Last years bikinis and this years improvements

These look decent enough on my dummy, but I have a lot more need to fight gravity than she does. On me both tops were huge fails. 

Soma bikini view 2: b cup at best, but I bet it's better for even smaller busts.

lil star button I sewed at the Kauai airport ❤️

I loove the super low back on this one. 

I tried it on to see what the deal was and handily, there's a horizontal seam right across the bust. I can do this! 

Here's how I FBA'd it- super fun to feel like an engineer with curving lines. 

A little added to the bottom of the upper cup...

A whole lot added to the top of the lower cup (probably a smudge too much, but I'll tone it down in the seam allowance)...

And I narrowed the center triangle so it can act more like a stabilizing bra bridge.

(I had to give dummy some boobs for this demo)

Kept the low back, added volume.

It's fabulous! Now to finish it. 

do I finish with this polka dot fabric, so it matches the bottoms I made last summer? Or start fresh with THIS FABRIC??

Seems like an easy choice , I guess 😏.

And Just so I don't make this mistake again, 

Here's the Soma bikini view A. The elastic throughout is supposed to be FOE- should have been a clue this is not a heavy lifter. 😮

Others have written about issues at the top of the triangles- I just did a lazy pleat to deal with the excess fabric.

I tripled the elastic down here hoping for stability- to no avail. 

Can't quite theorize how to FBA this guy, so I'm putting it aside. I harvested the notions though! 

Off to a week of daily swims starting tomorrow! Wish me sewing luck tonight.

Xox bex

dysmorphic

I don't really understand the shape of my body. and it's ruining my sewing.

I make things. and they're too big. I'm SO afraid of them being too tight too sausagy too ugly that i make the next size up. And they look like garbage.

My Ginger jeans are a case in pont - but maybe that's in the ease (says Heather). My latest two wraps, the Jasper sweater and Jenna cardigan (muslin), were both too big. Jasper looks like poop. I've photographed it a few times, and every time i think "ew"-- that's why you havent seen it. It's made out of this crazy soft double cloth though, and I wear it anyway. It gets compliments because the neck is cool. But it's too big. The size 7 has a bigger cup size than the others, so I went for that. Mistake.

i think my mom is thin (for her age!) and she's definitely fit and active. she's wearing my coat here and it's loose in the bust and tight in the waist - opposite of how it fits me. there's too much mixed up data!

Jenna is the same deal. I made a 38 because i was afraid of looking like a fat girl in a too small vintage sweater. It's just baggy enough to look super ugly. I also used some garbage knit and had some issues with my walking foot, which didn't help. I need to make the 36. Or maybe smaller. But I'm always afraid.

shapely legs, ooh

Because some days I feel like a svelte dancer athlete, lithe and wonderful and flying, and other days I feel like a fat mom in unflattering yuckies, unaware of how old and ugly she is. How does the person who is both of those things dress????

frumpy hike mom

I cut out this gorgeous Georgina dress in the size I thought I needed. Halfway through I found out the pattern hadn't included seam allowances. It fits PERFECTLY. that tells you something, doesn't it? I was making a size or two smaller than I thought I needed. And it's just right.

size 38? or nah?

I've complained about this before, but when I am sane, I know that I am/my body is just regular. Not big, small, flabby, or superfit. A little busty... But medium in most ways. In just about any store I wear a Medium. If the store is faking their sizes, I wear a Small (i know they're faking because I am only small if large is obese.) If it's a store for teens and I wear a large, i know that i'd better make careful style choices ;)

So here's my promise to myself. When I am making, I will make a size down. Something about the measurements of my body and the measurements in a pattern mean that I need to size down. I will trust that I am perfect and also getting better, and I deserve super fly sexy edgy clothes to wear.

also my nostrils are super asymmetrical. just try to unsee it! 

Most of the time, I know it. This is my promise to remember in those tricky times.

do you have a secret to getting your fitting realistic? please tell!!!!

xxo

bex

EDITING

The PURGE continues! I've dropped 1 bag of goodies at the Depot and 1 bag of kid stuff at Bananas. There's 1 bag each of books and clothes to donate in the car and 1 bag of clothes for resale waiting for the right day. I have 1 bag of fabric for the fabric swap this weekend...which means I've purged what - SIX bags of stuff.*

i use my pockets for bloomin.

that's 60% to my arbitrary goal. Not bad for one week! Maybe i should do ten bags a month? hahahhahahhahahah...ok moving on.

one day i'll photgraph it in the light so you can see it SHINE. 

Now i'm editing what's still in my wardrobe. I got Laurel happy this year and made 3. this one i made with all the frumpy options- long sleeves, heavier fabric, hmph.

silky satin binding? that's POSH.

  So I shortened the sleeves and took it in 2 inches in the back. LOVE IT. gold!!!! METALLIC LINEN WINS.

this dress is...still an experiment. (it's the ESP dress from Decades of Style). There are like NO reviews online. That is a bad sign.

I did my standard "take it in 2 inches in the back" again and it fits...but it's not my style at all. TBD...

i like how i look like a sleepy doll. zzzz.

This dress was CRAZY but also dumpy.

love this shot. it's not me. it's "effiesmakeupbox". thanks Effie!

I loved the crazy. So I chopped it and now it's a top!

and took it in on the side seams (i bought it at a store but there was only a size bigger than i wanted. I went for it because PEGASUS). Now, happpppily there is a really long leftover piece which needs a home.....

This thing...I dunno.


It feels kinda softball dykey for me. That's not really my style. I took off the collar but it's still kinda funny.

hey, flowers!

I may make the neckline v-necked? dunno.

I copied some great pants that came in the mail but didn't hold up for a test wear. I'll make them in a less saggy fabric and get super snazzy for work.

I made these tops from such beautiful fabric but both  look dumb on me.

cowl = cute, drops LOW

the pattern is in the bin and the fabric is being repurposed (time to try this one out whuuuuutttt)

it doesn't look dumb in the picture somehow. Hmm. 

AND I made unders to replace a few the ones I just shove aside when I'm getting dressed in the morning. love them.

I dunno folks...am i going clear (like this howling pegasus)?? watch out, travolta. 

lets make a deal - don't give me things unless they're flowers. good?
xoxo
bex


* Wait a minute - i also dropped at least 1 extra bag of recycling...does that count too?