I think we all have clothes that we like well enough, but require some adjusting in order to be "just right." In my case, it's usually hemming my pants up so they don't drag all over the ground, but sometimes other items need a little bit of a facelift as well.
I had two t-shirts, each with its own virtues. The green shirt fit like a dream, and was soft and flattering. But I never wore it because I wasn't wild about its printed design. The rose shirt had beautiful embroidered beadwork up one side, but was too short and the fit felt awkward. Both of these shirts sat in my dresser for years, always passed over because of their shortcomings, and the time had come to send them down the road.
Fortunately for me, as I held them above the Goodwill box, hesitating to throw out their good qualities along with the bad, applique inspiration struck. Now I have the best of both worlds:
I have to shorten all of my pants, because I have extremely short legs. Like, cartoonishly short. Jeans have always been tricky, because for years, I could not figure out how to shorten them and preserve the original hemline. When you straight-up hem jeans, they do not look good. I was desperate to stop cuffing them, like a kid in too-big hand-me-downs, when a little bit of fancy folding revealed a solution. And now jean shopping is a snap. All I have to do is find a pair that fit in the butt, and the rest can be adjusted!
I loved this dress when I saw it at the store, but when I got it home I realized it was a maternity dress and way too dowdy for me to feel pretty in. Solution: chopping off six inches and adding a touch of lace. It even makes my legs look longer!
This is a really fun kind of sewing, because it's sooo much faster (and requires less skill!) than constructing something from scratch.
Love, J
Is it too early to start birthday wish list? Because I came across this dress the other day, at this shop, and Oh. My. Goodness.
Since I'm dreaming, I'd really just like the pattern for this baby, so I could make up a bunch of them in different colors. And a dress form.
Love, J
1.) I am done with the test, and I don't want to talk about it. I've learned my lesson about predicting the results of this particular beast. (Plus it was hard and stupid and I'm trying to push my not-very-hopeful feelings about it out of mind.)
2.) I've got THE greatest people in my life, period. Aunt Micky, who skipped work to travel across the state to deal with the black cloudiness of me this week just so I'd have company. My hunky husband, who cleaned the house (including the TUB-I can now take a BATH when I want to! Joy of joys!) while I was away. My friend Callie, who ensured there would be the sweetest card of encouragement waiting in my mailbox on my return today. Wow.
3.) Melissa Etheridge is making my day. She rocks.
4.) Happy part of the trip: the crapload of thrift shopping aunty and I did. I scored 2 cutting boards, a tart dish, cake decorating supplies, a couple smoke detectors, and 7 dresses, including the one I wore to a job interview this morning:
And the interview went well enough that I start training on Saturday morning, so that's cool. I'm quite ready for real life to get started already ; )
Love, J
I bought this dress the last time I was at Value Village. It's way too big for me, but how gorgeous is the fabric? It will be dismantled and turned into any number of pretty things.
I just found a new hero: thenonconsumeradvocate.com
Thank you, Katy.
I've read about 'The Compact' before but never made a conscious decision to stop buying things new. It has just sort of happened over the years, and now I can't remember the last time I bought something that wasn't second hand. Except food and toiletries, of course... and shoes. But that's another story.
Anyway, reading Katy's blog made me want to add something about my last post, on the plush star: All the materials are second-hand. Fabric, thread, needles, pins, embroidery floss, and the batting I stuffed it with. And the coffee table it's sitting on.
There's something about creating things that feels so pioneer, like a throwback to when it wasn't an option to go get a crapload of plastic-y, crisp new fabric off the bolt. If you wanted a new dress, you had to cut up the curtains, Maria Rainier-style. Oh-oh, or use flour sacks. (Do you have any idea how bummed I am that I missed flour sacks? I mean come on, the bags you buy food in, being made of cute, floral fabric? Who the heck decided to phase that out? Worst decision ever.) But when you drive the minivan to Michaels or JoAnn's for supplies, it winds up feeling more like a cheezeball arts & crafts project kids do in Sunday school (paper bag reindeer, anyone?)
Buying and using pre-owned materials is earth friendly, it's a cheaper way to get high-quality supplies, and let's face it (if you enjoy the hunt like yours truly), it's just more fun, darn it.
And one more time, it's earth friendly. Best reason there is.
Which is why I may lust after the designs of Anna Maria and Amy, but I will remain true to my thrifted linens. They're softer than the new stuff anyway.
Love, J
P.S.~ Best line from Katy's blog: getting the 'hippie ethic without the hippie aesthetic.' I like to think I avoid the hippie aesthetic. The hubs says my decoration style is 'dorm room chic' - that doesn't sound too earth muffin, does it? I mean, there's no macrame or anything.
RETHOUGHT: I've been thinking, and I should clarify that the 'nonconsumer' moniker probably doesn't suit me at all. I shop. A LOT. I buy things all the time, just because they're pretty or colorful or I think I might, someday, use them. But they're always pre-owned. So while I'm not really *consuming* anything from the stream of commerce, I am for sure a consumer in that I come home usually at least once a week with something new to me.
