Speed Trials

Just finished this skirt from Stitch magazine – and while I really loved the idea of this skirt, and had wanted to make it for quite some time, I must say that I’m not in love with the finished product.

from the magazine

my version

Perhaps it’s because of my choice of fabric and notions. I cut up my old duvet cover for the skirt, and the contrasting lining was a fitted sheet I bought at Value Village for $2.99. While I love both fabrics, and how well they work together, they were just too flimsy for such a structured skirt. I think I needed fabrics that could hold their shape more. But the advantage of wearing your old duvet cover is that you constantly feel like you’re tucked in bed!

The buttons were a splurge, purchased new, and I really like them. But I think they overpower the skirt – their colour is too contrasting, their weight and size too heavy for such light fabrics.

Also, the pattern wasn’t the easiest to follow. It came straight out of the magazine, and was printed on both sides, so I had to trace everything onto my fabric with tracing paper, and making sure everything lined up took a bit more time than I would have liked (not to mention that there were 4 patterns superimposed on one another, making it even more of a headache to sort out).

When I first sewed on the buttons according to the pattern, they were too bunched together:

first attempt

I had to reposition them, which helped with the draping of the skirt, but still, I’m underwhelmed.

But to end on a positive note, I LOVE my serger!!! This skirt is totally constructed with serging, and the speed at which I finished it was AMAZING. Why sew when you can serge??? Honestly, my mind was a little bit blown away here. On another positive note, how fun are notions? I spent a good 20min picking out the buttons, and it was just about the funnest thing in the world. Will definitely be spending more time in textile stores in the near future!

When I woke up on Saturday morning, my day was wide open. But it quickly filled with things to do, and before I knew it, it was 7pm and I still hadn’t gone for my run.

Confession: I haven’t really worked out since Thursday morning. I skipped a run on Thursday afternoon, and I skipped the 30-Day Shred on Friday. We’ll blame it on the cycle of the moon, okay?

I did have a thought to just skip Saturday’s run too, since it was already getting late, but the thought of missing 3 workouts in a row didn’t sit well with me, so I strapped on my shoes and headed out the door.

Running at dusk is so lovely. The heat of the day has somewhat dissipated, and the sky looks so beautiful.

And it’s so quiet out (at least in Ottawa). There were fewer cars on the road, and I had the whole path all to myself.

I try to vary my routes between running on paths and running on roads to give my knees a bit of a break.  Luckily, in Ottawa that’s easy to do (we have LOTS of cycling and walking paths throughout the City).

In the end I ran 5.5km in 32:32 minutes. My average heart rate was around 150bpm, with some peaks when I ran up a couple of hills. I also sprinted to the finish, just for good measure.

I’m happy I went for the run. It’s so easy, when it’s that time of the month, to curl up on the couch and do nothing, but it did me wonders to go out and get back into my training. I have to start bumping up my mileage soon (in preparation for the 10k race in October) and skipping my weekly long run is NOT the way to do it!!!