I was tired of taking pictures after I was home from practice and worn to the bone. So today, when I was leaving for work at noon, I frantically asked Mom to take a snap of me. Outside, you know, to get nice natural light.

She did it. She was talking on the phone at the time, but I learned that it is possible to take a picture while you are talking on the phone. At least it is for my mother.

I don’t really like the picture. I look as though I have no feet.

Anyway, the skirt I sewed when I was fifteen, because I needed a school uniform skirt. I loved the pattern, and later used it to make a skirt with a bubble print and the skirt of my green 50’s style dress.

Tip: If you find a pattern you like, hold onto it and use it again and again and again. A good pattern is worth it’s size in gold. (I say size, not weight, because patterns don’t weigh that much.)

I should dye that skirt too, as the black is fading.

The aqua t-shirt I got at JC Penny once. I don’t remember when. I bought a bunch of solid color t-shirts which I have used in various layering projects since.

I ❤ solid color t-shirts. I need to buy some more, actually. I’m thinking I’ll go on a day when I can get $10 off a purchase of $10 or more.

And now, I have a story for you, boys and girls. It is the story of the pink blouse, and in it is one of the most important tips I will be able to give you, ever.

One day I saw a pink blouse in a bag. I liked it. “Hey Mom,” I said, “what’s with this pink blouse?”

“It’s too small for me, so I’m returning it,” she said.

“Oh oh oh! Can I have it?” I asked.

“Yes, if it fits you,” said Mom.

So I tried it on and, alas, the blouse was too big. “It’s too big,” I said to my mom, “but I just learned how to make big shirts smaller.”

“Are you sure?” said Mom, “because that shirt was kind of expensive.”

“Oh yes, yes, yes I can! I am a wizard at making big shirts smaller. I have magic hands. I can do it, oh yes, I can I can!”

“Okay,” said my Mother.

So I took the shirt and I tried it on. I pinched and measured and surged and made the blouse smaller.

It was a bit too small, actually.

I wore it anyway, because I didn’t want to admit to my Mom that I had messed up her expensive blouse. I wore it to the fair, where the weather got hotter and hotter and my tight shirt stuck to my skin and was nearly unbearable. After that I pretty much never wore that shirt again.

(Yes, I did wear it today. I wore it open so that no one would know it was tight. I don’t really like how it looks, though. I think it made me look boxy, but it doesn’t really matter anyway because I was at work all day and had an apron on over.)

Anyway, there are several morals to the story:

1. Unless you are an 100% truly done-this-250-times expert, only modify clothes that cost you little-to-nothing. Because there is a large possibility that you may mess up.

2. Do not surge. Always sew. That way, if you make a mistake, you can pick out the stitches and do it over.

3. Do your measuring for alterations on a dressmaker’s dummy, not yourself. I know that many people do not have a dressmaker’s dummy, and I don’t know what to say to them, except, “do you have a friend who is your size who you can turn into a dressmaker’s dummy for fifteen  minutes?”
Because when it comes down to it, it is super hard to get an accurate measurement on yourself.

I guess that is it for today. Except for my shoes. (I really do have feet, even though it doesn’t look like that in the picture.)

I am wearing my saddle shoes.

What a surprise!