A Bird In The Hand…

I went to Hancock's last weekend with the specific purpose of buying some appropriate patterns for TLo, as I have very few patterns in her size.  Given that most Big4 children's patterns are laughably large and my children are comically short, it didn't occur to me that I would need anything above the size 6 range for some time to come. I was wrong.  TLo is now in a size 12/14 width in RTW, which even in the world of Humongous Big4 Patterns is a 10.

TLo and I went to the store together, partly because I was hoping she would enjoy picking out her own patterns (with subtle guidance from yours truly) and partly because The Husband was taking TBO to soccer practice on that side of town anyway so I thought we could all go in one car.  I figured TLo and I, left to our own devices, could easily spend an hour and fifteen minutes in the fabric store.

This was poor reasoning on my part. TLo begged the entire time to be allowed to peruse the button section on her own, which is as far away from the pattern area as you can get and is completely obscured by row upon row of towering fabric aisles.  She was not allowed to peruse.  Or at least, not until we'd sat at the pattern table and looked through the sale books.  Apparently this is a breathtakingly tempting activity when you're not allowed to do it, but mind-numbingly boring when the siren call of the button section sings it's temptress song.  Much whining ensued.  And (despite what you're thinking) not all of it from me.  Pattern selection became a hasty process.

I relate all of this to you, Gentle Reader, in an attempt to excuse what happened next: When I saw this pattern was on sale, my heart skipped a little dance of happiness at the perfect fit for TLo's school uniform.  McCall M6156, size 7 to 14.

Shirtdress styling? Check!  Adjustable empire waistline with drawstring? Check!  Cute as a button? Check!

Perfect.  I forced (her words) TLo to help me find said perfection in the pattern drawer and, with our seven other pattern selections, we made our giddy way to nirvana-- sorry, the button aisle.  All was right with the world.

And then today I finally got around to photo-copying the technical drawing insert for October’s BurdaStyle.  Which I have already pored over a half-dozen times in the past month.  At least.

Um.  Girl's Shirtdress.  With adjustable drawstring empire waist.  Size 134-158. 

Doh!

Did You Know….?

 

… that pressing hams are really cat pillows?

I did not know that.

Cat For Sale.  Cheap.

In Which I Wander Around The House Shaking My Head In Confusion

People.  This morning I wrote a post.  It had photos.  It had arbitrary ranting about other people’s clothing choices.  It had deeply-felt self-deprecation at my own foolishness in the ways of choosing pattern sizes.  It was a good post.

And then, in the interest of keeping you, Gentle Readers, yes you well entertained and fully informed, I decided to try my latest creation on TLo.  Just one last time.  Just to take pictures and thereby astound and amaze you with the madness that was my latest sizing choice for her.  Because on Friday, people, Friday it did not fit.  Not even remotely.  It was too small.  Too tight across the chest.  Unwearable by TLo.  And I created a whole lovely post about that sad fact, rife with photos of poor TBO having to wear a hand-me-down shirt that was entirely too large for her.

And this afternoon?  It fit.  I mean, it fit TLo.  The person I made it for and who tried it on with little success.  On Friday.

WTH??

I’m pretty sure my children are conspiring to drive me mad so they can inherit my fortune.  Which would consist of a 10-year-old minivan and roughly six acres of fabric.  They are evil.

Anyway, here’s the blouse in all it’s glory:

It’s Ottobre 1-2007 #34, which I’ve been just waiting for one of my kids to get big enough to wear.  Uh.  And of course TLo jumped right from the bottom of the size range to a whopping 146.  (Yes, you heard me.  One. Forty.  Six.)  I’m hoping I get more use out of it, because I think it’s the perfect school uniform blouse.

Straightforward construction, cute details, cheap-but-nice fabric… Plenty to like.  Still, the fit mystery is… well, a mystery. 

Now, in all fairness, when I tried this on TLo on Friday, I hadn’t completed the buttonholes yet.  Buttonholes are not my friends and I prefer to ignore them until the last possible moment.  So TLo tried on the shirt and I merely held the plackets closed.  It was tight.  Very tight.  Too tight to wear.  Much cursing was to be heard.

I am so glad I decided to try it on her again today.  TLo is in desperate need of blouses.  And this ended up being just right.