10,000 Steps a Day

何年か前にフィットビットというワイヤレス万歩計をもらいました。
しばらく使ってなかったんだけど、去年の秋ごろから復活しました。
今年は一日1万歩を目標に歩こう！と思ってるんだけど、やっぱりなかなか難しいですな。

1月で、1万歩歩けたのは10日だけでした。
犬の散歩をしっかりして仕事中もちょくちょく動いているとそれだけで1万歩行くんだけど、先週は特に仕事中はほとんど歩くことなく一日中机に張り付いていたので犬の散歩長めにやっても1万歩にはたどり着けず。
ちなみに犬の散歩するだけで6000歩から7000歩ぐらいいくんだけど、犬の散歩サボると1日3000歩も歩かないということがわかりました。
やっぱり運動らしい運動しないので、犬の散歩は犬だけでなく私の健康の面でもとても大切ですな。

今月のグラフはこんな感じ。平均すると一日8千歩ぐらい。

I got a Fitbit One many years ago before they introduced the wrist band style. I wasn't using it for a while but I put it back on last fall, and I'm trying to walk 10,000 steps a day.

Easier said than done. During the month of January, there were only 10 days that I went over my 10k goal.
My dog walking takes about 6k to 7k steps, so if I move a lot during work, I can get to 10k.
Last week, I was pretty much stuck at my desk at work and sitting hours at a time, so even though I took the dogs for a longer walk, I couldn't get to 10k.

I don't do any type of exercise, so I really see how important it is for my own activity level to walk the dogs.

The Fellowship of the Ring

お久しぶりです。元気にしてます。
仕事場での役職が微妙に代わり猛烈に忙しいのと、仕事関連で地元の学校で夜間授業をとり始めたので（１教科だけなんだけど、週二日）あまり家ではやる気がおきません。

そんなことより。
今年の目標は、というかいつも目標にしていてあまり達成できてないんだけど、一月に１冊は本を読むということ。
そんな今年の１冊目は、映画「ロード・オブ・ザ・リング」の原作小説、「指輪物語」の第１巻、「旅の仲間」です。

映画を何度も見ているので話がわかってるのもあって、さくさくっと、私の中ではかなり早いスピードの３週間で読みきれました。（図書館の貸し出しが1回3週間）
今日図書館に本を返しに行ったら、ちょうど予約していた第2巻の「二つの塔」が借りられて、ナイスタイミング。

Phew, it's been a while. I'm doing just fine.
With my job duties changing slightly and taking a class at a local community college for work 2 nights a week, I just have no disposable mental energy to do anything at home these days.

Anyways.
This year's goal, well, it's always been my goal for that matter, is to read one book per month. I wish somebody invites me to a book club. Being a book club really forces me to read and read wider variety of books.
My January book is The Fellowship of the Ring, of course from The Lord of the Ring series. I have watched the Peter Jackson movie adaptation many times so I'm familiar with the story so it was much easier to read than I originally expected, and I was able to finish it in 3 weeks, which is pretty fast for my slow reading ability.

Having watched the movie helps picturing the world of Middle Earth. I like the pretty straight forward writing style too, since I was expecting the book to be written in some old English, like it is in, say, Sherlock Holmes. But I guess, after all, Tolkin is a modern writer.

When I went to the library to return the book, the Two Towers that I had put on hold was also ready to be picked up today, so it was a perfect timing. Let's see if I can finish the second book in February...

Men's Raglan Shirt Failure

オットに新しく買った型紙を使ってラグラン袖のロンTを作ってみた。
が、出来は大失敗だった。
首が。

I made MOTH a raglan long sleeve T-shirt and I miserably failed.

The pattern was Simplicity 1605. I guess the men's patterns don't come with variety of sizes like women's patterns do? The smallest size for adult men was size S, so I cut the size S.

The failure shown above is mainly around the neck, and front neck to be specific. And this was after I had hand-basted bodice and sleeves and he had tried on, given me an OK and I had sewn everything and even coverstitched the neck band and hems. I should have looked more carefully when it was basted.

I could not think of a way to fix it other than putting a dart in on the shoulder, which I did not want to do, so I ended up drafting the sleeve pattern myself.

I don't know if this pattern would work. Other than my Sewaholic Minoru jacket, this is the only other raglan sleeve pattern I have sewn so I really don't know what to do and how the sleeve should fit. Looking at the pictures above, MOTH has square shoulder compared to the guy on the pattern envelope? Is there such thing as square shoulder adjustment for raglan sleeves?

