This is all I feel like I have been doing these days! Running. Both figuratively and literally. I joined a local running group (No Boundaries- Fleet Feet) to get myself in shape to run a 5k. We’ve been running 3-4 times a week and it has been amazing. Life changing. What started out as short intervals of walk/run has morphed into me running 3 miles straight multiple times a week! Who am I? I did two 5k’s last summer, but felt like I failed miserably since I had to stop and walk multiple times and finished exhausted and defeated. I know that this time will be different as I am so much better prepared. I have been battling shin splints like crazy though, and have even been going to physical therapy to deal with them. With a combination of compression sleeves, icing my legs after every run and buying new sneakers I am slowly healing. I am serious about this running business I guess. Our group 5K was this Sunday and I am psyched at how well I did considering my “injury”.
Unfortunately, given my crazy schedule with the girls, work and now my new running obsession I have had very little time to devote to my other passion- sewing. So, I guess this is why I haven’t been posting these days. Oh well, you can’t do it all and I am pretty stinkin’ excited about getting out there and feeling very accomplished at how far I have come with my endurance and abilities. Running rocks!
Anyways, back to the sewing blog. I have been sewing- somewhat. I have sewn a few new versions of one of my favorite knit patterns- McCalls 6744. I have made this multiple times already and love how versatile it is.
For this version I chose view C , but swapped out the skirt of View A and lengthened it by about 5 inches. I find that view A fits me more like a tunic than a dress, and I wanted to avoid having to worry about a gust of wind coming and flashing my underwear to innocent bystanders!
I really like the faux wrap of view C, but really don’t like worrying about both the top and bottom of the dress exposing too much…so a combination of A and C work best for me. I have done this in a maxi version in the past as well.
This version was made using a great Aztec like print I picked up on clearance at Joann’s last week. I absolutely love it. The top wrap pieces are cut at an angle, and unfortunately I am not completely happy with how the “stripe” of the pattern looks on top but I love the dress so much I am going with it. A few features I like about this pattern are the elastic at the shoulders, the drape of the top and the elastic waist that I customize to fit just perfectly. This allows the dress to be worn with or without a belt and it still has some shape to it. I can see myself wearing this all summer long, and come fall throwing on a pair of boots and a cardigan and going to work in it as well!
Of course my favorite picture of me includes the girls…love.
Small Seams 