Frugal Frump to Fab/Winter Solstice

Willow92

Hey, I shall be lurking on here for a bit and possibly picking up some tips

Carmen

Good morning ladies and lurkers,

I forgot to say welcome to all the new comers Look forward to reading about your highs, and hopefully not too many lows!

Even though I am awake early today I did sleep well, albeit only four hours! Never mind I will see the sunrise

I am going away for a few days next week, so today I am going to catch up with the ironing, decide what outfits to take, dust of the suitcase. When I ask O/H what he wants to take 'jeans and tops' is his standard reply :mad: Actually, that is all he will need, this time :rotfl:It's going to be a pretty laid back break for us, just family and close friends, lovely.

Just weighed myself 2lbs lost!! I did have a week of sensible eating, thinking about what I was putting in my mouth, unlike the last couple of weeks
Question for all the seamstress out there.Yesterday I was wearing a pair of linen crops, noticed they were sitting very low on my hips!
As they have had very little wear and I really like them, would it be worth having them altered to fit, how easy/difficult would it be?

The dawn chorus is in full swing this morning, just waiting for the sunrise. I may even get some decent photo's of it?

Mrs W, where are you, I hope all is well with you?

LL, it's a lovely feeling after a good clear out in the garden and very therapeutic (sp) As I have said before I am just the goafer but I certainly appreciate the end result.
Don't fret about the housework, you will get it cleared. Enjoy being in the garden while the weather stays nice:)
I need to get a new cooker.The grill died about three years ago (could not be repaired) My O/H is now starting to miss having 'proper' cheese on toast (its that ad on tv) I usually make him toasted cheese sanwiches in those toaster bag thingy's.

Maman,both of those dresses look beautiful. I'm sure whichever one you decide on you will look wonderful for the wedding.

Pod,Poles is it not possible to get maxi dresses in petite sizes? I am 5'7"ish so no problem for me. My sister is 5'2"ish and has the same problem, my crops fit her like long trousers

Bitsy, 2lbs holiday weight is not to bad, it will soon come off. We all relax our eating a little more on holiday.
Cheese I can live without, chocolate sometimes plays a part in my life, scone and cream (no jam) sounds scrummy....enough, I can feel those lbs creeping back on :eek::rotfl:
Tru, how is your husband? Three breaks, ouch! How did he to do it? I take it you must be off your strike, for the moment

:hello::hello::hello:to everyone I else.

Take care and have a good saturday

Upwards and onwards

Carmen x

tru

Morning :hello:

I still haven't caught up with all the posts

Mr tru is fine thanks He stood on a chair close to the edge of the patio, one of the legs slipped off the edge and he fell. He landed with all his weight on his hand. The doc said to try and carry on as normal as much as possible, so the strike is still on :rotfl: He can't wash up though, so I have to do it all. Ggggrrrrrr.

Nephew is doing well. I've got the whole story now. He had to go to hospital for an overnight stay, the doctors were trying out new meds and were worried that they might restrict his breathing. SIL was going to take him in and stay overnight while BIL stayed home with the other boys. When he found out he was going to hospital - he hates hospitals - he went into meltdown and mum and dad couldn't restrain him, even together. The meds worked though :T He didn't sleep that night but was quite happy, he spent the night flushing the toilet and was fascinated by the handwash dispenser The next night he was home and slept right through - that hardy ever happens. It's early days yet but it looks like they've finally found something that works. It's only taken 10 years *sigh*.

I bought some ballet shoe stylee slippers, a coat and a big cardigan yesterday, total was £40 - not bad I'm looking for a big white shirt, can anyone help? I can only find fitted ones. I've tried men's shirts but they look ridiculous on me, lol.

I was planning on thinning my hair a couple of weeks ago. I've only just got round to doing it, my head feels much lighter now

I can now walk down the stairs without using the handrail. I'm still walking with a bit of a limp, but no-one notices it. Hopefully it'll be back to normal before we go on holiday.

