Plus Sized Fashion: Collectif Tura Woodland Bloom blouse.

Honestly I'm not a blouse person. I'm more of a smock person. However at 7 quid I thought I'd give this pretty blouse a go. It is chiffon. For some reason I thought it would have an in built slip. It doesn't!

This is me in the Tura. I just went for the 18 as it said it was true to size. It fits ok, but is slightly tight on my (huge, but 8cm less huge than 4 weeks ago) belly. The sleeves are big enough even when fastened with the little button. The bow is a nice feature. 

I had to dig out a vest top because I really do not want my underwear on show to all, but I think I will wear this even though I don't normally display my ar*e as its so big right now.

Those jeans are Tesco F&F btw and they fit really well. I got them in the sale just after christmas and wish I'd bought more.

On the subject of weightloss, I've not had much. I joined the '8 week transformation' at my local gym, the Unit Fitness at the beginning of January. I've been attending 3 training sessions a week like a good girl, eating what they tell me (no bread or pasta <sigh>) and had my 4 week stats (check in) yesterday, at 6.45am, when some folk were just finishing a training session (what the?!)

I've only lost 4.5lb which is kind of sh*t, however I've lost inches off my waist, hips and wrists (eh?!) and a bit off my calves. My thighs are stubbornly refusing to shift anything, but I think I'm losing it just above my knees because they don't seem as porky on the photo above. I could be just imagining it, but that's ok. If I can fit into my Cath Kidston dress again I'll be happy. If I can fit into Collectif size 18 jeans (this photo was 3.5 weeks ago) I'll be ecstatic!!

Plus Size Fashion: George at Asda - you beauty! Tu at Sainsburys - making promises you can't keep!

The supermarkets are coming out with some corkers at the moment. If you can manage to get hold of them.  A few weeks back I was desperately trying to get hold of this skirt. Twitter is an excellent way to get a response, but they said the nearest one was in Letchworth which is a bit too far to go.

So I was super happy when they appeared online (I'm part of the trial area for tu clothing online - its not available to everyone) Duly ordered two because I never know if I'm going to be a 16 or an 18.

Waited.

Waited.

Email telling me they aren't in stock. How can they not be in stock? I ordered them the morning they appeared on the website?! Frustrated. But hey ho its just a skirt. 

They also have some cute looking retro styled dresses. I do find though with Tu that they are generally less cute in the flesh. The one below doesn't have enough fabric in the skirt and is too long waisted for me. 

I'm wondering whether or not to order this one.

Anyway, I turned to George at Asda - they have these dresses at the moment in various colourways. They are lovely soft fabric, and only 20 quid. Very retro styling. I tried a black one on in store and it was lovely but too tight in a 16.

So I ordered an 18 online. Sadly when it arrived, it was just too big. Unfortunately my substantial waist means that what fits on the waist is hugely saggy in the chest region. 

But never mind because I'm keeping this one!

When I saw it advertised I was gutted there was only one left in a size 8, however they restocked and I again ordered a 16 and an 18. This is also £20.

Its so pretty. Exactly the kind of dress I like to wear. 

I had the same issues with the sizing. This is the 16. The 18 was just too saggy in the chest region. The 16 is a tad tight on the waist but I can live with it. 

The red belt is pinched from a Voodoo Vixen dress. I think it really makes it pop.

They've even lined it and put some net under the skirt. I don't think that was actually necessary (and I actually prefer unlined summer dresses) but its nice that they bothered.

I think that this is a standout buy. They also do a pencil dress in this fabric (which I know without trying would not fit me, because I'd probably need a 20 in the bottom, and 18 in the waist and a 16 on the chest)

Update 26/05/15: having being unable to wear this dress purely due to the lining which is hot and uncomfortable, I unpicked it all. The net, and the polyester lining has gone. I can wear it. Its cool. I love it!

Plus Size Fashion: When swimsuits go right! Torrid Retro 1950's Cherries suit

There are quite a lot of these swimsuits on sale at the moment via sellers on ebay (swimdress_boutique and *princess_angel*), so I thought I'd give one a review as there are plenty left! Approx £34 including postage. Torrid is an American brand and I'm not aware of any stores in the UK that sell these other than these two, but there may be. I didn't really look that hard.

I did toy with the idea of the Collectif two piece - but I don't really trust two pieces - more scope for bad fit/waistline rolling/top rolling up.

A long time ago I got a retro swimsuit sewing pattern (the Bombshell). One day I may have time to actually sew that. Until then though, this is a pretty good option!

I've got a couple of cossies but they don't really feel comfy. (From Tesco, and Sainsburys - I'm a supermarket shopper) Either the legs are too high, or my boobs hang out, or the straps are uncomfy.

