I’m in my mid 50s and the fact is, I will never be 25 or 35 or 45 again. None of us age backwards.
And further, a good 65% of my life is already over. But don’t cringe at that. Because there is still a lot of time left for all of us, and we should embrace being the best (mid 50s) you, wherever you are right now in life.
What does that mean? It means exercise – move like you love yourself. Eating healthy (eat good foods, mostly plants, not too much.) HAVE FUN. Identify the things that make you happy and do them. Live where you love. I live in a university town, about 0.9 miles from the U and my downtown so I have a walkable, bikeable community (probably the closest I’d get to what life in Europe would be like.)
My goals this year are simple: to be the happiest, best version of myself that I can be. I will never be 25. My belly will never even be 35 again (but my kids, they are both beautiful and amazing!)
To that end, I’m also embracing sewing for my body. I put a swimsuit in timeout over a year ago, not because of me, but because I messed something up while sewing it, so my goal is to finish that one, and sew at least one other. For the body I have. But also, for the FUN I have. For me, summer is MY season, and I love to sail, kayak, bike, swim. I got a couple of boogie boards on freecycle that I plan to use on the big lake (Huron most likely for me) on a windy day. I have a kayak and several sailboats. My local lake is a 7 minute drive or a 17 minute bike ride (on paths!)
Top row, the Kwik Sew 3608 tankini and cut out one piece/monokini swimsuit. Middle: the Antero Shell (pieced) and Pietra shorts, and at right the Scout tee, and a pair of blue linen/cotton pants (OOP but similar to the Miller Trousers from Paper Theory.
And the beach. My happy place!
But being happy in your own skin is a mindset as much as it is how you look or what age you are. I sew because I can reflect whatever I’m feeling (and have clothes with a purpose too, like cross country skiing pants that get me outside.) As I’ve aged, weight gain, weight settling and even my own physical fitness or range of motion has changed what and how often I sew. I sew more now because when I needed XC ski pants that fit my now-body, there was some great windblock pro fleece in my stash, a 30 minute no-side-seam-elastic-waist pant in my pattern stash and in under an hour, I had new ski pants (worn now for 3 seasons.) This makes me happy. XC skiing makes winter enjoyable instead of just tolerable, and I feel closest to the me that is me when I’m doing it.
Patterns that make me feel good doing the things I love to do
Kwik Sew 3608 – tankini with bandeau (available on ebay or Etsy)
Jalie Gigi bikinis – a great high-waisted bikini with several top styles for high support or moderate support
Cross country ski/hiking pants made from a very basic no side seam sewing pattern. Add zippered or velcro cargo pockets to the sides and back of these if you want storage.
Jogger pants for yoga – I love a jogger for yoga, along with a tank top and most days, a zipper front hoodie until I warm up.