I totally exhausted my brain power for now so the sewing will resume later. I don't have enough contrast fabric so before I can cut the sleeves, I will have to unpick the coverstitch and serger seams and see if I can salvage the existing sleeve.

Nausicaa

何年かぶりに「風の谷のナウシカ」を見ました。ナウシカは私の中では宮崎映画の最高傑作。
もう泣かないかな、と思ったけど、やっぱりラストシーンでジーンときた。
ちなみに時々、久石譲のジブリコンサートを聞きながら裁縫したりします。

I watched "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind". Also found this Nausicaa and Force Awakens mush-up video.

Nausicaa is an animated film made by an Academy Award winning director, Hayao Miyazaki. This is by far my most favorite Miyazaki movie, and one of my most favorite movies ever. It is just a great movie.

It had been many years since I last watched it. I thought I would not cry this time, but I still got watery eyes at the end. When the movie first came on TV, I was 8 years old. I was so wanting to watch this movie, and I was so excited at 9 o'clock at night when it started on TV. To this day, I clearly remember that night when I just could not stay awake after 20 minutes and fell asleep.

I've never seen it in a dubbed version but apparently some famous actors (including Uma Thurman, Mark Hamil, and Shia Labouf) did the voice-over.

Matchy Matchy Renfrew

オットのロンTを作った残りの布で自分用にカットソー作りました。
型紙はカナダの会社のSewaholicさんとこのRenfrew。この型紙使うのもう何度目？

オットとペアルックにならないように気をつけないとね。

Since I re-cut MOTH's long sleeve T shirt when I raised the armhole and I was left with big enough left-over fabric, I made myself a matchy matchy shirt.

The pattern is Sewaholic Renfrew.
The fabric is rayon jersey with Lycra. The thinness and the drape is perfect for the cowl neck.
I cut a size 6, shortened bodice by 1", but lengthened sleeves by 1" (for winter weather).

I love this pattern and I have made a few Renfrews in the past. Actually, this pattern was my very first sewing pattern purchase a few years ago: the pattern that started my garment making attempt.

I'm pretty sure size 6 is where I should be and I am pretty comfortable and really like the fit.
HOWEVER, every time I make this shirt, I get that whisker wrinkles from the armpit above the bust. I am totally fine with all the excess fabric at my lower back (I'm not going to do a sway back adjustment for a T-shirt) but I do not like the whisker wrinkles at the front.

My fitting knowledge is limited and I do not know what to do with it. I'm thinking that the front bodice armhole is too long? The Renfrew's shoulder curve is symmetrical unlike the normal shoulder curve which is longer in the back. Do I need to go up a size?

Men's Long Sleeve T-Shirt

あけましておめでとうございます。
今年もよろしくお願いします。

クリスマス休暇からかなりぐうたらが続き、しばらくテレビばっかり見てました。
でもクリスマス前は頑張って、オットにロンT作りました。
型紙は私の好きなカナダのJalie。ちなみに布は以前タンクトップワンピースを作った余り。

Happy 2016.
I have been a bit lazy since the Christmas holiday and been watching NetFlix a lot.
But I did work hard before Christmas and made a long sleeve T-shirt for the Man of the House.
It was actually finished on Christmas day so I gave it to him as a Christmas present. Our Christmas shirt tradition begins! (if I don't forget next year)

The pattern is Jalie 2918, men's T-shirt pattern. I actually bought a bunch of Jalie patterns at once to qualify for free shipping. I wanted paper patterns for my patterns, but I opted for PDF patterns for men's patterns (I also bought Jalie 2212).

Anyway, the pattern. I made the simple long sleeve shirt.
I cut a size U.
Shorten both bodice and sleeves by 1 inch. (He's 5'7")
I compared with the Strathcona I made for him before and noticed that the armhole was lower than my modified Strathcona (I raised the armhole quite a bit on Strathcona).

But I ignored it, and sewed up bodice and sleeve and tried it on him.
Well, as I suspected, MOTH did not like the fit of the armpit area.

So I raised the armhole a little over 1 inch by using the armhole of size Q (just swiveled it to hit the width of size U chest). Then I also used the size Q shoulder curve for sleeves.

