Multi-purpose poncho

A poncho is not the most flattering garment on a broad-shouldered girl such as myself, but sometimes I just can't resist the allure of elegantly flowing clothes!

 
When I saw these two gorgeous butterfly tops on Swap.com for 3 dollars each, I knew I wanted them. I hoped that the fabric would be sheer enough that you could see through it, mitigating the body-widening effect of draping any piece of clothing off the widest part of one's body. Failing that, I figured I could cut some strategic holes in them and turn them into flutter-sleeve or open-shoulder tunics.

Sadly, the ponchos were even worse than I had originally thought. It was immediately clear that they had been cheaply made. The neck holes were finished with a hideous shoddy stitch in obtrusively white thread, and the neckline itself was wavery and uneven. I could have returned the disappointing schmattes, but I still could not resist their allure. I was compelled to find a way to repair them.

First off, I let them sit in my Projects Box for around 9 months. Then I upgraded my Projects Box to a Projects Cart and let them sit for a few months more. When spring approached for the second time, I knew I shouldn't procrastinate any longer. 

Part 1: A better poncho

When it came time for action, I was remarkably decisive.

With hardly any trepidation, I set into the blue poncho. I cut off the ragged parts of the neckline, and shaped it into a circle. I felt this would be more flattering on me, as wide necklines help downplay my shoulders.

Once that was done, I had to find a way to finish the raw edge. I considered and rejected a rolled hem (too uneven in my artless hands) and a bias-tape covering (too stiff for the sheer fabric), before deciding on a lace edging.

I happen to have a number of ribbons of semi-elastic lace seam tape, so I found a nice, almost-matching blue one.

I pinned it along one edge so about half the width overlapped the raw edge of the neckline and sewed it down, then I folded it over the raw edge and sewed it down again. 

This means that one side of the fabric has two visible rows of stitching—I keep that side on the inside, but the stitches are hardly noticeable, so it really doesn't matter.

I now had a nifty poncho that I could turn in any direction (shown here in a trial run with the corner of the fabric coming to a point in front) and still have a symmetrical neckline.

For something that took me a year to get started, the four steps it took to finish were really almost embarrassingly easy!

Thinking I was done, I prepared an outfit featuring the poncho to wear to dinner on Saturday night. However, thanks to a miscommunication, I found myself waiting interminably for my boyfriend to be ready to go, and the longer I waited, the more I began to second-guess my outfit.

It was hot. The forecast for the evening predicted cooler temperatures over the hours we might be out...but on a second check of my weather app, not as cool as I'd originally thought. And it was muggy. The near-100% humidity following Saturday's rain showers was making it feel warmer and stickier than the 73 degrees on the thermometer would have you believe. As the minutes ticked by, I kept taking off and putting on the poncho, becoming increasingly certain that it was the wrong day for me to be going out in pants and a full-coverage top. But what if it did get cold!? If I needed the security of arm coverage, I would never forgive myself if I failed to bring the poncho. But if it stayed warm, I would also never forgive myself for wearing too much clothing when I didn't have to!

The mental back-and-forth continued for longer than you'd ever want to know, until finally, during one of the many removals of the poncho, I had a realization: the neck opening was wide enough that I could fit it over my hips. That meant...I might be able to wear the poncho as a skirt!

Part 2: An optional skirt

The poncho looked pretty cute held up by my waist, flowing gracefully with all its uneven edges like a gypsy skirt.

I found I could secure it in place reasonably well with a coconut sarong tie (and a rubber band for security).

This was the greatest idea I'd had all day! Now, no matter what the temperature might do, I had a plan! If it did get colder, I could remove the sarong tie and go back to wearing the poncho as a top. But if it stayed warm and humid, I could happily wear the poncho as a skirt all evening. I made a few modifications to the outfit to better suit that paradigm, switching from a black to a pink tank top, and cuffing the leggings to keep me cooler and look better under a skirt.

By the end of the night, my skirt had stayed a skirt, and I had gotten one compliment from a stranger about it. So I'm happy to conclude that even if ponchos aren't the best choice for my build, the two ponchos I currently own will not go to waste, as they can always serve me in the role of a skirt instead!

Tiger, Tiger, colored bright

Today's outfit (which is actually last Friday's outfit—the 3-day weekend totally ran away from me!) is a study in second chances.

I never thought I was into big-cat motifs—housecats, yes, but lions and tigers and pumas, no way! That is, until this tiger shirt changed my mind for me. There was something about the expression on the tigers' faces – is it just the hint of a smirk? – that made them seem less predatory and more like something I'd want to wear on my clothing.

