Turkey Trot 5k

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

This year Vince and I signed up to do the local FishHawk 5k Turkey Trot.  I had a personal best time I wanted to beat: 27:55.

They gave everyone a sweat-wicking athletic shirt with the above logo in the above color.  I love it!

 

I had been ramping up my jogging over the last month and even committed to running right after work, around work.  I was feeling good!  My heart rate monitor finally died (the watch part must have gotten damp and the digital display was fading) and so I had to improvise by using the stopwatch feature on my phone and wrap my phone with paper towels and tuck into my compression short's waistband.  Those shorts are so tight, the phone did not even move while in there!  While all this jogging was going on, I could not beat my personal best pace, so I really had no clue how I was going to do at the race.

 

In Florida, Thanksgiving morning was the coldest day we've had since February!  It was 37 degrees when we woke up at 6am.  Figures, and we are going to be running and NOT staying home under the covers or on the couch with a hot cup of tea. 

 

I know, I know, the rest of the country was probably experiencing colder weather, but this is my blog and I will complain if I want to!

We warmed up by jogging around the parking area and doing some crossfit exercises such as high knees, walking lunges and jumping jacks.  We each brought a long-sleeved shirt to wear until we started.  I brought my 5k Shrug, remember that one??  Basically it was a long-sleeved t-shirt that I cut into a shrug-like garment to wear to keep arms warm but can easily be taken off and tied around the waist.  Vince brought a long-sleeved t-shirt, one that we got at last year's Turkey Trot in Mass, when we visited my sis. 

 

Vince was not going to wear it (the cold does not bother him much), and my ears were already freezing and I knew from past experience, my ears would be hurting with wind burn later if I ran with them unprotected (the cold took us by surprise and we did not properly prepare ourselves).  So I rolled up Vince's t-shirt and kept the arms out and used it as an ear warmer, tied behind my neck.  Hey, it worked!  I ran 1/3 of the race that way.  Then it warmed up a bit and was not so bad.

Speaking of being cold, my sister did her annual turkey trot in Mass, the 5 miler, and it was in the 20's!  She was better prepared for it, for sure.  Here is her and her dog Gonzo, warming up before the race in the car:

Gonzo does not seemed impressed.  He does not like his picture taken!

 

Vince and I had our best times at our race.  It was a chipped-timed race, meaning that they can electronically take your personal start and finish times when you run over a mat that has receivers in it.  Our chip was on our bib (the paper that has your race number), which was something I has not seen before.  They do this because it could take you 30sec + to actually cross over the start line due to the large number of runners participating. 

 

I felt good during the race, but the last mile or so, I started getting a side stitch.  I imagine it was from breathing the cold air, not breathing properly or whatever.  I was running with people who were pretty much going at my pace and I could not really pass them.  I was having a hard time with the drive to pass, because my toes were cold and legs did not want to move any faster. 

 

I usually pick one person to follow and keep pace with throughout the race (keeps you occupied) and I chose this one gal who reminded me of my sister: shorter, short hair, wide strong shoulders and was running with a mission.  Yeah, at the half-way point where we would turn to come back, she took off like a dart!  I lost her.  Damn it!  Oh well, I was on my own after that.

 

I got to the final turn and then it was the homestretch.  I always get a burst of energy and sprint the last little bit.  I started to increase my pace and I saw the clock: 27:10...I was like, "Holy [crap] I could do this!" and I sprinted like no other.  I made it at 27:20!! Whoo-hoo!

 

Vince then looked at the standings on the Friday after and saw our chip-times: 27:05.  OMG, I don't know how I pulled that off!  That is seriously cutting over 30 secs/mile off my time.

 

Here are some of the race stats:

• Chip Time: 27:05
• Overall Time: 27:20
• Came in runner 399 out of over 1700 participants
• In age group, 35-39, I was 15 out of 121
• In age group, the winner was 38 years old and her time was 22:31

Yea, so I won't be taking home any trophy's or medals, but I am still proud of myself!

Headbands-A-Plenty

Happy Mother's Day!

I was surfing the web of my favorite websites and blogs for some inspiration and I found some on P.S.-I Made This.  Today's project idea came from the braided headband all the way down the bottom of the page.

It is making headbands with covered elastic hair ties, scraps of fabric and odds and ends.  I not only braided some headbands but also made some from a bag of old neck ties I bought at a yard sale for a buck.

My odds and ends

Here is my collection of odds and ends: it includes neck ties, ribbon, yarn, lace and strips of fabric.  Yes, there is some feather boa in there, but it ended up being a bit too elaborate for a headband this time around.  I know, I'm no fun!

Good ol' Goody

First, I did the neck tie headbands first.  I used the skinny portion of the tie and cut a length that fit my head.

Making use of ugly neck ties

I knew these ties would come in handy!  I sewed one end around the elastic and pinned the other end to the elastic so I could fit it to my head perfectly.  I have a small head, so many elastic headbands slip off because they are too big.