I'm still struggling with high heels - I'm determined to walk in those ridiculous wedges - so I searched and searched and found THIS. It works, I'm almost ready to go outside in them :rotfl: I haven't put a book on head though.

My new foot file is great. I used to use the ones that are like sandpaper, this one looks like a cheese grater The aqueous cream is working a treat on my very dry legs.

lessonlearned

Hi Everyone

Carmen - Depending on the type of waistband and assuming the trousers have a front zip, rather than a side zip, then the easiest way to make them smaller is to take in the centre back seam, trimming any excess seam allowance to remove extra bulk. If the trousers have no waistband it is very easy to do.

You could also increase the size of any darts if they have any - making them a little wider and longer if necessary. A dart is a small tapering seam that takes in excess fabric to improve the way a garment fits - usually found at the bust or waist. (Sorry if that sounds patronising but don't know how much you know about sewing). .

If there is a waistband it will be a bit more work but it is still quite easy to do. You will have to unpick the waistband - I would just do it at the back (the bit above the back seam you are making smaller) and a couple of inches each side to allow you room to work. To make the waistband smaller, remove a small section of waistband and stitch it together again. If the amount to be removed is only small, say an inch or so, you might get away with just making a couple of tucks in the waistband before stitching it to back on to the trousers.

Hope that makes sense, it sounds more complicated than it is.

Poor Mr Tru - sounds painful. Glad your nephew is a bit more sorted now. Do be careful with the high heels, start slowly and build up - you don't want to do any more damage.:eek:

Echoing Carmen - Twinnie we do think alike - sometimes it's quite spooky. Mrs W I too have been wondering where you are - do hope you are ok.

Back in a mo .................

lessonlearned

Anyway not much news here. Except ............

I've finally finished painting those picture and mirror frames:j

Such a simple little job - should have been done in a couple of days but as I've explained I get so many interruptions etc that the simplest of jobs can linger for ages.

DS1 came for a visit today - much easier now he's moved closer to home he can just pop in for a few hours, rather than staying over - just as well his bedroom is a dumping ground at the moment.

Anyway we decided that since OH is not using the gym equipment we put in the dinning room for him and now that the garage has been decluttered, we would reclaim the dining room. DS1 put the gym equipment into the garage and I will now get to work on my new (to me) dining chairs. A set of four plus 2 carvers from the YMCA, £10 the lot.

I was going to shabby chic them but the wood is rather nice so I'm going to try and just give them a good clean and a bit of TLC and see what they look like. They will need some new re-upholstering but they only have the "drop in" seat pads so it will be a very easy refurb.

You know how they say that if you keep a thing long enough you will find a use for it. Well I got rid of several small items of furniture last week. Today DS1 asked me if I'd got any spare bits for his new house-share. :rotfl: Typical. I had actually asked him several weeks ago if he needed anything because I was going to have a clear out and he said no.

Men - not only can they not multi-task some of them aren't that great at forward planning either - bless 'em.

I have a confession to make.

Not doing too well at all on the healthy eating - I seem to have had the non stop munchies for the last couple of days. I really must get a grip.

I did make up a nice body oil though - partly for aches and pains and partly to improve the cellulite on my thighs and derriere.

100 ml grape seed oil
15 drops lavender (soothes and relaxes aching muscles)
10 drops cypress oil (anti-inflammatory and anti-cellulite)

Juniper oil is also good for cellulite

Of course the only real treatment for cellulite is exercise and lots of it. You don't very often see athletes, dancers and body-builders with cellulite:rotfl:.

Most treatments only improve the appearance of the skin - they don't really get to the (er-hem) bottom of the problem.

There of course various salon treatments such as Endomology but they are not cheap. I cannot make a recommendation based on personal experience because you cannot have endomology treatments if you have varicose veins (which unfortunately I do have).

So for me - I'm going to try and increase my exercise and use oils to improve the cellulite and then when I can pluck up the courage (and find the time) I will see about getting my varicose veins sorted. But the veins will have to be put on hold until I've lost all my excess weight, to ensure that the treatments are successful.

Anyway - feeling rather tired so off to "bedski".