The second mental hurdle I had to step over was my aversion to garish faux-primitive geometric patterns. Yes, that's a mouthful of a thing to be averse to, but it's a pretty recognizable design style. The particular pattern on this shirt bears elements of the Navajo-inspired prints that were all over the place around 2012, and a bit of that splashy late-80's-early-90's style with lots of triangles and black inked textures. You don't really need to know what I'm talking about (and even I am relying on some pretty vague memories, so I might not know what I'm talking about myself!), but the point is that I'm not crazy about the colorful designs superimposed on the tigers on this shirt. However, because it's so rare that I actually find a cat-themed shirt that's appropriate for work, I was willing to overlook that minor downside.

The last element of this ensemble that prompted a rethinking of my preferences was the shoes. As you recall, I've had these green sandals since summer of 2016, and I've been thinking it's about time to retire them. Having a kelly green summer shoe is great and all, but the pink and black beads frequently contradict my outfit's color scheme. Yet today, they were the perfect match for the shirt, whose predominant colors just happened to be kelly green, pink, and black! I guess you never know when an oddly colored shoe will come in handy.

To complete the outfit, I wore khaki cropped pants and gold hoop earrings, which I thought were a nice complement to the triangular gold plates on the collar of the shirt. While we're on the subject, let's take a moment to appreciate just how unique this shirt really is. A collar with gold plates sewn to the tips of it, plus huge tiger faces, superimposed on flashy green-and-pink geometric designs? While the individual design elements may not have been quite my style, when taken as its avant-garde whole, this shirt is undeniably Unfashionistic! I'm glad I took the plunge and sacrificed 3 dollars to buy it (still new with tags!) from Swap.com!

Thunderstorm

My summer wardrobe came out of hiding last weekend. I'll withhold the commentary... At least for now!

It took several days to complete the switch, but the day I started was only one week after I took out my spring wardrobe (ugh! The weather this year! Took forever to get even remotely nice, and then it went from winter to summer in one week!).


Weirdly, since I've uncovered this wealth of new and exciting clothes, I've been absolutely stymied as to what to wear. I'm crippled by choice! Also, perhaps, by the fact that my new puppy makes trying on outfits prohibitively difficult.

Until I get over my lack of inspiration, I've decided to set a daily theme to help guide my sartorial decisions. Today's theme, in a reflection of the weather forecast (for the entire week! Ugh! The weather this year!), is "Thunderstorm."

I started with a tank top in a watery print of watery blues. I chose a deeper blue for the pants, to still evoke rain, but to also call to mind the dark skies of a thunderstorm. Grey shoes continue that thread, representing the color of a cumulonimbus cloud.

I would have been content with the tank top as-is, except that the cut seemed a bit casual for work, especially when combined with jeans. So I decided to cover up more of my shoulders with my long-line aqua vest, which conveniently drapes in a way reminiscent of falling water.

I chose two pieces of jewelry that aren't at all related to each other (I usually like my jewelry to match) but to the theme: my tiny black zigzag ring reminds me of lightning, and the dark blue earrings are the color of water and the shape of a raindrop.

Even though none of the elements of this outfit are new, I was still excited to wear them because 1) I think they look good on me, and 2) they do such a thorough job of meeting my arbitrary theme!

But despite the forecast, it didn't even start raining until long after I'd taken the outfit off for the day.

Thigh-high boots for Spring

Finally, my first short-sleeved work outfit of the year! I think the last of the winter weather is behind us. Following a 50's-and-breezy Sunday, the temperature rose up to 70 degrees by Monday afternoon.

But that doesn't mean it wasn't still 34 degrees out when I woke up in the morning! To survive the nearly 40-degree shift over the course of the day, I decided to go light and layered on top, but completely cover my legs with pastel pink thigh-high boots. 

 

The dress was a good choice for the in-between weather—its thick bodice was warm enough for the morning, especially when combined with some fingerless gloves, yet cool enough in the afternoon, thanks to its short sleeves.

I'm still working on ways to keep the boots from sliding down my legs all day, but I hope that I won't have to try and perfect the art until fall! Warm days are in the forecast for as long as I care to look ahead!

Jellyfish Skirt

Another skirt I recently found and fell in love with on Swap.com is this purple and blue one with a watercolor design. Something about it reminds me of jellyfish...and even though I'm sure it's not supposed to be representational of jellyfish in any way, I nonetheless have dubbed it my "jellyfish skirt."

When I got around to wearing it today, I was tempted to try and give an aquatic theme to the other garments in my getup, but I was unsuccessful in finding anything that worked. Probably all for the best, since I am pretty happy with what I came up with, despite the absence of anything remotely oceanic.