Half done already

Once I got it where it fit the best, I sewed that end down.  Viola!  I'm done!

Ugly ties = chic headband

I made a few neck tie headbands, because they took no time to whip up.  I then made a few braided ones.  For the first one, I took a strip of denim, a green and white polka dot ribbon and a strip of black lace.  I sewed them around the elastic like I did the ties.

Neon is back!  Really!

That one had a very retro 80's feeling to it.  Very Debbie Gibson.  The second braided one, I took some brown chenille yarn, navy blue nylon cord and baby blue cotton yarn.

Skinny headbands are cool, too

That one is very skinny.  The chenille gives it texture that holds to your hair a bit.  The blue and brown together reminds me of Holly Hobby with her brown field boots and blue bonnet.

Love Holly Hobby! <3

So, all-in-all I made six headbands in the course of about an hour.  This was an easy project and you really don't even need a sewing machine.  You can just needle and thread the neck tie ones and then knot the braided ones.

Busy bee, I was

Show me some blog love and send me some pics or comments to let me know what your thinking!  I would love to see your WIPs or finished projects!

The 'Do Rag

Yesterday, I attended a company sporting event on St. Pete Beach, FL.  It was called the America II Corporate Sports Fest 2012.  It was a blast!!

Normally, when I workout,  I just wear my hair in a ponytail and bobby pin my bangs up.  That, however, does not control the whispies that I get from the wind and general movement.  I hate the whispies!

For Sports Fest, I knew there would be cameras and people taking pictures, so I wanted to ensure that those whispies don't even get an appearance.  I decided to wear a bandana on my head, in a 'do-rag fashion.

Rockin' the 'Do Rag!!

It worked like a charm!  It stayed in place all day.

Now, you may also want to don the 'do rag when you are at home doing housework, working in the yard or going for a neighborhood jog but may not have a cool bandana at home.

You can easily make one with an old t-shirt and a pair or scissors:

Here is the bandana I used, I folded it so it really is just a triangle:

Half a square, is all you need

I took an old t-shirt that had a cool design on it:

Eh, cool enough.

Then I placed the folded bandana on top of the design and did a rough cut through both layers of the t-shirt, following the edge of the bandana:

Step 1: Lay on top

Step 2: Cut

Well, guess what?  You're done!  It's that simple.  The best thing about this too, is that when you cut through both layers of the t-shirt, you have just made yourself two 'do rags!  A two-fer!  It doesn't get much better than that!

If you do not have a bandana, then just cut a large triangle.  Really, your cut lines don't even have to be that straight or perfect.

To put it on your head: Hold the long side ends so that the middle of the long side is against your forehead, having the design facing outwards.  Flip your head over so that your hair is hanging down and bring the ends that are in your hands to the nape of your neck.  All of your hair should be within the 'do rag at this point.  Then pull tight and make a tight knot at the nape of your neck.  Flip your head back over and pull the 'do rag back to about the start of your hairline.  Untuck your ears.

Ah, no more whispies!

Here is me with my two-fer 'do rags:

Two-fers, come and get your Two-fers!

Now, go out and rock that 'do rag!!

Fix It - Skirt & Tank

Happy Memorial Day!  I had big crafting plans for this long weekend and I ended up doing none of them!  Hey, everyone needs a do-nothing weekend once and awhile, right?

Alterations are never very high on the sewer's to-do list.  I have a huge pile of to-do's that I never can find the time to fix.  So, since I was lazy this weekend I figure I would look in my cache of pics to see what I have done recently and I found a white denim skirt and a blue tank top.

First the skirt.  I bought this at Goodwill for less than $4.  It is a J.Crew white denim skirt that has a normal waist.  By normal, I mean not the hip-hugging, low-rise style that gives anyone who is a few pounds above their "desired" weight muffin top.  I have my fair share of low-risers, but I was glad that this one is one that I do not have to suck in my tummy to wear comfortably.


White denim, so 90's!

There is actually nothing wrong with this skirt, but since I only paid a few bucks for it, I had no buyer's remorse wanting to make it a bit more chic for the summer.  The bottom hem has a roll to it and I know that I will have to break out the iron every time I wear this.  Not very grab 'n go if you have to take the ironing board out in the morning.  I have frayed the ends of skirts and jeans before, so I was leaning towards that direction, but I did not want a mini either.  The length of this skirt was good as it was, so I decided to unstitch the bottom hem and unfold it.

Carefree, here we come!

The unstitching was a bit tedious, but not too bad.  I took a standard seam ripper and went all the way around the bottom hem of the skirt.  Then I unfolded it, like you see above.  You can also see the the raw ends are already fraying: Perfect.

When you unstitch something, be patient.  You will have to break the thread several times and pull out the tiny lengths with you fingers or tweezers, but you will be rewarded in the end with no rips or holes.

