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!

Long time, no see?

Soooooo I'm not dead.

And! I'm still running.

I was on hiatus from running and this blog for a while due to sickness, business and an up in the air work schedule. It's been a long ride on the hot mess express, but I've just restarted the Couch Potato to 5k plan and having a training schedule has brought me some much needed peace. It's also made me worried that I have been body snatched by the most considerate aliens ever. They just want me to be healthy before they eat my brain.

And they're cute! Thanks brainslug!

I've also been doing some thinking about my runs. I am still determined to run a 5k in every state, but doing more runs along the way will keep me in better shape overall, and I'll be able to be a little more choosy about which 5ks I do.

My next concrete goal (as in I register next week) is the Disney Princess Half Marathon. "But Eryn", someone responsible is probably saying, "how are you going from too lazy to write about running to running 13.1 miles?" And I would respond first by saying, hush you voice of reason I wasn't done. Secondly, have you seen the outfits? Even if I'm not flying through this race, I'll be falling with style.

I have a theme and I'm going with it.

As I was saying before I so rudely interrupted myself, I'm planning on running a 10k before December first in order to submit a qualifying time for the half marathon. My current goal is to not be in the last corral, though I may be able to amend that once registration opens and I can learn more.

I'm investigating options for a 5k to squeeze in before then, just to keep myself focused. After reconnecting with a high school friend (who is a marine!) I have experimented with running outside, and determined that while I have a long way to go, it's definitely easier with a friend. But, as she is not always available and Planet Fitness has beautiful air conditioning, I will also need recommendations for more shows to Netflix!

Look forward to more updates and Disney fan-girling!