Uck.

So, crappy sewing week here. I made a pair of pants. It's a pattern that I've used before. It turns out, with all this running, my butt has rearranged itself and gotten bigger. Lovely. I made these Jalie pants before and they fit fine. The first version was a bit tight and the second version was a bit loose. This time I cut an in-between size and it's too small. Not like, "Whoa, I can't sit down in these" but instead "Holy shit, these pants are an inch and a half from zipping!" So. I've been pondering this the last couple of days and doing a lot of rear-end examining. First off, by no means do I think I'm fat. I don't want you to get that impression. My weight hasn't changed but I think it has rearranged itself. I've really been doing a lot of speed work this summer and I've increased my time by about a two minutes a mile. Yes, it sounds impressive but it's not really. Last year when I was doing this training, I was running with a friend who was decidedly a non-runner. It was her first year running and I was more interested in being supportive than being fast. Because I was being supportive, I was running at her pace which is much slower than mine. She has picked up a different running buddy because she moved a ways away and I am now running with a different, much more competitive, friend. We have really cranked up the intensity and I feel really strong right now. But, my butt is apparently feeling strong too. The pants are not finished but I think I'll hold on to them for a while and see if things rearrange themselves this winter when I'm not doing intervals training. We'll see. The half-marathon is Sunday so wish me luck. I want to do it under two hours.

On another front, my Vogue couture jacket has really been bothering me. I hate having unfinished things hanging over my head. After I posted the almost-finished jacket on my blog, my instructor called and said that I need to unpick the arms and lower the armhole a little bit. I thought about it. A lot. I agree but (1) I've already sewn the sleeves in permanently (two lines of stitches), (2) cut the seam allowances for the under arm, and (3) don't want to damage the fabric any more than I have already. Right now I'm trying to decide what to do. I think I'm just going to leave the arms alone. Yes, I know it's not perfect but I see more jackets in my future. But, having this jacket in my sewing room is just bringing me down every time I see it. I would rather have it finished even if it's not perfect. I still learned a lot from this class whether my arms are perfect or not. Now that it's decided, I already feel better. Whew.

I'm currently working on a shirtdress and it's giving me fits too. I can't seen to apply the collar and the points look like crap. Maybe I just need to take a sewing break for a couple of days. I have the will but the way is eluding me right now. I love the fabric so I will keep working on this to the bitter end but it's killing me a little inside to be having all these problems. Okay, too dramatic but you get the idea.

I have not forgotten that I owe you guys a waistband tutorial from this skirt. It's coming but school started yesterday so I haven't had much time to think it out and write it down. To prove it to you, here's a picture.