MrsBrown's philosophy of life and stuff

body shape angst

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 22:40:27 GMT

I've been making a dress and I'm quite concerned that it won't suit me. You don't get to try on dresses before you make them.

Last week I thought I had the skirt for the dress sorted out. I'd carefully measured my fabric and worked out how much skirt I could fit into it. Then I made a prototype and finished it (except for the hem which doesn't count) yesterday. It's a 2 circle circular skirt, and it looks fine. If I squint and get rid of my belly, it even looks awesome.

So last night I finished off the patterning of the dress bodice and cut out the lining for the last test fit. Yay, that all worked and then I measured how much fabric I have left after cutting out the bodice in the dress fabric. Damn! I have less fabric than I thought so I need to rethink the skirt and I don't have time to make a prototype again. I just need to make a decision and go for it.

This site talks about body shape and the best skirts for what body shape. According to it, "the full circle skirt is almost one-shape-suits-all" and I do have enough fabric for a single circle.

Then I had another look at the dresses I liked from the Vintage Pattern wiki. In particular, this one. It looks like a circular skirt with pleats and the description in the entry calls it a "full, four-gore skirt with unpressed pleats". So I went looking for the back of the pattern. to try to understand what a four gore skirt is. The back of the pattern packet includes a picture of the pattern pieces. The skirt is actually a rectangular skirt with a hem to waist ratio of 4-5:1. Wow, that would be so easy to make!

This morning I was struck with indecision. The full circle skirt has more potential for problems, but is possibly more flattering. The full gathered skirt will be easier but might just result in over-emphasising the shelf of my hips. Thanks to this blogging, and re-finding Gertie's version of the full gathered skirt - Gertie is not too far from my shape and I like the look of the skirt she made, I've decided to go with the easy option. I may need to make a petticoat too, but I'll see how stiff my cotton sateen will be, especially with a deep hem.

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an uneasy relationship

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:30:15 GMT

I like what fighting does to my body. I like doing an exercise that involves my muscles and my head. I like showing off my bruises, and even just knowing they're there.

I hate the second guessing of myself that I constantly do around fighting; will I get into armour tonight? will I get overheated? do I feel comfortable playing with this person, or that? Will I be overwhelmed by other people's enthusiasm? Do I want to?

I should be fighting when I want to. When the joy in the activity drags me to my armour and makes me put it on. But I need to keep a certain level of fitness and practise to have a chance of feeling that joy. I won't ever feel it if I'm not fit enough to cope, so I need to make myself do it often enough that I can keep having a good time.

I've thought it before when contemplating this issue - I give myself too many options. Some things need to be done regardless of how I'm feeling, or who's there, or what my armour looks like.

Enough angst for today - I'll just get on with it. Until next time.

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What shall I do?

Sat, 15 May 2010 01:49:50 GMT

This is another angst ridden post about my overwhelming amount of stuff and things to do. It's all about how depressed I've been lately and how I feel completely powerless to do anything about it. But this time, you don't have to shout at the computer with no hope of me ever hearing the completely obvious thing I've missed.

Now that I've worked out about polls, you may be spammed for a while.

View Poll: Rid me of my angst

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