Esther:
This is my first day home in quite awhile, and since my woeful closet was bemoaning me with sad tales of my decrepit wardrobe, I thought I'd troll the internet for inspiration and whip something up on the sewing machine.

Ha.

I have a current love for this delicate, sheer fabric that goes by the unflattering term "cheesecloth". It's like fairyweb tulle or something except softer and more magical. There are yards of the stuff in my closet (thank you LaVonne) just waiting for genius to strike.

That genius was not this morning.

I was inspired by this top. And thought something a bit more whimsical with some funky pockets and edging, plus some braided alpaca wool drawstrings would be just the ticket for this gloomy fall day.

The idea was as follows. Snipe the pattern off a pre-existing and well-fitting hoodie. Sew together in a new way, with new details, sans sleeves, and presto! Insta refresh on the clothing front.

I actually know people who can do exactly that, so I'm not entirely crazy...I'm just ridiculous for thinking I could pull it off.

Turns out this fabric is rather related to spider webs. The pieces stick to everything, come unraveled without a moment's notice and are so flimsy, they were constantly diving and clinging to the feed dogs on the sewing machine.


Shame on me for not ironing fabric before I cut it out...I do know better.


My house started out peaceful, clean and quiet. Filled only with sound of a sewing machine and happy children playing with legos. Somewhere between breakfast and lunch, it turned into a howling horror house, covered tip to stern in finger paint, letter beads, stuffed animals, legos and an assortment of snack droppings.

The armholes were out to thwart my every move. Me against the wily fabric as it tried to commit suicide. I accidentally slipped up and snipped a hole in a finished part of the project, which for a brief moment made me consider ripping the entire thing into shreds and burning it. I also considered kicking the sewing machine or throwing the scissors into a cauldron of burning molten, but caught myself in time to remember where Jamie gets his temper tantrum genes from...and he was watching me. So I took a deep breath and day dreamed vividly about it instead.

You can see it turned out looking like a drunk sea monkey sewed it. I never did the pockets, or the wool drawstrings because the armholes looked so sad, and I couldn't insult myself any longer.

The hoodie part is cute though, even if it sort of looks like the Disney Channel meets Scrubs.