My first partial button placket

I finally confronted my fear of pattern-matching and made this top using one of the lovely shirt fabrics I got in Hong Kong. You can't really see it here but the stripes are dark blue and mid-green. I used Butterick 3383 as a basis (petite-ing the bodice length, cutting a 14 everywhere except around the sleeve and armcye, which was a 12). I used a button placket pattern and instructions from a Japanese sewing book - but I can't tell you which one is was as it's gone back to the public library.

The buttons are from an old men's shirt that I pulled apart for parts...

I managed to pattern-match pretty well from front to back and from side to side, but utterly failed to do this between sleeve and bodice

TLM, my photographer, made my bum look tiny! And my shoulders look massive...The pants, which I posted about just earlier, fit damned well if I may say so myself.

And the front view. Buttoned up the neckline is a comfortable distance from neck, but the walk home in the sun was hot so I was pleased to see that it looks fine unbuttoned too.

You can't see the trousers in their entirety but I can tell you that they end at the ankle.

Wide leg jeans a la Style Arc Sandra

I've tried Style Arc pants patterns for stretch fabric before and I've been able to get them to fit well with a minimum of adjustments. But I wanted a pattern for non-stretch fabric. I also wanted to work out whether I'm going to be able to make rigid selvedge jeans (and whether they will turn out ok) from the Japanese selvedge denim I bought in Hong Kong.

So during the Black Friday sale last year I bought a printed copy of Style Arc Sandra. But this is a narrow leg jeans pattern, I hear you say. Yes it is. But I am going to use it to make narrow leg jeans, wide leg jeans and in-between leg jeans. I just wanted it for the waist-bum-tum-crotch fit, which I was confident would be good.

Back view - I moved the patch pockets for maximum bum flattery

Front view - you can see the contrast fabric I used to bind the waistband, and the tiny patch on the front to fix a rip in the fabric which I didn't notice at the time. That's when I realised why I had found the fabric already cut and tossed on top of some other rolls!

Inside front, showing the lovely pocket lining shape that guarantees the linings will never pop out of the pockets.

Mods

• I shortened the pattern at the legs (because I am 5'0" but also because I wanted the jeans to be cropped) and also the crotch height.
• I laid out the leg patterns as though I would have with selvedge denim - right up against the selvedge but still on grain. This mean the leg would be wider since it is mean to taper down toward the hem. I also added to the width on the other side - because I wanted to make wide leg jeans. If I go on to make actual selvedge jeans I am supposed to taper the inside leg a lot to keep the original hem width.
• When sewing the inside leg seams I stretched the back leg between crotch and knee. This is to reduce the amount of fabric that ends up at the back leg when you are wearing them. I think it worked.
• I didn't have enough fabric to cut a curved, seamless waistband - so I cut two pieces and sewing them together at the back.

I also meant to put the coin pocket on the right instead of on the left which is how the pattern has you do it. But something went awry when I cut out the coin pocket piece and I ended up putting it on the left after all.

There are no flat fell seams. The seam allowance is about 1 cm so I just didn't bother. But if I make proper jeans from this pattern later I'm probably going to have to increase the seam allowance before I cut the pieces out.

I don't yet have a photo of me wearing the jeans, but trust me - this is the most well-fitting pair of trousers I have ever made! I have worn them quite a lot already and they're really comfortable and I feel good in them.

Solid moisturisers

I have been wanting to try solid moisturisers as a way to reduce the amount of plastic I have in my life - I get through a lot of moisturiser because I have dry, sensitive skin.

I started with a box of face care samplers from Ethique. I have tried an oilier one for night time /  winter and also the one for normal-oily skin. Neither of them bother my sensitive skin and both of them do a good job of keeping my skin from drying out. I also tried a cleansing bar and that has also been great at removing makeup without stressing the skin.

So I would definitely recommend Ethique if you want to try their face products.

As for body moisturisers, I wasn't confident that the Ethique products would suit me because they seemed to include fragrance ingredients. So I had ordered a selection from Clover and Clay. They have their own blends but also allow you to choose a custom blend. I ordered 3 of their house blends plus a custom blend that excluded any essential oils (because I'm suspicious of anything that smells nice). The most successful for me were the mango butter blend and the cocoa butter custom blend (ie without any essential oil).  Both were soft and moisturising and easy to apply.

So I was all set to get some more, but they have moved and won't be making any more till around April. I am definitely looking forward to when they are back in production.

In the meantime I ordered a solid moisturising bar from Dirty Hippie. They only have the one, and it is a basic blend that smells of beeswax and no fragrance. It comes in 3 sizes, and the middle size comes in a cardboard cylinder that applies like lipstick. I found it comically phallic! Apart from this it is not as easy to apply as the Clover and Clay because the applicator doesn't work as well as it could but also because it's not quite as soft so it's harder to tell whether I am getting enough onto my skin.

However it seems to be doing the job and should keep me going until I can get hold of the Clover and Clay stuff again.

So every now and then I fall back on my existing supply of creams just to make sure I'm not unintentionally letting my skin dry out. I have definitely noticed lately how wrinkly it has got, but this might just be a result of my middle-age-ness.

It's now just a matter of convincing the boy to use this stuff as well, as he is still buying the Head n Shoulders and shower gel etc.

Still an alopecian - just

It's been eight months since my hair fell out completely for the second time, and while much of it has regrown (the crown is looking relatively bushy) I still have to wait before going out in public bare-headed.

There are still two bare patches at the back of my head, one on each side. Over time, the hair on top of my head will grow long enough to cover those patches. But that time hasn't come yet.

Also, this time last year I had side burns that I really liked. But this times the side burn hairs are sparse and white. This is a problem because from a medium distance those hairs are invisible so that from the front it looks like I have a Hitler hair-cut. So that's not very stylish. Also, .

And yet I am sick of wearing my wig.

Looking back at our holiday photos - some bewigged and others beanie-ed - I actually prefer how I look in a hat. I think somehow my head looks more oval and my forehead more high, when it is not framed by a fringe. Perhaps my next wig will have a lace front, so that I can go fringe-less (or side-swept) without fear of displaying the hard edge that I get with my current wig.

I had to go out of town for work last week and decided that I would pack headscarves instead of the wig (because it's too hot to wear a beanie). It was certainly a style statement, which with my very large shirt resulted in a pirate-y effect.

There is of course no photo.