Butterick B6182 and Tennis Elbow!

Yes, bit of an odd title! I have had 'Tennis Elbow' since early March this year, it started as a gentle nagging pain in the elbow that developed into a really painful injury.  I went to the docs who said what the condition was and advised me to take anti- inflammatories and if it didn't improve I would be referred for Physio.  What I didn't realise was that Knitting and Crochet would aggravate the condition and make it worse.
 

My current knitting project that is going nowhere.

And it was getting worse so I decided that I would visit a Physio privately as the NHS was going to take over 3 months for a referral - I'm still waiting for that appointment.  I also had suggestions of a Cortisone injection but decided I would try Physio first.
On my first visit I was given a thorough examination and I was told the condition was now 'chronic' - so was the pain - and you may be relieved to hear that I did it in the Gymn using a piece of equipment I shouldn't have been using,this is fairly typical according to the Physio but I have since met another lady who did hers while trying to do an internet knit-a-long with Rowan!
Anyway, the major outcome was that I was advised to stop Knitting and Crocheting and I haven't done any for 2 months now: which is not good but then again neither is Tennis Elbow.  So with treatment, exercises and ice I am now 2 months in and in the past 2 weeks I can definitely say it is getting better.  But what can a girl do when she can't knit or crochet ......she can sew!

So, very steadily I have been doing some projects and I thought I would do a little report on my favourite pattern this Summer which is Butterick B6182.  As a Rowan tutor I have a stock of Rowan fabric and I decided to make a top and then a dress using this pattern, a lot of their designs tend to be bold colourful prints and I feel that they do the 'work' for you and you do not need fancy styled garment for them and this pattern really fitted the bill.

That's not a bracelet on my right arm, it's my tennis elbow support!

So, as a trial run I made the top first using the 'Thistle' fabric - well, I had to have it being Scottish.  What I love about this pattern is that it makes up so easily, the shaping in the garment is made by the darts in the central seam at the front and that's it, no fastenings to think about, just straight over your head to put it on.  However, from my trial run and measuring up, I thought the top wasn't long enough for me and I am actually a 'short bodied' person. I added length to the garment and I was glad I did. 

So, carried away with enthusiasm and desperately wanting to do something else - and there is only so much TV I can watch without my knitting - I then decided to do the dress.  I had enough of Millefiore Dark fabric and had been looking out to use it in a dress, this design is one of my Rowan favourites as I already have a skirt in it in the blue colourway. Again, with the size of the print and being a 'little person', a simple pattern was needed for this gorgeous fabric and this pattern certainly worked well. The cutting out of it probably took longer than it's making as I was really careful to match the pattern and again I added extra length to it.
I have worn it a couple of times now for Rowan workshops and it has been complemented which is nice.
I'm still not over Tennis Elbow yet but I am being allowed to do some of my favourite things: but only a little.  I've started knitting for 5 minutes and I'm allowed to increase it by 5 mins each time just so long as its not aggravating it.  Bliss!