progress report...

oooh, doesn't that title make it sound like i have terribly important things to say?

like i perhaps have made progress in a very professional way?

like i need to report it in a pie chart or graph of some kind?

i'm almost tempted to change out of my 'natty' clothes into something more befitting a progress report,

but then i know that's not possible for my closet contains not 'an ounce' of progress reporting attire.

nearly five months into the challenge of the utmost kind

and

i am becoming a little desperate for a different dress to adorn myself.

i like to wear dresses daily, it is my uniform.

i like to wear dresses with tights and boots,

i like to wear dresses over jeans, with a cardi,

i like to wear dresses with flip flops and a slip

and i'm thinking

i would like to wear dresses with a pair of painted swedish clogs

(in fact i know i would)

and so it is quite apparent from that bit of divulging about my 'dress wearing ways' that indeed any dress of mine gets a lot of wear.

it is an all season little bit of cloth,

layered for winter

and unlayered for summer...

and that is where i am struggling with the challenge

two of my dearest dresses have given up the ghost,

no amount of patching and stitching was going to bring them back.

for the past few weeks i have started to lurk in the dress and skirt aisles when out and about thrifting.

but here's the thing,

i believe it is a 'talent', ney a 'gift' from the thrifty gods, to take a forsaken bit of clothing and make it smile.

Our #1 has it coming out of her fingers and toes by the bucket load.

the most awful sad neglected item upon the rails of despair can by taken down by her and made to shine in all it's glory...

a 'gift' i am sadly lacking in.

i took a look on Etsy

there were some rather lovely organic cotton skirts and dresses available but i'm looking for a little pattern, a little nostalgia, a little color

i'm shopping for a 41 year old with a 32 year old eclectic bohemian 'alter ego' inside of her.

this makes my search a little more tricky, my alter ego is egging me on and i'm happy to go down that path of 'eclectic' wear if only i could find it handcrafted or secondhand...

and so in the end,

out of desperation,

i took a loved and worn skirt from my closet bought over 4 years back and popped her in Miss W. Machine with a packet of dye.

i chopped out the lower ruffled panel and added a 'fat quarter' from my stash.

and completed my 'overhaul' with a little dash of doilies...

i'm not loving it,

i am especially not loving it over jeans, teamed with a rather dubious green sweater,

and i am especially not loving,

that after five months of being a handcrafted thrifty mama this little skirt is the best i have to offer for my efforts

she is thinking it most fortunate that Miss Ethel has made much better progress than herself ~ Tif