I got to break in a new pair of purple thigh-high boots, and I wore a sweater in another shade of purple. The disparate hues were bothering me, until I thought to add a (new!) pastel blue scarf as a sort of distraction.

My final addition was a blue carnation brooch, which adds a subtly different but still coordinating color to the mix. And as a bonus, it also helps hold all the layers of the scarf together, which means less adjusting throughout the day!

Sweater with straps

You may recall this sweater from last year, when it was new to me and I sang the virtues of its comfortable length and appealing pastel sheen. I've worn it a few times since then, but I found that it was rarely my first choice—being put off by the oversized asymmetrical collar. Or is it a cowl? Half-cowl? Whatever it is, it didn't work for me.

It had the usual problem of making my big shoulders look bigger, it would never lie flat where it folded, and it added an uncomfortable layer of bulk that tended to get bunched up under coats, to my great annoyance. It had to go.

I experimented, as best I could without rashly snipping it off, to reshape it in various configurations, but at last I decided the only thing to do was just remove it entirely.

Cutting off cowls is fast becoming my specialty, but I tried a new technique this time.

My first attempt at finishing the neckline saw me sewing it under with a long continuous hem. Of course, as always happens to me with stretch material, this resulted in the neckline becoming stretched-out and wavy. I removed all my stitchery and tried again, this time just tacking down the collar every few inches.

Once I was satisfied with the lay of things, I gingerly cut off the rest of the cowl. No matter how many times I cut up my clothing, I am always terrified by this part, because it means you can never go back!

Fortunately, everything looked fine, but I discovered I needed to tack down the fabric in more places. I ended up with a stitch approximately every inch.

The sweater was done (at least, done enough to wear, although it's questionable whether it would stand up to washing, as I hadn't bothered to finish the cut-off edge).

But when I wore it, I was mildly irritated to see that the neckline was so wide, my bra straps were on full display.

I could do a number of things to mitigate this – constantly push the straps out onto my shoulders all day, or wear a strapless bra – but since my vision for this sweater was something I could throw on and go to work without having to worry about things like my bra, I decided to add decorative straps to the sweater, which would cover up my bra.

Fortunately, I had a lot of cowl left over!

I folded over one edge of it by about an inch and a half, stitched down the edges, and turned it inside-out so it formed a tube shape.

Then I did the same again, to make a second strap.

After a bunch of finicky fittings and readjustments, I had decided on the perfect placement and length for my straps.

Using the same technique as I had to form the neckline, I now tacked down each strap in four places.

Here's how it now looks on the inside!

...And the outside!

I stayed up an hour past my bedtime to finish this project, so I could wear it the very next day. It's still in the 50's outside here in Maryland, but it looks like spring temperatures might finally arrive this weekend, so I wanted to make sure I could wear this heavy sweater before it gets warm. I succeeded!

For a grey and rainy Thursday, I proudly wore my new DIY sweater with my new DIY haircut (and that's a whole 'nother story still in progress!), brown skinny jeans, and pink booties.

Straight skirt and mustard shirt

Straight skirts have never been my favorite style. However, I was forced to revise my opinion on them when I came across this graphic skirt on Swap.com. [Shop from my referral link!] The floral print was bright and bold, and I'm always a sucker for anything with birds on it!

I could have worn many different tops with this skirt, but after trying a couple of sweaters and feeling top-heavy in them, I decided I needed a lightweight shirt that I could tuck into the waistband and show off the red ribbon belt.

Enter my mustard-yellow long-sleeved tee!

Mustard is another departure from the norm for me, as it has never been one of my favorite colors. I've slowly warmed up to it over a course of years, during which several mustard items arrived in my possession by way of bulk lots and hand-me-downs. But the first mustard thing that I actually chose for myself (knowingly, and not just because I thought it was a straight yellow, like these boots) is this shirt. I've decided that long sleeved T-shirts are a versatile addition to any wardrobe, providing color and coverage without bulk. So I stocked up on several over the winter and am currently working to expand my collection to every color, much like my campaign to acquire short-sleeved T-shirts last spring.

The problem with most of my long-sleeved T-shirts is they are way too thin and tight to be appropriate for the office. I could see my bra through the back of this one, so I decided to cover it up with a neutral vest. Although the vest does hide the awesome ribbon belt a little, it adds a level of complexity that turns this 2-piece outfit into a 3-piece layered work of art.

I thought about wearing my art with colorful boots in a variety of hues, but ultimately, I decided there was so much going on up top, I should keep the bottom simple. I chose flesh-toned boots because they made my legs look extra long!