Sunday 15 July 2012

Walking a run and fabric selection

I entered myself into the 10km run in the annual Run Melbourne fun run way back in January when I was afraid that moving back to Melbourne might be boring - and training for a run would not only be good for my health and fitness but would also keep me focused and stop me from getting too bored after all the fun I was having in HK.

I'd be the first to admit that 10kms was highly ambitious for me, but I had decided that I'd aim for it and would be happy if I ran even half of it. Having never really been fit and struggling to even jog 1km (I know I know I am so weak) I trained and trained in my own slow and steady way and I think I was on the way to achieving my target of at least half the course being run until I got hit with this stupid virus! So frustrating - the whole week has been an effort in getting (and staying) out of bed for a full day - even going out to the shops quickly to get food has had me strung out on the couch for a good few hours.

As a result, I had to downgrade my 10km run to the 5km walk/run. Really disappointing, especially knowing that a few of my other friends were going to be doing the 10kms and I had been looking forward to doing it with them.

I woke up this morning and the day was cold but sunny, and to be honest I was unsure if I was going to be able to complete the walk/run, but by the the time I got to the start line I was feeling better and really enjoying the atmosphere.

Check out the crowd at the starting line - this was just for the 5kms!
There were so many people there participating - and there were a few dress-ups as well which always makes it fun. I managed to sneak a snap of some of them in line:

A group of Wallys (or Waldos if you're from the US/Canada) with a Stormtrooper in their midst

I did manage to finish the course - and it did help to do the walk with a couple of friends to chat to - and I even got a medal *hurrah*! Admittedly everyone got the same medal but hey, I'm not competitive like that ;)

Brand new and shiny and still in its plastic wrapping
The rest of the day was pretty much spent in bed - talk about feeling like I'd been put through the wringer - but I'm happy I did the walk today. I think I'll be signing up for another 10km run - perhaps in October - just to make up for missing out on this one. After all, what's the point of doing things without setting yourself some goals? :)

On the subject of getting things going, I managed to drop into Darn Cheap Fabrics while running errands over the weekend and picked up some new pins (I hate old dull ones) and a few metres of a cotton/silk blend for my Tiny Pocket Tank trial.

Tiny Pocket Tank prep - found the fabric on the clearance table - gotta love a bargain!
Can't wait to start cutting it out - hopefully I'll have something to show for it by the end of the week when I steal some time at a sewing machine!

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Tiny Pocket Tank pattern - now in my pocket :)

I've been stuck at home all week with what I thought was the flu but has since been diagnosed as some crazy virus (the doctor didn't quite use the word crazy but I'm just telling it like it is). It's totally knocked me out and I haven't got much brainpower to use between naps and sniffles and eating a truckload of mandarins to boost the vitamin C levels.

I have however managed to do two things today:
  1. I've worked out how to back up my iPhone (apparently I had to delete all my songs before it would listen to me - still can't work out why that was necessary - thanks Apple!) 
  2. Bought the cutest pattern online - the Tiny Pocket Tank from Grainline Studio!
Image from Grainline Studios

I came across this pattern during my random trawling of the craft blogosphere and saw this great post from Kim of Oh, Sweet Joy - she'd done up the Tiny Pocket Tank in a few variations using some really pretty fabric. As per usual, I had to google it to see what other people thought, and found some great examples - there's even been a sew-a-long!

The pattern looks so simple and versatile that it could be done up in so many ways - casual and dressy - and of course with the new job, it would be great to make a few of these up for the office to wear under a jacket or blazer. I was sold. The pattern appeared for download almost instantaneously after payment - hurrah for online shopping!

Hopefully I get enough time at the machine to whip one up in the near future - it's a bit hard as I don't have a machine at my disposal right now :(

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Something from scraps

It never fails to amaze me how a few scraps of fabric, a needle and some thread can be transformed into something with shape and context.

From this....

Fabric scraps on a string

To this!

Teeny tiny bunting!

Not quite transmogrification a la Calvin and Hobbes, but still pretty impressive to me.