The fabric is rayon jersey, left-over from my Jalie 3024.
Other than a request to make the sleeves a tad shorter, MOTH gave me an overall OK for the fit.
Looking a the photo, though, I'm thinking the shoulder may be too wide? I guess he is like me, a very rectangular shape.

You know what. I like making clothes for men. The shape is much simpler than women and I can do the fitting on somebody else, which is waaay easier than doing the fitting on myself (especially without a dress form). More men's T-shirts to come in the future.

Sewing Room Peg Board

この時期は、結婚記念日、クリスマス、そしてオットの誕生日がたて続けにやってくるので、普段はイベントに無関心な私たちも、なんとなくプレゼントを贈りあったりします。
お互い欲しいものは自分で買うし、欲しいものにはこだわりがあったりするのでプレゼントを贈りあうと言っても、日常普通に買うものを「プレゼント」と称して買ってあげるだけなんだけど。

ちなみに私がオットにあげたのは、水筒。（奴は毎日会社に水筒を持っていく人なのです）

私がもらったのは、携帯電話につなげるワイヤレススピーカーと、真空パック用の袋。

その上なんと、裁縫室の壁にかけるペグボードも作ってくれました。

This time of the year, we have our anniversary, Christmas, and MOTH's birthday, so even though we are not big into events, we kind of give gifts to each other.
We usually like to buy things we want and we are really picky about things we want, so we usually just buy ordinary things and call it a gift.

I bought him a water bottle. A stainless steel, vacuum insulated, 32oz one, that is supposed to keep cold drink cold for 24 hours and hot drink hot for 6 hours. (He takes his thermos to work every day.)

He gave me a Bluetooth speaker and Food Saver bags.

And then, he made me a peg board for the sewing room wall. It is 5 feet wide and 3 feet high. The bracket kit came with plenty of hooks and what not.
My sewing room now looks like a proper sewing room.

How to Make a Key Chain

職場のホリデーパーティで職員に配るキーホルダーを作りました。

作り方：
１．布はトーカイで買ったちりめんを使いました。薄手なので裏に芯をつけました。

The fabric is rayon Chirimen crepe. Since it's rather thin, I added fusible interface.

 ２．布を切って折りたたみ、30センチほどに切ったストラップ用のひもにのりで仮留め。

I am using a 12"-long, 1"-wide cotton webbing. This is where I temporarily glued down the cut and folded fabric.

 ３．紐に布を縫い付ける。ミシンの針の位置を調節できる機能大活躍。

Edge-stitched the fabric on the webbing. Love my fancy sewing machine's needle position function and blind stitch foot.

 ４．切ったところがほつれないように、ひもの端にほつれ防止用の液体をつけて乾かしているところ。

Fraychecking the cut edges.

 ５．金具を取り付ける。

Key chain hardware.

 ６．出来上がり。ちりめんストラップキーホルダー。

My precious Chirimen key chains.

Force Awakens

縁があって、スターウォーズの新作を公開初日の最初の回に見ることができました。
それも３Dで。３Dは頭痛くなるから好きじゃないんだけど、最初の10分以降はそれほど気にせずにみることができました。
コスプレーヤーを楽しみにしてたんだけど、ジェダイがちらほらいた以外は皆さん普通の格好で、ちょっと残念。（まぁ、私も仕事帰りの服だけど）

Thursday morning, I noticed that the electric message board over the highway said "Trust the Force, but buckle up." Turns out, the Department of Transportation likes to put the message with a slight joke to get drivers' attention, and it was not their first time using movie/cultural reference.

I was working on a deadline at work all morning, and had to skip lunch to get everything ready by the 3 o'clock meeting. When I was done with the meeting, I got a message from MOTH that he had brought two extra sandwiches home from his lunch meeting. Yes! I don't have to cook dinner! Since I was so starving, I worked my 8 hours and left the office at 4.

I got home around 4:30. MOTH was already home (it was his last day of work until after the New Year's). I was about to go change my clothes to walk the dogs, and he got a  phone call on his work cell phone. He goes: "Yeah, I'm already home.... Oh really? That's great... Do you want me to pick you up? ...Ok, I'll see you in a bit" then he turned to me and said "We are going to the Star Wars movie tonight, so don't change your clothes." I guess the Force was with me, huh? I shoved the sandwich in my stomach in 10 minutes ;)

So, yeah, I was able to watch the new Star Wars movie on the opening night for the first showing. It feels like I was part of the history, considering it was probably the biggest movie opening ever.