So here goes - me in a swimsuit! (yeah I have no cleavage and saggy mum boobs. I no longer care about these things. I have two healthy tits ok!)

I bought the 16-18 and this is the right size for me (42-38-48) as they are generously cut.
I really wanted the cherry suit, although it does come in red and brown as well. Cherry is just more retro.

On this suit, the straps can be modified to be halterneck, traditional or crossover back. They are really wide and soft. Bliss. Straps that cut in are baaaad.

The body is long - too long for me, but because of the ruching it can be pulled up. so it doesn't bother me that much. It may do when its weighed down with water - we shall see! What it doesn't do is cut high into my backside. It covers the entire thing. This is good!

Its lined with 'powermesh' - apparently to 'pull me in' and 'streamline my figure' and 'give me an hourglass shape'.
I'm sorry but its going to take much more rigging than this to give me an hourglass shape, and its not supportive, but the ruching does disguise my wobbly belly.

The dreaded back view. I haven't really sorted the straps out yet - I just put it on straight out the packet - but obviously this is the crossover style. Tied with a bow centre back.

It says this is suitable for up to a DD cup and that's probably right - I wouldn't go bigger because there's no actual support in the bust area. I don't mind this but if you have very large cups then I don't think this is the suit for you (unless your boobs defy gravity)

This is probably the most comfortable suit I've ever had. I'm soooo pleased because its always a gamble with ebay. I'm not an 'active' person so the best I'll ever  be doing is going down a gentle slide. Hopefully it will manage that without incident.

And there endeth the views of ma bod :)

Beautiful Sunshine, Butterick Sale, new fabric, and progressing with the Swing Dress

This weekend was so lovely wasn't it? We made the most of it, heading to Hunstanton on Sunday (which is a bit of a trek in the car for a 3 and a 6 year old - the boys we're complaining mightily by the time we arrived) It didn't seem that sunny when we got there, but it was warm enough to play on the beach. My freckles even made an appearance!


This is the boys before they got covered in beach mud. It didn't take too long ;)



On Monday, Grafham Water had an all day taster event. Sadly Noah was to young to do anything, and protested loudly at this, poor boy. I don't blame him - the sailing looked really wonderful on a sunny day.

However Joey got to have his first go at a real climbing wall (as opposed to local playground climbing walls) and he is amazing. He just monkeyed up them like a rat up a drainpipe. I'm looking into his joining the climbing club as he really enjoys it (and to find something he enjoys other than lego is always a bonus!) That's him in the green t-shirt. He did the wall on the left of this one, and the wall to the right too (which is an overhang - arrgh!)



I also made some progress with the swing dress. Unfortunately its a case of one step forward, two steps back. Firstly I realised after attaching the waist piece, that whilst it looked ok hung up, it really didn't do me any favours when 'on'. I'm short waisted anyway (and have already made the adjustments for this), however it just looked wrong on me, so I had to unpick, hack a chunk off it, and re-sew. You can see the photo on the top is the original, and on the bottom is the modified version. I suspect with someone less dumpy the original version would be perfect.

I also discovered to my horror than I am much fatter than I thought. I have had to add side panels in order for the dress to fit.

On the up-side, I only have to attach the sleeves, sew in the zip, and hem it. Yey!





Also, I have been buying again. Minerva Crafts have a 40% sale on butterick patterns. It was tough, as there were many I would have bought had I endless dosh, but I kept it to 4 that I know I will wear, rather than patterns I hanker after but probably won't either make or wear (like Gerties coat and dresses).

Butterick 5748. I have a sundress that I modified which I bought from Peacocks for a fiver, and I want another one. This is a fairly close approximation of the pattern, and I think I'll use the cheap fabric I bought on ebay for it.



Butterick 5837 Really simple, but so cheap I couldnt resist. I will probably make a shorter version




Butterick 5030 I love this style, and I'm not sure what I want to make with it, but I know I want it in my pattern stash!



Butterick 5846. I've been umming and ahhing over this pattern, but the sale sealed the deal. I really love shirt dresses, although I would probably make mine longer as I don't like my knees showing (having said that, this model is probably 6ft and my knees won't show anyway!)



The one I can't afford:

Vogue 8577. Its £12.95, so its on hold. I love the shape and I love that it has pockets.



Other fabrics I bought over the weekend are this one:

which I love. I have New Look 6183 View A in mind which I have already.


This one was a wildcard. I have no idea what the fabric is, but theres about 5 metres of it, and it was supercheap. We shall see! I hate that there are no fabric shops near me, or market stalls that I can get to. Relying on ebay takes the fun out a bit.

Whoops - I did it again. Cath Kidston Alert!

Firstly, can I just say - MY NEW SHOES HAVE ARRIVED _ WOOO!!

