Just Keep Sewing, Just Keep Sewing...

I'm more excited about my race costume than I should be.

Maybe it's that Halloween is coming, or that there seemed to be more guides to making your own perfect Elsa dress (sadly, most were for children) on Pinterest than usual. But it was probably Once Upon a Time getting into the Frozen madness. I will admit I stopped watching in the middle of season 2 because it all just came so repetitive. Aww, (insert villain's name here) is only evil because their (wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/child) was (killed/kidnapped), or their (parent/grandparent/neighbor's hairdresser's dog) was mean to them! They aren't REALLY evil deep down! Oh and they're related to Henry. 

But then I saw the ads for Frozen. Part of me rolled my eyes; annoyed by this obvious hop onto the gravy train. But the other part of me (the part with the Netflix account and seven pairs of Mickey Ears) demanded that I catch up on the show so I could be well informed on the story when the new season started. Yes, I hate-watched the Wizard of Oz storyline something fierce, but I really tried to give it it's best chance. 

Oh yes, I went there.

The high point was The Little Mermaid (AHH MY FAVORITE) with Regina's Ursula impression. Regina has always been my favorite, but I really want more excuses for her to be Ursula, relevance be damned! Anyway, onto this season. I wasn't expecting much but it was worth jumping back into the show. I do love Frozen after all, and the obvious references to the movie ("Aren't you cold?" "It never bothered me") are sort of fun. Plus, if you're fine with the show ignoring every other inhabitant of Storybrooke (which I might be) then hey life is good. The sorcerer's hat made a brief appearance in a cliffhanger, and I'm calling Yensid out as the fairy tale book writer right now. My inner Disney geek is thrilled. 

So anyway, back to race costumes. For a show that has such beautiful costumes on the regular (and I could admit that in the depths of season 3) I could understand why people were expecting Elsa's dress to be a little more spectacular. On the other hand though, it did look very practical for going about your day and ruling a country. and if she hacked off the skirt she could probably run in it!  

So now we know what happened when the Fringe timeline reset. 

With that inspiration in mind, I set about starting the top of the ice queen dress portion. The perfect fabric was easy to come by, and I definitely wasn't the only person at Joann's making an Elsa dress. I used a meshy tank top I had found at TJ Maxx, and some inspiration this t-shirt tutorial. I don't know much about sewing, so this seemed like a safe bet. I settled in with Once Upon a Time and got started.

Here's what I did. I'll be better about taking pictures at each step in the future!

1. I put on the meshy top over my sports bra and drew a few dots in pencil to outline where the sweetheart neckline would be.

Sorry this picture is terrible.

2. Get some waxed paper (or some other see-through paper) to trace the dots. Fold it in half a cut it. Voila! you have a pattern!  I made a low scoop for the back portion.

3. Trace that pattern onto your sequin fabric.

4. Again I know almost nothing about sewing so I thought I'd just hem this nonsense by hand. Don't do that. Pin that business to your undershirt (meshy top in my case) and save your tears for something worth it. 

5. I opened up the seams on my sides of my meshy top and resewed them with the sequin fabric inside. There is probably a better way to do this. Maybe make one piece of fabric rather than a separate front and back?

6. Sew the top of the front piece to your shirt along those pencil marks.

7. Sew the sides. I left the top of the back open to attach a cape later.

8. Jack it up! I used glitter glue and flat backed gems. I'm not sure if they'll hold up during the run, but they look nice!

YouTube was my savior during this process. I borrowed a sewing machine with a downloadable manual (ugh) and needed some help setting the thing up. Darling Adventures and Singer Sewing Company have awesome channels that helped me set up (and unjam) my machine several times. Seriously, if you're as clueless as I am, watching someone put the bobbin into the machine is so much more helpful than reading a description!

I'm trying to work on this a little at a time, but I'll be writing more about making costumes!

Finding My Motivation

Whoops, it's been a while! But I've been hard(ish) at work for the past month!

Unfortunately, most of what I was doing was not running.

A week of camping in the wilderness, some strep throat, and a wedding and I'm finally getting back in the swing of things. I did have a lot of time to plan my outfit for the Princess Half Marathon, and will be sketching out a few concrete ideas soon. I finally decided on Elsa, because I am going to be the last person to get over "Let It Go."

I was having a hard time deciding between her coronation dress and the ice queen gown. The coronation dress is so underrated. But can you really be Esla without the badass ice dress? In my feverish streppy state I remembered Roger's and Hammerstein's Cinderella on Broadway...

 

+ =????


... and I'm obsessed with making this work. I've been spending some quality time on Pinterest looking for ways to make this work with my newly inherited sewing machine. I can't actually sew yet, so most of my sketches involve velcro and prayer. How amazing would this be to do at the 7 mile marker? I'm hoping the song is "Let It Go" again.