What was disappointing though was that there were only so few cosplayers at the theater. I was expecting the whole cosplay party, but alas, no. There were a few Jedi and a Padme, and that was it.

Anyway, it had been a couple of years since we went to a movie theater last so it was fun.

50 Grapefruits

寒波が来たので大急ぎでグレープフルーツ収穫しました。50個採れました。

Green Minoru Jacket Day 11: Completed!!!

ミノルジャケット完成しました！シェーのポーズで。
防寒仕様ではないので雪が降る中で着るには寒いけど、砂漠地帯ではこれで冬を越すのにちょうどいいぐらい。MA-1ジャケットに感化されています。

My Minoru jacket is done!

So, let's summarize before I forget.
The pattern is Sewaholic's Minoru Jacket pattern. A made a view A, which has a hood that can be hidden in the zippered collar.

I cut a size 6 and narrowed at hip/hem to size 0, which is my typical alteration for Sewaholic patterns. I also shortened the bodice and sleeves by 1" (I'm 5'3").
I really like the length. It covers my butt nicely but not too long. I also like the length of the sleeves (thumb length).

The fabric is a cotton twill that has kind of fuzzy/velvety texture on one side. I used the plain size as the right side and velvety side as wrong side. The lining is orange Ambiance.

I used orange #5 molded plastic zippers for front and exterior pocket, and nylon coil zipper for the hood. I erroneously ordered a separating zipper for the hood, which I did not realize until I had already made the zipper opening. So I had to add some scrap lining to cover the end of the zipper.
I also used orange top stitching thread for top stitching. Maybe I should call this MA-1 Minoru.

For the inner pocket, I just used 1 pocket on the inside left front bodice only. I added pieces of scrap twill on the wrong side of the lining where pocket corners attached. Hopefully the lining won't rip. Since I don't see myself using this pocket so I'm not too worried. I did lengthen the pocket by 1". The pattern pocket looked too small.

The major issue as so many people had already said about this great pattern is that it does not come with exterior pockets. A jacket must have exterior pockets! So I eyeballed the pocket placement and used the lining fabric for the pocket bag. Glad that I had just watched Janet Pray's Craftsy class and saw how the zippered pocket is done. Though this was my very first zippered pocket for a garment, basically it was the same as the zipper on the collar or zipper on a purse. My top stitching around the zipper was a bit wonky, but I am immensely proud of my zippered pockets.

The other change I made was the hood. Since I read the reviewers saying the hood is really big and pointy, I cut the size 0 hood, then I reduced the hood pattern by 2". I then cut a 4" (plus seam allowance) strip to make a 3-piece hood. The fit of the hood is pretty darn good.

The sleeves were bit on the tight side to wear over a sweat shirt so I let out 1/4" or so. The fabric shows the perforation from the previous stitch line but hopefully nobody will look at the underarm seams so closely.

I like the elastic on the back bodice. No need for swayback adjustment.

The other thing I did was to add a second collar lining. I read many people disappointed at raw seam showing where the collar/hood piece attaches to the back bodice when the collar is out. I followed the instruction of Spiffy Stitches blog to remedy.

I'm still on the edge whether I should have interfaced the collar piece or not. The twill is hardy enough that it stays upright even when the hood is not zipped in, but I don't know...

The jacket is definitely a casual weekender type jacket and it's not meant for a full-fledged winter jacket. I considered using flannel for lining or interlining to make it warmer but I'm glad I did not for the size I cut. If I were to winterize this jacket, I will have to go up a size or two. But for the desert winter, this jacket will do.

There are some wonky top stitching and skipped stitches if you look closely, but I am very very very happy with and excited about this jacket. My very first jacket and the most complicated garment I have ever made and I will call it proudly a huge success.

New Patterns Purchased

感謝祭後のセールで、型紙がひとつ1ドルというセールがあって、新しい型紙10個も買っちゃった。こんなに作る暇もないし、すでに沢山まだ作ってない型紙あるのに。でも1ドルという値段には勝てず。

I bought 10 new patterns when Simplicity patterns were on sale for $1 each at the Black Friday sale.

At my snail's pace sewing, I don't need these many new patterns and I already have a stash of patterns I haven't even considered making. But it was a dollar each. I just could not pass.

Now that I have sewn a handful of garments, I have to say that these "Big 4" patterns are so economical. They are typically sold for $2 each on sale at Joann, and most of the patterns come with loads of variations. Many even come with ensemble of whole outfit with shirt, jacket, and pants.

