Saving the planet one diversion at a time.

 Wisdom gained: Take your time!!! And don't expect miracles from ugly fabric!

(New feature: Shout out to: I have been discovering other people's beautiful work, and want to acknowledge them; this post it is another entrant in the upcycle contest who used six family wedding gowns to create an amazing Christening gown; check out her post on Pattern review here

I don't understand how such a low-stakes sewing flop can make me feel so blah, and question my sewing expertise, in spite of years of successes.

Upon closer reflection, the flop boils down to a sizing and alteration miscalculation... that is all.

I guess it was live-in daughter's reaction which compounded the feeling.

Don't get me wrong - I love having her around, and she makes me laugh, including at this flop, but...

What started this was that I wanted to enter the upcycle contest at Pattern Review, but my recently completed upcycled quilt-housecoat would not qualify because it was made before the contest dates. I decided to use something in my 'this can not be donated to anyone' pile. A true save from the dump.

I chose an old, oversized, paint-splattered sweatshirt. It had been a gift to wear during my first pregnancy. It served its purpose but I never loved it; the sleeves were three-quarters (useless if you are looking for warmth!), and the soft part of the sweatshirt was on the exterior. Go figure.

So at some point I must have used it for house painting, and there it sat in my wardrobe, to be removed during a recent wardrobe purge.

I thought the only thing I can make with this is shorts. And when live-in daughter saw me undoing the seams, and I told her I was making shorts she said 'for me?' and I said sure.

I adapted a PJ bottom pattern that I had used for her at Christmas last year - these were apparently too wide around the waist. And the leg, I thought too.

I compared the pattern to her current shorts too, and made a few decisions. I shortened the waist-line (but not enough, apparently!), and took off an amount that I just kind of eyeballed from the side seams.

I used the neck and armband cuffs for the waistband, and I was able to cut the front pieces at the hemline. But I forgot to lengthen the back, so took the rest of the hemline and sewed it to the bottom of the back.

I almost made a mistake with the (now) waistband; I was going to just sew them together, then remembered I wanted to thread a tie through it, so had to do it properly.

Bottom line - too tight around the bum, and the waist is still too large, and funny looking (the large shoelace I used as a tie prompted much laughter). She also does not like the lumpy seam that was created by joining the waist band... I can't even get a picture with her wearing it.

There is a bonus make, as well. I thought if I make a baby-size kimono style undershirt for her childhood doll, she might think that was funny enough to wear the shorts. But instead she removed the kimono from the doll and hid both items...

But, as a saving grace, I will attach a photo of my other baby kimono, from former PJ bottoms, which turned out quite nicely!