G'night all x

maman

:wave:

It's getting late so my thoughts will be in no particular order!:rotfl:

Carmen, LL has described how to take in the trousers in good detail. Hopefully, if the fabric's not too thick you can just take in the seam and waistband with one big dart and wear them for a bit longer. Eventually, you will have lost so much weight you'll have to buy a smaller size:rotfl:

tru, I need to buy new slippers. What can anyone recommend that are warm? This is all part of my keeping warm indoors in the winter regime. Years ago, I used to love those Dunlop tartan ones with the pom poms but I've grown out of them now!

Yesterday we got another wedding invitation. This time to the evening part of a nephew's wedding in October. Sooo....

I've just (before logging on here) ordered the asos dress (2 sizes just in case I'm not as slim as I thought;)). Assuming it's not cheap and nasty fabric when it comes it should be ideal for an evening do and anyway I really fancied it and could envisage wearing it out for meals, at Christmas etc.

To answer your 'inquisiton' LL (:D), I am suspicious that the venue for November may not be that warm. They've spent money doing up the place since I was last there but I'm not sure how much they've spent on heating! I have a velvet coat that I could wear to arrive but I would need a jacket or pashmina for indoors. I'm not a fan of shrugs. The October wedding will be loads of DH's HUGE family (He's one of 11 children) and nobody there will be at November wedding so if I want I can wear the dress twice. I have my trusty black patent heels (which should do for October) but I've been fancying some of those 'nude' courts.(tru I have studied the video and should be able to walk in them!). The November wedding 'theme' colours are cream and burgundy with the men in black tail coats and striped trousers. So, the fawn dress would tone in well but so would either of the pinky ones from M&S. I might wear a fascinator (or fornicator as one of my friend once called them:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:). I can imagine wearing a fawn/black one but somehow not in pink. I think all this is a hang up to not wearing colours when I was fat!!

Anyway, first decision made in that one dress is on the way so I can start a process of elimination.

:grouphug: to all. Thanks for listening!!!

Willow92

Asked my OH if he could paint my nails once a week He'd be better than me coz I always paint my fingers too.... ^-^

Bitsy_Beans

Took kids out for a walk yesterday over our local fields and managed to find (the one and only) horse chestnut tree in the vicinity. I am giving the hort chestnut get in Grow Your Own Drugs a go Glad I decided to make this at the right time or I'd be waiting months for the conkers LOL

Am really struggling with the mindful eating All I want to do is eat carp Still mustn't beat myself up, just demotivates even more.

maman - :rotfl: @ the fornicator/facinator

tru - glad nephew is OK x

LL - I do have a little bit of cellulite but quite frankly my spare tyre round the middle needs my most urgent focus. Dry skin brushing before you shower is supposed to help improve the appearance of cellulite. Mind you there are plently of skinny slebs that have it so I tend to view it as a womans curse. Just to go with all the others

Carmen

Good morning all,

LL, thanks you for the alteration details, perfick! Thankfully the material is not too thick, they are mostly light crops that I bought at the end of last summer (before I found this thread) I have been wearing belts to keep them up but now the material is starting to gather around my b*m and looking quite odd :rotfl:Hoping to drop a couple more sizes by next summer so reluctant to buy more clothes!
Don't worry too much about munchies, tis only a blip which we know will happen now and again :whistle:
Would love to see the chairs, before and after. I will be nice to recycle some of your 'stuff' to your son

Maman, cannot really help on the slipper front but try EWM, they used to sell 'cosy things' I prefered to have open toe slippers (too hot) but after tripping up stairs (damaging toe) too many times, I bought some crocs :eek: said I never would! Plenty of airflow and wear with socks if feet do get cold.

Sorry gotta dash, back later.......

Willow92

Trying to find a pretty dress to wear for when I go out for my birthday next month. I keep finding dresses and thinking "This is pretty, I can't wear it coz I'm too fat/my legs would be on show/I will never be able to lose enough weight in time"

What kind of dress would a nearly nineteen year old that wears a size 18-20 wear? Hm...