I love indie patterns because they do a better job with sew-alongs and better instructions and modern package designs, but they are so expensive and you only get one garment out of each patterns.

My goal is to acquire basic patterns for each type of garment and reuse patterns I have in the future. After all, even with the exact same pattern, the garment will look completely different with different kind of fabric and different print. Hopefully in the future, I will be able to manipulate the patterns more, too, to add design element or to change style lines.

Anyway, that's my excuse to buy 10 new patterns. Look, they are all very basic, perfect to build wardrobe staples.

Green Minoru Jacket Day 10: Waist Elastic

ミノルジャケット制作10日目。
後ろ身ごろのウェストにゴムが入りました。
あとは裾の始末で完成です！週末には出来上がるかな。

My Minoru Jacket project day 10. Pressed and top-stitched where I joined the lining, and inserted the elastic to the back bodice.
The only thing left is the hem. I am thinking I can finish this by the weekend.

Green Minoru Jacket Day 9: Attaching Lining

ミノルジャケット制作9日目。裏地と表地が合体してきました。
アイロンかけるのも待てずに試着。もう興奮して鼻から熱い息が出てきます。

My Minoru jacket project day 9. Finally the lining is attached to the main fabric.
I cannot contain myself at this point. Could not even wait for pressing. So excited.

KonMari Method of Tidying Up

私は最近知ったんだけど、片付けコンサルタント近藤麻理恵さんはものすごく有名なのね？
こちらでも「コンマリメソッド」はものすごくはやってる。
彼女の本、「人生がときめく片付けの魔法」の英訳版を3ヶ月待ちでやっと図書館から借りられました。

収納方法を極めるのでなく、収納する前にいらないものをばっさり除外してしまうというのが素晴らしい。

所有物を一つ一つ手にとって、その物によって心ときめくかどうかでキープするか捨てるかを決めるっていうの、すごくいい。

コンマリメソッドで人生が変わるっていうの、わかるわ。なんていうか、ただの整理整頓じゃなくて、整理整頓を通じて、人生の無駄なものを省く方法を訓練する感じ。決断力を養うというか。

週末はちょっと頑張って所有物の点検しよう。
ちなみにこちらでは物を必要以上に溜め込む人が多いです。そんな人を紹介するテレビ番組がいくつもあるぐらい。

After 3 months of waiting, I finally got "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo from the library. (By the way, the correct pronunciation of her first name is "ma-ree-eh", not "ma-ree" as in Marie Antoinette)

I don't know if it was the original writing or the translation, but I had to overcome with the somewhat juvenile writing style at the beginning. Once she started more in detail of her method, then it became easier to read (still, the writing is not great unfortunately).

The main and the most important part of the KonMari method is to purge items that do not spark joy. She emphasizes that you should not even think about how to organize until you have completed purging. It totally makes sense. The culprit of clutter is simply too much stuff. In order to de-clutter, you need to purge.

What is revolutionary about this method is that it strengthen your decision making ability. You go through every single item of your belongings and ask yourself "does it spark joy" and decide whether to keep or purge. What's left is only the thing you either must keep (like some important documents) or things you truly cherish and love to possess. Nothing else. This approach is so transferable to life in general and by going through her method, I can totally see a person more focused on what's important to that person in life.

I love watching Hoarders and Buried Alive shows. Not that I "love" watching those people, but extreme hoarding is a very interesting phenomenon. The hoarding or extreme clutter is a phenotype of one's mind. The KonMari method really links the being psychologically balanced state and clutter.

I have to mention that it is extremely difficult to declutter house in Japan. One, the house is much smaller and many times multi-generation family lives in a small house so there are naturally too much stuff in a small house. But two, not like in the U.S. where you get a ginormous trash can that you can fit a cow in it, most municipalities in Japan require you to purchase garbage bags (which is only slightly bigger than a grocery bag most of the time unless you pay more for the bigger bag) and you have to sort trash into minute categories like flammable, cans, plastic bottles, etc. I tried to throw away a lot of my old stuff that my parents still kept in boxes last time I was there, but it was just too much to deal with the garbage. Yard sale is not common either.

Anyway, the book. The contents of the book can probably be reduced to a third if I were the editor, to be honest. But the KonMari method definitely has very revolutionary (yet simple and solid) way of de-cluttering. Now I have to go through my stuff and purge.