Back to normal, sort of

I meant to do a blog post yesterday but when it came down to a choice between doing my blog and having a bath, I chose the bath.

I did get started on my dress today: I put together the bodice and Ian helped me fit it this evening. The advantage to fitting the bodice first is that the bodice goes to the waist and so when fitting it, I had to make sure that the waist seam stayed in the right place. If the skirt was attached it's harder to make sure that the top is right. The skirt will be fairly easy to sew and fit once I've made the changes to the bodice.

Luckily, I don't need to add anything anywhere: I need to take it in a bit to do some shaping so that it's less boxy and more under the bust, and it turns out that I added a bit too much to the bust point, so I'll take that out. Because this is a sundress with straps, less ease is needed through the bust and shoulder (which means that I also need to shorten the straps slightly).

I need to take the back in because my back is narrow and straight, and I need to adjust for the swayback that I have. I wasn't sure if I actually had a swayback or not because I've never tried to fit just the top before. My high hip is big in comparison to normal and it's possible that it was causing the swayback problem. Nope... I have an actual swayback problem in addition to my full high hip.

I'm looking forward to finishing this dress - I really like the way it's coming together and I think it's going to look great. I'm looking forward to doing this in a variety of fabrics. And I'm really excited about being able to make the right set of changes to other patterns so that I can make some other cute summer dresses.

After putting the bodice together I went for a walk. It was probably too long at about an hour and a half but it was quite relaxing. I discovered a cleared field in what I thought were just woods today which was interesting. My incision still has a huge bump under it that can be quite uncomfortable, especially if I get short of breath. And when the sweat rolls into the incision it feels like salt in a wound, you know? :)

As I get better and better I'm looking forward to going on longer walks in this and other neighbourhoods. It's so nice outside and I love being out in the fresh air just walking and thinking my thinks. I used to always take music with me but now I just listen to the sounds around me. The other advantage of going for longer walks is that I can get in better shape and possibly lose some weight.