Posted on 12 Comments

Be my Valentine

I mentioned in passing a while back that I had made an agreement with myself that I would not make a single skirt until I’d lost 5 lbs? Admittedly, that’s an easier deal to make with oneself in the middle of winter when one would prefer to be bundled up in cozy sweatpants and would not likely be longing for a breezy skirt. Still, there was that little “skirt for every holiday” thing I was trying to do, and I would have hated to have missed Valentine’s day. I’m not a huge v-day fan, so wanting a skirt for today had more to do with plugging the hole it would leave in my collection than it did with wanting something fun to wear today. Well, anyway, guess what…

New Skirt

I did it. And just under the wire, I might add. I made that 5lb goal on Tuesday morning and breathed a sigh of relief that the kitschy Valentine fabric I’d bought wouldn’t go to waste.

So here are the details on the skirt: I used the instructions from the fabulous Sew What! Skirts for an A-line elastic-waist skirt. I didn’t actually crack open the book, since I’ve pretty much committed them to memory at this point… I didn’t use the pattern I’d drafted before, but rather made my measurements right on the skirt, which allowed me to make it a few inches longer and more of a pronounced A-line shape than usual.

The fabric I used was from Edelen Wille’s Sweet Valentine collection, and I’m kicking myself for not buying a small amount of the contrasting tiny white hearts on red, or tiny multi-colored flowers on black, because I think a band of colored trim would have looked nice along the bottom edge. I even found myself thinking that some red ric-rac would look nice there. When did I go from being someone who considered ric-rac a grandmotherly embellishment to someone who says to herself, “gee, I think this skirt could use some ric-rac?” I blame the crafty mama blogs. I’ve got to stop reading that stuff icon_biggrin-flickr-3-4

One Object 365 Days: 45/365 02/14/08

As far as losing 5 lbs goes, it’s the first 5 of 25 that needs to go. I look at these skirt pictures I have up all over flickr, and I am happy that they make me look nice and thin, but they’re not really showing the reality. My waist measures a good few inches more than is considered healthy. My BMI indicates I’m at the high end of “overweight” and teetering on the edge of “obese.” I don’t feel as good as I did several pounds ago. So, it’s got to come off.

I’ve had success in the past using my own variation of the Weight Watchers point system, but I’ve been having trouble with it this time around. I keep a food diary no problem, but at the end of the day, I see I’ve exceeded my daily allotment by 5 or 10 points, shrug my shoulders and say “oh well!” That isn’t really productive. Thankfully, last week I came up with a strategy that could work for me, and then Neil found something online that helped me even further.

My gourmet meal


My new strategy is to fill up my food diary for the day in the morning, before I’ve actually eaten anything. I write down what’s for supper, since it’s almost always my biggest meal, and then I can make my choices for breakfast, lunch & the ever-important snacks around that. I’m surprised I didn’t think to do this sooner, because it makes so much sense! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve eaten as I pleased all day only to get to supper time and realize I didn’t have enough points left to make a proper meal! And so I’d exceed my points, yet again. I haven’t gone over much at all (1 to 2 points per day, if any) since I started this. And it hasn’t been all that painful, either.

The thing that Neil showed me was an online book called The Hacker’s Diet, which Neil so lovingly pointed out was written by “a guy who’s as crazy as you are.” Thanks, Sweetie. Actually, he’s right. This book would certainly not appeal to everyone, but I love how he approaches body weight as a problem to be solved, similar to the way a programmer solves a problem through logic and creating tools. I feel like I understand, in a more concrete way, how to lose weight and keep it off. I just need the right tools, and I think I have them now. I even think I can shed the rest of that weight by mid-July. That’s four more skirts between now and then. St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, My Birthday & Independence Day, perhaps?

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Posted on 12 Comments

12 thoughts on “Be my Valentine

  1. Hello,
    I’ve never commented on your site before. In fact I have only seen your skirt photos on the skirt flickr group. But I had to stop to say that this is your best skirt yet. The cute fabric aside, the few additional inches and the added a-lineness are so absolutely flattering on your figure. I think that this skirt makes you look as thin as the others, only in a freer more comfortable way. I, for one, really like it on you and I think you should try this style again. Oh, and…cute shoes.

    1. Hi, Alexis, thank you so much! You’ve inspired me to definitely make another one like this 🙂 Thanks for dropping by and speaking up!

  2. I love the skirt! The fabric is adorable and it’s very flattering. The shoes are cute 😀

    I hear you about the weight – my ‘get in better shape’ goals are more modest, since I’m a pretty small person but today was birthday #31 and it’s a little rounder than I’d like! I wonder if I need a fashion goal to meet at each stage…

    I tend to go about weight like a math problem – much like the hacker diet lol. It’s the geek in me.

    See what Elaine has been blogging about: Year of Clay – Remnant Beads

    1. I like those shoes, too. I got them on eBay with the intention of painting them or otherwise embellishing them, but I never did because I decided I really like them as-is.

      The fashion goal seems to help, but unfortunately it’s tough when occasions come up… I wanted to make myself a new skirt to wear to the Synergy banquet, and now I have to decide between just wearing something I already have, or making an exception to my rule. I’m leaning towards exception 😉

      Happy Birthday! I can relate to being in my 30’s and rounder than I’d like, LOL! It got out of control this last year for some reason, but before that I was just a few pounds more than I wanted to be.

  3. I am with Alexis, absolutely, about that skirt. The fabric’s cute, but the cut is perfect.

    1. Thanks! I’m starting to wish I’d made a pattern…

  4. Lisa – congratulations on the first 5lb – love the skirt – style & fabric! Did you feel just as good as it looks?

    1. Actually, yes! Thank you 🙂

  5. Love this skirt! I tried making the a-line elastic skirt the other day, and it was soooo unflattering! What’s the secret to making these skirts non-frumpy looking like mine was?

    1. I wish I knew – I think I just got lucky! My waist is not particularly well-defined to begin with, so maybe that’s why it looks good on me. It might not work on someone slimmer? I don’t really know! Maybe you can try taking it in a little. I did that on a few of the ones I made last summer that were a bit too roomy, and it really improved the look.

  6. Did you take them in before or after you had the elastic in? I tend to give myself extra room when I make things for myself, and maybe I just was too generous… I will try again with a different type of fabric. Maybe corduroy wasn’t the best choice???

    See what addie has been blogging about: We Had a Date!

  7. […] A fun Valentine’s Day print to add to my holiday skirt collection (I lost that first 5lbs just in the nick of time) […]

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