This week was the Reality Check challenge....haha....welcome to my reality!
The Facts
Fabric: refashioned rip-off cowgirl jeans I made for
an act I used to do, plus left-over pony/cow print upholstery fabric
and a pair of old jeans (I knew they’d come in handy eventually).
Pattern: self-drafted.
Year: contemporary.
Notions: sequin appliques, rick rack, ribbon, cheapo bling – all from stash that I’ve been meaning to use on a costume for ages.
Time to complete: 8 hours.
First worn: 23rd July 2012.
Wear again? ABSOBLOOMINGLUTELY, it makes me smile.
Total price: $0 (£0), zilch.
The challenge: “Reality Check: This week, we’re taking a realistic look at our wardrobes and sewing that missing piece”.
Look. I honestly, honestly was going to make something sensible this week. Check out my website for proof. I’d done my research about what items every woman is ‘supposed’ to have in her wardrobe and discovered I have less than a third of most lists. But the one item that topped most lists, and that I don’t own is a Little Black Dress.
I’ll be honest. I really don’t like black. You’ll remember I made the bowled over skirt because I didn’t own a black skirt. Black washes me out and I’ve never really been able to see what others see in it.
But I thought I’d step out of my box and make myself something sensible, after all I thought, funerals over here in the USA seem to expect black clothing so unfortunately I might need something to wear to one someday. (Colour is encouraged at my family’s funerals which tend to be celebrations of life).
I’m nearly 2/3rds of the way through making a black jersey Butterick 5243. But I really wasn’t enjoying making it. It was the last week of school holidays before back to school and we were doing the last minute shopping required and trying to squeeze out those last drops of fun.
And then Friday happened. The atrocious takings and ruinings of lives in Aurora. It hit me hard, thinking about all those teenagers (and we’ve learnt since all types of ages) who’d gone to the midnight premiere…..just like my 15 year old daughter had wanted to. I couldn’t bring myself to sew at all on Friday or Saturday, and definitely not a black dress.
So I’ve put it to one side. I had been finding it hard making a black dress that didn’t appeal to me in the slightest anyway, but the Aurora shootings couldn’t have been more of a reality check. I spent the weekend not sewing but spending extra time with my kids and husband. I’ve cried a lot (hey, I’m cyclothymic, I often find it difficult to find the proper perspective) and we’ve hugged a lot and tried to find things to do that make us laugh.
And I only started sewing again this morning once I’d dropped them back off to school. Life is too short to spend doing something that doesn’t make you happy.
I’d been meaning to do something sometime for Angry Chicken’s Tie One On challenges, where people make aprons to a theme….and the latest theme (which you still have time to make your own apron for) is Rhinestone Cowboy. You’ve got until August 1st. I also had a costume from a Jessie the Cowgirl act I retired (to an edited soundtrack of me singing You’ve Got a Friend in Me that goes into Lady Gaga’s Telephone….accompanied with me doing the dance from the video…..badly…..it made ‘sense’ when you saw it honestly).
The rip-off trousers were one of my favourtist costume pieces I’ve ever converted. The joy of pulling trousers off in one move always amuses me. I just wish they didn’t take so long to put back on again. But I didn’t buy jeans to convert enough sizes too big, so the adding of velcro down the outside seams meant they’d always been a bit too tight.
I had great fun sewing and glueing the bling onto these and I’m wearing them with the Jessie shirt I made a couple of years back. Btw I’ve only just discovered the name of this bush behind me is a Texas Ranger….seemed appropriate, and I love this time of year when it comes into bloom after rainstorms.
You always hear people saying of youngsters taken too soon that they were full of life and often the life and soul of the party, they made everyone smile. They had fun. This comes out in many of the bios of the 12 lost in Aurora last week. I’ve probably been hugging my daughters and husband a lot more since the tragedy than I usually do, and I hope that I can keep up making the most of every minute I have with them, because life is too short.
RIP Jonathan, AJ, Jesse, Gordon, Jessica, John, Matt, Micayla, Veronica, Alex, Alexander & Rebecca. My heart is with your friends and families.
I hope you've enjoyed looking around my blog. Why not subscribe so you never have to miss out on my mad ramblings? And why not +1/like/tweet/share some of the posts with your friends and followers? Thank you!
