sleeveless shirts and short skirts

  I learned to sew in the 7th grade. In those days it was still economical to sew rather than buy your own clothes. I have always enjoyed sewing, though, mostly for the creative expression it affords. I have realized however, that the greatest use of my sewing skills has come in making otherwise immodest clothing wearable.

For example, I recently purchased three skirts at Forever 21. The amusing thing to me is that one was a size small, one was a size medium and one was a size large. And it was only the size large that actually fit!

The size small is a straight skirt that had a slit up the back. I inserted a pleat there. I used fabric that I had hanging around the house and it took about half an hour to make that wearable.

The size medium skirt was too short. I took the hem all the way down, but it was still not quite long enough. I bought some fabric to match one of the colors in the skirt and added a contrasting border. It cost $1.77. That one took a little bit longer because of the trip to the store, but still maybe an hour total. I was grateful that I had a friend visiting that could help me out with the measuring.

The only alteration I needed to make to the size large skirt was to cut about 6 inches off the belt and my scissors were at the ready.

Shopping is becoming more and more a creative mental exercise. How can I make this wearable? Sometimes, there is just No Way, but sometimes, there is!