I Caught a Glimpse...

The other day, I went bowling with my church friends, we were ten, including moi. We met a wonderful family there, they were invited by one of our church members. They were  a family of four: mom, pop, an eleven year old girl and a boy. The girl was so beautiful and well spoken; a dancer. I couldn't believe she was only eleven. We talked about dance technique; chasses and ronde de jambes. It was the most intellectual conversation I had that night. 

Then I caught a glimpse of the boy, the cutest kid. Tall and skinny, like Dan, soft brown hair, also like Dan, I asked his mom how old he was, he was eight, just like Dan. So, I caught a glimpse. A glimpse of what Dan might sound and move like if he didn't have autism. This boy was funny and witty, I could imagine Dan being like that. He spoke fast and had the cutest expressions; I could imagine Dan speaking like that...and for that second, I could feel tears begin to well up. But just for a second. As quickly as these feelings came, they left. They left with the thought of my sweet Dan. 

Dan and I had the most amazing time, earlier that very day. We had a wonderful water play session in our back yard and I remembered his smile, the sheer joy over his face and body playing with the water; his chuckles and laughs. Later on,  I remembered his touch, leading me to the sofa, so I could tickle and massage him. I remembered Dan, my son, his face, his laugh, his gaze, his smile, and in that moment, I did not want him to be anyone else. That beautiful boy I had met in the bowling alley had his own name (which I actually forgot now) and his own life, and his own face. 

He was him and Dan was Dan 

and he is mine and 

I love him for who he is.  

At this time in my life, I would not recognize Daniel if he talked and stood still.This doesn't mean that we don't aim for this and work hard so he can be the best he can be, but at this time, it's not him and I want him to be him. I want Dan. 

So I caught a glimpse of what Dan might have been and I looked away, content.

Easy "Cut and Paste" Dress/Jumpsuit Refashion

This was a super easy refashion, my last for the summer, and very much in line with my other jumpsuit creation. The only difference is, that in the previous design, seen here, I made the pants from scratch and bought the top. 

In this one, I used a dress given to me, and a jumpsuit I bought from a thrift shop which turned out to be too large. 

The flowery print on the dress was too overpowering for my frame and the hem was lopsided. I just didn't like how it looked on me, it also showed all my chichos (love handles). It    was made from jersey fabric and had very little structure, but I did love the top. 

The opposite was the case with the jumpsuit. The top part was too big but I loved these balloon, jeannie pants. 

Since I loved the snugness of the top, I decided to keep that part of the dress, it hugged my small torso, and I love the way that feels. This is the very reason I learned how to sew, I often felt like my body was swimming in my clothes making me feel uncomfortable. 

Heres's a close-up without the belt and with Dan hanging off my arm

Anyway, I added the top to the balloon pants to form a collage of sorts of the two outfits. 

...and with the belt, it looks even cooler! More and more, I am loving this sillouette on me, small top and giant bottom. That's actually the shape of my body and I love it. 

I also loved the little surprise in the back. 

There were, however,  some things to consider. First, was the opening of the dress big enough for me to pull over my hips? Check! It was. Would I lose the stretch of the elastic once I stitched the two? I wasn't sure. 

Normally, if you stitch two pieces of fabric together, even if it's two stretchy pieces, the stitches will not stretch unless you use elastic thread, which I had run out of, but luckily, I didn't run out of ideas!  I figured that if I cut the pant part of the jumpsuit above the elastic, I could stitch the two on the elastic and this might continue the stretch. Here's a short video I made showing this process. 

This is the first time I am working with video, so excited! but I didn't realize the audio was so low, so here is the transcription: 

"I am now attaching the top to the bottom, the underneath, of course, is the blouse portion and the black is the pants. Now, I'm stretching it so I actually get the stretch when I actually put it on." 

The only audio here is "weeeeeeeeee", lol. I stitched both pieces on top of the elastic.

It worked and I absolutely love the results. I've already worn it   several times already; to church, my museum job, and the other day, to my son's school open house. 

It really is a versatile piece and so easy to make. 

Listen, if you have clothes you don't wear anymore, chances are there still might be something about it that you love and can possibly refashion into something else. There are too many clothes that end up in land fills. Lets do something about this. Teach yourself basic sewing skills or hire someone to help you refashion your wardrobe (not me though - my plate is currently full).  Over 80% of our clothes are made over seas in Bangladesh and China and they are paying big time for the cheap clothes we buy. Recycle, refashion, it's not just a fad and although it's also about the planet, it's more about our fellow human beings. The planet doesn't need saving, we do. I plan to talk more about this in future posts, I guess it just spilled over here. 

What do you think?