Orts of threads

Once it was unstitched and unfolded, I took it over to the ironing board and ironed it with steam and starch.  I knew the folds were not going to iron out, that is why I went this route rather than lopping off the bottom hem.  This way, it gave the skirt a meant-to-do-that deconstructed look.  Done!


Ta-da, Starch!


Next came the blue tank top.  This is a sale rack, Forever 21 purchase.  The straps were very long, so I had to shorten them.


Soon to be stunted straps

I prefer to alter the backs of items, rather than the fronts, so that you do not see stitching or other imperfections, in case the thread does not exactly match or an otherwise "oops" happens.  I took the same seam ripper and unstitched the back straps. 


Mark where they came from with a pen


I marked where they originally went so I could affix them in the same location.  I pinned it in place and tried it on.  I did this until the straps fit well.  These straps were originally placed at an angle so I wanted to ensure that the same angle was pinned.


Look how long the straps were!


Since the band gong around my chest was elastic, I installed a ballpoint needle on my machine.  I did not bother with a zig-zag because I was not sewing around the circumference, just an inch or so.  The elastic will still be stretchy around the rest of the top.  This is not fabric that will fray much, so I did not finish the edge, after I cut the extra length off.  No one will see it.


Perfect criss-cross angle!


This ensemble was less than $10 and it is very comfy!  Just a little bit of stitching skills and you can decontruct and alter someone else's cast-offs to be unique to you.


Plenty of daylight left to enjoy!


I have worn both of these pieces since I fixed them at the end of March and am truly satisfied with how they came out and how they wear.  This skirt will fray more as I wash it.  I will trim away the excess long threads, but you can keep them there and that will give it an even more casual look.

Try looking in your donation pile of clothes and see if there is something that you can tweak about them that may make them wearable to you again.  It doesn't even have to fit, you can totally cut it up and make a headscarf or a fabric belt.  Or if it has a stain, consider dying it a darker color or try tie-dye. 

Let me know if you try a Fix-It project of your own!  Happy Deconstructing!

Matchy Headband

I am going to make full use of the blue and orange plaid button shirt I bought at a yard sale a few weeks back.  If you remember, I made the shirt skirt from it, so the top part of the shirt still has lots of fabric.  What has inspired me was a simple cloth headband I recently bought at Walgreens.  Inspried may not be the proper term...I'm going to shamelessly copy the Walgreens headband.  In the pic below, it is the white and green headband.

Saturday morning project

I made a template from a manila folder of the purchased headband.  I will place this template on a folded section of cloth and cut.  This is done twice to get a top-facing and bottom piece of cloth.  I also took off the rest of the buttons and the label from the shirt.  I love collecting buttons.  I have a jar of buttons on my dresser.

I heart button jars!

The jar was something I got at a thrift store years ago.  It is an old spice jar; I've never seen anything so quaint before.  Then one day I went to an estate sale and there was a whole 20-piece jar set with wall mounted wire shelf of the exact jar I had.  At first I was excited, then, because there was so many, I felt like it lost its charm somehow.  I decided not to buy any and just keep my lone one on my dresser.

Back to finishing the headband.  Once I got the two pieces cut out, I cut a length of elastic about 6" long and pinned it in between the two layers of fabric.

Sewing is so backwards, sometimes!

I stitched along the edge with a ball-point needle on my sewing machine.  I did not want to run the risk of the thread bunching when I got to the elastic.  I'm not sure if it would have, but I did not want to rip out rat nests this morning.  I sewed around the elastic end and 90% of one side.  This is where it got a bit tricky, I  then found the other end of the elastic between the fabric and pinned it to the other end.  The fabric bunched up and I had to keep it smooth so I could sew the end and the other side.

Almost there...

I left a small opening and then turned it right-side out. This left a hole where I did the transformation from scrunchie to headband.  The purchased headband had topstitching around the entire edge; so I chose to do that too.  I am not always a straight sewer, even when I try to line it up with the guidelines on the sewing machine.  The fabrics have a mind of their own and do what they want, even if you are feeding it through straight.  My sewing sistas, I'm sure, would back me up on that fact. 

See ya, hole!

I pressed the fabric so the seams were flat and aligned the fabric folds of the hole so I can close it when I topstitch.  To aid in my mission to sew straight, I used a zipper foot with the needle on the right side (my zipper foot has a plastic piece that you can move from side to side, depending on what side the zipper teeth are on).  This actually worked the way I imagined, so I was happy!  Since this did not take too much time, I cut out another headband out of left-over fabric from my Halloween costume last year, where I was a cowgirl.  The fabric was a faux suede, like microfiber/moleskin, which was supposed to represent my cowhide skirt and vest.



Two new headbands

I can't forget that I did have help cutting out the pattern... 


I wouldn't have been able to do it without you, Roo!



When I start a project, it is expected that either Julie or Jasmine will come and get themselves in the middle of it.  My eldest kitty, Julie (aka Roo) helped by laying all over the fabric and pushing it all over the table.  Like I said...typical!