven't been very kind to you and I think I need to apologize to you for that.

I used to stare at you in the mirror, think mean thoughts about you and call you names.

I didn't think you were very attractive and wished you away on several occasions.

I would hate it when people would mistake you for being a baby and not just fat.

To be perfectly honest you used to be the stuff of nightmares. 

But lately things have changed. Lately I don't hate you so much. 

Lately I have grown to accept you, appreciate you, even love you. 

And do you know why?

Because you are a part of me.

You are what makes me special.

You are what makes me beautiful.

You are what makes me me. 

And I love you for that. 

So thank you VBO for helping me learn to accept and love you, 

and in turn accept and love myself.

I hope we can put our hateful relationship behind us and have a long and happy life together.

Yours always,

Hope  

 

March Sew-Along Final Update

What I Wore:

Dress: Made by me from this pattern

Tights: Ardene

Shoes: Payless

Here is the finished product for the March Sew-Along! There was one less update than usual, and I apologize about that. Next month will be  little more on track. The toughest section between the last update and the final product were the sleeves. It wasn't even setting them into the dress, but preparing the cuffs. For some reason I found that section to be really difficult. Other than that it was a pretty happy pattern to work with. I wore this dress to work yesterday and it got rave reviews. I think it turned out really well, one of the best things I have made in the last while. This month seems to be the month of winning things because I found out this morning that I won a free pair of shoes from B.A.I.T. footwear thanks to  Cut Out + Keep. If you haven't checked out either of these websites I really think you should! I can't decided which pair of shoes I want from B.A.I.T. there are two in the running. It is really hard to decide because all of their shoes are lovely. Not much else going on around here so I am just going to share next month's project with you.

I am doing McCall's pattern M6604 option D. I am pretty excited about this one, I absolutely love the fabric (I got it at JoAnn's in Florida).

Red Coffee Pot

What I Wore:

Dress: Made by me

Sweater: Zellers

Tights: H&M

Shoes: Blowfish 

I also wore this outfit last week during the crazy sale days at work. A lot of customers commented on my dress (although they thought it was a skirt) and said they really liked it. I thought was kind of appropriate considering the discussion from the Fat Bitch e-course last week. It's nice when people like something that I have made, it gives me a satisfied feeling. This dress amuses me. The print shows a lady making coffee in the morning and waking up her husband(?) with some coffee. But there there are there two random people and one guy sleeping in a chair? I am not really sure what is going on but it is pretty amusing anyway. 

Yesterday I worked a few hours at a local theatre. It was a nice change from standing all day that's for sure. I mostly worked on rigging things for quick changes and some other minor jobs, but it was fun. I get to go back on Thursday and am really looking forward to it. I did a co-op there when I was in high school and it is nice to be able to catch up with the employees and get back into the theatre world. There's not much else going on this week which is good because as you probably noticed from the lack of posts I got really behind on things last week. It didn't feel good to be so unorganized and out of the loop, and I am glad that things are getting back to normal this week.       

How To Be a Fat Bitch e-course Week #5

Discussion

I prefer sincere compliments over too many compliments, probably because duh, I am vain and I am hearing what I already know. What about you? Can you take a compliment? Or do you catch yourself saying the obligatory self-deprecating response?

Sometimes I am really bad at taking compliments. I like getting sincere compliments over forced ones any day, but I feel really awkward about real ones still. I don't make self-deprecating comments, but I think inside I kind of question why the person is complementing me (I am very unsure of myself) and I don't know how to react. It probably comes off as me being arrogant or rude, but in reality I am just awkward and trying to handle it in the best way. I am glad to say this happens a lot less frequently now, I used to be way worse. But since I have found more self confidence I can handle compliments way better.

Assignment

Be vain and take a photo of yourself. Take a million of photos of yourself! Even if you don't post them, see what it feels like to be your own apple of your eye. Say, look at me! I am a fat bitch AND hot! Blog it, Instagram it, Tweet it (#fatbitchecourse, #nearsightedowl), etc. and share it in the comments below.

Here is a collage of all my vain activities from last week. Enjoy!