I am very pleased. Mostly, because I wouldnt call them grey at all. I'd go so far as to say they are taupe. This means that I won't have to dye them. I didn't realise all the trimmings were blue (obviously I noticed that the shoelaces are blue!) The laceholes, and the soles are blue, and there is also a very narrow blue leather trim below the fabric section, but I'm not too worried. Will figure something out to get them to match my dress.



Secondly, I did have a valid reason for heading to CK again - my stepmums birth day is coming up. I didn't manage to find her anything but some lovely bluebell handcream, but I did get Noah some supercute pj bottom for £4. ( I bought Joey a dinosaur set a while back too - but stashing those till his legs get a bit longer!)




Finally though, they had these cards in the bargain bucket. It took me a while to figure out they are baby congratulations cards (I only saw the boys one first)

EURQUHEART?!!!!

  

I didn't get spendy yesterday, unless you count the bowling session

I thought I'd try bowling yesterday, since Noah has been nagging me ever since we met up with Amanda for soft play at Strikes.

Its so expensive I'm reluctant for the whole family to go, but the new Basement Lanes has just opened, and they have a Little Pins session with free shoe hire and endless games (I don't know if this is true, but we left before our session finished and we were there for over an hour) on a Wednesday for £3.50, which includes a hot drink for moi. Not too budget busting.

  

He wore his dinosaur trousers. And the cutest little bowling shoes (its only been open for a few weeks so all the hire shoes are shiny new)

He also wound the poor bloke who was supervising up no end. Noah is always the one who has to do things like a) attempting to walk on the lanes b) pick up balls way too heavy for him then drop them c) climb on the seats d) try to use the wrong lane/s e) drag the bowling frame all over the place and aim it at places other than the lanes f) throw more than one ball down a lane before other balls have reached destination g) throw ball before skittles have 'refreshed' and the list goes on. Its very hard work keeping a 3 year old in check.

Also I delayed starting my swing dress to start Noahs tiger trousers due to the weather getting a bit better.

They arent finished yet as Joey had a play date and I can't sew and supervise three young boys, but I made a good start and just need to sew the leg cuffs and get the elastic in there now. The fabric is gorgeous. Really soft.

The Great British Sewing Bee

The Great British Sewing Bee is on tonight. I'm loving this (although I'm sad that Tilly got knocked out last round. She was a bit disorganised but she did create her own pattern for the shirt)

Obviously will have to be whilst JP is in the bath as he can't fathom why I would want to watch it. I'm actually learning things (although the 'beware of sewing with silky fabrics' episode came too late for me) and I love seeing what they come up with.

On the back burner

I have two patterns I'm supposed to be tackling at the moment.Again both modern forties style - I love that look.

The first is New Look 6089 (the option which is shown in green)

I wanted to do this in plain black, and came across just the right amount in the Cath Kidston outlet which is over the road from where I work (its that, Tesco or B&Q for my lunchtime shopping excursions) which was on offer for a tenner. 'Meant to be', I thought. And bought.

The fabric itself was a mistake, but having not sewed with it before I didn't realise until I started. Its really slippy - some sort of silky stuff - and stretches all over the place. The gathers that were supposed to be on the front of the bodice at bra strap height have disappeared. It makes me look like Mr Puffy on a bad day. So I havent got the sleeves on yet and I'm considering scrapping it and trying to rescue the fabric.

I also think I may try this again, but in black jersey, possibly with a pattern but I'm not sure.

Because I'm now preoccupied with my green swing dress, however, it will have to wait.



The other dress I want to do is this one. New Look 6183. Its not so dissimilar to 6089 - its that version in yellow that I'm after - some sort of small floral print I expect (actually I really like that yellow). I like the neckline on it.

Finally - two finished frocks!

I've had this dress sitting in my cupboard for ages requiring modification. I bought it in Peacocks sale for a fiver because I loved the retro fabric and skirt, but hated the bodice which had round very high neckline and sleeves that were too tight. It was also too big. Sadly I now fit it, however we shall focus on the good things. I've chopped and darted and seamed and bias binded the edges and now have a dress that I really rather like. Result!



This jersey stretch dress worked out really well too. although you can't tell from the photo as it looks a bit all over the place. When its on I love it, but I'm not taking a photo of me wearing it! I got it in the tesco sale for £7, which is cheaper than buying the fabric and starting from scratch, but the body was too long (I'm short waisted) and the neckline too high, and the sleeves too long. It took me many evenings to unpick it all (they are stitched really well - who knew?) and re-shape and stitch the neck facing back in and make little gathers on the front and puff the sleeves, but its done. Ta-dah!



..and then there's this little cutey bag I got off ebay. Added some of the cute polka/lace trim I bought and didn't know what to do with - just to pep it up a bit.

Woo!