I have also decided to register for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon, which will make me eligible for the Coast to Coast Challenge! I was incredibly excited when I signed up, but now that I'm getting back to the gym after a break, I'm a little worried about what I've gotten myself into. The races are three months apart, so I rationalized it by saying that I'd already be in running shape from the Princess Half. It makes sense right? But then I looked down at the timer on the treadmill (while watching Mad Men!) and realized I was huffing and puffing fifteen minutes into my workout. I restarted at the walk five, run five part of the plan. I finished it today, but it feels like I have so far to go. It's hard to keep myself motivated, but I really think this outfit idea is helping. I'm much better at art than I am at sports! Joann's Fabric has a few fabrics that might work in their Performance section, but not at the store closest to me. I'm trying to hold off until I have something like a pattern, and Joann's has something like a sale...

My mood is either excited or discouraged, but now I get to come up with more outfits! I'm going to be looking for some runs to do to keep me going, but my work schedule has been so crazy lately. But I'm gonna let it go.

"Please stop making puns!"

Castaway Cay Challenge and Bomb Girls

I'm taking it a little slow in my training for this week, but I'm still working! I've started watching Bomb Girls on Netflix while I run (or walk... but I use the incline!) and I'm addicted. I accidentally binge watched the first season, but I'm trying to pace myself starting season two. There are only two seasons on Netflix and I'm a little afraid to Google it in case of spoilers. One of the actors was on Orphan Black recently though, so I'm afraid there might just be the two. I'm in love with the retro style of this show, and taking it slow this week has made me realize what a serious case of hair envy I have.

The show is about women of different backgrounds working in a munitions factory in Canada during World War II. Gladys, top left, is a grocery heiress who feels the need to provide more than just office support for the war effort. Kate, on the right, is starting a new life working in the factory on the run from her past. Lorna, on the bottom left, is in charge of the ladies on the line and her story is just starting to get scandalous. Then there's Betty, who is awesome. Season one didn't end well for her, but I believe in Betty. YOU GO GIRL, YOU BUY YOURSELF A HOUSE! 

Oh, right... headphones.

Anyway, back to the races.

Registration for the Castaway Cay Challenge opened today at noon. From the website;

 "The all-new Disney Castaway Cay Challenge is an ultimate running adventure, combining one magical 5K event or longer during the 2015 Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend (February 19 - 22, 2015) with a Castaway Cay 5K on Disney Cruise Lines' private tropical island in the Bahamas the following week." 

It's an interesting idea, but a four-night cruise plus $65 registration in addition to the half marathon is just a little much in terms of expenses. I'll be skipping it, but the part of me that wants to collect everything is filing it away for later. Like when I win the lottery. From what I can tell, the new challenge differs from the Castaway 5k offered before this year in a few ways. From the registration page, it appears that this year this will be a timed event rather than a fun run, with the 16 minutes per mile rule in effect. It also appears that participants will be entitled to special perks on board the cruise. I'm interested to see how this turns out!

Registered!

I am back from Seattle and officially signed up for the Disney Princess Half Marathon in Disneyworld! It's a big jump to go from 5ks to a half marathon, but I loved my last Run Disney event so much that I've been wanting to do another one. When my cousin mentioned she wanted to do this run, I was already considering the Tinkerbell Half as it now lands on my birthday weekend. I wanted to try something new though, so I'm getting excited to run like a Princess! My cousin Amanda and I have always been pretty close despite living on opposite sides of the country, and it's been years since our last trip to Disneyworld. I'm more than excited to see if Disneyworld is as amazing as I remember, but I'm trying to get excited for the run too.

I'm sure the tutus help.

I'm currently on week 2 of the Couch to 5k Plan, and so far I'm feeling good. Well, I'm not dying which is good. On my last run, I walked five minutes and then ran for five minutes for half an hour. Sounds easy like that, no? By the last running cycle I was kicking myself for thinking this would be a breeze! I have a few tricks to make it more bearable that I'll share with my next workout!

The Avengers Initiative

Maybe this is old news, but this just popped up on my Facebook feed. Run Disney has just announced the  Avengers Half Marathon November 16th, 2014 in Disneyland. They're offering a 5k and a few kids races that weekend too. Registration opens March 25th, and I'm debating signing up. I'm glad Run Disney is starting to offer more races for us in California! Plus, I get to reuse my Thor outfit!

I may need to find new shoes.

In more immediate news, I think I have decided on my first 5k. Wooooooo! The Leprechaun Lope is March 15th in Salt Lake City and it will be benefitting Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School.

 I found this race through Running in the USA which has a handy state searching tool. I'm assuming because it's listed up there it is open to the public and it won't just be me running with a bunch of school children.

Salt Lake City looks gorgeous and I can't wait to start planning my trip!