It Has Pockets!

Hello Readers. My daughter gave me this dress. I liked the slate blue-gray color. I also loved the pockets. Don't you hate it when you don't have pockets? Women carry stuff too. We need pockets!

This dress was a little blah. The waist belt/sash would help but the round neck was too low on me. I must have small shoulders. If a shirt fits me in the chest then the neck is too low. If the neck fits then the chest is too tight. (You can understand why I am always refashioning my clothes. They don't fit.)

I decided to fold the dress in on itself in the front and back like a box pleat. That would gather the neckline in without making the chest tighter. I used my dress form and pinned the dress together in a way I thought would fit me.

I used my sewing machine to do the actual sewing. I stitched the neckband down so it would stay flat. Then I added a pretty button to dress it up a little.

This button did not photograph well. Here is a close up. It added a little pop of blue and some bling.

I liked the fit and the neck was higher. I could lean over without flashing everyone.

 

***PART 2 ***
This gray backpack has been around for quite a while. It was the bag I carried when my little guy was in his terrible 2 stage. I needed a backpack so my hands would be free to carry him out of a store kicking and screaming. It was great for that.

It also has a shoulder strap so I could carry it like a purse. The backpack straps seemed like too much for me now. There were straps everywhere. I didn't need all these straps all over the place. So what did I do?

I cut them off. I just used sharp scissors and started cutting. The cut edge was very visible so I used a gray permanent marker to make it blend in a little more.

It worked pretty well as you can see in the photo below. I really liked the bag without the extra straps in my way.

The dress and the bag were perfect for going to a parent-teacher conference. Does every parent get nervous about that kind of meeting? (It went very well.)

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

***Year End Update- I loved this dress. It was not heavy enough for winter but it will be back in spring. The bag is great too. Very roomy when I want to carry everything.