Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
Post #3178: The unfinished, the untidy, the end of the year purge
One thing I haven’t written about here lately is the fact that I’ve been on a bit of a journey to lose some weight/get back to the gym. This is a lifelong struggle for me and thus, not so interesting to write about, but some recent moves (intermittent fasting, lower-carb eating, weight lifting) seem to be taking effect and I’ve shed about twelve pounds since late summer. At 46, I have no expectations to lose weight quickly, and my motivations are about not developing type-2 diabetes in my fifties (a pattern in my family) so anything feels like a small victory right now.
I’m at the stage of feeling like some of my clothes are a tiny bit too big, and items made earlier in my handmade wardrobe journey are starting to fit a bit better – which is awesome. I have a particularly rad dress that I haven’t been able to wear for the last twenty pounds and I look forward to having it back in circulation next summer. On the other hand, I was all prepped to work on a new winter coat that I have fabric and pattern for, but earlier this week decided to shelve it for the year. While skirts and dresses are pretty straight forward to take in, lined winter coats are not, so I’m going to wait and see if this body shape continues to change before committing all that fabric and time.
This has brought me to reconsider sewing garments for a bit. I have one dress cut out, underlined, and ready for the machine so I’ll go ahead with it (adding half an inch to the seam allowance to make it a bit smaller), but otherwise I feel like it might be time to put away the plans for jeans, Persephone pants, and anything else hard to alter downward. It’s time to make do with what’s in my closet until we see where this whole fitness thing lands.
This would feel a bit depressing (I do love making new clothes), except that I have a 3/4-finished quilt, a cross-stitch xmas table runner I started six years ago, a loom that needs dressing, a blanket half-woven, and numerous other unfinished items that could use my attention. Earlier this week I went through the studio and picked out all the “quick hits” I could spy – finishing off four items in less than two hours. That’s right, some of my projects only required 2 minutes of weaving in ends, but still they languished for months.
It’s not unusual for me to focus on the unfinished near the end of November – heading towards the new year and all that – so the next few weeks will be spent on “old” projects and cleaning out the build up of stuff in the studio. I got rid of some upholstery foam that was taking up room this week, and I have a box of fabric that will find its way to the thrift shop at some point in the near future.
Now – if you do want to see a finished garment:
This is the finished samue set that I made for last week’s meditation retreat. It turned out to be a dream of a garment – and I wore either whole set or just the jacket every day. I think it’s a bit too heavyweight for a summer retreat, but it was perfect (and comfy and warm) for late fall. I would like to make a spring jacket (for regular wear) out of this same pattern I love it so much – but again, nothing new for awhile so we’ll see what happens in the new year.
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Red Cedar 
I’m going to take your idea to finish old projects before the end of the year. My jewellery bench is littered with them!