Just Aren't Enough Hours in the Day

And actually, that can be a good thing.  Life is good when you're busy.  Couple of weeks ago, I was beginning to wonder who I was and what place in the Universe I occupied, because it seemed like I'd fallen off the radar.  Now I'm so busy I need to figure out a system so I make sure I'm not falling behind somewhere!

Unfortunately, that means that I haven't been able to get to any refashioning, knitting, crafting, or personal sewing lately....I have another order for more maternity dresses for one of my new clients (and in bright orange, too - the pleating should show up REALLY well in the next batch of photos), and have another new client sending me a large order next week.  All of this is simply FAB-U-LOUS and has reaffirmed that I do actually have a part-time parking slot in the cosmos (LOL) - it just means that any crafting for myself has to get put on the back burner for a bit.  So, my list for July?  I'll just have to re-tag it for August, I guess.

So while I'm sewing for clients and fitting band students for uniforms (Yeah, I know.  I was supposed to retire from that.) and won't have many photos to upload of crafty goodness, I thought I'd leave you today with one the band photographer took last week while I was double checking the roster as we were prepping to fit students.  And as luck would have it, I'm wearing the very first t-shirt I ever refashioned.  Awwww......ain't it cute in all it's crookedy, wonky glory?  (LOL!!!!)

Just don't set a level anywhere near this woman.

You'd think the kids would be nervous, having me in charge of making sure their uniforms fit correctly & were hemmed straight.  I mean, just LOOK at the inset.  (Look up crooked in the dictionary - this is the illustration photo.  Go on, I'll wait.)  But, it was a learning experience.  And it was a far cry better than the huge bleach stains that were the reason for this t-shirt transformation in the first place.  I credit Marisa Lynch for giving me the courage to give this a shot.  If you've never heard of her, scurry on over there and take a look at her archives.  This young lady has done more for us Refashionistas (oldies as well as new crafters) than anyone else in the blog-o-verse.  Just an amazing body of work.  And a lot of spunk, to boot.  

The t-shirt I've had forever and love the fit - just didn't love the stains, and I still don't know how they got there.  I found this fabric in the dollar bin over at my local fabric haunt (Jenny's Fabrics in Fountain Valley, CA), so the total refashion probably cost me around 25 cents.  Gotta love that.  It's an inset in the front only, which meant I had to pick apart the commercially serged seams (using a scalpel - best thing ever for unpicking serger stitching), measuring, careful placement (ha.  ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.  ha, ha.  Look at the photo again.), and re-serging.  Figured I'd lengthen those sleeves a little bit while I was at it, too.  I'd recommend if you are going to add fabric like this that you cut the sleeves so that you have at least about a half inch above the bottom hem, and open the sleeve up to the armscye.  That way, you can serge the new piece in flat, you have room to serge the new piece to the bottom hem, and then you can serge the sleeve closed again.  A little Fray-Chek or seam sealant of your choice, or even threading the serger chain back through the stitching for security, and you're good to go.  

Wish I had pictures of the process, but I think I was too afraid it wouldn't turn out.  

Don't usually wear this one out in public, it reflects too much of the grey upstairs, LOL!