Alter when necessary (or when it makes you look pregnant)

Challenge Update Week 8 part two

I bought this last summer:

I loved it because it was cheap, because it was flowy and girly and wouldn’t cling to the belly indelibly left by having two babies in 17 months, and, oh, did I mention it was cheap?

The problem is that between “flowy” and “not clingy” is that uncomfortable and inevitable modifier, “makes me look pregnant,”exactly the effect I was hoping to avoid. This top made me look pregnant. So nearly immediately after bringing it home, I narrowed it at the sides, taking in about one inch. I can’t really say if it helped, but I thought it did, and loving one’s body after having babies is very much a thought experiment.

Still unsatisfied, I started thinking about how I could make it more lovable. I am never fond of a crew neck on me, and I suppose that bothered me quite a bit. So I started down the Pinterest rabbit hole until I found this idea which hit the spot.

I added a Peter Pan collar made out of a vintage pillowcase by carefully removing the crew neckband and leaving intact the closure ends (closed by a small button at the nape). This was all done by trial and error with a few hand drawn paper patterns thrown in for good measure.

I sewed it all by hand because my machine is acting up and because inevitably one of the scalawags will want to use the pedals on the machine while I “drive”, and honestly, the thought of playing Snow White and Rose Red with my white chiffon-ish (however cheap it may have been) blouse didn’t please me.

I still wasn’t wearing it, so I decided to see what I could do to make it more lovable. Finally, this week, I added little cap sleeves made out of the same vintage pillowcase and I think I finally have something I will love to wear all Spring.

As for the rest of the Week 8 Challenge Round-Up

Having no internet for a big part of the week gave me plenty of extra time to advance on these things (what? internet is a distraction?). This kind of efficiency won’t ever become routine, but it is fun when it happens.

All told, I am very pleased with my progress externally and internally; externally I have a better handle on the sheer quantity of the clothes I own and am making progress towards seeing every single thing become a cherished, unique item that I love and fits me perfectly. Internally, my heart is less wrapped up in what others have that I don’t, and more excited about the bounty that I do.

Not bad for eight weeks’ progress, huh?